Another ‘cha-ching’ sound not for me.
May 17th, 2005 | by Scott Jennings |I just dropped about $120 on another year of web hosting and domain registration for this site and the little lady’s, so now I feel extremely obligated to fucking use it. It’s money well spent, my website is my favorite toy and practically my only nerdly expense (my wallet is grateful that I’m not a gamer), and my webhosting company gets nothing but praise from me. But still, bad timing on the big annual bill.
Money stress is Worry #1 these days, with a nice list of factors conspiring to keep me in permabroke status. Tub Cousins is ending their run, eliminating the need for me to direct them and their need to pay me for that direction. Austin is moving out as the lease ends at the end of the month, which will almost-double my living expenses for the time being. (I’ve already resolved to trim back the premium channels, but never the DVR. Cold dead hands.) My car loan is high-interest and short-term, which spells huge monthly payments, and requires me to carry much much more insurance than I’d ever want, for another huge monthly payment. Believe it or not, I’m still making monthly payments directly to my alma mater to pay off the term bill I have hanging over my head due to some poor money management my senior year of college. (I don’t actually have my diploma.) I make another huge monthly payment on top of that for my proper student loan (yes, consolidated). I also have a girlfriend.
At least Netflix gave me a price break.
HBO and Cinemax are on the way out, I hardly ever watch them. Roadrunner is a gotsta-have, especially since it powers my Vonage, and I need a home phone. (I wouldn’t trust reception where I live enough to use a cell as a primary, and I carry a prepaid cell for emergencies and battlefield orientation.) I cut back my 401(k) contribution from 5% to 3%. If it came to it, I’d get rid of Netflix, but boy, would that be depressing.
I mean, I’m not a charity case or anything, but put it all together, and I’m left to live precisely AT my means, one calamity away from disaster. Am I that bad with money? Quite clearly, and brilliant irony for the man who holds a degree in mathematics and economics. (Well, I don’t hold it, but you know what I mean.) I inherited poor money management skills from both sides of the family, both of my parents died without a penny to their names, and if my brother’s any better with his money, it ain’t by much. I mean, it’s not like I’ve got a drug habit or expensive tastes — I pack my lunch and I don’t even own a dining room table. This is probably why I find a woman who can balance a checkbook incredibly sexy.
Things will get better. There’s plenty of warehouse club meat in my freezer, so I won’t go hungry. I won’t be out of coaching long, and it looks like I’ll be teaching a class this summer. Improv money’s not big money by any stretch, but it helps. I’ll have my debt to my alma mater paid off in September (just in time for my five year reunion), so that’s a huge monthly payment that’s going away completely. And… I suppose I really should get another roommate, huh? I didn’t move to a one bedroom because it would have saved me about $25 a month in rent, and as much fun as it was going to be to have an office/guest room I never used, I should really get those living expenses split back in half, especially if I want to take my annual short trip to New York.
They didn’t tell you it would be like this five years out. Hey, here’s some advice: don’t be such a fucking idiot with your money.
