ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I just got got a courtesy security call from my credit union. Seems they wanted to make sure the $52 train ticket and $15 bus ticket I purchased online last night were legit. sigh... even the credit union can't believe I'm resorting to a train/bus combo to get home (and only now doing so because the price dropped below what i'd have to pay for gas if i drove instead). Wasn't too long ago I wouldn't have thought twice about dropping the $200+ dollars on a plane ticket. but these are not those times... these are times for brown bagging it for lunch, pedicures in the living room and banana peel home facials. (no, really. i couldn't believe it either, but it's amazingly effective for the rosacea challenged face) I can't say that i really hate the new thrifty worldview. in fact, one of my goals is to be figuring out what i want my life to look like over the next 2 - 5 years and making that picture a sustainable reality. increasingly, i'm coming up with more of a balanced picture where i'm not choosing the workaholic, soulsucking bigbucks route, in favor simpler, quieter with more quality time for the people who are important. ...but it bumps up against my old ways of being an unapologetic material girl, and shines a spotlight on how much easier some things are when you have gobs of money to throw at things. and a part of me is still really invested in hanging onto the old ways. what can i say? those old ways are as comfortable and familiar as the reversible mink/leather winter coat i still adore.