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just musing...financial stuff
I was just thinking about how much easier it was financially back in college when I was making minimum wage than what it is now that I'm making three times as much.
Back then, I paid 1.5% of my gross pay on gas to get back and forth to work. Now I spend 6.5% of my gross pay on gas. I paid $350 for a 2 bedroom apartment, by myself, in a nice neighborhood 4 miles from work; now I've had to have a roommate to make ends meet so I can pay $400 for my half of the monthly payment in a crappy neighborhood 22 miles away from work. I worked an easy breezy retail job 35 hours a week with a 10 minute commute, now I work in a high stress office 40 hours a week with a 40 minute commute . I went out to eat and to bars and movies with my friends, and had money to buy clothes at the store I worked at. Now, I rarely drink because alcohol is so expensive, don't really go "out" much anymore, and if I do buy clothes, which is rare, I end up buying a lot of them at consignment stores. I didn't have health insurance, but I could afford to pay all of my doctor bills at full price when they came in. Now, I pay $175 a month for health insurance, but try really hard to not go to the doctor because I can't f-ing afford it. I was really happy then, and life and finances seemed so easy. I never thought I was poor then, but now I stress and struggle.
When the hell did life get "hard"?
I don't like this life.
Can I have my old one back?
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home D
Re: just musing...financial stuff
This sounds like my life. It doesnt help that my student loans account for almost 20% of my take home pay. UGH!
You might want to try doing a budget on Mint.com. Thats what I do. I live on a very tight budget despite making a good amount of money. I know its SUPER frustrating!
I get frustrated sometimes thinking that if I never needed a lawyer or owned a my condo I would be so much better of financially.
Thos 2 things are what put me into debt. I am almost completely caught up now, but I would already have a decent savings and a much better credit score if not for those 2 things. The condo was a great decision as a married person, not so much as a single parent. I could have gotten a smaller property and been totally fine. Ugh.
Oh well! Just gotta keep working to get things back on track!
This.
2 1/2 years ago, I thought it was time I bought a house to "settle" me, because I'd moved so many times. I reasoned it by saying, "I'm paying $575 a month for a 600 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment without a basement or garage, it only makes sense to buy a 3 bedroom house with basement and garage and yard and pay $800 a month." And I guess in theory it might still make sense, as that same apartment is now going for $675, but I didn't take into consideration the $1200 in landscaping I had to do (tree removal), the $2000 furnace I had to have (mine was 35 years old), the $300 front door I now need, the who-knows-how-much basement waterproofing that needs done...etc etc etc.
I wish I'd have bought the condo I'd also looked at (if I had to buy something), because while it cost slightly more, it was located within a mile of where I ended up getting a new job at just a few months after I closed on the house, which is 22 miles away from work. It didn't need yardwork done, didn't need a new furnace, etc etc etc, and I would have saved a shitton of money on gas, so I'd be way more ahead than I am now, and probably would never have needed a roommate. But after living in apartments for most of my life, I didn't want to share walls with anyone, and wanted a yard to relax in.
Live and learn, I guess.