Budgeting sucks. Those words are effectively what this rant is about (have you read a post of mine that wasn't a rant?), because we aren't all rich and we don't all have wonderful jobs that pay us every dime we want/need or deserve.
Bad news: I didn't get to work today (get to work because tutoring that kid is usually the highlight of my week), so that means no money for me. It's only $20, but how $20 goes a long ways when you are a college student.
Why do institutions pay their students so little? At Small U, students are like slaves. Doing what the man tells us to do because it's included in "other duties as assigned", but I didn't sign up to get you coffee from the Cafeteria (which my big dragon lady boss makes us do), because it's demeaning (says nice supervisor boss lady), I signed up as a tutor.
Do you realize that a tech support position, taking calls and answering questions about e-mail (which I do because it's "tutoring" on some level and yes, we get people who don't know how to delete e-mail) at a near-by state institution, they get paid about $2.00 more per hour than I do? I help the retention effort at my school more than anyone else I know! I keep people in school! I save the university and other students money! Why do I get paid barely over minimum wage!
I work 20 hours a week, and regularly take more than 15 hours a semester worth of classes. I'm applying for graduate school programs in a few months, how the heck am I not supposed to worry about supporting myself when I make a crappy ass pay right now?
So, on the topics of budgets, we come across the grand idea that (1) you don't always get what you want and (2) if you really really want something, then sacrifice something you can live without to get what you want.
So, principles (1) and (2) sound like common sense, right?
Well, even if they are very obvious, in practice they are not so easy to implement.
Let's say you want to go to the movies. Movie tickets are getting pretty expensive these days, approximately $7/person, I'd say. So, maybe if you want to go to the movies, and you are on a budget, you might forgo the popcorn and drinks and make sure you eat a solid meal at home before going. You might even sneak in candy (have you been to a movie theatre where they took your candy away lately?) and even bottled drinks if your purse is that big.
So, in a way, you've used (2) to cheat out (1). You got what you wanted, but you had to make a sacrifice.
I don't like being the evil person in my relationship with my finance (F from now on), so when he asks me (we aren't even married, why is he asking for permission?) if he can do something he wants to do, what am I to say? I want him to do what he wants, but that means cutting back. Which I'm willing to do and maybe it was too hasty for me to say "we have to eat cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta roni for dinner for the next week if you want to go," yeah maybe it was too hasty. But I don't want to tighten the belts too much later.
I'm getting mixed signals here too. He's talking about rent for Sept and beyond while complaining about not having a full-time job and I can't wait to get back to work so he can stop worrying about it. Fortunately, my mom and sister opted to help me out with books and my dad is sending "food" money (I will probably use it for bills). But what I'm really getting at here is, I expect to help, I said I would help, why is he worrying about paying for rent? Then again, why is he loosening the budget already when we aren't out of rough waters?
This is something he really wants to do, so maybe I should give it to him. I fully expect to let him do this thing, he did put a lot of time into this hobby and promised not to pick it up again for a while after tomorrow (which is the day of the thing he wants to do). He's been really good lately and not spent money on it since the day we went to the tournament. So, what should I say? I hate budgetting as much as the next person, but (1) takes precendence and we have to hold off on those things we can do without. Is this that way for him? Or am I tearing down part of him in a totalitarian type of way?
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