Deep Inside My Thoughts

God, I haven’t been this broke in quite awhile! Work has been kind of slow, and I’ve been spending like usual. Add those two up, and you get a broke Aaron. I survived last week by eating cheap Taco Bell, and putting off some stuff I need to buy. I still, for example, need pots and pans. Instead of those, last week I bought a socket set because I needed them to change brakes. Oh well, I need my own tools, right? And it’s not like it’s handy not having to ask my dad to borrow a 10mm socket when he’s home for lunch either.

I really don’t have that many bills though. Quite a bit of my money goes to cigarettes and dining out all the time. If I ate at home, I could save probably $200 a month, and maybe another $150 if I quit smoking. Of course, I’ll never quit smoking.

Today was payday, so I went to get my check, and ran to the bank. It’s same it’s already almost gone. $116 of it went to pay my car loan, another $60 went to pay my cell bill, and $100 is ear-marked for my (final) laptop payment. After that, the next check has to cover my insurance ($100) and the rest I can save. I need to kick my saving up into overdrive so when I hopefully do find a job, I’ll be able to move imediately.

But, I’ve always been an impulsive spender. When I bought my car, I really didn’t think about it. I knew I’d get approved for the loan, I mean, I do have pretty good credit. My old car was dying on me, so one day I just decided to buy a new one. I didn’t think about how much more insurance was going to be, or the cost of plates, or what not. I just wanted one. So I bought one. I got a better rate than I thought I would, but still, its an added bill I didn’t really plan on. But, after all is said and done, I still have a better car than I used to, and it will last longer.

The same can be said for my credit cards. I’m very impulsive with them too. But I’m smart enough to realize that I need to make more than my minimum payments, so I double up on those. That sucks out quite a bit of money each month, but I still retain access to it somewhat. Mostly, my credit card sits idle in the back of my money clip. The last time I used it was to buy a new amp and subwoofers after those damn neighbors stole mine. But before that, I might have gone a little reckless, and I’m still paying for it. God, now I know why they give free interest for 180 days on those cards!

But, even though I have all these complaints about not having any money, I’m still not in that bad of situation. I make tips daily, so I always have cash coming in. And my actual paycheck is a meager percentage of my actual income—the meals at Applebee’s and BW3’s take a lot of cash out that otherwise wouldn’t need to be taken out. I mean, I could live on $2.73 Beef and Potato Burrittos at Taco Bell, or, hell, even $.49 Raman Noodles if I had to. I guess I just need to readjust my spending habbits to be more in line with my real-world income.