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Money, where have you been all my life?

May 1, 2012 by Rika Leave a Comment

Money! (Does anyone else instantly start singing the Pink Floyd song in their head?) Such a huge theme in my life right now. A constant source of frustration one minute and then happiness the next. It is driving me crazy but also driving me to Honduras.

Source (a site with cheap traveling tips!)


This is the first time in my life I have ever had a big bank account balance (big = more than $300 in my world!) and it’s making me insane that I can’t touch any of it. 



I have learned some money lessons this week:


1. Get things in writing. Remember when I was all excited about getting a raise to $15/hour at my part-time job? Well I assumed it was effective immediately since I wasn’t told otherwise, and so assumed that I was getting a $950 paycheque today. When I got my paystub it still said $13/hour (so $700 instead of $950) so I asked the payroll administrator and she confirmed with my boss that apparently the raise was effective May 1 (today). Kinda shady if you ask me, but whatever. That’s the last 39-hour week they are getting out of me. I was busting my ass because I thought I was making more. I won’t be working that much again in a week for people who screw around with me.


2. Get better at math. Remember when I was all excited about making a billion dollars at my two jobs? I don’t know how I figured I was going to be netting $1800/month at my part-time job but that is not right. If I keep working 29-32 hour weeks I will net about $1600/month. I hope to still be able to save $800/month from my office job. But I feel like I shouldn’t rely on making $1600/month at the part-time job – some weeks the hours might be less, I don’t get paid when I take time off, I need to put extra money away for the taxes I forgot about, etc. My original goal was to find a part-time job where I could save $1000/month on top of my full-time job, and so I will use that as my “for sure” number and everything else will just be extra.


3. Get more stuff sold. This is the absolute easiest way to make money – people come buy your crap and you get money! I am running out of things to sell though, except for things like my dresser and dishwasher that I want to keep up until the end. I still have a snowboard & bindings that I need to sell…probably not too easy now that it’s spring… I think I need to take a closer look at my stuff to see what I can get rid of.


4. Get a handle on spending. Mostly I think it is time to quit the $9/day “let’s go down to the shops in the bottom of our work building every afternoon and get snacks” habit. Damn you co-workers and your delicious suggestions. Must think of money for Roatan and also being in a bikini in 18 days!


And now, the long-awaited budget update! Not much has moved on this since I’ve saved a bunch of money but also blown $1200 on my trip to Roatan this month. I am hoping May through September will add quite a bit more to the fund. I am taking $500 to Roatan for spending/diving money which better be way more than I need so I am hoping to come home with a lot of that too. Again, if anyone finds this helpful and wants the Excel spreadsheet I’d be more than happy to email it to you!

Click on it to see the big version!



Happy saving!

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Filed Under: Life, Money, Saving, Work Tagged With: Budget

Previous Post: « Motivation.
Next Post: Today I don’t feel like doing anything. »

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i’m rika!

hiya! i'm a canadian paralegal-turned-scuba diving instructor-turned EFL teacher-turned digital nomad. i left my cubicle in 2012 and haven't looked back since. i'm a serial expat, but right now i'm back in canada on hiatus for a while. welcome to the place where i say things.

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