So today’s VEDA topic was money and I decided to go rogue with a few other bloggers and talked about best kisses instead. Since I didn’t talk about money on the vlog, I decided to talk about it here. It needed more space and time anyway to get into the mess that is my finances.
Before getting my job, I had been unemployed for nearly a year but without unemployment benefits. I honestly don’t know how I lasted as long as I did, especially with three months spent playing around in Europe. (OK I do know, it’s called an inheritance.) I started running out of money in June and luckily I got a job. Unfortunately it didn’t start paying me until mid july so I started using my credit card to live, it was the only way I could afford life. Especially with friends coming into town every week.
It was around that time in June when I stopped being able to pay my credit card bill. So it’s been a few months of money piling up. I’ve never not been able to pay a credit card bill and it’s driving me crazy. Unfortunately I didn’t have any other choice, since I didn’t have any money coming in and wasn’t willing to become a prostitute or a stripper.
Now I find myself in debt for the first time in my life and I have a hard time dealing with that. I threw half of my first paycheck, which wasn’t much at all, towards my bill. The last paycheck went towards rent. I’ve decided to throw the majority of the next one at my credit card and the next one after that will be going to rent. I will continue throwing my paychecks at my debt until I get it covered. The reality of this situation is that I need a second job in order to be able to live. Because while my rent is half of what I was paying in NYC, it also is half of my paycheck. So I’m back to where I was in NYC money-wise, except now I have an added thing called debt.
So for the next few months I have to reign myself in. I’m not shopping. I’m not eating out. I’m not going to be drinking. I’m going to be eating mac and cheese and ramen for a couple months and I will not complain about it. It has to be done in order for me to get out of debt. I refuse to be in debt for more than three or four more months. I refuse. It has to be taken care of. Once it’s taken care of, I can breathe just a little easier.
Only just a little though.
After I clean up my credit card mess, I have to start throwing money into savings for my big, epic trip to the South Pacific. While this trip will be worth every penny I save up, it’s hard not buying whatever I want. I’m so used to doing just that. I’m not a budget girl. I’m not someone who saves. Granted, most people are saving for like a house or something big and important like that. I’m saving so I can spend it all while frolicking down under.
Wait, that sounds bad.
Some people have different priorities; mine just happens to focus pretty much solely on travel. The problem is, I’m an instant gratification type of girl. I have to save and wait and save and wait for a year and a half almost. A YEAR. AND A HALF. That’s a long time to wait and save up money for. My budget plan for last year? I saved up all my money in 2 months time and took off. That was pretty instant. There was barely any waiting involved. In fact, there was so little time to pack, sublet, move and save as much money as I could that it flew by at record speeds.
I have time now to save up and plan and budget. Which, I guess is good because I am planning on spending a good amount of time overseas for this next trip. I estimate I will be gone 3-6 months, or more. That’s a good chunk of money, even when I’ll be living in a hut for a month in Fiji with my brother. Anyways. This post is not about my trip, it’s about money!
Right?
I’m currently sitting here eating mac and cheese with peas. Let the poor man’s diet begin…
Oh and while you’re here, you might as well hear/see me talk about my best first kisses.
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Good for you. I’ve lived with a budget since I was 18. Mint.com is really helpful for me. I love travel, too, but I just have to take more trips that are not as awesome as yours because of my school schedule.
I basically just pretend that “travel” is a bill I pay every month and put that much money in savings. So instead of going to Sbux or eating out, I pay for my gas to go to DC every few months or for food/drinks for conferences for school/work. Haha. It adds up pretty fast! And once you start holding back and feeling the relief of no debt, it gets easier to not focus on instant gratification. I promise. 
Good luck on your travel budget awesomeness and I’m so glad you are vlogging every day. And…. I think you totally inspired me to paint one of the walls in my apartment even though I swore I wasn’t going to do it. I saw a yellow wall today on Apartment Therapy and just thought, Yeah I gotta do this. 
You should totally paint your wall! How fun
That’s a good way to look at it–that travel is a bill. Otherwise I’m not sure how well I will be able to save money!
I second mint.com! You can set a budget for everything, including a saving budget. It’s very gratifying to see “You saved $x for vacations this month.”
I feel your budgeting pain and fear of debt. I’m in law school and will graduate next year with $150,000 in loans. $150,000!! I can’t even wrap my head around that number. I get anxiety bellyaches just thinking about it. But like you said- it’s all about delayed gratification, and while it scares the shite out of me to have that much debt hanging over my head, I just keep telling myself that it will be worth it one day…
So good luck! You can do it- you just have to come back down to earth a little bit.
I am right there with you, girl. I’ve been meaning to sit down & look at my budget to see where I can cut back so I can work on my credit card debt. (I have lots.) Just know you’re not alone in all this!
Good for you! My husband and I use Dave Ramsey’s method of financial planning. It’s a zero debt system that focuses on saving for the long term. It’s a good thing my husband’s financially savvy, because I’m just like you: budgets are not my thing. Good luck!
I did that course last year with my parents – HIGHLY recommended. It totally changed the way I approached money – Ash, I have the audio if you want it
I’m FRANTICALLY trying to save for the Europe trip w/ my dad this October. I don’t regret saying that I would foot the bill for him because I’m about to make his childhood dream come true. I just wish I had more saved up before I offered him this opportunity. Chances are, I will be in credit card debt by the end of the trip. But for my dad, it would be worth it.