My official starting point

Last October, I left a well paying job after three months. It was certainly not the job for me and I unfortunately found that out the hard way. After living the good life for four years while in school, I now had no cash flow and i'm pretty certain that my bills even had bills (damn the credit card industry for lurking on college campuses.) Oh yeah, and the economy collapsed.

Fast forward to April 2009. I had been jobless for 6 months (refusing to fall back into retail HELL) and was watching my decent credit score take a plunge off of the high dive. It was perhaps the scariest 6 months of my life. I had so much time to think about how stupid I was with my money in college and how we, as American teenagers, are never taught (and I mean NEVER) about how to appropriately deal with our finances. I decided that I had no choice but to turn my life around, but unfortunately couldn't start until I found a J-O-B. I have a decent resume for someone my age and could not get interviews for the life of me. I have the American economy to thank for that.

When I wasn't job hunting, I was looking for DEALS anywhere I could find them. I finally became the woman that I didn't think I'd ever be...my mother. A little about my mom. I think her official tagline should be "did you look at Goodwill?" I was raised being dragged to yard sale after yard sale before the sun came up. Whenever I needed a prom dress or a new pair of shoes, Goodwill was always the first place to look. And it wasn't that we were desperate for money, my mother is just the epitome of a BARGAIN SHOPPER. And now, I have followed suit.

I live in the city, and appreciate the many fabulous opportunites that come with the city lifestyle, but I have officially crossed over to what I'm going to refer to as the "dark side." I crave thrift store shopping. I get excited when yard sale season starts. I'm coming to appreciate the words "antique" and "vintage," rather than "new" and "trendy." Not only is being thrifty good for my wallet, but also good for the environment. Thrift store shopping is the ultimate form of recycling. Whenever I go home to Maine, I make a point to swing by Goodwill and usually always pick up another coffee mug to add to my random mug collection (My favorite being a mug from Epcot in Disney World circa 1983 with a purple cartoon dragon wearing a hat.)

To sum things up, I learned a lot in 8 months of unemployment. I learned that bills need to be paid (and on time.) I learned to appreciate the idea of thriftiness. And perhaps the biggest step I've taken is adjusting my buying/spending habits, which now is one other thing that I can be proud about in my already very-green-daily-lifestyle. Oh yeah, and I've learned that it doesn't hurt to want to turn into your mother. I'm 23 and am pretty sure I'm already there.

I've created this blog to share my many thoughts, opinions, and general daily banter on anything from my latest thrift store score to a new recipe to tips on living a greener lifestyle. I welcome any comments or suggestions with open arms and hope that Thrifty Bean is well worth reading.

Enjoy!