Money/The Lack Thereof

jjreason · Post by **jjreason** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:34 pm

I hate fucking worrying about money. I hate fighting with Jodi about money. I hate not having enough fucking money, but I know that even if we had more, there'd never be enough. Isn't that fucked up?

So here I am, about a month away from being 35 years old. I make enough money, not a fortune but enough. So why the fuck don't I ever have any?

I recently had a look at our budget - seriously, a good top to bottom look at what we're spending every 2 weeks - and it's a lot. Between my mortgage and bills that it takes just to run the place (not including groceries) I'm spending nearly 70% of my paycheque. Toss in a credit card or cell phone bill (or 2, or 4), the fact that we're running 2 cars for the first time, and the fact that my gas consumption has gone up nearly 400% since we moved - and there ain't a fuck of a lot left over for shit I like to buy. This is infuriating, as I really like to buy a lot of stuff. Not expensive stuff, mind you, but lots of cheap shit. You read about it here all the time.

Jodi doesn't work, and I don't really want her to go back. I like having her dealing with the kids instead of some FPSer we don't know, and don't have any chance to observe - besides, when you subtract the cost of childcare from whatever she would earn, the difference is a pittance anyhow. I think moms should only go back to work if they need it for their mental well-being - and I truly appreciate that need. Lots of women love to work.... but in our house it would be like running to stand still.

So what do you do? I've obviously got to lower our credit card balances so that the monthly payments aren't as heavy... but it's impossible to know when your car is going to break down to the tune of $1200.00, or when those houseguests that stay for 2 weeks are going to cost you nearly that much again..... all within the same month stretch (January of 2007 to be exact).

I know we'll rebound, but I can't stand operating within this confined budget - and I REALLY can't stand counting nickels and fucking dimes... wondering if that lunch out at work is going to put you into the red for a whole 2 week stretch. Money's a bitch.

Senor JabbaJohnL · Post by **Senor JabbaJohnL** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:46 pm

Sell your jizz to lesbian couples. Works like a charm.

Slicker · Post by **Slicker** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:59 am

I totally hear ya JJ. Me coming to Japan almost literally cut my monthly money in half. I wasn't making probably nearly as much as you but it was more than enough to drink every weekend and buy whatever toys I needed. Coming over here though made all that stop.

It'll take time but I'll eventually get out of debt and then I'll be better off...hopefully...

Slimmie · Post by **Slimmie** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:36 pm

Haw! Slick, you have permission to respond when you have, at the very least, a wife, kids & a mortgage. Long gone are the days where drinking, hookers & vending machine panties would consume my monthly paycheque.

By the way, I hope things are going well over there.

kidhuman · Post by **kidhuman** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:13 am

I feel your pain JJ. It seems there is never enough to go around. Work overtime like mad to afford the little things in life, but then the kids grew 8 inches in the last 6 months and need brand new clothes. Wait until you hit that stage.

Mrs KH doesnt work either, we gone through the same issues. Work to pay childcare aint worth it. Things will come back to you in due time. Budgets suck ass.

Slimmie, exactly. I remember the days of drinking and whatever else with no responsibilities at all. Too bad everyday cant be like that. Cant wait till the kid makes enough money to support me for a change.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:37 pm

My wife bitches at me about buying toys. Yet she says, in the same breath, that she doesn't want me to stop.

Meanwhile, my daughter has more clothes than she could possibly wear in her lifetime, and every time Mrs Anarky goes out, Anarky Jr gets another five outfits.

Eternal Padawan · Post by **Eternal Padawan** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:38 pm

I am JUST now getting to a place where I can relax knowing I have a small cushion in my bank account and not have to rely on the upcoming paycheck and decide what's going to get paid and what has to wait until next week. For the first time, when bills come in, I can turn around and send them out the following day. I am still close to broke and I have to constantly fight the urge to buy something because "I have a surplus in the bank." But I recently rolled over my 401k from Wal-Mart to Warner Bros and withheld enough to pay off my burgeoning credit card debt. It's been a monkey on my back for the last eight years and I'm DONE with it. I also have my tax refund coming back soon. So for the first time since Victoria was born in 1998 I am in the "Black." I still have my school loans outstanding, but I am not so worried about those. If I can keep up my spartan lifestyle for the next year or so, I should be able to build up a sizeable chunk of savings. What I do need to do is cut back on the Comic Books. I am spending roughly $40 a week on books and I KNOW I need to reign that in.

The money issue is SO stressful it was affecting everything else in my life including my personal relationships. Now that I'm getting out of it, I feel like I can concentrate on other pursuits.

Post by **vynsane** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:03 pm

i know what you mean, jj... when we were in raleigh, we were totally digging a huge hole. we're still paying for the stuff we bought two years ago because of all the debt. but since moving back to NY, we've barely used the credit cards, so that's good. we also got rid of a car (what we've found to be the biggest money vacuum) so that helped.

now that we've moved upstate, we'll be saving even more money - car insurance in brooklyn is probably the most expensive thing on the planet, and moving cut it by 40%.

not to brag, but i'm just saying: things get bad, then they get better again. it's cyclical. you'll come out of it. and the comics will be there waiting.

Ran · Post by **Ran** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:46 pm

anarky wrote:Meanwhile, my daughter has more clothes than she could possibly wear in her lifetime, and every time Mrs Anarky goes out, Anarky Jr gets another five outfits.

It will slow down after the first year or so. Then, if you have another girl, you're set. My younger daughter is wearing clothes my first daughter only wore once, or in some cases, never wore.

Eternal Padawan · Post by **Eternal Padawan** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:41 pm

First off, Gramma LOVES to shop for the kids. Embrace that. 50% of the little tykes wardrobe came from the Grandparents. Second, I recommend the consignment stores. Most of the stuff in there is $20 outfits for $2 or $3 and they still have the tags on them. So you're not getting some nasty used clothes.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:46 pm

One grandmother is about 5-6 hours away. The other is borderline insane and places absolutely no importance on material possessions. She apparently used to give away all my wife's stuff when she was a kid. She'd come home, and her toys were gone. "Well, you not play with for two day, I think you not want and give to neighbor."

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:48 pm

Speaking of which, my mother-in-law is frugal to an almost comical extent. I'm tight with a buck, but this is the kind of woman who makes glue and shoes for her kids even though they can afford better, so they end up getting laughed at.

Which would be fine, but my wife absolutely cannot keep a secret from her mom. I tell her constantly that her mother has no reason to know what our finances are, and she should stop volunteering the info. I don't tell my mom what's going on beyond the most general stuff, so it bugs the shit out of me that her mother bitches at me. "You still waste money on toy?"

I swear to God, I love my wife, but I pray every day that the old saying that every daughter will turn into her mother is utter horseshit.

jjreason · Post by **jjreason** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:42 am

I worry about that too, trust me. I think it's every married man's concern.

And you know what? Jodi's horrified that I'm turning into my Dad - and it's hard for me to argue when I hear myself half the time.

On the money tip, I nearly ordered over $100 from mycomicshop.com - but managed to stop at the last possible instant. Those bastards actually had the gall to email me and let me know that there was a NM copy of Hulk 25 in stock - the only book on my want list (and the only issue of Hulk I don't have from the past 10 years or so). It's actually issue #500 if you count the old numbering system, and it's double-sized AND a battle with Abomination to boot.

Every other time this has happened, I haven't responded quickly enough and he book has been sold out - but today it went into my cart. Quickly I scraped together a bunch of cheap Spideys to fill out my $70 requirement for free shipping (along with another $30 worth - you might as well go big, right?). But I hedged on it right when I was entering my cc info - because of this thread. I knew that if I came on here bragging about a bunch of new comics you guys would be all over me - which makes you all cocksuckers.

Post by **vynsane** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:11 pm

for the record, i will never jump over anyone for buying a shitload of comics that they can't afford... i've been there too much.

Eternal Padawan · Post by **Eternal Padawan** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:13 pm

Ditto. Sometimes finding that elusive issue you've tracking down forever trumps your "no buying shitloads of books" policy. I woulda had your back.