17/28 Car Truths: Alternative Forms

Alternative Forms

Source.

... of income!

The main reason (besides not really having any other place to stay at the end of December) of living in my car is to save money. I already have a part-time job as a source of income, but adding the extra $55 a week for plasma donations help cover most living expenses for the week. That leaves the majority of my paycheck to go towards loans and fixing my car.

Honestly, I'm debating about finding different sources of income besides plasma donation. If I lose any more weight from running, the $55 a week drops down to $35. It's not really worth it for the lesser amount and I'd rather be athletic.

Previously, I cleaned houses to gather extra money. Unfortunately, CSU likes to create schedules where the entire day is taken up with classes. I'm pretty sure the system is designed to babysit the college kids. The community college I attended before transferring to university had a MW, TR schedule as opposed to CSU's MWF, TR scheduling.

Only being available during evenings and weekends has really affected my work life. Especially, since most of my jobs have been sale-results related. Whatever.

4/28 Car Truths: Food

Banana, Nutella,
peanut butter tortilla, yum!

Food!

Figuring out what food to buy, how much and working that into the whole budget for the month was a completely new experience for me. Originally, I tried giving myself a certain amount I could spend everyday. That didn't work out for two reasons: I would focus on buying little things over cheap larger purchases and I worked better having a set amount of money I could spend over the course of the week, as opposed to three dollars every day.

I have a small lunchbox cooler for small items that need to be stored for a couple of days and when the weather stayed cold enough I purchased different juices and fruits. Now that the weather is warming up (even though it's still snowing) I avoid large purchases that can go bad too quickly and stick to simple items.

For snacks and breakfasts, I mostly have granola bars (33-50 cents each, depending on the brand, Nature Valley honey is the cheapest), various nuts (10 bucks for a canister of cashews, almonds or 14 for pistachios). Peanut butter and tortillas are always a good bet. Carrots, apples and bananas are fruit and a vegetable that last for a couple of days while I munch on them. Those are the healthy food stuffs. I still occasionally have a one dollar burrito or hamburger from a fast food restaurant.

Re-arranged the Budget

Due to my demotion and shift in monies, I reworked my budget to fit the short term needs of food, car, gas while including longer term goals of paying off my loans and taking an October family visiting trip.

Depending on my hours, I should be making around 400 plus all the way down to 350ish. Splitting the paycheck into $200 student loans and $150 for two weeks and savings is my new plan. I don't spend $75 dollars a week on food, gas and luxuries. The monies left over from the $150 over two weeks goes towards car repairs and my long term vacation goals.

All and all, I'm paying $400 a month towards loans. My tax return is also going straight to getting this burden off my back. Luckily, I've been working since sixteen and my savings covers most of my education. Being a first generation college student, I did mess up on my community college credits transferring. To graduate on time (2013), I took summer classes. There isn't anymore financial aid available for the summer and I paid the whole semester with a 5,500 loan.

Five thousand is a lot of money, but in comparison to the national average $26,600 per student...
I also took five years to finish my bachelors. I use to feel shameful, but, HEY, a degree is a degree!

http://cloudfront.inthecapital.com/files/2012/09/student_debt.jpg

More Car Stuff

Driving home from work two nights ago, I noticed a burnt smell from the defrost. Normally, I'm not as worried about my car, but seeing as if it crashes I have no where to sleep...

Anyways! Took it in for diagnostics and they found out that oil was leaking all over the engine. The smell came from the burnt oil. To replace the leaking valve cover gasket and the oil-soaked spark plugs and wires cost $218 and a whole morning.

:(

I did have to rearrange my car to make it look like I didn't live in it. Placed all the blankets and sleeping bag in the trunk and moved the books to the backseat. It did give me a chance to organize and clean out my car.

Mouse Trap

After reading this inspiring article by David Cain just a few days ago, Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed, I caught myself today falling into the trap.

The summary of the article is that because the forty hour work week has taken up so much time that people have they tend to over spend on the weekends to recover from the droll of the week. As I work twenty plus hours and week and spend the rest of my time school-working, I rarely have time for entertainment or recovery.

I had a really stressful day at work.

I had a really stressful day at work.


I'm going to type it one more time: I had a really stressful day at work.

I am at my three strikes at work. My manager basically told me that this meeting should of been my termination and that I should talk to him in two days to change positions in the company (or face the "responsibilities" of my job).

Let me elaborate here: I am one of those annoying cell phone polo shirts that interrupt your shopping and use every tactic in the book to get you to buy a phone.

One of these desperate people

Source: http://www.printapromo.com.au/uniforms-and-clothing/custom-polo-shirts/mens-unisex/pp-2mp-jbs-wear-embroidered-podium-moto-polo-shirt

The first time, my manager wrote me up: a customer threw a tantrum in the store because their cell phone bill was higher than the brochures. Apparently, they decided not to understand the concept of TAXATION. That was my fault for telling them that their cell phone bill would be X and not X + taxes.

The second time was a couple of months ago, when I showed up on the wrong day and skipped the right one. My room mate thought it would be funny to fuck with the written down schedules I posted on the fridge. A no-call, no-show called for a coaching.

Today would of been my last day. I have been late for work once a month for around 11-16 minutes for sixth months. The last time I arrived tardy happen to be the day that my mom's pug vomited blood on me.

He was cuter as a puppy. A puppy that didn't vomit as much.

Fortunately for me, my late hours working, covering shifts and building good customer repoire has paid off as I didn't get fired. Unfortunately for me, I've been "suggested" to leave my position and be a regular sales associate on the floor. I wouldn't mind as much (working on the floor is fun), except for the pay deduction.

Source: http://www.foodspotting.com/reviews/324180

Feeling rather stressed, during my break I fumed my way to the sandwich shop across the parking lot and "treated" myself to a 6 dollar meal, complete with cookie.

Breaking my food budget and personal goals for a sandwich and a cookie I fell into the trap of convenience and want. I had food in the car. I already overspent my budget last month. I can't really afford to be homeless, let alone be homeless and eating out.

Lesson of the day! Watch where every cent of your money goes.

The Budget

With my part-time job, I make around $900 a month. To put that in perspective, a one-bedroom apartment in this city costs around $750 to $900. Most college students stay in houses or large apartments together, with each student paying $400 to $500 rent. Through financial aid and student loans the semester and the Rec Center fees are paid.

My Expenses

Reoccurring: I know every month I will have to pay my phone bill, a Netflix bill, and what I want to put away in savings:
Phone Bill: $38.38 ($35 + tax)
Netflix: $7.99
Minimum Long-term Savings: $168.00

Estimated Expenses: My goal is to eat off of $3.30 a day and use under $150 in gas money (a high estimate). By the end of January, I should I have pretty good ideal of the actual costs.
Food: $100
Gas Money: $150
Toiletries/Laundry: $10
Misc: $25 (movies, clothing, etc.)
Student Loan Payment: $400

This is a pretty rough budget. I did not plan this whole car adventure particularly well. The total amount equals: 899.37.