Working on Empty

I have been running out of moisturizer for my face for the past few months. Granted, I don't use much ... but the amazing thing is how much was still left in the bottle after most people would have considered it empty.

I turned the bottle upside down. That easily added a month onto the lifespan of my lotion. When it started gasping and sputtering, I shook it vigorously every time I used it and that added at least two more weeks to its life span. When shaking the bottle every which way provided little more than a breath of air from the bottle, I cut the bottle in half and scraped out the contents into another moisturizer jar. And that is still going strong.

I remember the angst that I felt when I spent cash that I really didn't have, to ensure that I still had a supply of moisturizer on hand when this 'almost empty' bottle ran out. That was February 13th. I was (what I thought) half way through the drought season of my current budget situation. It was money that was going to be spent one time or another ... so why not then?

Since that time, I have been squeezing the most out of my budget in much the same fashion as my overturned moisturizer bottle.

As with my moisturizer, I am finding that a little dab'll do me. Less is more when it comes to extra-curricular spending. Spend with abandon and you forget to appreciate the little things. I love when a take-out meal feels like an occasion instead of a week-day-coping-mechanism.

I turned my spending habits upside down and made the most of what I had. It went farther than I thought it would. Just when things were getting tight, I 'shook things up' and a well timed income tax refund covered past, present and (a few) future shortages. As I look ahead and see more uncertainty in my future, I foresee scraping the bottom of the barrel to make this work.

This is where the parallels end. Unlike replenishing my moisturizer in a time of financial uncertainty, nothing short of a miracle (a full-time position at work would suffice, but a winning lottery ticket would suffice) will provide that 'extra bottle of moisturizer' to pull from the cupboard when the well runs dry.

I have been looking for answers but they are taking their time revealing themselves to me. I haven't resorted to scraping the bottom of the barrel. I don't mind doing so ... but I need to know what I have in my reserves before I deplete that which I have.

My depleted moisturizer supply is symbolic of my financial state. What appears to be empty can be stretched to last much longer than one would expect.

I'm getting the best mileage that I can, out of what I've got. If I run out of gas, I will walk. I will keep moving ... of that, I am certain.