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.
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| 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!
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Happy saving!