Welp, I done fucked up
I believe we call this here a personal finance fail: I miscalculated how long my Fall 2017 student loan check was supposed to last me, made several large purchases and a bunch of smaller expenditures that I probably should have not in December, and now am out of money with three weeks to go before my next check comes in. They don’t cut the checks until after the add-drop period is over for classes, and this semester’s add-drop period ends in mid-February.
I have asked a friend for a loan and it is, uh, not a great feeling. But I would rather ask a friend for money than my parents. Worst comes to worst they say no and I will hang in there in Money Anxiety Land for the next several weeks, I guess.
I guess this is what they call a wake up call. I have not been serious enough about frugality. I gotta be stricter with myself about what I do or do not spend money on. And I gotta be careful in Denver next week when I go there for ALA Midwinter.
OK here is my pledge for how I will do better:
I will not buy any more books PERIOD. If I need to read a book I do not have, that’s what the library is for.
Lyfts are for when I literally cannot move, not when I am running late to a meeting or appointment. It is up to me to leave early enough to meet my commitments and I cannot afford to pay money to cover for myself.
I will eat out in Denver because I will likely have little choice, but I will also make use of my friend’s kitchen as much as possible to minimize my as possible and pack lunches and snacks to keep myself going for the conference days.
I will not eat out or order in in Boston, period. I will find other ways to hang out with friends and loved ones. (Eating out for free is a different story; if there is catering involved, I’m down).
Looking at my YNAB, the majority of my expenditures in the last month have been Transportation, most of it on Lyfts. Part of that makes sense because I did fall last month and that made walking even a small amount of distance much harder, but my hip is a lot better now so no more of that.
