And then I promptly stopped for several months. What has happened since then?

February:
-Survived the Olympics.
-Finally tackled the beast known as my Canada Student Loan. Paid a small amount of money. Was reassured that situation would be fine. Applied for the Repayment Assistance Program.
-Major depressive disorder got a little bit worse.

March:
-Owed Student Loans more money.
-Had a severe lung infection.
-Major depressive disorder got a little bit worse.

April:
-Found out that Student Loans had messed up. Owed about 750.
-Got extremely sick of work.
-Broke down and sobbed at work.
-Went back on my meds.
-Made the steps to go to a food bank.
-Was contemplating dark and morbid things when the Canada Revenue Agency gave me a generous tax refund.

May:
-Paid off that enormous debt, was approved for the Repayment Assistance Program.
-A friendship started to unravel.
-Found out my financial situation allowed me to get my depression meds for free.

June:
-Meh.

July:
-Went on a trip to visit family. It was horrible.
-My younger cat turned three!
-The money left over from my tax refund started to dwindle.
-Some dear friends moved out of Vancouver.

August:
-Money left over completely dwindled.

September:
-Paid off a 500 overdraft and closed it!
-Moved to a new bank, finally. No frozen funds for me!
-Still had yet to hear a Justin Bieber song.

October, so far:
-My older cat turned four!
-Paid off a 100 overdraft and closed it!
-Received motivation to apply for new jobs.
-Have a tiny amount of savings. Small steps.
-Found out that Justin Bieber assaulted a twelve-year-old boy. Did not care.

2092:
57,837.33 of debt, excluding interest, will be all paid off.

I have not updated in a few days. Reason being that I've been bad, and I'm pretty ashamed of myself.

I haven't been tracking how much I've spent, but now I'm down to my last thirty-five dollars. This is it. I have no idea what to do for groceries. I've been subsisting off whatever I can find in my fridge and cupboards. For instance, today I've consumed a banana with several globs of natural peanut butter and a small bowl of popcorn with salt and olive oil.

I don't know what to make this week. I have a can of tomatoes and two cans of beans. I guess I could make

chili. There is an unopened jar of salsa in my fridge, I just saw. Woohoo!

I have $25.00 in my US account, but I'd like to keep that. I guess I'll wait and see. If I'm in decent shape on Friday, I should be okay until pay day (February 15).

Also, a person I know is leaving the country at the end of the month. The person wants to go to Earls (PDF file) on Saturday. I want to see this person off, but I only want to spend about ten bucks. Would it be tacky of me to stuff myself before I leave and then go there and not eat anything?

And then I'm going to see the Chinese New Year's parade the next day, and my friend would like to go to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. I'm thinking... big breakfast or something really cheap? Augh. It's awkward when my friends have way much more money than I do.

Also... Olympics in five days. Blah. Katarina Witt (whom I love... when I was little, I marvelled over her height. She just seemed to tower over other skaters) and Elizabeth Manley (whom I also love-- go, Canada!) skated downtown today. I can't believe I missed that! But it was very crowded, and some people had to hold their cameras over their heads because they couldn't see the skaters.

Hope you guys are well. Please wish me luck this week. I'll need it.

P.S. I don't have a TV, but I wish I could watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Twitter is telling me about a Letterman/Oprah/Leno (ick) commercial? Oh, well, that's what YouTube is for!

Edit: Found some receipts. Here we go.

Lunch on Thursday: 8.07
Muffin: 1.21
Dinner on Friday: 15.00
Pet food: 16.79
McDonald's: 4.00
Rent: 550

Total monthly spending so far: 629.34

I have about $100.00 to live on until February 15. 13 days until pay day.

Things I need to buy before pay day:
Groceries ($25.00, tops)
Cat food and litter ($25.00, tops)
Paper towels, garbage bags, bathroom tissue ($7.00?)

Other things:
Friday dinner: $9.00
Drinking with friends on the 13th: $7.00

I think one drink only ought to be okay.

Which will leave me about $25.00, if I play my cards right.

Also, my bank took out at least $40.00 in monthly fees. It's my fault for being so reckless and using my debit card, but I was gobsmacked just the same. Unfortunately, my credit is bad enough that I can't switch banks.

And now I have to get ready for work.

Edit: Oh, what a tiring day. Also, I think I'm catching a cold.

Found an extra seven bucks in Toonies and a loonie. So... muffin. I only had that and a granola bar today. Potatoes and oatmeal for dinner, banana for dessert.

Muffin: 1.80
Cat litter: 10.07

Total monthly spending so far: 21.57