If Money is Time...

Where does mine go?

Lizzie and Anonymous had questions and comments about my financial tabulations, so I decided to post exactly how many hours I work to earn the money for my financial categories:

Co-op rent (covers the majority of our basic living expenses): 56.42
Phone Bill: 4.05
Snacks: .79
Groceries (personal food not covered by the co-op): 1.38
Eating Out: 4
Hygiene (soap, shampoo, floss, etc.): 1.72
Transport: 1.74
Clothing: .97
Medical: 51.72
Gifts: 5.46
Office Supplies: .39
Booze: 2.25

There are several important notes to keep in mind while reviewing these numbers. To start, December absolutely crawls with holidays, including my wedding anniversary. While no month is normal, this month was extra special. The majority of the gift money was not Christmas presents but baby shower gifts to my best friend. The "booze" category in now way represents casual drinking by any means, but two six packs of cider shared with friends, a single bottle of mead that was enjoyed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve, and an as of yet unfinished bottle of sherry. Likewise, the "groceries" category is unlikely to be seen every month, most of this was food purchased to prepare at home and take to holiday gatherings. Transport was very high primarily because I put gas in a friend's car as a "thank you" for loaning it to me to travel into the arctic circle to the only place in town I can find to get decent carving supplies for Darling's ($10.89) Christmas/Anniversary present (A trip that would have taken approximately 12 years by bus, during a torrential downpour no less).

Another important note that I worked an average of 32 hours/week this month, which is far less than I would have expected, but also drew a much higher hourly wage than I might have guessed. My hours were on the low side because one of my employers closed down for the holidays, my income was high thanks to a Christmas check from Mom. So December earnings are as atypical as December spendings.

Debt isn't on this list because, for the first time in a goodly long while, it just didn't rank high enough a priority. This wasn't a decision made lightly, normally I pay above the minimum and have in fact done so for so long that the company has been sending me bills for "$0" since last April. A month's worth of interest on my debt, however, amounts to 2.47 hours of work on my part. With that in mind, it is foolish not to devote at least as much time paying for debt as I do for alcohol...or eating out.

Believe it or not, however, I don't regret a a penny spent or an hour worked this month. Lizzie thinks that perhaps eating out, giving gifts, and booze should be taboo in my life right now - at least the months we don't have rent. Perhaps I should have been more clear that Darling and I did in fact pay December's rent. We had it saved just in time to find out Darling's tooth could not wait another month for care. With the permission of our house mates (with whom we own our house as well as a savings fund for just this sort of emergency), we went ahead and used half of the money set aside for rent on dental bills. Later that week a contact lens deteriorated in my eye, which resulted in my trusted eye doctor advising me to switch to glasses, for which I needed a new prescription. Regardless of such surprises, we were able to pay the rest of our rent a few weeks late as well as save most of January's.

Truth be told, had we abstained from all social eating, drinking, and gift giving, we could have (barely) saved January's rent, rather than paying a couple of weeks late. Which would have been pretty epic, financially speaking. It also would have also been our second month of not spending in a row. It might also have driven me into an emotional breakdown. Some days I just need a sandwich.

Step Four of the YMOYL plan involved reflecting on each category of spending and determining if the amounts spent were satisfying, reflect core principles, and something that will increase or decrease after retirement. For some reason this step scares me, and it will no doubt result in some long-term changes in how I earn and spend my money. Maybe I'll find cutting down to a co-op expenses only budget the most satisfying course of action, but I doubt it.