Small Victories!

Well yesterday I went on a marathon cab ride with the famous and reliable Tyrone.  I had some serious errands to run around town and had basically no idea where I needed to go to accomplish those things.  My goals:

1) Ship my massive ADKOF merchandise collection that I've been slaving over for the last 3 weeks
2) Pay my power bill
3) Go grocery shopping
4) Fax some paperwork to TRS
5) Go to the casino to withdraw some cash

So I called Tyrone and told him I needed a chauffeur and he was more than willing to oblige.  Let me preface this whole saga by telling you that I fully intended to be blowing a massive amount of money on all of these endeavors.  I had prepared myself to be out close to $600 by the time my day was said and done.   If you're having a heart attack right now, you're not alone.  I actually had trouble sleeping on Monday night because I was stressing about the financial stroke that was impending...

So here we go:
7:30-After having stayed up until after 2:00 AM the night before, Jonathan and I slept in on accident!  So we had a "Home Alone" moment, tore out of bed, and somehow miraculously he was able to catch his bus ride at 7:36!  Phew!!  After he left, I frantically tryed to finish up my last jewelry pieces, package them, and get ready to leave.
11:30-Tyrone picks me up at my house.  I have been literally tearing my apartment to shreds searching for my BOA card.  I paid bills with it just the other day and now I can't seem to find it.  UGH!  It's gotta be here somewhere! Our Mission:

-Go to campus to give Jonathan the TRS forms to fax and get his BOA card
-Bounce from shipping company to shipping company to find the best deal
-Go to Bahama Electric Company to pay my bill
-Drop me by the grocery store

The Shipping Saga:
Usually it costs us about $50 to mail an envelope size piece of mail.  Yes, that's no typo.  $50!! So I was fully prepared to pay upwards of $150-200 to mail this massive box of jewelry.  We go to like 3 places, and finally end up at FedEx.  Hold onto your hats kids...it only cost me $61 AND it's due to get there TODAY!  Moral of the story: If you're gonna ship something, go big or go home.  Cuz 11 more dollars ships an entire box of goodies...

The BEC Saga:
I have been budgeting $280 a month for our electric bills.  Again, that's no typo.  I've been told sometimes it costs upwards of $300-350 monthly to power an apartment.  So yes, $280 to power my one bedroom bungalow seemed unreasonably reasonable.  And we tried to keep the AC on low and keep our power usage to a minimum.  I go to the power company and it takes FOREVER for them to pull up my account.  You see, there are no traditional "addresses" around here.  It's very weird.  So pulling up the account was a hassle.  It pulls up and survey says.......$193!!!  Woohoo!!  Sad that I'm excited about my power bill here being twice as much as my power bill at my 2100 square foot house in Houston, but it basically means that I've found like $100 a month!!  Doesn't get much better than that when you're skrimping to begin with...

Why Tyrone is The Man:
Generally an all day chauffeur complete with service to Timbuktu (which I received today) runs you about $70+.  Again, don't stroke out.  I was prepared for it!  So Tyrone drops me off, helps me unload my groceries into the apartment, and when I ask him how much I owe he says "Just give me $40 love.".  Wha????  I was like "That's it??" and he says "We were a team today man!  You made my day!".  What a great guy.  He is BY FAR my favorite Bahamian.  For so many reasons other than his generosity yesterday...

So yes, small victories.  I was expecting to spend $600 and I finished my day at the low low cost of $359!  So yes, it's still steep, but I'll take it.  A $359 stroke is much less serious than a $600 stroke any day...

Don' Worry Be Happy Mon!
Rach