How to Cope with Spending Money

I recently had to drop close to $200 on car repairs. My monthly "take home" pay (after bills) ends up being around that much. It's very hard to live off of $200 a month and it's even harder to have to spend 100% of that on unexpected life hiccups.

I pushed off my car repairs for MONTHS. I really, really, really didn't want to do them. It was big-ish stuff; the usual oil change stuff plus new transmission fluid and coolant. Unfortunately my car started acting so funny and so off that I just had to go in. Luckily, I've been a pretty steady client of Jiffy Lube and I was able to use a 35% off coupon to help.

It's really hard to live on a budget. Paying off debt feels amazing but it also creates a lot of anxiety and guilt. The idea of spending un-budgeted money caused me great stress. The total bill was around $300 but I ended up spending less than $200 because of the coupon. Even though I saved a boat load and got the best deal that I could I still felt stress/sadness/guilt over it.

That's what I want to talk about today. Ways to cope with spending money

1. Recognize that you are not spending money on frivolous things.
I could have easily spent $200 on clothes or shoes or trips. On anything really. It's so sad because sometimes I honestly day dream about that. About taking half of my extra $1000 student loan payment and buying so many new clothes. But I don't. I work really hard and buy just what I need and unfortunately, at this time, my car needed some work.

2. You can't budget life
It pains me to say this but you simple can't plan for life. You can try and come really, really close but life just has too many bumps and turns. So yes, I budget as best I can and 90% of the time I'm right on track but I have to accept and EXPECT that life will throw me a curve ball every once in a while.

3. You will always be able to more later
My budget won't always be this tight. I will get raises and bonuses and unexpected windfalls in the future. So yes, I feel guilty now for spending money but I know that if I ever come into more money I will be responsible with it and budget accordingly. Reminding myself of how responsible I really am helped with the feelings of guilt.

4. Spending a little now prevents big spending in the future
Okay, spending $200 bucks sucks. Badly. BUT, spending $1000 + dollars because I ignored my car would realllllly suck. So I pay a little now and I prevent big catastrophes in the future. No break downs on the side of the roads, no towing fee, or rental car hassle. By keeping the things that I have now nice and in good condition I am preventing future unnecessarily spending.

Now this list isn't as comprehensive as I would like but I felt it was really important to get it down. It makes me feel better. I'm trying really hard to budget well and pay off my debts and set backs hurt. In the 4 months that I have been making extra student loan payments I have paid 400% more than I did my entire first year :) I am doing amazing and I sometimes have to remind myself of that.

Staying Afloat

I have just really sucked at blogging lately. Sorry about that. I guess it's because I just haven't really had much to post. I wanted this blog to be about saving money and DIY-ing shit and I've been TERRIBLE at both of those things. I'm so broke I can't even DIY :(

Things got a little better in the last week or so. I went for my final dentist appointment and got my teeth all squeaky clean. Most of that went on my credit card but there was really nothing I could do about that. I had to make sure I had enough for my loan payment so everything else had to be charged.  My credit card got up to around $600 bucks but I managed to pay it down to $250. So things are going great, I make it to pay day, put money in my savings and blah blah blah everything appears fine. So, of course it's not. Out of the blue after work one day I go out to my car to drive home and it's dead. Ain't that something? There is really no better way to describe my life then thinking that everything is going to be okay and finding my car dead.
And I don't mean that in a bad way (if that makes any sense). At this point it's just sort of darkly funny. I just remember sitting in my car and desperately turning my key over and over and finally just sitting back and looking up and thinking, "okay, what now".

The little bit of cushion money that I had saved to help me make it to my next pay day went directly to my new car battery (which they only had 1 in stock and it was the most expensive one...of course). Now I sit in waiting for this Friday when I get paid from my second job. Until then I'm hanging on with $21 bucks in my account. But life is still good. I went grocery shopping before my battery crapped out so I have food and my amazing boyfriend bought me gas (and some clothes!!! Seriously, this guy is beyond perfect/wonderful/amazing).

But even in all of this mess I'm still so happy. While it may not be permanent I've been getting more regular shifts at my job and my boyfriend and I have decided to move in with each other in a few months. I'm also going to start babysitting for a friend weekly which not only means extra cash but time spent with my friend and her awesome son. Nothing's okay and everything's okay (if that makes any sense). I'm broker than I have ever been in my life and yet I'm happier. Being forced to distance my self from my consumerist ways has made me so much happier than I thought was possible. Before all of this loan non-sense I just bought, bought, bought without any sense of what I truly needed. Now I'm happy when I can afford more than the basics. I'm broke but I'm lucky which is more than I deserve :)

I swear I have plans to get this blog back to what I wanted it to be. When my credit card is paid off and my boyfriend and I shack up together I will buy a sewing machine and start more DIY. Until then I have my fingers crossed that all of my bills get paid :)

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Catching up

Truth.

I have like, zero time to update but it's been a while and I enjoy checking in. Lots of ups and downs this week.

-Car needed new belts or some bull shit -$150 (WTF car, I don't even own any belts and you got THREE new ones??? That's fucked up).

+Got a bump in pay due to a market survey, up $0.52 an hour!!!

-Went to the dentist and I need $650 in dental work because I brush my teeth like I'm cleaning grout from tile.

I guess that's life. You get a little more money but you have more expenses. I only have $75 left to pay off for my car and I'm going to do the dental work in chunks so I can make payments. In other news my boo moved closer to me and his new place is swanky. Wood floors, two levels, tile back splash in the kitchen. I've already planned a million parties to host there, much to his delight, I'm sure.

I'll be back soon, this week I'm all graveyards PLUS multiple shifts at my second job. Luckily, a mix of sugar and delirium keep me steady through my 13+ hour shifts.