(p.s. I've never said that. Ever)
I'm on a budget.
It's a semi-self imposed budget.
A semi-self imposed budget where someone I don't know gets to keep all my credit cards until I pay them back. Someone who takes money from me once a month and gives it to all my credit cards. Someone who doesn't allow me to have any more debt until all my credit cards are paid off.
In four years.
If someone asked me what *budgeting* means to me, I would say budgeting means that instead of worrying about how the **F** I'm going to come up with money the night before my rent is due, I worry about money every single day of the month.
This probably means that I'm doing it wrong.
Since September, I have to think before I buy anything. I have to think stupid little things like, "Do I really need this?" and "Should I get a mani/pedi or should I get groceries?" It's horribly depressing. Especially because I have to pick the most responsible thing like All.The.Time. Being an adult, and a mother kind of dictates that I feed my kid even if my fingers look naked without a french manicure.
With all these adult-ish choices, I had to pick between getting my hair cut and dyed, which all you ladies know is not a cheap thing these days, and going to Las Vegas with my best girlfriend the end of April. Of course, I'm just like every other gal out there who wishes for what she doesn't have and pays gobs of money to look like a *natural* blonde. Unfortunately, I'm a dark brown instead...and I had been putting off getting my roots done for months hoping to come into a small fortune, so they looked horrible. Another four inches and I'd be ombre, but no...I just looked *undone*. I thought I'd save a few dollars, get my roots done and go to Vegas. I'd do my own hair. I've done it before. It always works out.
Remember how you forget how things go horribly wrong until after they've gone horribly wrong again??
Obviously, I'm nowhere near talented enough to give myself highlights. Those I've tried before and just ended up with blonde patches all over my head. I have hair that's down the middle of my back...disasters with hair that long are expensive to fix, not to mention if you leave the bleach on for too long you end up frying your hair and it FALLS out. I did not need that. So I decided to go back to my natural colour. I picked a colour similar that boasted iridescent colour, and the consumer I am, I believed thoroughly, and thought it would be fabulous.
I didn't think it would be orange with grayish green highlights.
It wasn't very becoming. It didn't go very well with my skin tones. It definitely did not bring out the blue in my eyes.
But now, I had already vested myself in going to Vegas. I was going...no questions about it...so I still did not have the money to get it fixed...so I fixed it myself.
I am now dark, dark brown with dark brown areas, and a few lighter brown areas. It's not quite the disaster it was, but it certainly isn't my beautiful, beautiful hair. I'm going to let it settle for a few weeks, play the lotto, and hope for a windfall. The feeling that I'm going to throw up has subsided and I'm not so shocked when I look in the mirror.
But...
I do have money for rent. Q has food on the table. Lola has gas in her tank.
...and do I really need *perfect* hair?
Oh and just an FYI...I used the new hair foam - ever the consumer. It's not as fabulous as they made it sound. Okay, so not as drippy as the other stuff, but it did not lather the way it said it would. It was not full coverage, like it said it was. And my right hand and thumb hurt for days afterwards because you have to squeeze the bottle to get the dye out. You have to reeeeeealllllllly squeeze that dang bottle as you get to the last few drops. Lesson? Go pay the extra money and get it done professionally...nothing is better than someone playing with your hair for an hour. If I were rich I would get a blow out 3 times a week, just because it feels so amazing.
But I'm not rich. I'm on a budget.
Instead I have blotchy brown hair.
I could really use a cut, too.
