Tuesday, February 5, 2008

When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now

I popped into Shoppers Drug Mart on my lunch today, to pick up some trail mix to add to the salad that I brought for lunch. It already had chicken in it, but since I was just coming from the gym, I felt it needed a bit more oomph. (I was hungry, is what I'm trying to say. Hungrier than a salad seemed equipped to handle.)

Anyway, I ended up being served at SDM by this lovely cashier whose name, according to her name tag, is Bernice. Bernice, bless her heart, appeared to be approximately 100 years old. I mean, I have no idea how old a SDM employee can be, but I'm fairly certain that Bernice surpassed the age limit at least five years ago. And while she wasn't the fastest cashier I've ever encountered, she did have an infectious smile and an actual twinkle in her eye.

(She also had every fingernail painted a different colour, so I suspect she hangs out in the the beauty department when it's not busy.)

My few moments with her sort of reminded me to slow down a bit, because life just goes by way too fast.

My other thought was: I need to get rid of this debt and start building up some RRSPs, so that I don't have to work when I'm 100!

Oh, it's true. I am almost 32 and a half and have no RRSPs. I did have some at one point. My unionized jobs - both performing and at the arts organization - provided me with a good start, but I cashed them in a few years ago when I realized that I was paying far more interest on my debt than I was making on the investments.

And commercials touting RRSPs are designed to scare people like me by pointing out that no matter how many millions we contribute at this stage, we're still going to end up having to eat cat food to survive. I can't even think about it too much, since it keeps me up at night.

But I still liked Bernice. She brought a bit of personality into my day.

FYI, after all the bills were paid and the IOU to the boyfriend was repaid, I still found an extra $20 in the budget! So I had a bit of a splurge tonight, since I am home alone. I spent $6.09 on a DVD - The Jane Austen Book Club, which I enjoyed! I also picked up a few more groceries, since I can never do it all in one trip.

Total debt: $10,500 plus a bit more
Spent today: $18.71

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