Brrrr! Freakin' cold in here!
My hands are FREEZING!! I swear that I can feel the cold coming from the window in waves.
Losing my ability to type until I warm up...
Losing my ability to type until I warm up...
2001-11-30
My shameful secret is out...
I AM 18% PUNK.
It's not a fashion craze, or even a cool thing to do. I should just swallow it, get Lost, and take my friends with me.
We don't gnaw on our kitty...
 | If I was a James Bond villain, I would be Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I enjoy fluffy white cats, dropping people in piranha pools, and initiating World War III. I am played by Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice. Who would you be? James Bond Villain Personality Test |
Good news, bad news, and good news
Well, I just finished the budget for the next 3 weeks, and things are looking both up and down.
Good News:
We'll be able to cover all our bills this month, or at least be able to make payments and show that we're not trying to ditch our obligations. Hopefully, we can start pulling our credit rating around and start getting out of debt again. Also, this budget does not include the roughly $50.00 I'm still waiting on for eBay payments, nor any money that Z receives from Mongoose for her 5 commission pieces, nor the picture that Seth is commissioning, nor any future eBay sales, nor any income if Z gets a job.
Bad News:
Unfortunately, paying off said bills pretty much wipes us out for the next two weeks. Assuming no income beyond my paycheck, and normal expenditures for the next week, we'll have around $320 in the bank. Setting aside $200 for personal property tax leaves us with just barely enough to cover groceries and gas. I do get paid on the 21st, but about 60% of that paycheck goes straight to rent. Barring a Christmas bonus (which is doubtful, considering we've had no bonuses for the last quarter), there's no way we're going to afford gifts for anyone... not even each other.
Good News:
Thanks to the discrepancy between bi-weekly paychecks and our bill schedule, on January 18th, I get an extra paycheck -- one that isn't immediately devoted to a particular set of bills. My paycheck on Dec. 21st covers rent and bills for the beginning half of January, the paycheck on the 4th covers the latter half of January... and the paycheck on Feb 1st covers rent and bills for the first half of February. The check on the 18th is extra income. So, if we can just last another 8 weeks, we'll pull through the slim period and get back on our feet, especially if we get bills paid off now.
The Bottom Line
There's still a glimmer of hope for a Christmas for us, in the form of possible new unbudgetted income soon. We're far from destitute. Just really really tight. I've never been this tight on money before, and it's very alien to me. I've been so used in the past to just being able to get pretty much anything I'd really like, so this pinch is new and frightening - but a bit enlightening too. Still, though, it sucks around the Christmas season. It's just a terrible time for it to hit. I want to be able to give people presents. I want to have a little breathing room.
So, once again, keep those prayers going. I sometimes think that they're the only thing keeping us afloat right now. Who knows, maybe they are? But we'll survive, and if we can weather this, we'll be better for it.
Good News:
We'll be able to cover all our bills this month, or at least be able to make payments and show that we're not trying to ditch our obligations. Hopefully, we can start pulling our credit rating around and start getting out of debt again. Also, this budget does not include the roughly $50.00 I'm still waiting on for eBay payments, nor any money that Z receives from Mongoose for her 5 commission pieces, nor the picture that Seth is commissioning, nor any future eBay sales, nor any income if Z gets a job.
Bad News:
Unfortunately, paying off said bills pretty much wipes us out for the next two weeks. Assuming no income beyond my paycheck, and normal expenditures for the next week, we'll have around $320 in the bank. Setting aside $200 for personal property tax leaves us with just barely enough to cover groceries and gas. I do get paid on the 21st, but about 60% of that paycheck goes straight to rent. Barring a Christmas bonus (which is doubtful, considering we've had no bonuses for the last quarter), there's no way we're going to afford gifts for anyone... not even each other.
Good News:
Thanks to the discrepancy between bi-weekly paychecks and our bill schedule, on January 18th, I get an extra paycheck -- one that isn't immediately devoted to a particular set of bills. My paycheck on Dec. 21st covers rent and bills for the beginning half of January, the paycheck on the 4th covers the latter half of January... and the paycheck on Feb 1st covers rent and bills for the first half of February. The check on the 18th is extra income. So, if we can just last another 8 weeks, we'll pull through the slim period and get back on our feet, especially if we get bills paid off now.
The Bottom Line
There's still a glimmer of hope for a Christmas for us, in the form of possible new unbudgetted income soon. We're far from destitute. Just really really tight. I've never been this tight on money before, and it's very alien to me. I've been so used in the past to just being able to get pretty much anything I'd really like, so this pinch is new and frightening - but a bit enlightening too. Still, though, it sucks around the Christmas season. It's just a terrible time for it to hit. I want to be able to give people presents. I want to have a little breathing room.
So, once again, keep those prayers going. I sometimes think that they're the only thing keeping us afloat right now. Who knows, maybe they are? But we'll survive, and if we can weather this, we'll be better for it.