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January 10, 2002
I'm a big fan of the barter system, myself
Yeah, yeah. No updates in an eon. You're used to it by now, right? If I updated more than once every two weeks or so, you'd all keel over in shock. So, you see, I'm just looking out for you. Really.
Actually, I haven't been in much of a mood to write. Post-holiday blues, maybe. A whole lot of stress, certainly. Things I haven't wanted to talk about, much less write down.
I haven't been doing much other than going to work, scrambling madly to get through the piles of books and such to be put on Reserve for the spring term, and then going home to curl up under my comforter and watch Buffy reruns. That's the rock and roll life I lead, you see. Even my Sims are neglected, in spite of the Hot Date expansion pack, which is so much fun. I've ventured to the computer briefly to read, and occasionally answer email, and to play the Scrabble game my mom sent me for my birthday. I'm feeling very stressed, which has resulted in many a migraine, plus an upset stomach, plus not sleeping well. Fun fun.
It's annoying, because I had the idea in my tiny little head that, once I was done with school, poof! No more stress. All gone! Ha. It would be all gone, but for the small issue of money. The lack of money, more specifically. The scraping by paycheck-to-paycheck every week. It makes me unhappy, and it's just getting better and better by the minute. I sat down the other night and planned out my very first real budget. I had never done one; I always just paid the bills as they came in, and hoped I'd have enough to make ends meet. That's not working so well. So, I sat down and made a little spreadsheet, and was astounded at how much money I blow on stupid stuff every month. The budget will be strict, and I'm hoping to stick to it -- if I do, I'll have an eensy bit of spending money each week. It's just going to be the first month or so that will be tough -- I'm already thankful that I have a load of microwaveable dinners in the freezer, because I won't be able to grocery shop this week at all, and I may well have to skip it next week, too, what with the $40 I currently have left in the bank. Ramen noodles and mac and cheese, here I come. It's my own damn fault, I'm aware of that. And I'm kicking myself in the ass nice and hard for it. But the bills, they will be paid. I will have money living in my savings account, instead of it all vanishing halfway through the week. And it's a damn good thing I made the budget, too, because of the phone call I got at work yesterday.
For months now, I've been getting letters from my friendly student loan place telling me I'm in deferrment (deferment? How do you spell that, anyway?) until six months after I finish school. Hurrah! Except, not. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman at the loan place. I knew it wouldn't be a happy call, because the woman asked for me by my married name, whichy I no longer use. Anyone who would be calling me for a happy reason knows that. She said "Did you know your account is delinquent by 74 days? We need $420 from you, now, please." I stammered incoherantly for a moment or two, and she said "Oh, my. You didn't know that, did you?" Turns out three of my seven loans weren't on deferrment after all. Or at least they were, but that stopped in August. I never heard a word about it -- no new payment coupon book sent, no letters, no nothing. I was blissfully ignorant. Luckily, the woman was very nice, and she put those loans on forbearance, and assured me I'm not in default, so it's not really a big deal. Except that, instead of coming due in June, like I thought, the loans are due next month. Gulp. Last night, after my second hyperventilating phone call to Lee in two days, I sat down and did an application for a consolidation loan. Hopefully, that will lower the payments enough that I can manage them with the spiffy new budget. I'll also be paying them off for the rest of my natural life, but I really don't care right now.
So, I'm in a generally bad mood right now -- I absolutely hate being short of money. I hate paying bills late. I hate worrying about it. I know I need a better-paying job -- I'm working on that. I have some places to send resumes to, at least.
It's not all bad though. I had a lovely four-day weekend over New Year's. Lee and I spent New Year's Eve on an epic 1 hour and 15 minute drive to find Chinese food -- it's a long story, but it was a lot more fun that it sounds. At least, it was fun for me -- I wasn't the one driving. I expected everyone at work to have forgotten my birthday -- we don't really make a big deal about them -- and found a card and a lovely pile of Hershey Kisses on my desk. My mom sent the aforementioned Scrabble game, which I've been playing obsessively. I've also been listening to the BBC Radio dramatization for The Lord of the Rings, which Lee gave me for Christmas -- the CDs are the perfect length for commuting. I have just enough time to listen to one each way. Unfortunately, the other people on the T insist on talking to each other (the nerve!) so sometimes they're hard to hear, but they're fun anyway. And now I think I'll go curl up under my comforter again, and plot how to exchange pretty rocks for goods and services.
Posted by Mary Ellen at January 10, 2002 09:37 PM