I had an emergency root canal today. Partly this is a good thing, since I no longer feel like someone is hammering a nail through my jaw into my head, and that plus codeine equals blessed relief. However I had already used up my measly dental insurance allotment for the year (it's not my fault. It's genetic. I have flawless dental hygiene, but I grind my teeth like my mother and have rotten teeth like my father), so I have to shell out for my $1500 root canal from my own empty pocket. Too bad my non-existent emergency fund is empty. Ah, New York City, you are an expensive rat bastard.
But, coincidentally, I was already in the process of trying to regulate my sad, sad finances by getting a handle on what, exactly I'm wasting all my money on. To that end, I made this handy dandy two-sided notebook. On one side, I'm going to write all my to-do lists, since I generally write these on scraps of paper, lose them, and realize when I find them two months later that I still haven't framed that print yet. On the other side I was going to write down every single cent I spent, so that I could identify that perhaps I shouldn't spend $45 a day on coffee, and then voila! My money troubles would be over! Of course now I have no money to spend at all, but a two-sided notebook is still a neat idea. Maybe I'll use the second side for all the things I wish I could buy or brainstorming potential winning lottery numbers. The possibilities are endless!
I got this brilliant idea from Etsy - they had a little tutorial on it. Now I'm thinking that I'll make and sell 5 million of them, and then I'll be able to pay off my dental work. It will be awesome, my entrepreneurship. Wouldn't you want a 2-sided notebook with a letterpress printed cover? On one side, you can keep your hopes and dreams, and on the other side you can note your harsh realities! In keeping with the recession-chic theme of this post, I printed the cover of my notebook with a factory. I think factories are sometimes kind of depressing, what with the harsh labor conditions, the environmental damage, or the closing of said factory and ruining of the town, so this factory is in keeping with my depressed mood. On the other hand, it looks like a happy factory, right, with the bouncy smoke rings and the trains? So maybe it's blue-collar industry keeping America afloat, looking on the bright side. Union-negotiated dental insurance for all. Fluoride in the water. Two-sided notebook - oh, the possibilities.