My mom's vacation was to be on the cheap. She stayed with me. I bought groceries. We had our little splurges, like over-priced ice cream at the park and a souvenir photo of us rocking out at the EMP, but we didn't take the $100 seaplane ride she wanted. She paid for most things, so I didn't go broke.
Then came my paycheck. Granted, I had gone to a music festival the three days before. It couldn't be helped. I had bought the tickets forever ago. It's summer in Seattle, there are some classic experiences you just have to grab on to. Or is this the money idiot talking?
Vacation hangover: my paycheck was $250. The next day, my $163 health insurance bill came out of my account. So the cost of her trip was not just the $200 in food prep and little stuff, but more like $450 when you count lost wages. If I had thought of that number before, would I have still thought it was a good idea? But it's my mom, she has to come visit, right?
Now my boyfriend's asking about the next music festival. It's only a month away. We already got the $75 tickets. I took the Saturday off, the only day I would have been working, because Ray LaMontagne is playing that day. That makes it a $150 music festival. To make matters worse, the wine bar where I work is going to be closed for the week after because the owners are getting married. I could work as a server at the three days of wedding events, but my boyfriend is friends with the owners, as am I, and we'd both prefer I be his date rather than his bartender. That makes it a $200 wedding and another $250 paycheck.
It's become a joke whenever I have these decisions to make. This joke is: "Of course, I'm going to choose the more fun yet financially irresponsible decision." I have, all my life, up until now. So, the question is, what am I going to do now?
1 comments:
You are facing some tough realities and some tough choices. You need to have some fun, but you also have to pay the bills. Good luck.
Post a Comment