Running out of Money = Badness.

I feel constantly that I am missing the mark with this whole budget, don't spend more than you make thing. I have a social life (read: I still go out with my college friends and drink every weekend) and I have recently picked up a few hobbies that require me to spend in order to do them (I have started knitting and sewing which means I need money for yarn and fabric). If I get 40 hours every week, which doesn't happen a lot, I make around $319.80 per week. That works out to be $1,279.00 a month.

Now, I might just be really hard on myself, but I feel like I should be able to live comfortably on that. Not to mention the fact that I earn around $200 extra for babysitting each month. I can't help but wonder why it is that I run out of money like clockwork about a week after I get my paycheck and end up having to use my credit card for things that I absolutely need in order to function (like gas). It's so frustrating to have to tell my friends that I can't go out because I have no money and then have to explain to them that I really have no money and I'm not kidding. Plus, it makes me hate myself for making $200 payments on my card twice a month and then have it count for nothing when I have to use it in between paychecks. So, I think it's safe to say that it might be time for me to do a few things.

1. Look over my budget and rework it.
2. Think of a system to stop running out of money in between paychecks.
3. Ask for a raise.

I have been mentioning getting a raise to my supervisor for a while now. I am only making $9.75 an hour right now (as an almost 24 year old college graduate) and I am doing the work of three people. Yup, I said three (like ... the number. 3. 3 people.) I am doing all the work for my SEO internship, plus helping to answer the phones until our regular receptionist comes back to work at the beginning of December, and learn to be an eMarketing Strategist for when she goes on maternity leave sometime in late December/early January depending on when the baby comes (he is a super baby. He weighs 2.5 pounds more than he should for how far along she is.).

I like my job, and part of the reason that I haven't been more aggressive about getting a raise is that I'm scared that they are going to tell me to take a hike and then I'm going to be stuck making $0 an hour, which sucks way more than making $9.75. But as of December 8, I will have been working here for 8 months so I think it's time for them to consider it. I hope that they'll give it to me and then ask my why I took so long to ask for it. That would make me way happy. But, I just can't support myself on what I'm making now and that's just not fair.

Once I get my budget worked out I'll post it for you to see. And the same with my system for not running out of money. Stay tuned! The next few posts could be really interesting ...