Money Don't Matter 2Night

Sure, it's easy for Prince to say that, he's got plenty of it. But for the rest of us average shmoes, it's a different story. They say money can't buy you happiness, but not having it can certainly cause unhappiness, by way of stress.

Here's the thing: I make enough to live OK. If I live paycheck to paycheck, which is mostly what I do. On what I make I don't go hungry. I can keep myself in beer. I can buy some CDs and such. I can have some nights out.

But I can't save money.

Financial experts say you should have at least six months living expense socked away in case you lose your job. I've got maybe two, and that would decimate any money I have saved if I ever needed to use if for that purpose.

I have two bank accounts, one savings, one checking. My day to day living (bills, spending money, etc.) comes from my checking account. I set myself a double layered "floor" on that account. What I mean by that is that I have an amount that I would prefer not to have it dip below, and since I seem to regularly violate that, I have a slightly lower amount that I strongly insist to myself that I should never go below. (Which, to my credit, I can only remember ever doing once in all the years I've been monitoring it; I forget why, but it was probably due to some unexpected expense.)

My savings account is what I would like to build up. Typically I use that for "special" things. A new guitar, a vacation, moving expenses (last July). I build it up, then drain ot for something or other. Probably not the smartest practice, but while I can do a decent job of budgeting myself, I can also do a decent job of splurging on myself.

For many years I've had this practice: Every day I take $5 out of my wallet and put it in my drawer. I'd miss days here and there, like if I were away on vacation, or if I really couldn't spare it and keep my checking account above the level I wanted (as is happening this week, and is partially responsible for this blog.) I started this as a way to pay off a loan I had. Once a month I'd take that accumulated (approx.) $140 and add it to my loan payment. I didn't make my loan payment with it, I added it to the payment I was already making. It helped me pay it off a year early. And I've been doing it ever since. I then used it to whittle my credit card debt down to $0 almost a year ago (It's back up somehwat higher than that now, but it's still a lot lower now than it used to be.)

But I've been thinking about my $5 plan recently and trying to decide where best to next utilize it. I had thought there were only two real options: put it towards my current credit card bill or perhaps start working on getting my car payments done more qucikly. I had all but decided on the second option as I've pretty much reconciled myself to the fact that there's always going to be credit card debt, and because as of right now I'm in car payments until 2010. If I started putting that extra $5 a day in there I could shave that off by probably at least a year.

But then a new thought hit. I talk a lot (and think a lot more) about moving out of this area, trying some place new. But one of the (many) reasons (excuses) I don't is that I don't have that 6 month cushion. But what if I just started throwing that extra $5 a day in my savings? I could start building that up.

Now, you're probably sayng, "Why don't you just spend $5 less dollars a day? It's easier than taking out the money, hoarding the money, and re-depositing the money later." True, it is, but that's not how my mind works when it comes to finances. I view my two accounts very differently. It's like how Crappa used to say he had separate compartments in his stomach. Sure his Cheez-It compartment might be full, but there was still plenty of room in his ice-cream compartment. Likewise, I take that $5 from my day to day spending account and put it in my "savings" account.

So just yesterday I decided that this is what I would do. I plan to (for at least the next few months) just try throwing that money into my savaings account and start building it up and see how that goes. Maybe that's the first step (well, second, as thinking about it is probably the first) to shuffling out of New England to LosAngelesAustinAtlantaNashvilleNewYorkSanDiegoPortland or any other place I have or could consider. Maybe. maybe not. At least it'll be one less reason (excuse) I'll have not to.
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But it won't be easy. With the same amount of money coming in, I'll soon have more demands on it.

("What?" you're saing. "This blog is still gong?" Well, when I said I wanted to do something impressive for my 100th blog, you probably thought I meant something impressively witty or philosphical. Honestly, so did I, but apparently I only meant impressively long.....sort of like me. See, there's some witty for you. No, apparently I have a lot of thoughts today on the [Marq Torien voice] mean, mean, mean, MEAN GREEN!!!! [/Marq Torien voice])

But back to the subject at hand...

August 1st my rent is going up by $50, which is not terrible considering I'm not paying for heat and this more than covers that. But it's an extra $50 I won't have a month.

Matt and myself found ourselves a second guitar player to play with last night. Good news. But the subject came up that eventually now we're going to have to get a place to rehearse that's not our apartments. Which means a rehearsal space. Which means more money out of pocket.

These thoughts carry more weight this particular week, where I'm running short on cash and haven't been able to do my $5 a day. Not until Friday when I get paid. Will I be able to maintain it when these extra added expenses get added on.

I go through a few of these "hard times" a year. They're usually short-lived and then everything seems to equalize again. But during those times I start thinking options. I should joina cover band in my spare time. Make some money that way. (I actually put a feeler ad out for that last night, as it's not a bad idea.) What about a second night job? (Probably won't happen. I like my free time too much.) How about Craigslist for some one off jobs, day labor type stuff. (Not a bad thing to keep an eye on, but I probably won't go too far out of my way.) What about that offhand remark my uncle made about paying someone to paint his house? (Could bear following up on, even though I hate painting.)

That raise at work I've been working on by updating our job descriptions? That would definitely help, but after 9-10 months with what feel like very little support in getting it accomplished on any level above mine, I've lost faith that it will ever happen. While this may sound whiny, I feel justified in that I've put a LOT of work and time into this and for all this is supposedly embraced by my supervisor, I don't see him making any significant strides to take it to the next level. I'm on the verge of just saying, "Fuck it," and walking away from this project. There's a decision point coming in the next week or so, based on the work we will have completed by possibly the end of this week.

And that could herald a larger decision, whether or not I stay at the 'B. If I find I can get paid better somewhere else, then I'd be foolish not to try for it. I'm discovering that my loyalty is very much tempered by my ability to further myself.

Depending on how our next meeting goes tomorrow, there could be more news on this soon.
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Whew, this turned into quite the diatribe about money. At the end of the day, while as it was so succintly put on Veronica Mars last night, "Money matters," some days it seems to matter more than others. This week is a tougher one for me, so it's more on my mind. Next week might be smooth sailing.

And none of this, good or bad, will preclude spending some of this currently hard found money on a possible weekend trip to Montreal sometime this summer (for which some discussions have already began.) Because in the long run, there's always a way to make it work.

Anyway, enough is enough. Don't forget to tip your waitresses.