Free Pizza...Wish They Gave Away Free Time!

A few days ago, Husband (bless his beady little heart) said, "Um, I'm supposed to bring lunch for 25 people on Thursday." I said, "What?" It's not as bad as it seems; turns out that he needs a side dish and dessert for 25. (Wafted kisses and blessings to the kind soul who volunteered for the main dish -- I wonder if another unsuspecting wife is cooking it tonight??)

And I have to appraise all day tomorrow at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. What a relief for packaged potato salad. I plan to doll it up with celery, red pepper and a sprinkle of soul food seasoning. As for dessert, I'll bake a few cakes...people can cut the slice they want.

What could make supper easy tomorrow night? Papa John's is offering a FREE cheeze pizza when you order online, if you sign up for e-mail updates:

http://www.papajohns.com/register/index.shtm

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Wisdom Journal has a fascinating post on 10 Ways College Made Me Poor:

http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/10-ways-college-made-me-poor/

I would say, though, that the title should be 10 Stupid Decisions I Made During College. No one made Our Hero take out college loans, credit cards and grants -- that was his decision. I was also amused by arguing that since he lived cheap during college, thanks to shared expenses with roommates and a food plan, he got used to spending his extra money on goodies. And the pattern continued after... So who's to blame here, buddy? The landlord?

I learned two things from the post...and my own experience:

*Guess who's responsible for your actions? That's right -- YOU.
*Loans are NEVER free.

Hard lessons to learn, though. And they meant I lived in someone's house (while cleaning it, walking the dog, and taking care of their daughter) so I could afford to go to grad school. Living on scrambled eggs and bacon (my employers threw in breakfast), canned spaghetti and the occasional $1.39 order of fried rice. (Eggrolls were a luxury at a buck each.) Grading papers as a class assistant. Doing the occasional catering gig for my bosses. No credit cards. (I rarely had folding money, anyways!) Used books. Free concerts, cheap movies. And studying really hard.

That's was a college experience I have never regretted.

I'm being mean, though -- Wisdom Journal has some great points, as well as other posts like:

http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/12-things-i-learned-by-42-that-i-wish-i-knew-at-22/

http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/20-things-ive-learned-while-getting-out-of-debt/

And if you're curious, the story of Chris:

http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/bad-debt-bad-job-rough-life/