My current reality.

I just realized that this is "Lights Out" hour; at least I think it is. Life Fail for me. Whoops. Since there are only three minutes left and I just realized I'll make it up later. Promise.

That's not really what I signed on to talk about though.

(How lame would that be if it was?! Hi, I just fired up my computer to talk about how I'm not supposed to be using electricity. Brilliant.)

Actually, I wanted to talk about a dreaded topic: money.

Tonight I finally sat down and tallied up all my bills. Just bills. No credit cards, other extraneous monthly expenses, gas. Nothing else.

For me bills=car loan, school loans, storage unit, cell phone, and car insurance (which I am just starting to pay for the first time in my life - thanks Mom and Dad). I'm living at home so there isn't rent, utilities, cable, etc. to think about.

Luckily.

But I was still shocked when I added everything up. I'm just going to share it. Maybe it will seem like a good chunk to you, or maybe it's a drop in the bucket. I don't really even know.

Starting May 1, I will be paying about $725 in monthly bills.

Wowsa. I could break it down for you, but I won't. Doing that once was enough for me.

You have no idea how thankful I am to be living at home right now.

There's also good news, and I have a short term plan.

Good news, I got more hours than I expected to for work this next quarter. And this total is not beyond my ability to pay with what I am currently earning.

The other reality though, is that I will be getting only limited hours in the summer. So pretty much, I have to save enough during the spring to pay through September 1.

(Sorry if you're bored; I'm kind of processing this all right now.)

So...my short term plan: for the month of April I will not a) eat out, b) go shopping, or c) spend money on alcohol (meaning bar hop/go out for drinks or happy hour).

This is in part to help me realize how much money I spend that I don't need to and because I won't receive another decent paycheck until the end of April.

I don't think it will be easy, but I think it is doable. And perhaps even necessary in my life.

So wish me good luck, 'cuz ready or not, here I go.