Live in NYC for less

Aside from the obvious--cram as many people into a tiny apartment as possible, avoid eating at Masa and shopping at Barneys, don't own a car--how can this be done? I'm trying to figure this out, after the reddening of my hair turned out to cost nearly twice what I'd thought it would (damn blow-drying charge--Who knew? But how else can you tell if the hair is the right color if it isn't dry before you leave the salon? Why oh why did I stray from Manic Panic?). So I'm going to see today if I can spend a whole day without buying anything. This would be easy enough, if it weren't for the existence of a thing called the cappuccino.

Yes, the cappuccino will be my downfall. I first encountered it when it was far less than its current $3 and up, but am now hooked, and it's too late. And then there's my morning coffee place, where after like 100 beverages you get one free, as indicated by stamps on your coffee card. These cards, more specifically, will be my downfall. I made a seemingly sound investment recently in a $10 (but with free beverage) thermos from a place in the Village--the idea being, I'll make coffee before going to work and not even have to set foot in the land of temptation. But upon purchasing the thermos, I was handed yet another one of these cards, meaning that I will now have to go back and get yet another cappuccino from this somewhat out-of-the-way but still fabulous coffee bar. That makes three such cards I've been stuck with this fall. How to keep track?

How financially gullible am I, that I keep getting suckered into taking these cards, convincing myself that a "free" gazillionth cappuccino is a good deal? There's a UChicago facebook group, something like, "Contrary to popular opinion, being Jewish does not make me good with money." Indeed. While I always used to think that having passed the Stuyvesant test meant that I was (if only in 8th grade) decent at math, I now know otherwise.

So far, so good, though. I am almost done with my French press-made coffee with non-foamed milk, and, if the caffeine was enough to support this sort of rambling blog post, perhaps there is hope, after all.