2001-11-27 - 11:51 p.m.

I am so broke.

It's been a very long time since I've been this broke.

I mean, I was broke back in January when I had to call for a ride back to Maine and was staying with my mom in the hotel. I was pretty broke then, but I had my mom. I was living with her, she was paying for all of the food until I got a job, and she was getting reimbursed for it at the time. Then in the following months, when I was staying with her, I often didn't have any money for a few days, but I'd already paid my incredibly low rent ($50 a week that my mom used to buy groceries) and spent the rest on random crap like going to the movies. That's not being broke, that's just not having any extra money to play with.

I am broke.

Here's a run-down of my current money situation.

I have $757 in my checking account. $4.25 of that has already been paid by my debit card to the local laundromat, they just haven't actually taken it out of my account yet. $750 is tied up in a rent check for the past five weeks, and will also be soon removed from my account, leaving me with $2.75 in my checking account.

I have $595.17 in my savings account. $595 of that will, as of tomorrow, be paid to the company that has taken over my long long long overdue credit card bill, which has been slowly building since I gave up my attempt to move to Boston last January. This was the first time I've had enough to make a serious dent in that debt.

So, in my two bank accounts, once all my outstanding debits have been reconciled, I will have $2.82 to my name.

"But Dave, don't you get paid on Thursday?" you might think if you're as logical as me, but don't have all the information.

Yes, in fact, I do get paid on Thursday. But, because of an elaborate saving plan I have, I'll only have saved about $130 in two weeks.

And they'll be taking the next pay installment in two weeks.

For $130.

and then again two weeks later.

So for the next month?

I'm really broke.

*Really* broke.