HOLY SHIT. PEOPLE REALLY ARE BELT TIGHTENNING

So now I'm going back over my list of March spending to see where all the money went. Already, I'm wondering why I have a cell phone plan with so many minutes and long-distance service on my home phone. I still eat out a fair amount — alcohol and desserts, I am being reminded, are pricey. My biggest non-rent expense by far, though, is travel. It all seems justified — twice to Pittsburgh to help my grandmother pack up her house and move; once to Miami for a good friend's 30th birthday. But it adds up.

The other day a friend who is considering moving to a cheaper apartment in a worse neighborhood to save money said she finally understands the sacrifices our parents made. That made me think about how there's a difference between giving something up (I haven't had cable TV in more than a year, but really, what am I missing?), and sacrifice. For the first time that I've noticed, my generation is becoming familiar with that second concept.

On March 8, I took a $73 taxi home from an airport in New Jersey. The alternative was to take a shuttle to a $15 train to the subway. It was late — the train would have left New Jersey around midnight — so I sprung for the cab. It didn't feel like a big deal at the time. But that was early in the month. Long before I knew that I'd be left with just $100 and eight days to go.

I'm sure I'll be thinking about that taxi on Friday as I walk to work.