Yesterday was my 31st birthday. It was the first day of the rest of my life, sure, but mostly it was the first day of my year-long commitment to extreme frugality — or at least what will feel extreme to me. It was easy. There's a complimentary coffee bar at work, my coworkers brought treats that became my breakfast and lunch, and my wonderful husband took me out for tapas and wine. (No, he is not committed to a year of extreme frugality, but that's another blog post for another day).
Why can't every day be my birthday?
Today, I'm home working on a freelance project. I got up early, went to yoga (we committed to two years at the gym about a month before I decided I was going to do this project; it would be more expensive to quit) and came home to get started writing. Except, my brain wouldn't work. It took me a few minutes to figure out why, and then I realized I hadn't had my coffee.
My initial impulse was to grab the leash and my wallet, and walk the dog to my favorite little coffee shop in all the land: Hi Hat. I always spend at least $4 there, if not $5, with tip. I should have made coffee here, but because we always get our coffee out, we didn't have any in the house. Plus, the screen from our French press was unfortunately covered with a stubborn mold that wouldn't even come off in the dishwasher. This was not our first replacement screen. (Always wash your French press when you're done with it, people.)
So, my options were these:
1. Just go get a cup of coffee already (it was 11:19 am).
2. Go get a cup of shitty coffee.
3. Buy a replacement filter and a bag of coffee, which is the most economical long-term solution.
I have to admit, I was leaning toward option 3. I mean, I totally imagined this blog filled with precious hipster-y pictures of my French-pressed coffee in a vintage Fire King mug in the late-morning light. And you have to spend money to make money; this freelance project was not going to do itself. But I couldn't very well buy something on the first day of my frugality project... could I?
Just as I was about to crack and make my way to Sur La Table for a replacement screen, I remembered that I had received samples of "nutritious" instant coffee at a food bloggers conference. I'll be honest: it sucks, so I won't name the brand. But it was coffee, or at least it claimed to be.
It may have tasted like foot, but I got my caffeine fix and my hipster-y picture.
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