Plink

I have no idea why I have titled this post "Plink". Just felt right.

Sometimes, being broke is particularly rough. I'm having trouble getting my spending under control again. You'd think that I'd be fine, what with working a bunch and such, but I find myself always spending more money than I intend. If I go to Target for one thing, I end up with three other things I had forgotten that I needed. I've been trying to be on a spending freeze, but that doesn't seem to be working so well.

What I really need is a major kick in the teeth. I should be done with vet bills for now. I need to save for plane tickets, but I certainly don't need to be going out a bunch or buying anything that I don't absolutely need.

Each month I start with nothing charged to my ING overdraft. This is where I pull gas and grocery money from, as well as other miscellaneous expenses. Pretty much every month it's got several hundred dollars charged to it that I need to clear. It's driving me bonkers. So I think May is going to be my serious lockdown month. I'm considering taking my card out of my wallet. Drastic times call for drastic measures of course.

Has that ever actually worked for you?

Errors in Judgement

So I took a job for the last month which was a lot of hard work. I put in 30 hours more than I should and subsequently managed to knock my hourly rate (I was getting a flat fee), down to below minimum wage. No fun. I managed to get out of the second half of my contract and am working on something else that is a little more money, a little less driving, and a lot more fulfilling.
My issue here is that in hindsight, I should have gotten more details about the job before I took it. Part of it is that I didn't know the right questions to ask, but part of it also was just my desire to work work work.

I spent 6 weeks without a day off. I might have gone a wee bit crazy around the end there.

So now it's back to working what a normal person works. The only problem is that with that, comes less income and a little more financial stress. I have a $250 vet bill to pay this month, and as it stands, with what I have booked, it's going to have to get pulled out of what has become a miniscule savings account balance.

I'm starting to freak out again because I'm back to making painfully slow progress on my debt. My student loan is costing me a minimum of $608 a month which is about half my expenses. I want to get these payments down but it's so darn hard to find any extra money to throw there. I'm using every penny I have to cover bills and living expenses. So here we go again. It's spending freeze time. Last night I bought enough groceries to last a good long while. I have a couple of things to buy for the garden and a birthday present to get and after that, no more going out, no more nothing. We're going to see if I can get through the month and charge absolutely nothing to my card other than gas.

I feel like I might not be able to pull this one off, but I'm sure going to try!