Sunday, January 31, 2010

It's the Final Countdown

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow.
You're only a daaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy......a----------waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!

My social experiment starts in 24 hours and I'm crazy excited! My first $1 date is my sweet friend Emily, who I haven't seen in far too long.

I've got most of the first week scheduled, but my Wednesday (Feb. 3) and Saturday (Feb. 6) are open. Please let me know if you're free on either day! I'm going to send around schedule requests for the next week, too.

That's it for now ---- I'll be seeing you.

Monday, January 25, 2010

I'd like to introduce you to my BFF, Excel

Countdown to the start of the 28x1x1 project: SIX

I'm getting really excited to get this bad boy running. Although I have to say that if the weather doesn't start behaving more appropriately, we might fight. Seriously. How many pairs of my jeans have salt stains on the cuffs? How many boots are stacked by the door because there is no point in putting them away? And how much time is wasted styling my hair to make it look like I spent no time styling it, just to have it get all fershimmeled in the wind?

I am ready to start scheduling my first week of $1 dates, so please let me know if you would like to be assigned in that first week. Remember, I'm not what you might call "employed" so I shouldn't have too many scheduling conflicts. Okay, to be fair, I do work part-time but it's very part-time (hint to Loft managers if you're reading this...I could use more hours). Anyway, I will track everyone's dates, the activity, and the amount of money spent. This is why I will always be grateful to Janet Butler-Berry and Michael Donohue for MAKING me learn Excel even when I was all "I so totally have more important things to do."

I'll be seeing you....

Friday, January 22, 2010

In the beginning, there was a budget...

I finally started a blog! I'm so excited, my gastritis is acting up.


Two weeks ago, I was laid off. Downsized. Given my walking papers. Insert bitter-but-acceptable cliche here. I've gone through the normal phases of grief: anger, denial, more anger, ambivalence, a lesser yet undeniable anger, and then finally acceptance. My friends and colleagues have surrounded me with support and my social calendar has been pleasantly full with lunch dates, coffee dates, movie dates, "are you sure you're okay" dates. What a wonderful feeling....

I loved my job. But in the past few weeks, I've felt as though I'm on the precipus of major change (by the way, I have been waiting to use "precipus" in a sentence for a very long time and I may or may not have just given myself a round of applause). I've been feeling creative, rested, calm.

Weird, right? I should be freaking out about my job search, my finances, and becomming irrelevant at the height of my career. And that's when it hit me. That could still happen. The panic. The fear. What happens when the novelty of my unemployment wears off and I'm bored? Lonely? What if I run out of money? Is there a way to maintain this strange sense of stability?



Because I'm all too familiar with lazy Sundays, I wanted to find a way to motivate myself to get off the couch so that I don't live a life of lazy Mondays, Tuesdays, everydays. To get myself out of the house. To interact with society. To stay in touch with my community. Oh but wait - I'M UNEMPLOYED AND DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY!



So I came up with 28x1x1. Math is hard, but not impossible. The equation is this:
*28 days
*28 friends
*28 dollars

I will rehabilitate my social life in a financially limited existence. I will train myself to stay socially connected during a transitional time. I will strengthen relationships by removing the stress of spending money. I will encourage my friends to explore inexpensive activities in Omaha with me.

The rules: for each day in the month of February, I will make plans with a different friend/family member. And during each of the social activities, I'm allowed to spend just one dollar. Yep, just $1. The only flexibility on the $1 spending limit is tax, so technically I can spend $1.07 if I'm in my home state (like I'm planning on going anywhere??). I will blog about each day, listing the friend I saw (possibly altering their name if they are shy), the activity we chose, and the exact amount of money I spent. And in case you were wondering, there will most definitely be a spreadsheet.


In the next few days, I'll start scheduling my $1 dates and making lists of possible activities. If you'd like to participate, let me know! If you've got ideas for activites (PG-13 rated please), share them with me!

That's all.