cash money

I fed my praying mantis a spider I found in my room the other day. It ate that spider so fast, I didn't even get to see how he captured it. Just saw him chilling on top of the box holding it with one hand and eating it like it was a hamburger. Pretty awesome huh? Also, I really don't know why I keep finding bugs in my room but now I get really excited when I see one because I can feed it to my praying mantis. I still haven't named him yet...

Today was a pretty awesome day for multiple reasons that I won't get into since I don't want to jinx anything, although now I am pretty happy with the way things are going. I started running more and finally timed my mile today. I ran it in 7 minutes and 40 seconds and ran a mile and a half in 11 minutes and 32 seconds. I wasn't really trying to get a hella good time or anything; I was more focused on actually finishing it without stopping. I guess a 7:40 is not that bad considering I almost never run. It's nothing compared to what I used to be able to run in high school though. But then again, I was probably like 40 pounds lighter. (all muscle... of course...) Haha. I miss those days where I would eat anything I wanted all the time. I think my mom went on vacation for two weeks one summer and all I ate was cheerios and vanilla ice cream (together). That shit was soooooo delicious. Kinda miss those days, although I really like how my life is going right now. I feel like I have matured so much in the past year, in so many different ways. Ever since like about like the 7th grade, I can remember girls calling me immature. I was probably lacking in manners and a lot of other stuff. But yeah... maturity was never one of my characteristics. Also I am the youngest in my family and always liked to hang out with older people so I guess I was always used to being the youngest. I got babied a lot actually, now that I think about it. Also honestly, I make a much better little bro than a big bro. Hahaha. Anyways, I think the past year is the most growing up I have ever done. I see so many things differently now and my priorities have definitely changed. My views on things have changed drastically on many differnt aspects like work, money, relationships, and mainly time management. Yeah... This year probably wasn't my best year for many reasons but I am pretty happy about how it turned out. This next year will probably be the best year of my life thus far.

I also recently have thought about a new strategy in spending money. Yeah yeah, those of you who know me know I am incredibly cheap and thrifty. Saving money has always been something that came to me naturally. Anyways, I thought about a new thing where I would spend money like I had it. I'm going to spend money like I have it because then I would be pressured to go out and make more. This is the exact sentence I said to my friend while buying beer at Ralphs which resulted in laughter, not only from her but from the cashier too. Maybe it sounds like a dumb idea, or actually is a dumb idea but I have reasons. First of all, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be splurging on things and buying things I don't exactly need or spending money on expensive meals or anything of that nature. However, I am going to stop worrying about how I spend my money and start thinking about how I am going to make more. I can easily live off $400 a month (not including rent) with a lot of calculating and self control. I would just need to spend all my money on groceries and gas and rarely buy anything or go out. I have been doing this for 3 years. But I am constantly worrying about money and how much I am spending and it often affects my social life. Also it makes me really stingy. I would not consider myself greedy or selfish about money and neither would my friends but I understand being cheap is not exactly a great characteristic either. Also honestly, it causes a lot of stress. Buying things or going out without constantly thinking about how much you spent probably also makes whatever you paid for much more enjoyable. In addition, spending all my money makes a pretty great motivation for me to go out and find ways to get more. Legal ways, that is.