Woo hoo, I'm working another 16 hour day!!!

I just got a phone call from the temp agency and I have another 16 hour day ahead of me. This time I'm subbing in an elementary school that's a few blocks from my house (which means no trips to McD's due to starvation between jobs). Yesterday. I pretty much sat on my butt and only actually did something for a half an hour or so. Today, I have a feeling will be different. I'm making sure I take hand sanitizer and ibuprofen with me.

I only need 4 more shifts or so and I'll actually be able to pay March's rent before April and pay April's rent on time!!! YEAH!!!! The big crunch time for me is until mid-April when I get my vehicle payments caught up, then I can really concentrate on getting some debt paid down.

YEAH!!!!

Schedule for the day:

7:50am-2:55pm work at elementary school
3:oopm-3:45pm make hamburger helper, eat some and bring some to job #2
4:oopm-12:30am work at job #2
1am CRASH

Thank God for weekends where I can do nothing but sleep. With working so much I can't even think about spending money. I find time to do things like figure out my budget and make my grocery list at my evening job while I'm waiting for other people to finish their assignments.

13 min.

I have 13 min. until I can leave work and go home to bed. Ahhhh..... It's been a long, but good day. I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Picking up change

I read something last night about picking up change you find on the ground. Some people won't bother with it while other people hunt for it and pick up every last penny they see. I am one of those who picks up anything the vast majority of the time. Since I don't go out shopping much and pretty much just drive to and from work my opportunities to pick up change are few and far between.

So I thought about other ways I can pick up pennies in the internet world. I looked at my e-mail inbox and found a perfect example. I read e-mails and get $$ for each one, usually $.02, but it's $.02!! What I do is let the e-mails pile up for a week or so and then "read" a bunch at one time while I'm watching TV. I figure this is going to bring in around $50/year, nothing to sneeze at....

I admit it, I spent money today

I brought food with me today for meal times at both jobs. By the end of job #1 I was ravenously hungry and at that point I had two choices. I could go home and get something else or I could go to one of the two McDonald's on my way to job #2. Both options would cost be about the same amount of money, but because time was a factor I went to McDonald's (I had cash) and spent $4.

So yes, I broke my no spending rule but I had to do something right?

Only 6 hours till I get to go to bed.....

I never thought I'd be thankful for....

My roommates blender. My roommate has recently taken up smoothies in the morning and it usually wakes me up. I didn't set my alarm this morning figuring if I woke up to call the temp agency I would, and if I didn't wake up that was ok too. I called and guess what, I have work today!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm pretty much working from 8am-12:30am today. 16 hours of work is gonna seem strange after not working for over a month.

I gotta run!

Insert clever quip about Tuesday here, maybe

I'm not quite sure I'm liking this theme of the day thing, it seems too forced for me. I'd rather keep it free form. It's my blog and I can do what I want right?

Not much of note happened Monday. I TRIED to sleep after I called the temp agency and the bank but the sleep was fragmented by several phone calls. Lovely.... I know my body and I know I have to get a good night's sleep tonight or else I'll succumb to the nasty crud that's going around (I can tell my body is really fighting it) and/or I'll get a migraine. So, that being said, I may not call into the temp agency in the morning. Yes, I need the money but I also can't afford to miss a couple days of work due to being sick.

I did work on refining my budget for this paycheck. I am making a well planned grocery list. I am also making a detailed list of errands I need to run on Friday (payday). If I don't make a list I will probably end up wasting a gallon or two of gas. Efficiency is key here.

I found out a little more about the benefits at my new job. I was only able to look at one option for health insurance and it's cheap but it really only meant for routine colds and flu type of doctors visits, maybe a broken bone or an uncomplicated appendectomy. The major positive side is it's only $19/month for a $250 deductible. Routine preventative care is only a $15 copay. This plan looks like a very viable option for me, especially since my primary form of health care is acupuncture. Hmmm, the more I write about this plan the more it's making a whole lot of sense to me. Even if I go to my acupuncturist once a month for $50 and health insurance is $19 it's still cheaper than a traditional employer sponsored insurance plan. Let me fill you in a little on how acupuncture has helped me. I am still in debt to several medical establishments for multiple tests that never showed anything (I was tested for multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis and had a shoulder injury). ALL of my symptoms went away after two or three sessions of acupuncture. So, $150 to solve the problem vs. THOUSANDS and no results; you do the math and figure out which option is more budget friendly.

Managing Money Monday

It's 2:50am and I am still awake. I royally screwed up my sleeping schedule this weekend. If I get work through the temp agency today it's going to be one very long and rough day.

So, today's topic is managing money. Friday is payday!!! YEAH!!!!!!!! I'll be getting about $400. $175 goes to my vehicle payment ($15 of that is stupid tax). $110 goes to vehicle insurance. $50 goes into my gas tank. $35 for an overdraft fee that's going to hit (totally not my fault either, stupid bank), $4.25 for ebay fees, $20 to pay back someone for the money they gave me for gas last week, for a total of $394.25. Then there is my SIL's babyshower on the 8th. My mom is sending me $20 for gas, which won't totally cover the trip up there with gas prices the way they are.

I'm going to try and talk some sense into the bank in the morning and see if I can get a fee they charged me reversed so the overdraft fee won't hit me. Or see if they can take away the fee and recharge me for the fee later. The fee came from the fact there was not an automatic deposit into my account the last billing cycle.

I somehow have to get some money for the perishable food I can't get through the food shelf. My income for March is going to be too high (just over the limit) so I can't get any food stamps. I pray I can get work with the temp agency this week because they pay on a weekly basis.

It's all so overwhelming. This is the point the anxiety kicks in....

UPDATE: I was up to call into the temp agency (no work through them today) so I decided to call the bank. My bank does not have a reputation for being nice, but I had a totally different experience with them just a few min. ago. I explained the situation and told them direct deposit was going to be re-established soon. Thank God they had a heart and reversed the fee! YEAH!!!!!! So that's $35 I have back to pay down some debt.