It’s a Pirate’s Life for Me

Blog No. 25

I went away again last weekend, yes, again.  I don’t get to go often but I had one of those magical rare occasions (when you work in retail at least) the three-day weekend.  I don’t regret taking advantage of the time off, I had fun and got to see some friends I don’t get to see often enough.  The only problem I have (in this instance, I know I have several) is that I have no money.  I’m not alone in this, but I have a lot of expenses coming up and I like stuff, so it was sort of a gamble taking the trip rather than hiding in my basement watching netflix and eating kraft dinner.

The decision has already been made and the penance must be served, so now I am in what I’m calling Super Saver Mode.  I am curbing all my spending and thinking very hard about the things I want to buy.  It may sound harsh (or perfectly reasonable, I don’t know how you live your life) but like I said, I have some big expenses coming up and I need to pad the bank account.  My car (which I love and have written about before) is rather old and is due for some regular (and expensive) maintenance.  I have a whole list of things that range from changing the oil (not so bad, I do it myself) to replacing the timing belt (part of the engine has to be taken apart), and they all have to be done soon (if not now).  There are other expenses too, some less exciting like taxes and some are even more boring that that if you can imagine.

I am often told by friends that I am good with my money, but I think it is all relative.  Some of those friends aren’t so good with money.  I think the big difference is that I spend the money I have and they spend money they don’t.  I also learned rather early in life that being broke can mean they you still have some money in the bank.  My first car was a lemon (I spent almost as much on repairs as I did to buy it) so I had to have a minimum amount of money in my account or I would be stuck when (and it was always when) my car broke down.  It was a hard lesson but it has served me well, I always have some money to fall back on, though not as much as I would like.

There is an easy solution to my no money problem.  I should just do free things instead, things I should be doing anyway.  I keep telling myself (and others) that I am going to get back into regular exercising again.  That takes up a lot of time and I have everything I need already.  Speaking about my car, it is due for a really good cleaning and I have the stuff already (or at least my parents do and they are always telling me to come over and wash my car).  My house is in need of a really good cleaning too, not to mention getting all the spring tasks that have to be done with a house and yard.  There was another thing, oh yeah, writing.  Not to mention all the books I have waiting to be read.

There are lots of things that can help me save money, but I also need to make money.  Not spending doesn’t take care of the things that I have to spend money on, not entirely at least.  A coworker once told me that I should work like a pirate.  Sneak in and take what you can get, sneak out again.  It makes a lot of sense, especially if you aren’t overly fond of your job.  I actually don’t mind most of my job, but there are always some things that you would change if you could.  Right now I am struggling with a pay cut everyone in my position had to take, and (the one that bothers me the most) the limit on how many hours I am allowed to work.  I keep getting offers to work more, but the limit is really low and I have to keep passing them up.  Not cool, especially if you are in Super Saver Mode.  Pirates probably don’t have to worry about all that though, maybe I should take the metaphor more seriously.  Does anybody have a boat they aren’t using?