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Wait, You Mean I Have To Be Responsible With My Money, Too?

posted 4th March 2011    Written by: Katharine    CATEGORY: All Posts, Katharine, Money, Season 4, Travel


My first year living in the City of Brotherly Love I worked at the District Attorney’s Office, making a measly $28,500 salary.  I opted out of health insurance and a 401K account because I couldn’t afford the deductions from my paycheck. I would much rather have money in my pocket than in an account doing whatever money does in an account. Or at least that’s what I thought then.

I racked up over $8,000 in credit card debt to pay my bar tabs and shopping sprees because I wanted my own version of Sex and the City. Screw paying rent every month, I wanted new clothes and to drink my body weight in vodka every weekend.

When I got a job at my law firm in 2008, I earned a $65,000 salary, had exceptional health benefits, 4 weeks of paid time off, and finally started a retirement fund and contributed the maximum amount.

Oh, the difference between private and public sectors.

It was the first time I could spend my money without feeling guilty about it.  I paid off my credit card debt, treated myself to pedicures every month, and traveled to Las Vegas and Tampa for hockey tournaments and still had a good chunk of money in my bank account.

I really wish my parents taught me the importance of using credit cards wisely and how to budget money appropriately.

My biggest concern with moving to Prague isn’t how much stuff to bring; it’s how much money do I need?  One of the main reasons I chose to study in Prague is because the cost of living is significantly cheaper than anywhere else in Europe.  My school recommends that I bring 16,000 koruna (~$900 USD) for every month that I intend to live in the city.  That’s enough money for rent, health insurance, and food, with some spending money still left over.  Do you know how much $900 gets me in Philadelphia?  One month’s rent and one week’s worth of groceries.  That’s it.

I really want to make the most of this opportunity to travel and teach abroad.  I’ve already booked a flight to Paris in April, after I complete my certification.  I also have plans to travel to London to visit a friend, Warsaw with my roommate when she visits in May, and I’m dying to return to Rome to gorge on delicious pasta, cheese, and wine.  But I also want to visit South Korea, Costa Rica, Australia, and New Zealand, and traveling to those places aren’t cheap.  I’m afraid I won’t find a teaching job, spend all my money, and have to return to the States sooner than I intend.

I know what you’re thinking:  “But you will get a teaching job!”

I’m trying to be all ‘Peppermint Positive Patty’ about this (get it?  ‘Negative Nancy/Nellie‘ and ‘Positive Patty?’  No?), but like everything else in life (except death and taxes, of course) nothing is certain.  I want to be as realistic as I can about what I’m getting myself into so that I don’t set myself up for disappointment later down the road.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing in all of this is that I won’t have any answers to the millions of questions running through my head until I get to Prague, complete my certification, and start looking for a job.

So for now, I’m just going to estimate how much money I need to have access to, be smart about spending it once I get there, and hope for the best.

What are your thoughts?  How do YOU budget money?  If you’ve traveled or lived abroad, how do you budget your expenses?  Got any tips for me?  Come on, let’s take our relationship to the next level here.

{photo credit: Public Domain}

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Money and Control

posted 30th June 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: Heather Rae, Money, Season 2

Money and I have an interesting relationship.  I mean, I like money.  It’s great to have around when I need to do something like, say, pay the rent.  But, other than that, I kind of wish it had no part in my life.  Seriously.

Like most people, I struggle with a lifelong love-hate relationship with cash. I want it.  I want lots and lots of it.  But not so that it can be front and center in my life.  Rather, because I want the chance to completely forget about it — for once.

If my friends were to choose one word to describe how I handle my finances, they’d probably choose one of these:  frugal, cheap, careful, thrifty…or, perhaps, tight-ass.  And if we’re being honest here, I’d have to admit they’re right.  The reason I hate money is not because I don’t have enough.  For all intents and purposes, I do.  It’s because I don’t feel like I have enough.

Between having parents that fought about money pretty much every day and having a mother that told me, “It’s just as easy to marry for a rich man as it is a poor man”, I imagine it was somewhat inevitable for me to end up having anxiety when it comes to handling my finances.

There was a plus side to this.  I became fiercely financially independent.  I learned to save.  (And I mean seriously save.)  With the exception of a few student loans, I carry no debt.  I don’t use credit cards unless I can pay them in full at the end of the month.  And I’ve never depended on a beau to support me.  Never.

But then, that’s also the problem.  This fierce need to be independent, to never ask for help, to do it all on my own — well, it’s tiring.  And not only for me.  It’s tiring for my fiancé, too.

Let me give you an example.  As you know, I left my job in February.  Before making that decision, I saved for two years.  I had enough money to support my lifestyle for a year before having to return to work.

I’d say it was about two weeks after leaving my job that I broke down in tears, sobbing to the fiancé that I was afraid we’d run out of money before the year was up.  He said, “Heather, how much money do you have?”  (After a freak out like that, he was worried that perhaps I was right.)  So I told him.  He looked at me, confused.  “So what are you worried about again?”

I knew I had enough money to last the year.  But that didn’t stop me from breaking down and freaking out.

And just to make my point really clear, I’ll give you another example.  My fiancé and I are very careful to live below our means.  We figure it’s better to have extra money than risk not having enough.  Because of this, we could easily get by on one income.

You might think this would make me happy.  When the year is up and my savings run dry, I could potentially count on his income to carry us through as I continue pursuing my writing goals.  We’ve discussed this possibility.  He fully supports me and encourages me to keep doing what makes me happy and not worry about going back to work.

But instead of being happy about this, I stress.  And I nag, and I worry.

I don’t know how to let go of control when it comes to money.  I don’t know how to trust someone else to pay the bills, to take care of me, to be there for me.  And if I do.  If I let go of that control and let him take care of me, does that somehow make me weak?  Am I setting myself up for financial disaster in the future?  Am I letting another person have too much control over my life?

Yeah.  You could say I have money issues.  (And trust issues.  And control issues.  And all sorts of other issues.)

All I can tell you is I’m working on it.  I’m not there yet, but I really am making progress.  In some ways, walking away from my job was the best decision I could ever have made.  And I’m not saying that because I’m taking an opportunity to chase my dreams.  (Though that’s wonderful, too.)  Rather, It’s forced me to face my control issues head on.

I’ve had to let go of the security that comes with a stable job and learn to deal with questions. (Will this book ever sell?  Can I make it as a writer?  What if I run out of money?  Can I allow myself to trust that I don’t have to do this alone?)  So many questions.  More questions than answers.

Facing these uncertainties has helped me to make progress in so many ways.  Little by little, day by day, I feel myself letting go.  I feel myself getting more comfortable with uncertainty. And, honestly, if things do go terribly wrong, I’m pretty sure I would handle it better than I would have prior to this experience.

It’s funny how that works sometimes.  I left my job for no other reason than to chase a few dreams.  And I’ve ended up getting so much more from that decision.  Now that’s a good thing.

photo credit: Toban Black

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