I wish that money really did grow off of trees...

...and I wish I had one of those trees in my backyard.

I hate being so broke all the time. 

I literally am living dollar-to-dollar, and everyone around me is swimming in money it seems- from their jobs, from their parents, from their tax returns. It's no one's fault but my own that I am so broke. 

I haven't had a legitimate job since 2007. (That's SO sad to say out loud). 

The summer of 2007, I worked three jobs and saved up a ton of money- enough to get me through the fall. I didn't have a car at school, and I was taking 6 classes at one point, so time and travel to have a job were limited. Then 2008 rolled around and I couldn't get a job for the summer because I was doing an unpaid internship. Come Fall 2008, school was once again drowning me and I didn't have time to pick one up.  Now, its 2009 and I am READY and DYING for a freaking job. Anything will do at this point. But of course, with the economy the way it is  (and I know I do not need to go into detail about this), no one is hiring. Even restaurants and retail jobs, my "fallback" jobs, won't hire because they are all CLOSING. 

It's really ridiculous. 

But anyways, the point of this blog is this: I don't have any money to go out and do fun stuff, which may be why things seem so crappy all the time. This weekend, I am going out to the bar with some newspaper friends for a much-needed fun night together. Saturday, Valentine's Day, I got kind of asked out on a date that I am kind of not wanting to go on, so I plan on heading out with another group of friends. The thing is, I don't even think I can afford both. It's not fun. 

My birthday is coming up in March, and my friends and I wanted to go back to Canada for the weekend like we did last year. I had an amazing birthday last year and would LOVE to repeat the experience, but it's going to cost a whopping $200.00 just for ONE weekend. That is so much money, seriously. The problem is, the deal we are getting this time is SO good, and we would be driving up ourselves, so we wouldn't have to suffer through throwing up on the bus ride again. (That's a fun story, let me tell you). Here's another problem: I REALLY want a new tattoo. A big, sexy one on my forearm that I know is going to be pretty pricey. 

There's no way I can afford both my trip and tattoo without help from my friends and family, and asking either them for more help than they already give me is not even an option.

Now I just need to decide, what's more important: a fun Spring break/birthday weekend I probably won't forget or a tattoo I'll have forever.