Day 1

I awoke Sunday alone in my apartment, with my dog at my feet. She is running out of food. I checked the "Free" section of Craigslist and only found a post for canned beets, tomatoes and beans. I inquired about them anyway as I would be running out of food sometime this month as well. I sent:

> do you still have that canned food? If so, I will take it!
> I am trying to save gas, are you close to
> my area? Please give me a call, Thank you

I included my full name and phone # wondering what this person must think of me. I'm trying to save gas, inquiring about canned food, yet I also have internet access. I was pretty bummed, as bummed as someone could be at least, to not get the canned beets. The reply simply read :

>I am sorry...They are gone

When I was first moving in to my apartment, I bought a bunch of stuff for it. I even bought a wrought iron dog bowl thing that started rusting almost immediatly. I didnt have the receipt and didnt much want to deal with it so I just kept using the slightly rusty thing, Sam didnt seem to mind. I decided I was going to try to return it and exchange it for dog food. Dogs don't need fancy dog bowls nearly as much as they need food. Normally when Sam and I go to Petsmart, we take the car. If we do walk, I usually reward myself with a ButterFinger of 3Muskateer when we arrive. On this day, I toasted some almonds and filled up a bottle of water.

I had also read that Einstein Bagels was giving away a free bagel and shmear with a coupon that day. My plan was to walk to Petsmart in the morning, try to make the exchange, and be back in time for the apartment offices to be open so I could print the coupon for the free bagel. I would then walk to Einstein Brothers Bagel's and get lunch.

A nice employee offered to take Sam to the back to get some water. I accepted his offer. The woman was able to give me a gift card worth $27. When I perused the isles of dogfood I was torn. Sams regular stuff was way too expensive on my new budget of nothing. But im still her mom, and im not going to feed her the sawdust brand, so I decided the best thing to do would be to check online for coupons and return the next day. As we were walking back home, I felt pretty good about the whole dog food thing. I was going to be able to provide for Sam, and I still had'nt spent any money.

As we were walking, a woman pulled over and offered us a ride home. "I saw you walking way back there and just had to stop to help". I didnt realize I was in need of help. Sometimes people use there legs. But I looked at Sam and she did look pretty tired so I accepted her offer and scooted into the back seat with my 50lb dog on my lap, trying not to get her fur anywhere. The woman's name was Georgia and she was a dog lover. When she pulled into my apartment complex she said " you would have never made it this far by yourself". I thanked her, trying to explain I was saving gas and not spending money for a month. She looked confused and weary that I might ask her for money so I told her I worked at the mall up the road and we agreed she would have to stop by next time she was there.

My friend had checked his bank account that day and noticed that on the 1st weekend of every month Bank of America cardholders get free admission into museums. I had already told him about my project so he called and invited me to the local art museum. While I waited for him, I printed off 2 coupons for a free bagel and decided to ask him to swing by there on our way. The best part of my day was ordering the bagels, walking up to the register and hearing "ok ma'am that's 2 everything bagels with tomato basil shmear on one, garden veggie shmear on the other, that'll be...nothing".

"that'll be...nothing". It was greatness. I handed him the two folded coupons and he handed me a warm bag that smelled like heaven. It was the best bagel I had ever eaten. The tomato basil shmear made it taste like a pasta dish. I imagined thats what it was. We had both gotten Everything bagels for nothing.

The museum was delightful. I spent the rest of the night walking Sam, planning my meals for the next day and entering to win tickets to Scarborough Fair. I go every year in May with a good friend. I entered the online drawing 50 times. If I don't win the tickets, I plan on bartering for them on Craigslist or other social networking sites. I also spent a good bit of time online looking for more ways to get free food and shampoo, something I'm running out of. It was after midnight before I was able to crawl into bed.