Turning Into a Miser

I got paid yesterday, and it seems like whenever I get paid, I'm loathe to spend any money. But I forgot to pay my water bill, and when I checked my post office box, I saw a final notice bill. So I paid the minimum due.

I found some other bills too, and I'm pleased to report my electric bill was less than $30. I'm telling you, unplug everything you aren't using, including the washer and dryer. Only plug stuff in when you need it.

I'm still loathe to spend money though. I wish you could opt to not pay utilities for a month or two without penalties, so you could save that extra money. Of course, if I had a decent-paying full-time job, I might not be such a cheapskate.

But maybe I would.

Tired of my Piecemeal Way of Making a Living

I've had my bankruptcy discharge paper for about a month now, but I'm still feeling a bit down. I work three jobs, and I may pick up a fourth one. It's getting depressing to work all these jobs and not feel like I'm getting anywhere.

I'm forced to wash my dishes in my bathtub, because my plumbing is fucked up. My kitchen sink backs up into the toilet, so it ends up overflowing. I should just call a plumber and get the sewer line cleaned out, because that's what's going on. And to make things super-awesome, I have to attach a plastic hose to my washer outflow pipe and run it out the backdoor, because the drainpipe for the washer tends to overflow as well. I've had this problem before. But I'm also trying to build my emergency fund. I'll admit I'm really, really tempted to apply for a credit card with a low limit, so I don't have to owe my ex-boyfriend almost $700 for a car repair done in summer.

And I'm way overdue for a mammogram, a dentist appointment, an eye exam, and my cat Summit's regular check-up. I'm not sure what to pay for first. Summit should have gone when I took Daphne, but I couldn't get her into the carrier, and yes, I'm afraid of her. She will not let me pick her up or pet her. I tried to do the best I could when I first found her--bottle fed her (she was maybe four weeks old when I found her, eyes crusted shut in a driveway) and fed her Iams when I could afford it. If I ever find another kitten, I'll take it to a no-kill shelter, or give her to someone who wants a kitten. I'm not good with cats. Summit could be worse--she's very quiet and doesn't drape herself across my computer keyboard, but she's hardly affectionate.

So I'm wondering how long I can put off getting a credit card. The sink/toilet/washer problem is getting annoying. I don't think I can get a better job unless I go back to school, and I will have to take out loans for school, thereby putting me right back into debt. I know Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and things could be worse, but I'm not too terribly happy with the scraping-by lifestyle I'm living.

Sigh...

It looks like I'll have to email my bankruptcy attorney. I keep getting bills from accounts I KNOW I included in with the chapter seven conversion. Maybe I should make a copy of the discharge paper and send it to these people. Or maybe someone screwed up the paperwork. All I know is I have a headache right now (probably from throwing up through my nose) and I'm tired of being hounded for $51,000+ that I don't have. I'm fucking tired of being poor, and a hunt for a full time job may have to start in EARNEST.

Dealing With It

I have so many things I need to take care of right now: mammogram, dentist, eye doctor, taking my cat to the vet and now my plumbing is screwing up. Not my internal plumbing, but my house plumbing. It sucks, because I can't wash dishes without the water from the kitchen sink backing up into the toilet. So I can only wash dishes for maybe five minutes at the most. Then, I have to run to the bathroom to make sure the toilet is not overflowing.

It also means I can't flush the toilet more than twice in a 24-hour period. I am disgusted by my house, but what can I do? I'm broke. I'm trying to build my emergency fund, because I'm worried that I will only get one class to teach this semester. If I do, I will be in T-R-O-U-B-L-E. It sucked last spring; it's going to suck this spring unless another job comes along. And working three jobs gets old. Adding a fourth one is going to help, but at the same time, it's going to be tedious.

Building that Emergency Fund!

I'm glad and proud to say that I was able to put $200 from this last pay period into my emergency fund. I still owe a friend money for the car repair he paid for this past summer. I intend to pay him back, but it might take a while.

Anticlimax

I got my bankruptcy discharge papers last week, but somehow I wasn't as jubilant about getting them as I thought I would be. Maybe because I'm still broke

Stopped at My Post Office Box This Week...

And I found the paper I'd been expecting for years now. It was my bankruptcy discharge paper. It's still going to be hard though. I'm not making a lot of money, and it's hard to save. I guess I can continue trying to scrimp and save, or I can look for a full-time job, and teach one class at night. I'm planning to start grad school in less than a year, so I have to start preparing for that. I'm NOT looking forward into getting into debt again with student loans, but if additional schooling will allow me to teach for the next 20-25 years, it will be worth it. Because I really don't think I'll be able to retire, so I'd better have a job I can stick with.

Another Excerpt From "Recovering Bankrupt"

I wrote this as a column for the Fort Wayne Reader, sometime back in 2008. I couldn't find the excerpt I wanted, so you're getting this one, instead.

How Bad Is the Economy? A Few Observations*

General Motors stock costs less than a bed dance.

Taco Bell's value menu is beyond your budget.

Pennies are worth picking up again.

One of your friends is excited about his $25,000 a year job teaching English—in Korea. **

Dollar stores (Dollar Tree, Dollar General, etc.) are the new Wal-mart.

You rearrange your schedule to hit up all the food banks you can find.

Going out to a movie means going to your boyfriend's house to watch YouTube videos, because you can't afford high speed Internet.

You are forced to sell your gold fillings and have to replace them with Bondo.

Your new job is taking pennies from those “take a penny” cups in convenience stores.

You steal toilet paper from public places so you don't have to buy it. **

Since you can't pay your electric bill, you read by street light.

The Tightwad Gazette has become your favorite book, so much that you didn't return it by the due date, so now you owe the library money. **

You're considering buying an SUV—as a low-cost alternative to traditional housing.

Your annual garage sale has turned into a weekly event—and the pile of junk you're getting rid of keeps getting bigger.

You dump your bathwater on your garden so you don't have to use water from the hose thereby keeping your water bill lower.**

Your “winning the lottery” fantasy has replaced your usual sex fantasy. **

You reach down to pick up a dime and clunk heads with someone else trying to do the same thing.

You bore the neighborhood kids with stories that start off with, “when I was your age, General Motors was a successful company!”

Your retirement fund has become your “to hell with the future, I have to eat and pay the cable bill NOW!” fund.

You drop in on friends who have air conditioning, so you don't have to turn yours on and spend money on the extra electricity.

You realize that both you and your parents experienced “The Great Depression,” but in different millenniums.

You're ready to punch out the next person who says, “the economy is just having a minor slump right now.”

Job interviews are something you look forward to, instead of dreading.

You gladly take a drug test, IQ test, personality test, blood test and offer to lick the interviewer's shoes to seem as much like a team player as possible.

You punch out your best friend because he/she complains about working overtime so much.

Your favorite video store is no longer Blockbusters—it's now the Allen County Public Library.

You're reading this, and crying—yet laughing at the same time.

*This originally appeared in my column “Buenos Diaz” in the Fort Wayne Reader as “You Know Times Are Tough When ...” I came up with the ideas while I was driving the ice cream truck one day.

**I've either done these things, or knew people who did them.

Unbanking Myself

A few days ago, I changed my direct deposit to have it go to my credit union checking account. I hope to be unbanked by the end of the year. And I've already ordered my "Hello Kitty" checks.