Cheap costume ideas?

Who's got them? When I say cheap, I mean I could affix household item A to household item B, attach it to my body, throw on flasies and BAM! I'm Latika from Slumdog Millionaire. Remember, this blog is about maximizing my life for less but I still need to be a smokeshow so I can flirt appropriately. Is this achievable?

Tips? Tricks? Trick or Treat?

Help me.

Just wanted to mention...

I HAVE NOT SPENT ONE CENT TODAY!

This might not seem like a big deal to you, but I live in New York. Also known as, "The City that Never Sleeps and Never Stops Spending." Or so I've heard.

Think of the obstacles I have triumphed over/avoided today:

830AM - Fruit cart on the way to work: usually buy a banana. Today? DENIED, Mohammed!

1045AM - Browsed J. Crew and ShopBop. Can you read?? I browsed!

1230PM - Lunchtime. I brownbagged and watched instantly on Netflix as per usual. Bliss.

330PM - Afternoon snack? Green tea and chocolate on the company dime, stocked in the kitchen. Pure bliss.

7PM - Reheated the chicken tacos I made last night. Muy bueno y sin dinero.

9PM - Took a bath and read Essence while listening to depressing, yet romantic, old school Feist. Totally free and freeing.

1125PM - Realized that I have yet to pay my Time Warner bill that is due today. Paying that ish tomorrow online just to save face. I'm on a roll, alright?

So proud and I didn't even plan this! Let's see how tomorrow goes, shall we?

FIN

Busy, but making a little time for my arch enemy, DEBT

I have been unbelievably busy. Like every hour of everyday carved out for me kind of busy.

But I'm still fighting to beat down my debt, a number that cannot be named. Going forward, said debt will be called VOLDEMORT. Voldermort is a bitch.

An aside: I hate mixing my pop culture references, but has anyone starting watching Heroes: Season 4, yet? They're introducing all these new characters with crazy cool powers. A deaf woman has the power to "visually hear" things she sees through spurts of color! Another character has enhanced speed - that is, he can rip you to shreds with knives in 10 seconds. Those writers have great imaginations. I guess that's what they're paid for, but how about introducing a super hot black girl? She can be a sort of modern day Robin hood whose ability is taking loot out of banker's bonuses and paying off poor folks debt! What do you think?! Her first save? Herself.

Back to the busy, I just moved into a new studio last week (HURRAH!) and though living single has benefits galore, the start up stuff is costly. But I am not using my credit cards to make any purchases! I've been working hard and cutting back! I think I'm also taking the advice of friends and saving up for the big purchases. Sure, I could buy a nice couch tomorrow, but then I'd struggle a bit until the end of the month. Instead I'm going to save little by little until I'm ready to buy the couch and all guests will have spoon with me until I get it. Cool?

If you guys know of where to find cheap sofabeds, please let me know! I'm also looking for some cute curtains to replace the black garbage bags presently covering my windows. Mucho feo, señors.

FIN

I'm fit, mate.

Okay well, "fit" might be a stretch, but I'm relatively healthy. I eat alright (see previous post - i'm working on it), I try to drink like 64 ounces of water a day and I have the great advantage of being able to walk to work. It's about fifteen minutes each way, so I get my thirty minutes/day in just by showing up to my job in Battery Park.

I used to pay $85/month to go to New York Sports Club, but canceled my membership last July to save cash. I now run the Brooklyn Bridge or East River Esplanade to get in cardio and I play soccer for a Sunday league in Astoria.*

But I miss the machines of the gym. I don't want to get all Madonna or The Man Whose Arms Exploded or anything, but a nice tone all-around would be nice. Also, running and the running around in soccer burns a lot of fat, but I have no muscle. I can barely replace the water cooler at work without hyperventilating. And that's only 40lbs.

Any tips on getting buff sans Bally's? I mean, I can do curls with cans of green beans, but there's gotta be other ways to get toned without the help of gym machines. What are ways to stay strong without spending a ton on a gym membership? What do you folks do??

*Rereading this, I sound sooo athletic and active! Ha ha. If only I didn't compound all that activity with booze and brie.

bad news, good news: lunches

Bad news: I bought lunch today at Flavors.
Good news: I cut that ish in half and will eat the rest tomorrow.
Spent: ~$10
Paid: via Debit Card

My mother taught me to do that years ago, but since living in NYC and even back in college years, I never wanted to take stuff home because I was rarely going home. I was always going to straight to the bar after dinner or to a friend's house or something - and I never wanted to carry my foil duck around the club. Tres tacky, no?

But now we exclaim, "We're in a recession! Wrap it up!" at dinner tables the world over. I've been in a personal recession since I signed my soul over to the College Foundation circa fall 2000, but in typical (and former) Blaire style, I never took left overs home. The next day at work, I would charge a soup and salad at Pret instead. Pathetic.

Thoughts? What are your tricks and tips on getting by for cheap when it comes to lunches, dinner, etc? Do you buy in bulk on Sunday to last all week? How can you buy healthy but cheap options? That is my biggest concern.


*Would also like to mention that I will NOT be documenting my spending like this. Not this often, not daily. I think I'll just write about topics where I can save or where I have made mistakes - in this case, both somehow.