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jakebeToday is Halloween! I am a little bummed that I don't have anywhere to go for the holiday, but not so much that I'd bother making plans. Instead we'll stay in, have a nice dinner, and watch a scary movie/series. At our complex, kids tend to come in one big group so we'll have ten minutes of chaos at some point before things quiet down again.
I've been settling into the new routine as much as I can, though I'm still not as efficient with my time as I could be. I should have been writing this journal two hours ago, for example. But I got caught up listening to a Joe Scott video imagining the Earth with rings, signed up for a new subscription service called Rocket Money that promises to simplify my budget data so I can make smarter choices. I'm intrigued, especially since YNAB has...not been that helpful for me in the three months I've been at TSS.
Based on the three months of data I have so far, I'm making roughly $3,000/month full-time. Rent, utilities, and household subscriptions are 40% of that at $1,200/month, which leaves me $1,800/month for everything else. That includes Blue Apron, which averages $525/month, auto insurance at roughly $140/month, Patreon at roughly $100/month -- which leaves me about $1,000/month for groceries, entertainment, and everything else.
Honestly if I calm down on a few high-ticket spending items I'll be in much better shape, but it remains to be seen how feasible that is. Next month I'll re-orient towards having enough groceries to eat in most of the time, which means experimenting with breakfast and lunch to come up with options that will keep me from heading out to Starbucks and McDonald's. It might just be ditching the habit when it comes up and focusing on eating the food I genuinely like -- and that's a lot more healthy for me.
I don't mind simplifying my lifestyle so that I'm content with less, but it will definitely be a bit more of an adjustment for the household in general. The exact details are pretty fuzzy, but I end up paying for a lot of our shared resources (most groceries, alcohol, pet supplies). I'll need more help with those, but also a lot of the "spontaneous" expenses we've been indulging in will have to stop. That means more things that don't cost a lot to do or having to plan ahead so I know how much budget I have to work with. Again -- not bad, but the lifestyle shift doesn't just affect me, so there's some managing of expectations to do.
I've been approached by an ex-Udacity colleague about a Senior Community Manager position at a health-care services company in SF. It's a very exciting opportunity, but it would mean a lot of work, a lot of learning on the job, and the very real possibility of the grant funding the position not being renewed for next year. But it pays a lot more, would give me a lot of experience in a space I'm quite excited about, and help me build my network so that I can step into a better position if the job does end. I've expressed interest, obviously, and the recruiter has given me an assessment to complete ASAP to start the process. I just have to find the time to deliver it!
One of the reasons I'm frustrated about the lack of time management is that there's so much I want to do -- and I'd like to make sure I'm giving everything the presence of mind to actually handle things well. But it's so easy to get distracted and I often find myself drifting into habitual scatterbrained behavior. In addition to being more mindful about my budget, I'm also going to have to be more mindful about my time.
I suppose it's time to make the best of my limited resources. That's my next stage of maturation.
I've been settling into the new routine as much as I can, though I'm still not as efficient with my time as I could be. I should have been writing this journal two hours ago, for example. But I got caught up listening to a Joe Scott video imagining the Earth with rings, signed up for a new subscription service called Rocket Money that promises to simplify my budget data so I can make smarter choices. I'm intrigued, especially since YNAB has...not been that helpful for me in the three months I've been at TSS.
Based on the three months of data I have so far, I'm making roughly $3,000/month full-time. Rent, utilities, and household subscriptions are 40% of that at $1,200/month, which leaves me $1,800/month for everything else. That includes Blue Apron, which averages $525/month, auto insurance at roughly $140/month, Patreon at roughly $100/month -- which leaves me about $1,000/month for groceries, entertainment, and everything else.
Honestly if I calm down on a few high-ticket spending items I'll be in much better shape, but it remains to be seen how feasible that is. Next month I'll re-orient towards having enough groceries to eat in most of the time, which means experimenting with breakfast and lunch to come up with options that will keep me from heading out to Starbucks and McDonald's. It might just be ditching the habit when it comes up and focusing on eating the food I genuinely like -- and that's a lot more healthy for me.
I don't mind simplifying my lifestyle so that I'm content with less, but it will definitely be a bit more of an adjustment for the household in general. The exact details are pretty fuzzy, but I end up paying for a lot of our shared resources (most groceries, alcohol, pet supplies). I'll need more help with those, but also a lot of the "spontaneous" expenses we've been indulging in will have to stop. That means more things that don't cost a lot to do or having to plan ahead so I know how much budget I have to work with. Again -- not bad, but the lifestyle shift doesn't just affect me, so there's some managing of expectations to do.
I've been approached by an ex-Udacity colleague about a Senior Community Manager position at a health-care services company in SF. It's a very exciting opportunity, but it would mean a lot of work, a lot of learning on the job, and the very real possibility of the grant funding the position not being renewed for next year. But it pays a lot more, would give me a lot of experience in a space I'm quite excited about, and help me build my network so that I can step into a better position if the job does end. I've expressed interest, obviously, and the recruiter has given me an assessment to complete ASAP to start the process. I just have to find the time to deliver it!
One of the reasons I'm frustrated about the lack of time management is that there's so much I want to do -- and I'd like to make sure I'm giving everything the presence of mind to actually handle things well. But it's so easy to get distracted and I often find myself drifting into habitual scatterbrained behavior. In addition to being more mindful about my budget, I'm also going to have to be more mindful about my time.
I suppose it's time to make the best of my limited resources. That's my next stage of maturation.
