A New Challenge

Hey folks,

I'm winding down from four days off work... actually four and a half if you count me taking last Wednesday morning off... except I had to go in to work for 5 hours on Wednesday afternoon. I can't say I've done anything spectacular on my days off... got a couple of things crossed off my to-do list but that's about it. All in all it was a nice break... I spent most of Thursday on the couch in my pyjamas watching TV with the cats. It was great! I need a day like that every now and then.

I'm sitting here with my ass crack hanging out and a bandana on my head, which makes my hair look kind of like Sideshow Bob's. This is what happens when I take my belt off and my hair gets so crazy long that my bangs are getting in my eyes. I booked a haircut for Thursday and I'm SO EXCITED!! Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a haircut. Don't get me wrong, I like the shag, but it's gone too far. I'm going to bring back the faux hawk... for now anyway. CAN'T WAIT!!!

The guitar playing is still coming really well. I tried playing a couple of songs for my mom--songs she should recognize--but she didn't recognize them. Good... because they will be part of my "name that tune" bit for the family talent show at Christmas lol. I can definitely feel an improvement in my playing though. I just need to keep practicing switching between chords and soon it'll be seamless! :)

On to the bad news. At work we were switched from being paid twice a month to every two weeks. Most people think this is a good thing--you get paid more often! But no... think about it. Twice a month = 24 pay periods per year. Every two weeks = 26 pay periods per year. For someone on a salary like myself, I get paid the same amount in a year no matter how you divide it up. So in order to get those extra two pay periods in a year, all my other paycheques are now smaller--about $100 less. That's almost $200 less in a month!!! I re-worked my budget and there is no way around it. I am left with just over $300 a month to cover food, gas, cat food, and any other expenses--car repairs, clothing, entertainment--EVERYTHING. This is ridiculous!! Thank God for the higher med dosage because I'm actually handling it quite well and I still don't really care. For now I'm looking at it as a challenge. Let's see if I can survive on $300 a month. And if not... well I've considered going to the food bank to help make ends meet. It's ridiculous, because if someone knew how much I make, they'd say there's no way I should be going to the food bank. But when you add up my expenses... well $300 is what I'm left with. And I certainly don't live extravagantly by any means. I've got laser eye surgery booked for next month and I think I'm still going to go ahead with it. My insurance will cover about half, leaving me with about $1400 to cover out-of-pocket. Then I have my fingers and toes crossed that I'll get another bonus in February like I did last year. That would almost pay off my half of the eye surgery. But then I've got my cats booked in for their annual vaccinations in January (about $200), a tattoo at the end of January (about $400), my car will need new brake pads in the spring (about $150 just for the front), and the damn lingering check engine light issue. It never friggin ends!! And I'm not banking on much for a tax return because my RRSP plan at work calculates taxes after the RRSP money has been deducted. Basically you save the tax on each paycheque, rather than getting a big return at the end of the year. And the tattoo... well let's just say I'm so fed up with not getting to do anything for ME... and it's time. The significance of it.... it's definitely time. Oh and then sometime next year I'll have shares coming up for purchase at work.... sigh.

Anyway, the only positive thing I can think of in all of this (besides the fact that I have a roof over my head, food in my mouth, clothes on my back, etc.--for now lol) is that I bought my condo when I did. Condo fees went up $50/month within 3 months after my possession, taxes went up $30/month in the same time period, and now this mess with my paycheques. There is NO WAY I would have been able to afford this place under my current circumstances. And the funny thing is that my debt hasn't gone up. Personal debt that is. Other stupid shit like taxes, condo fees, and general cost of living stuff has gone up, but not my actual debt. So maybe that's a good thing too?

I've been putting money away every month for Christmas presents. Everyone in my family is broke and they've more or less said we aren't buying gifts except for my younger cousins. Hence the "family talent show" (so we still get to spend time together). I love spending time with my family so I'm totally cool with whatever we do, but I've been putting this money away all year and damn it, I want to buy them gifts! So I'm going to. Maybe nothing big... say $20/person, but it'll be something. I'd feel way too guilty taking all that money I've saved and spending it on myself. It's just not the same.

That's all I've got for ya this week. I've got a ton of Texts From Last Night (TFLN's) saved up that I should probably post soon. Anyway time for bed... YAAAAAY HAIRCUT!!!!!