the new economy, chez nous

During the boom years, the Loopy-Loopy household was "cheating" a little... no, not that kind of cheating. :) Financial cheating.

See, I was always taught that you're not supposed to sell anything that qualifies as capital—you're supposed to hoard capital and use the income that it generates. That's how you become a robber baron like my great-grandfather.

So, our investments were growing so fast that we could cheat... we would gradually sell off a small percentage of capital and use that for our living expenses, without stopping the overall growth of our total assets. Hence the extravagance for which we were known in years past.

Since the crash, our capital has shrunk like a certain feature of a gentleman who has stepped into frigid water. It's scary how small it is. So we suddenly have to live solely on income. We thought we might have to sell our house because we can't make the mortgage, but we made up a budget and we can just squeak by if we stick to the budget.

Suddenly, I'm living like a regular person.

Now, being a pessimistic apocalyptic sort, I had always anticipated this - actually, as friends can attest, I anticipate having to struggle for survival amid the blowing dust and massive ruins of post-civilization. So it's not a shock. But it is an adjustment.

Herewith a brief rundown of some of the adjustments...

Situation	Before	After
change of seasons; dogs shedding	call groomer; drop of scraggy dogs; pick up gorgeous dogs	lift dog onto table; hold violently struggling, howling dog while brushing; week of horrendous back pain. repeat.
horrendous back pain	acupuncture	hot baths, tiger balm... and who knew those things could really be used as massagers?
vet calls; dog needs blood test	"when can we come in?"	"Is it really necessary? We can't really afford that right now."
dog needs pills	"Ooh, lookit these cute lil pill pockets... eight bucks a bag but let's try 'em."	"Honey, don't use a whole slice of [generic pseudo-Velveeta] cheese, that's a waste - you only need a half slice."
Hungry	"I can't believe we've lived here over a year and never been to Topolobampo!"	"Guess what Lovey! I found a 2-for-1 coupon for Burger King in the Sunday paper! We can go out to eat!"
adorable tschotschke	"I don't really need it but it's so perfect I have to have it!"	"Pfft, that would take 4 weeks of my $10 entertainment budget, no way is that worth it!"
vacations	"I miss Japan. Do you want to go to Japan this summer, honey?"	"We can't afford to go to my sister's for Thanksgiving." "That's ok, we'll just stay home and have a lot of hot baths. It'll be relaxing."
shopping	Whole Foods	Costco
snackies	"Look, I found this new fair trade organic chocolate, flavored with lavender tips and the heart of the seed of the passion flower!"	Giant bag of Hershey's minis from Costco.
get your 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables!	Frozen vegetables - steam in the bag, with sauce, and/or organic - 24 to 40 cents an ounce	Frozen vegetables - grown in a toxic waste dump by oppressed migrant laborers* - only 9 cents an ounce! ("Do we have a coupon for any of them?")
dry skin	Nature's Gate organic herbal skin therapy (hey, it was the cheapest of the organic ones!)	Vaseline intensive care "moisture locking" lotion. It even smells like motor oil, but it's only 5 cents an ounce when you buy the economy bottle.

*tip of the nib - er, keyboard? - to Alison Bechdel for this phrase

OK, so it's not as funny or dramatic as it was in my head. It's an adjustment, is all.... and for those of you who have always lived this way, please forgive me. I don't mean to rub anyone's face in anything. Just sharing my perspective.