Secrets of the City

Gas — Holiday station near my house. Booze — Big Top Liquor, Midway. Crab cakes (thanks, Rake, for the 20% off coupon) –Costal Seafoods, St. Paul. Tip — The Local, Minneapolis (thanks again, Tom). Coffee at the new Coon Rapids Dunn Bros. I’ll stop a spend a dollar or two at the 331 in NE Mpls this p.m.

I know when I say “locally”, I mean “in Minnesota” rather than “in Prospect Park”. That said, I buy food at the Seward Co-op, liquor at Sharret’s (and Surdyk’s for the fancy stuff), lunch in Dinkytown, and go out to restaurants all over the city, and bars all over the city with 331 and Turf Club being my most frequented. So all in all, that’s pretty local, probably the biggest exceptions being clothes and other one-time expenses (say, outdoor gear, although Duluth Pack and Granite Gear are local…)

I spend my money very locally mostly out of laziness/hatred of driving. I live 2 blocks away from the Lund’s in Uptown and do 95% of my shopping there even though Rainbow (6 blocks away) is cheaper, Kowalski’s (5 blocks away) has better produce, and The Wedge (12 blocks away) has some products that I really like. I go to Sawatdee in Uptown about once a week even though True Thai is much better just because I really favor places I can walk to. If I can’t find a book that I want at Booksmart or Magers & Quin I’ll Amazon it rather than driving to another bookstore. I often walk into The Limited even though it’s really not my style because it’s there. If a movie isn’t playing at Uptown or the Lagoon, I’ll likely skip it.

I go to the mall or Target maybe twice a year max. Anything that requires me getting in my car is just feels like such a pain in the ass hassle.

I’m all for Minneapolis becoming denser and having more stuff in general. Or at least I’d love more stuff in Uptown.

rent, student loans, electricity, internet, phone and paying off my computer = I have no money to spend. The last of my tax return has long since disappeared and I had to charge the wii (but god damn it, it was my BIRTHDAY), so I’m just a broke-ass motherfucker.

Oh, but for locality, I rarely leave my neighbourhood since I don’t have (and couldn’t afford) a car, so most of my shopping takes place there. Or on the internet. I take the bus to target downtown sometimes when I need target-y things.

by the way, if rent is controlled to 1/3 one’s pretax income and then student loans are a bit more than half of that, how is one supposed to get by? over 50% of my paycheque is gone before I even figure the tax\ss\etc. in. I think that’s another 25% or so, which means I’m left with less than 1/4 of my actual income to spend on everything else.

man, life is dismal.

Locally, I spend $650 a month on pierogie. Generally, that breaks down to $250 at Kramarczuk’s, $150 from Eva’s Europol, $150 at Nye’s, and the rest to either frozen ones from Lund’s, or from that Russian Teahouse on University that’s only open during the day.

Hmmm…besides Sallie Mae and my landlord, my money goes to Target, Target, Kowalski’s, Target, and various bars/restaurants in Minneapolis. This weekend was Pizza Nea, the Old Chicago in Uptown (their patio is nice), and French Meadow. Plus a Dairy Queen dip cone. Booze comes from Franklin-Nicollet Liquors, coffee from the Starbucks in my ‘hood. I don’t focus on “keeping it local”…I’m in it for convenience and cost.

Seriously, I buy a lot of crap at Target.

Jesus, I don’t even have that much a month to spend on food.

Lets see; minus the bills and crap. Usually lunds if im really lazy and don’t want to drive, rainbow for the cheap food, Target, Target, and oh yeah, Target. There isn’t really any Target’s by me (highland park) but since I work right next door to the one downtown I can’t fight the urge to buy cheap crap, mostly food and pop. Other than that my dinero goes to various bars/food places in downtown, on grand in st. paul or in highland park. Gas usually at SuperAmerica mear my fiance (I really hate their commercials). Beer and wine are done at the local store next door to punch pizza on Cleavland, I have no idea what its called. Thats pretty much it, my fiance is the one who lays down the money, not me.

Hmm…usually one meal from the MGM, one from somewhere near DTSTP, maybe one somewhere else, the rest from groceries. Broken down by week I guess I spend about $50 on food. No coffee, bagels or any of that nonsense. No money spent in bars, theaters, etc.

The occasional pop or snack, $5/week from vending machines or the MGM. Groceries from Cub, Rainbow, Target and Wal-Mart in Midway, Quarry, Strip or ghetto depending on where I happen to be when I need them. If Twins tickets count as local shopping, throw another $20-30 on a monthly basis. Clothing I get from chains like JCP or Marshall’s, mostly, and rarely. Two or three times a year I buy clothes. No CDs, concert tickets.

I guess I just shop where ever it’s easiest to shop. I don’t care, it’s a pain in the ass. I can’t wait until I’m old and people shop for me. Hell, if anyone wants to shop for me now you can. I need milk and Totino’s pizza rolls – pepperoni and/or sausage. Paper bags, please.

While my downtown St. Paul neighborhood isn’t the best for day-to-day goods, I do try to do all my family’s shopping in St. Paul proper: groceries ($300 a month) at the Mississippi Market Co-op or a larger MN-based retailer, shops for other things ($100-200) along University or Grand Ave or Highland or Selby, etc. There is the occasional trip to Roseville for Target, etc. But I try to keep it as close to the ‘hood as I can, even biking or walking if possible.

I think a more important point is to patronize your neighborhood bars and restaurants; those are what make a ‘hood worth living in. My husband and I hit downtown St. Paul restaurants and bars as much as we can, often walking. Pazzaluna, Kincaid’s, Fugi-Ya, the West 7th restaurants/bars and those along Selby (Fern’s!) are among our favorites and we’ll drop at least $100 on a good night out each time. I’d much rather give those spots my money than someplace in downtown Mpls or Uptown.

After I got my tax return, i bought fast food where ever it was convenient, 200 rounds Federal Hydrashock at Streichers, 2 50 Round Mags for my PS90 at J&S Custom Guns and down-payment on a Bushmaster Carbon 15 Pistol.

Yikes! Ran right into a police crime scene at Legends Bar on Hennepin in NE Mpls on my way to the 331 today. Shootings! Mayham! Tune in at 10 p.m. for more details.

Now, time for “Heroes.” and to hug my inner commic-book sci-fi geek.

The wife and I shop for groceries at Lunds Uptown, SuperTarget in St Louis Park, Byerly’s St Louis Park and Uptown Rainbow. We’ll occasionally run over to Whole Foods if we really need something quick (it’s close). I go to one of two Korean grocery stores in Fridley (Seoul Foods) or Hilltop (Dong Yang) about once a month. We rarely buy clothes, but when we do it’s usually Target.

When we go out to eat it’s at Kinhdo, Davanni’s, Li’l Tel Aviv, McDonald’s, Kinhdo, The Malt Shop (on 50th Street), Kinhdo and Ruby Tuesday at Southdale.

I buy my music at Cheapo and Best Buy. We buy our books from Barnes and Noble at Calhoun Village, Magers and Quinns and Half Price Books (both Highland and Miracle Mile).

We order a lot of exotic shit online, but that’s the gist of it.

Do you seriously spend a couple hundred dollars at restaurants and $25/week on coffee and bagels?

Seems to me it’d be cheaper to get a fab espresso machine and bake your own bagels by the dozen over the weekend…

er, I meant to say: and bake your own bagels…

There. That’s better.

I need milk and Totino’s pizza rolls – pepperoni and/or sausage.

Kevin, we have more in common than you could possibly imagine…

The Frontiersman for a AR-15 with night sights and a couple 30 round clips.

Bills Gun Store for more ammo and a couple of .357 hammerless carry guns.

Lock and load!

“by the way, if rent is controlled to 1/3 one’s pretax income and then student loans are a bit more than half of that, how is one supposed to get by? “

Make more.

(Not being sarcastic. Most of us spent at least part of our youth seriously broke. That’s what causes us to work harder, or longer, or at more than one job, or to go back to school . . . If not for the financial pressure, if not for wanting to be able to take part in what society offers for sale, I would have just stayed high and worked my putzy 40 hours at (too little)/hour forever.)

Yeah I’m already looking seriously at other jobs. I’ve found a few that would be doing similar work to what I already do, but actually with a title and pay that go with that sort of thing. I’m sprucing up my resume to send off in the next couple days.

I need milk and Totino’s pizza rolls – pepperoni and/or sausage.

Kevin, we have more in common than you could possibly imagine…

I got them this morning, along with a 3$ Naked Juice that can only be classified as completely wasteful spending.

I’ll pass on the naked juice, but pizza rolls and milk is what I spend a good 1/3 of my food budget on.

Ok, maybe 1/4.

One thing I’ve learned about living on my salary is that life is way cheaper once you commit to cooking at home. Raw ingredients for, say, making three of your own pizzas equals the price of one decent frozen one, and is also much more delicious and, dare I say, nutritious! Pizza rolls aren’t exactly economical, and the amount of sodium alone in those frozen convenience foods makes my arteries feel funny. While it is initially spendy to set up a kitchen to be ready for serious cookery (spices, basics, etc), once you have it, you’re in excellent shape.

And cooking the basics really isn’t that hard…once you accept that you’re going to burn more then one grilled cheese sandwich before you figure out you need to cook it over medium heat.

Rent and grocerie/sessentials (TJ’s/Byerly’s/Target) are all that stays in the neighborhood. Books and DVDs I get from Amazon. I make it over to the old stomping ground in Linden Hills for Great Harvest and Clancey’s here and there. I make the trek to Surdyk’s for my beer. Calhoun Chipotle, Punch, breakfast at Al’s at the U and margaritas at Abilene are some other stops.

Actually the more I work around processed foods, the less desire I have to eat most of them. I think the only reason I can still eat pizza rolls is because I haven’t been to a plant where they’re made.

But, uh, a tiny fraction of a cent goes back to myself when I buy pizza rolls, so it’s … still a terrible idea.

Teach me how to cook, Josie?

Mortgage & Daycare each account for ~35% of our monthly expenses. Can’t wait ’til the rugrats are in public school so that we can start saving for retirement and/or traveling again.

My best advice, passed down from my mom, is to invest in a basic Betty Crocker cookbook. It gives you the basics (how to scramble an egg, how to make tuna salad) and then elaborates on it. Learn how to make a few things well. Dinners in a box are excellent…taco boxes, Pad Thai boxes, etc…still cheaper then going out to eat, plus if you live alone you get leftovers for lunch the next day which rocks.

Forget anything complicated for now, like Rachael Ray. Thirty Minute Meals is a lie and she requires a TON of ingredients for all of her recipes, like most celebrity chefs. But her penne alla vodka with the embarrassing name (You Won’t Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta) is amazing.

Rachel Ray can’t cook and whatever she’s eating appears to be going straight to her hips.

Get yourself a good saute pan and learn some basic cooking techniques and you can vastly improve your health & budget.

To wit…I can’t believe how cheap, tasty and versatile tofu is as a staple breakfast item. I’ve also been chowing on canned black beans & garbonzo beans, soy milk, over easy eggs & fresh veggies. I feel great & it’s dirt cheap. You just have to break yourself from the traditional notion that breakfast is carb-loading time.

I’d like to point out for the record I find Rachael Ray vastly irritating. She does have a few great recipes, though, even if her technique is crap and her voice is grating. Most Food Network personalities can be annoying, actually, but they all have a few good recipes that are relatively simple for the experienced home cook and are really impressive.

However do not try Alton Brown’s stovetop mac and cheese. It made me gag.

I’d like to point out for the record I find Rachael Ray vastly attractive. I told my wife that I’d leave her if Rachel Ray asked me to.

Maz likes fatties.

The wife and I watched Giada’s new show the other night and it is 100% food porn…crazy. Whenever she’s eating they have the close up money shot of her putting it between her beautiful teeth, whenever they show a plate in front of her, they just accidentally show her cleavage in the background, and the music that accompanies her dining scenes is seriously straight off of the “Porn Hits of the 80’s” soundtrack. She makes love to the food and it’s barely PG13…it has to be seen to be believed.

She just rolled her eyes.

I bet Mrs. Maz does that a lot.

Maz likes fatties.

She’s not fat, she’s just fluffy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WxP6MGvO_s

(Rachel’s o-face to fuel Maz’s fantasies.)

I hate that $40 a day show…especially when she does the nightly cocktail…seriously, who goes on vacation and has one cocktail?

Other things that drive me nuts about her:
“Yumm-o”
Her laugh
“Sammies”

I could go on for hours…

Maybe I’ll make it a clickable link!

The link doesn’t work. I’m too lazy to figure it out. Go search “Rachael Ray” on YouTube and it’s the first thing that comes up.

If I had forty dollars and was on vacation, I’d only be having cocktails. Hello.

Most hated Rachael Ray-ism: “How good does that look?” and
“Put all the kids in the pool!” (which makes me think of pooping, since I have a friend that says “I’m dropping the Cosby kids at the pool” instead of “I’m going poo.”)

Well that’s not racist or anything.

I love the Food Network. It’s the one thing I miss about not having cable. I catch it whenever I go home.

I love Paula Dean. She has the best accent and I love her laugh. I saw her when I was in Chicago. I also saw Rachel Ray, who looked great. I don’t know why people say she’s “big.” She’s seems pretty normal to me.

Oh, and don’t get me started on Paula Dean…

Oh, and wayne, the easiest meal I ever made was simmering either chicken breasts or pork chops in some chunky salsa (I like the Old Home stuff) and topping it with sliced avacado and a dollop of sour cream…so good…

Both Giada and Nigella Lawson are incredible. Rachael Ray is unbearable.

Melt more butter! Pour melted butter on it! More melted butter!

I kind of love that this turned into a food porn/cooking tips thread.

How she’s not 700 pounds, I’ll never know…

I love the food porn-ness of the Food Network…I watch the Rachel Ray-Alton Brown block after work almost every day (with the volume on Rachel turned down a wee bit). It gets me really jazzed to cook dinner! And Good Eats is genius.

I don’t think Rachel is heavy at all, but I think she’s confused as to how to dress a light-on-top, heavier-on-the-bottom figure. The tight shirts and tight pants have gots to go.

This is not a food network show but I love Anthony Bordain’s travel channel show.

She throws it all up after they turn the camera off

Good Eats is genius. It’s the last bastion of actual how-to cooking on the Food Network.

The tight shirts and tight pants have gots to go.

No please! Not that!

whoops…Bourdain.

I agree about Good Eats. You can actually learn something from it.

I also hate the word “sammie.” ugh.

Bourdain is America’s greatest cynic. I can’t think of anyone who even comes close to being that acerbic.

I think she’s kind of cute!

Plus Good Eats has costumes. Costumes!

Bourdain is America’s greatest cynic. I can’t think of anyone who even comes close to being that acerbic.

*cough*

Oh, I was talking about Paula Dean being 700 pounds…

Oh, I was talking about Paula Dean being 700 pounds…

hubba hubba

There’s no way Nigella Lawson could be a lousy lover.

by the way, if rent is controlled to 1/3 one’s pretax income and then student loans are a bit more than half of that, how is one supposed to get by?

To shift the thread to a financial discussion, I’m assuming you’ve already consolodated your student loans. If not, you should look into it. If so and your loans are causing you financial hardship, consider talking to whatever institution holds your loans. Student loans are generally one of the easiest types of loans to negotiate a new paymet plan on. The last thing your lender wants is for you to default.

EVOOOMGSTFUWTFBBQ!!1!

That is how I feel about Rachael Ray. I know what I spend my money on no longer counts since I am out of Minnesota, but about 50% goes towards rent because rent on the east cost is @$%#$% expensive. But I live on an island in the ocean, so whatever.

The other 50% goes to eating at restaurants in Philadelphia. That’s sorta local for me, since I go there every weekend. Not having a Target in town greatly reduces what I spend my money on. Seriously.

Elizabeth, I have, but more than half my loans are private loans because the subsidized ones only go so far. The private loans have fairly ridiculous interest rates, but when I did the paperwork to consolodate/refinance them the interest rates were not really lower and the payments came out about the same after the fee they tack on to the principle.

The Frontiersman for a AR-15 with night sights and a couple 30 round clips.

Bills Gun Store for more ammo and a couple of .357 hammerless carry guns.

What manufacturers?

Sounds like a nice collection, and you’re buying from a good guy (Frontiersman). Of course every time I go there, the guy with the long hair and the glasses endes up talking my ear off. That’s where I bought my PS90, my AK, and my NAA Mini-22.

I’ve only been to Bills once, though, and that was several years ago… how are the prices? Can they beat Streichers or Sportsmans guide for Hydrashocks?

{cough} bankruptcy {cough}

is that really a legitimate option? didn’t they just change the laws a couple years ago to screw over anyone trying to declare bankruptcy?

It’s always a legitimate option. Whether it’s practical depends on your situation – your true income, your assets and debts, public v. private student loans, age of the loans, etc. Back when I did “whatever came in the door”, we routinely BK’ed out student loans in the right situations. (And, a surprising number of people took comfort in the fact that, BK or not, even if you have no remaining legal obligation, you can pay back anyone you want to later (with some cautions I won’t go into here but which are important, so “don’t try this alone at home”.) Sometimes simply the pause for relief is all you really need or want.)

Not that familiar with the new changes – others tell me it’s more complex, but still do-able. Go talk to Jack Prescott’s people. (They’re like the WalMart of BK, which is all most people ever need.) It’s free to find out.

Bankruptcy does not forgive college loans and never has…I checked…

Bankruptcy won’t do anything for student loan debt unless you can show “significant hardship.” (source)

I remember signing some piece of paper at one point that basically said the only way I could get out of it was by dying. Wayne, if you haven’t and it’s really hard for you, extending your repayment period might give you some relief. I’m currently on the twenty year plan (which still sucks and is out of hand, but whatever, I had the time of my life in college).

yeah I didn’t think that would work.

Actually, Ali, I just looked this up (because I’m curious) and apparently in the seventies the cool kids were filing bankruptcy immediately upon graduation, which at that time included forgiving student loans, so they’d have a clean slate to start with. Which is pretty damn clever, but why bankruptcy laws now are the way they are.

I may be in debt beyond comprehension from college (I had the time of my life, it was worth it), but I do have awesome credit. I’m never late with a payment.

“Bankruptcy does not forgive college loans and never has…I checked…“

Then the judges and refs from back when are gonna be REAL pissed at me . . .

(Your statement is generally true. There are – or, at least, used to be – significant exceptions.)

“Actually, Ali, I just looked this up (because I’m curious) and apparently in the seventies the cool kids were filing bankruptcy immediately upon graduation . . .“

“Back when”, for me, was in the early nineties, and the BK question involved the age of student loans and who they were through. We got quite a few out. But, as things may have changed, a free talk with a BK lawyer would be the best bet. (Don’t rely on some internet stranger with a less-than-masculine job.)

The website I found only specified the 1970s as the age of freewheelin’ bankruptcy student loan scams…

Repaying my student loans is a grim, borderline masochistic project I am determined to complete. I will pay back every damn dime.

Other things that drive me nuts about her:
“Yumm-o”
Her laugh
“Sammies”

I could go on for hours…

That’s what she said!
——————————
You cannot go bankrupt to forgive your student loans today. I consolidated at the start of repayment and paid $325/month for two years. Then I reduced the payment by $200/month and paid half the remaining balance when I bought my house last December. (Had I been smart, I would have put the difference in an ING and earned interest.)

Now I don’t have to make another payment until October, but the money is going to an ING and earning me interest until then, when I’ll make another lump sum payment and get another delay until the next payment is due.

So do that.

I’m pretty sure I can’t ever have mine forgiven…but I haven’t really needed the option as I can pay all my bills…

I’m already on a 20 year plan and I did not have a great time in college.

I guess I’m screwed both ways.

wayne – is there anything good in your life? I get depressed just listening (reading) to you… Maybe a tasty IT job would wake you up?

You ignored the second half of my suggestion. Try calling your lenders and see if they’ll renegotiate your payment plan. Lenders would far rather receive a little money than none at all (which is the principle behind collection agencies).

Or, as bobby_b said, make more. Could you pick up a second job?

wayne – is there anything good in your life? I get depressed just listening (reading) to you… Maybe a tasty IT job would wake you up?

do you ahve one for me?

have, even.

kevs, mine are 430/month after consolidation.

yeah.

Wait, Kevin, explain that more clearly, it doesn’t make much sense. So you just stopped paying for a while or what?

get me a resume and I can certainly try. That is if you are willing to sell your soul to the mighty bullseye…

If you make a payment on the principle you can defer your monthly payments…it’s like paying in advance…

Yup. Saving me $376 in interest during that time. Plus, if I can carve out another $50 per month when I start paying again I can pay off in just two years instead of three, saving $75 in interest.

That’s $450 in my pocket instead of someone else’s, and that’s enough to almost pay for an iPhone.

I love numbers.

Oh, and my loans are through Wells Fargo, and as far as I know, they don’t renegotiate the rate or length of your loan, they’ll only do a 6 month interest only payment schedule or a 6 month hardship deferrment once a year. My loan is on a 10 year schedule, the payments are high, but it’ll be nice to know I won’t be in my 50’s by the time I pay it off…

And I will not turn 30 with student loan debt. Period.

“You cannot go bankrupt to forgive your student loans today.“

Is that from a BK lawyer? I ask because that was the CW when I was doing it, too. Did even the seven-year rule go away? (Damn . . .)

“And I will not turn 30 with student loan debt. Period.“

I turned forty with student loan debt. (But then, I didn’t go back to school until I was thirty-four.) Don’t let the loans stop you from doing that – you can usually increase your income enough so that you’re ahead immediately.

I’m so bad at math and finances, I seriously don’t get it. How do you make a payment on just the principle? How do you not pay the bill every month yet not have your account go into collections?

In the meantime, I’ll keep entering the Sallie Mae $25000 loan payoff contest. Which would only take care of half of it, but still. I like contests.

“Then I reduced the payment by $200/month and paid half the remaining balance when I bought my house last December.“

Huh? People I know try to maximize their student loan debt, a couple even maxing out loans and buying houses while in school, because it’s such darn cheap money. Why would you pay off low-interest stuff with higher-interest stuff?

Josie, your montly payment is a percentage of the principle (the amount you borrowed) and the accrued interest on the loan. When you make a payment that is higher than the monthly rate you can tell your loan company to either apply it to the principle or to delay your next payment (so if you paid 2x your montly amount, you could skip a month).

get me a resume and I can certainly try. That is if you are willing to sell your soul to the mighty bullseye…

sent and sent!

I would guess because a house is an investment?

I turned forty with student loan debt. (But then, I didn’t go back to school until I was thirty-four.) Don’t let the loans stop you from doing that – you can usually increase your income enough so that you’re ahead immediately.

This is what’s scaring me away from going to grad school unless I can get my employer to pay for it (which they will, but I can’t live on what they pay me in the mean time). I’m afraid that the interest on the loans I already have would build to such ridiculous amounts while I was doing graduate school that I’d never pay it off.

I’d sell my soul to Satan for an extra $2.50 an hour and a vision plan…

I’d sell my soul to Satan for an extra $2.50 an hour and a vision plan…

Oh, and I typically try to overpay my loans, but as it is now I can only afford an extra five or ten bucks over what’s due because it’s such a ridiculous amount already. So much for that plan.

Huh? People I know try to maximize their student loan debt, a couple even maxing out loans and buying houses while in school, because it’s such darn cheap money. Why would you pay off low-interest stuff with higher-interest stuff?

It’s complicated. Paying off that much of my student loans actually gave me more money in a monthly budget than if I would have put it into my down payment/mortgage principal because it was such a small portion of the mortgage principal. The difference is nearly equal the $50/month I need to pay off the remaining student loan a year early. How convenient.

THANK YOU, it makes sense now! I was feeling very blonde for a moment. So basically overpay now to not pay later.

Also, I just discovered that you can register with UPromise.com (that college savings thing that kicks back a percentage of your purchases with participating retailers) and have the savings you accrue apply to your student loans with Sallie Mae.

Still won’t replace marrying wealthy, though.

yeah, are there any rich divorcees around here who want to help me out?

WTF? I didn’t type that vision plan twice!

Wayne-Wayne-Wayyyyyyyne… I TOLD you that if you go for a PhD in Mathematics (or select engineering fields like chem/mech/mat/aero) you gotta shoot for the assistanceship!

Assistanceship (am I spelling that right??) includes a stipend, (low, like $15-20k per year to start) and a full tuition waiver. So your graduate degree is free. You just have to work your ass off for little money for a bit longer while studying. You can also (I think) suspend your undergrad loan payments if you are a post-grad student.

And as I said before: PhDs get all the chicks, my friend.

the majority of our (the hubs is included in this tally) money goes to rent, which is pretty reasonable (uptown area), the rest goes to groceries (purchased online through lunds, since we don’t have a car to do mass shopping every month) and restaurants (we usually eat in uptown or downtown), movies (we try to only frequent the lagoon or uptown, since block e is evil), netflix, cat food, the comcast sports package, prescription drugs, and the occasional new item of clothing, which is purchased online, since there’s no place within (reasonable) busing distance to find clothes for fat chicks like me (which is something that should be fixed in DT mpls, and i’m sure there are other women out there who will agree). oh, and we also spend too much money repairing shit that breaks in our apartment because we have a douche for a landlord.

You can also (I think) suspend your undergrad loan payments if you are a post-grad student.

You can, but with the interest rates I have on some of mine it would be pretty stupid to do so. My debt would grow almost as much as if I had to pay for grad school myself. I know I couldn’t pay both rent and the loans on a grad student stipend, though.

“And as I said before: PhDs get all the chicks, my friend.“

In spite of this, I’d still consider doing it. The added credential can only help future earning/satisfaction potential.

Oh I know, plus I love learning and want to consume all knowledge. That sounds almost supervillianesque, doesn’t it?

Fitting, I say.

I spend my money exclusively below 26th Street.

The Wedge
The 15th Street Corner Store
The SA on 22nd and Lyndale
Triple Espresso for coffee and pop
That liquor store by Lotus a go go
Target Downtown

“That sounds almost supervillianesque, doesn’t it?“

Yeah, it really deserved the html equivalent of the evil cackle tag.

Actually my maniacal cackle is pretty fantastically creepy. I’m way way too good at it not to grow up to be a supervillian someday.