Today I started two new jobs. One is an hourly job at an in-bound call center, the other I work from home and is a contract editing job with a large flat rate and completion bonus for each project. I got paid 1/2 of the payment for the current project upfront which is nice because I don’t get paid from the call center until near the end of the month. But just when I was cheesing over my money, the electric company is at the door early this morning with a shut-off notice. Whaaa-? I could have sworn I set up automatic payments months ago.
So I paid that bill then double-checked what I have set up to come automatically…nope, I hadn’t set it up. See this is how wacky I think about money: I set up automatic payment arrangements for two bills so in my head that means *all* my bills LOL. Duh! My therapist recommended I pay all my bills manually for a while anyway. I have an out of sight, out of mind relationship to money, bills, etc. but I have to face it head-on for a while.
Then I-bop needs a couple hundred for books & stuff. She has a scholarship which covers her books BUT the college bookstore does not carry supplies she needs for her photography class. We have to pay for that upfront from wherever store, then she gets an excess funds/refund check or whatever it’s called in October. My car also needs some work. So there goes my money right there. At least I got to cheese over it for a minute sheesh!
My short term goals are to get back on track with all my bills, and to set up a new bill paying system with Mercury Man. Pretty much he carries the family…all he wants me to pay is the utilities. Gas, electric, water. That’s it. and I can’t even do that most of the time. Oh and my student loan bill. But – he also can’t keep up with our other bills. At any given moment he’s juggling a few bills in the air, be it his car payment (my car is paid off), insurance, credit cards, his student loans, what have you. The only thing he pays on time is the house. We are going back to a shared checking account to pay all our bills from, a shared savings account, and maintaining our own personal savings accounts. He’s been pressing for this for a while…I have a huge terror of checking accounts (fees! fees! fees!) but I guess I will have to get over it and learn how to balance a checkbook, as well as actually put money in it, snort.
In a way I’m kinda bummed about the jobs because I wanted so very very much to work at my bookstore full-time, but that is simply not a sound financial move right now. I know I could get loans and stuff but that route is the road to doom for me, at least until I learn to handle my money. One of my favorite indie bookstores in Cleveland had to close this summer, the owner was heavily in debt and couldn’t keep it going anymore. He’s 60 or close to it and now has to find a job. That really scared me…it’s one thing to be 36 and scrounging, it’s another to be 60 and in that position. So I’ve had to really think about what would be best for me, my family, and our finances at this time…and that would be to have the bookstore open weekends for now (Fri, Sat, Sun). I have a couple friends who can hang out (for free!) and man the store all day Fridays, since I have to work. Then Sats & Suns I’ll be there.
But in another way I am excited about the jobs, way more excited and happy than bummed because it will be nice to have a regular, consistent flow of money coming in. This is a healthy infusion of cash I really needed. This gives me space, a moment to catch my breath and figure out how what I will do with my business, how I will make more money with my books and freelance writing and stuff. Right now I’m operating at a loss, for example I just paid for the publishing of a project (the Futuristic Motherhood book, if you remember me posting about it) so when I get money in from my biz, it’s more often catch-up than not. I really need an accountant. That’s another thing I keep putting off doing, even though my database crashed and my files/biz accounts are all jacked up. Some biz bills I have paid twice, some not at all!! Note to self: do that today, call around and get some help for this.
I wanted to write about my long-term goals, stuff about retirement and what-not but work calls! gotta go