O, to be upwardly aspiring and broke

I wish I had an assload of money. Hell, I wish I had like $50,000 -- that'd be enough to get me out of debt, at least, freeing up most of my current income.

The parents are talking seriously about the renovations. As always, I believe it when I see it, 'cause my dad runs out of time or money for these things fairly regularly. Tonight, my mom was talking about how they plan to redo their room, except that they've already bought blinds and bedding, and those don't match each other. Way to go. I can come up with ways to make them work, but my mom's not so adventurous, so when I say "how 'bout a faux finish to look like paper or stone?" or "how 'bout an Indian theme with a lot of fabric?", she sorta gets this blank look, like "huh? that's impossible." She should really just paint the blinds. Though really, what she should have done is not bought bedding that clearly didn't match the blinds or the colors she had in mind for the room.

I did my taxes tonight. I hate how people won't just send me the shit I need -- every year, I have to chase someone down on the phone to get the numbers I need. Jerks. I'm getting the usual refunds, which would be great if I didn't have to insure my car or buy Christmas presents -- all of my refund money always goes in the bank to cover those expenses. I'm getting like $60 from the state, at least, and that I let myself keep.

I paid all of my major scheduled bills for the month last night. I guess that overtime really did help, 'cause I usually can't pay all three big bills until midmonth. I should cut down on personal spending and see if I can actually save some of my pay from this month, put it in the savings account or something. Hell, if I save enough, maybe I can put it with that $60 and get an iPod. I keep torturing myself, going on the iPod sites again tonight to look at all of the options, figuring out exactly what I want to get (I think now that a 20Gb one will be good enough for my needs, with USB cable and blue iSkin, plus maybe a car adapter at some point later on).

I did my taxes, I hung up my clean clothes, I watched QE. It's 1:30. I have tomorrow off. And I'm actually sorta bored. I don't have any plans for tomorrow, partly 'cause I'm trying to save money and partly 'cause I don't really want to get out of the house anyway. I kinda want to cook, but there's nothing in the house to cook -- my mom doesn't exactly keep a stocked pantry. I could read a book, but I'm not into it, especially since I started the last book, then lost my place and forgot what I'd read anyway, so I had to start over, reading stuff I'd already read. That got old fast. I wouldn't mind reading a magazine, but I don't have one -- I read Vanity Fair last week and House Beautiful today. I should subscribe to another one, but I don't know which that would be.

I need to go to the bank to deposit Shannon's money order. I should get off my ass and do that tomorrow, then maybe go to the store and get food or a magazine or something.