Money...and Tiki Party!
Our financial situation is...very uncomfortable at the moment. We're not buying groceries, we're tapping out savings to cover bills, we're cashing in savings bonds, we're not spending any money-type uncomfortable. This is thanks to me not really getting work from NgithOwl for the last 3-4 months. We didn't immediately stop spending, mostly because these low points usually pick back up a lot faster than this. But it sucks. Basically, we're getting a preview of what will happen when I'm not working (except on those rare work-from-home projects), except without the raise that Phil's expecting in a couple of months.
One of the things I'm less happy about is that because of this, we've had to stop covering my parents' home loan, which is something we've been doing (from our own pocket) for the last several months. I just--wish there was more I could do.
Saturday was finances day. Sitting down and figuring out how we're paying bills for the next month. Emergency "this is our last hundred dollars"-type budgeting. It turned out okay, actually. Things will be really, really tight, but we'll cover everything and might even have a little extra to put against the credit card balance.
And then I started doing taxes, found out I hadn't recorded certain expenses, and swore a lot. So Saturday was mostly fussing with money. Had to be done, but wasn't pleasant.
But then there was a tiki party!
Not an emblematic tiki image, but isn't the art gorgeous? Plus, bonus eyeball creatures in spacesuits! And the artist has a process post about this piece here.
Phil had a basketball dunk contest he had plans to watch that evening, so we went for the early portion of the party. It was nice seeing and socializing with people (no work also means Abra gets cabin fever), and there was an impressive spread of food and beverages, including infinite permutations of Italian soda. Without the ability to drink booze, these things matter more to me....
I was tired, so I left when Phil did and went home instead of staying for the entire later portion. After lying down for a bit, I had energy enough to start doing taxes again. Blech. Also? Yeah, tracking expenses is important, because otherwise I'd have to be paying extra taxes on the money I made from writing last year. My book purchases saved me--although, geez, that was with me trying not to buy any books (due to critical lack of bookshelf space)!
As you might guess, that left not much time for writingy things.
2/19/11, Saturday writing log
* Posted freewriting and writing log.
* Worked on CoBB thank-yous.
* A smidge of writing on CoBB
* Character Clues: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2011/02/character-clues.html
One of the things I'm less happy about is that because of this, we've had to stop covering my parents' home loan, which is something we've been doing (from our own pocket) for the last several months. I just--wish there was more I could do.
Saturday was finances day. Sitting down and figuring out how we're paying bills for the next month. Emergency "this is our last hundred dollars"-type budgeting. It turned out okay, actually. Things will be really, really tight, but we'll cover everything and might even have a little extra to put against the credit card balance.
And then I started doing taxes, found out I hadn't recorded certain expenses, and swore a lot. So Saturday was mostly fussing with money. Had to be done, but wasn't pleasant.
But then there was a tiki party!
Not an emblematic tiki image, but isn't the art gorgeous? Plus, bonus eyeball creatures in spacesuits! And the artist has a process post about this piece here.
Phil had a basketball dunk contest he had plans to watch that evening, so we went for the early portion of the party. It was nice seeing and socializing with people (no work also means Abra gets cabin fever), and there was an impressive spread of food and beverages, including infinite permutations of Italian soda. Without the ability to drink booze, these things matter more to me....
I was tired, so I left when Phil did and went home instead of staying for the entire later portion. After lying down for a bit, I had energy enough to start doing taxes again. Blech. Also? Yeah, tracking expenses is important, because otherwise I'd have to be paying extra taxes on the money I made from writing last year. My book purchases saved me--although, geez, that was with me trying not to buy any books (due to critical lack of bookshelf space)!
As you might guess, that left not much time for writingy things.
2/19/11, Saturday writing log
* Posted freewriting and writing log.
* Worked on CoBB thank-yous.
* A smidge of writing on CoBB
* Character Clues: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2011/02/character-clues.html