Money Saving Tip: Live Somewhere Boring

Okay, I'm being a little facetious with the title. Valentines weekend this year is kind of a write off. My significant other is on another continent doing aid work (long story) and I'm stuck in the Great White North.

This morning I got up and checked my preferred flyers online, determining there were no great sales. I ate breakfast and considered how I should spend the day.

Recent trips to the magazine racks are fruitless. The fact is, I don't want to read about Money Saving Tips from the editors of fashion magazines. I want lifestyle! I want fantasy! I want stories about celebrities leading unrealistic lives! I do not want to be told to wear things from last season - I already know that. (However, I did discover Zinio... post to follow)

Right now, I'm finishing a contract in the second most boring city I've ever lived in. It's badly planned, closed on Sunday and generally lacking in interesting activities. There isn't even really a good neighborhood to just wander around, grab some food and watch the day go by. The public transit is unreliable and a pedestrian lifestyle is ill supported. The nightlife? Don't get me started. I've discovered all the upsides: decent ethnic food, a better than average downtown public library, good spa service for less, and a redeeming yoga studio.

The result, however, is that my life has never been less expensive. I've become a healthy homebody. The days of late nights followed by early mornings fueld by nutribars claiming to be healthy? Over. The period where I partied with everyone from war journalists to euro-royalty and slept in the bar? Paused. Weeks go by without a single drink, let alone an expensive bar tab. I dress however I want, there is nowhere in town you'll be turned away or treated badly for not wearing something with fashion cred. In fact, when I first moved here and dressed like I did in various metropoles before, people stared.

In some ways, this could be a utopia, temptation free for the voluntarily simple.

But I miss living in a place where there were interesting things going on and every day looked different. Where there were concerts and coffee shops and you could get food BOTH days of the weekend, where there were always people to meet and things to find out about. I miss living in a place where I could dress up to go out, and dancing somewhere that isn't my living room.

On the upside, I earn a decent salary and spend almost nothing to live...