Feb 13, 2009 20:09
I have a new job. I am... A TEMP!
Which would be more degrading if one of my fellow temps didn't have a Ph.D., and if I didn't get benefits from the temp agency after a couple months. However, this job will require some serious adjustment from me, in that I have to learn to do a 9-to-5 routine and not use the internet for personal things during those hours.
I know, I know. I'm doomed. But somehow I'll defy my own nature and behave appropriately.
I actually set up a budget, did some thinking. Each month, I've got $750 for rent, around ~$150 (that's a very high estimate) for electricity and gas, and $80 for phone and internet. So that's ~$1K per month, or ~$12K yearly. I put some thought in to it and realized that if I spent $20 on food, snacks, entertainment, etc. - every day - I'd be adding ~$7K to my yearly budget. So, total is ~$19K yearly for living expenses plus discretionary food and toys.
By linking my 'food' budget to my 'fun' budget, I hope to encourage myself to eat at home more and learn to cook.
I plan to take everything I don't spend and put it in a saving's account, perhaps in my retirement fund, and try to donate a decent chunk of money to Doctors Without Borders, who are basically what I would be doing with my life if I had any cojones.