Money Matters

Saturday May 10th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

Lucky for me I have cheap tastes because I’m broke. I haven’t been this low on cash in a long time and I’m starting to sweat it a little. No, more than a little. A lot of things have gone down in the past year or so and the result is I am running my financial tank on ‘E’.

Some of it was my fault but not all. I spent a nice wad on sports cards just because I like them and thought I could afford to take that risk. I can resell them at some point but not at once like I bought them. I bought them in large lots and hope to resell them gradually at a profit. I didn’t buy them to turn a quick buck and looking back on it I wish I hadn‘t now.

I had no idea I was going to get cleaned out by my business partner. That was a shocker and it took out my entire emergency fund. I never planned on touching a dime of it unless I was in dire straits but that didn’t look like it would happen at all. Now I’m not so sure.

I also was good to a few people and sold them cars on credit and haven’t been paid back and that’s hurting too. Paul Kelly has been a total ass about it and I have lost total respect for him. It’s my own fault for doing it but he came to me and said he needed a car so I did what I thought was a favor but in return he totally took advantage of my generous nature.

It also caused me to drop out of Chicago Style Standups. I know that saying ‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be’ and it’s a lot truer than I imagined. I made a mistake and now I deeply regret it. Coupled with all the other stuff I find myself backed into a corner and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. But it did and now I have to shovel my way out.

I know I’m not the only one having money squeezing woes right now. A ton of people are in huge debt and have a huge monthly nut but I purposely try to live cheap so I don‘t have that constant pressure. I‘m starting to feel a little and I need to recushion myself.

I’m going to choose to look at this as a positive and deal with it without letting it get me down. I got myself into this pickle and I will get myself out. Money is like the tide and for now the tide is out. It will again come in and when it does I need to handle it a lot better.

It’s getting so tight I even thought about trying for another radio gig. The thought didn’t last very long but I did think about it. It sure would bail me out of this. I would try to bank as much cash as I could each week and continue living like a bed bug. I can do that well.

If I suck it up and watch my pennies I’ll be ok. I hope. Without my normal backup those squeaks in my car sound louder and those aches and pains in my body are achier. And gas prices aren’t doing anyone any good right now. All the black clouds are lining up at once.

But that’s how it is. Work has dried up at the moment and money is tight but I think it’s a cycle and I will treat it as such. It all decided to sneak up at me at once and I’m going to have to make a conscious plan to change it back to where I was before. I’m one bad break away from total disaster and with my track record of luck that might not be that far away.

Despite all that I still had a very fun day. I hadn’t been to the car auction in a while and I heard the rusty tin calling my name. I love the whole experience of hunting for cars so I headed over and took a lap. I felt right at home as I got my bidder’s card and settled in for the action. I wasn’t going to buy anything today but that didn’t mean I didn’t still enjoy it.

One of the guys who works there is a regular listener to WLS and heard Jerry and I talk about where I get my cars and now I’m a huge celebrity to the auction staff. He called the owner when we were talking about it and when I walked in his face lit up and he pointed me out to the rest of the staff. ‘THAT’S the guy. That’s him right there. He’s FAMOUS!’

I smiled and turned around to see if anyone really famous was behind me but it was me they were gawking at so I waved and shook some hands and then customers turned heads too. I felt good in a way and like a total ass in another. I was not looking to be on stage.

Before the auction I stopped at the Red School House restaurant for breakfast because I wanted to see if that waitress I like was working. She was but yet again I didn’t get sat in her section so I had my breakfast and left. It’s a small place but always busy so I guess I have to keep trying. I will though because I want to at least get my chance to ask her out.

After coming home from the auction I spent some time reading about mail order before spending some more time working on my act. I have a lot of material I’m trying to polish and I really enjoy losing myself in the process of doing that. It’s very productive and fun.

I needed to be at Jerry Agar’s house by 5:30 to ride over and see two of his three kids in a production of ‘Jungle Book’. I really love watching his kids grow up and do all of these fun things I never got a chance to do. All three of the kids are talented and I love them all.

His daughter Kaelin turned 9 and had a birthday party so there was a house full of little girls after the show. We had pizza and punch and birthday cake and I was able to make all the kids laugh which is always the best. One of them leaned over to Kaelin and whispered ‘Who IS this guy? He’s FUNNY!’ Those kinds of moments can’t be bought for any price.

Neither can hanging out with his sons Tanner and Cooper. The four of us just hung out and talked about guy stuff for a while and that was fun too. Tanner is 15 and Cooper is 12 and I can make them laugh too. I was both those ages and I can put myself in their shoes.

At the end of the day none of this cost me anything other than showing up but I sure had a lot of fun. I didn’t need to pay any cover charges or taxes or tips and that’s ok with me. I have never had extravagant tastes and even if I do hit my jackpot someday I’ll still enjoy a car auction or a rummage sale or a flea market just because they’re fun. I like the process.

Making money is a process too though and there’s nothing wrong with learning how the process works. I’m starting pretty late in life but I need to change my whole view of how I handle my finances so I can never be in this position again. Even though I had a fun day it doesn’t change the fact that I am still running very lean and could use some backup cash.