Negative Territory

Saturday, April 23, 2011

It looks like I got over-confident and put too much in savings.  We  would be overdrawn, except that we missed church last week and I haven’t made our monthly contribution yet.  I’ll either hold that check until payday or have to transfer money out of savings to cover it.   Here’s the breakdown:

Starting balance: $71. 83

Deposits:               27.92 online income        

                            127.14 part-time paycheck

Expenses:             98.89 gasoline

                            113.77 groceries                

                              6.40 postage

                              31.80 Easter basket goodies

                                7.52 clothing

                              30.09 restaurant meals

                              50.00 tuxedo deposit

Remaining balance: -111.58

The gasoline is really killing us this week.  We filled up one car and topped off the other so we could visit relatives this weekend for Easter.  That also included a few gallons of gas for the lawn mower.  I’ve been putting off visiting, but I haven’t seen some of my relatives since Christmas.  The gas prices only seem to get higher and predictions are they will keep rising through the summer.  I guess it’s better to visit now, especially since most of my siblings will be there, too.  It’s only a two hour drive.  Then I’ll try to stay home for the next two weeks to make up for the money spent on gas.

The other thing I spent money on was to take some family out to lunch.  We went hiking together and they drove to the trail, so I felt it was only fair that I buy their lunch.  Oh, and then there was the $50 tuxedo rental for Junior’s prom date that I forgot about.  The entire rental was over $122, but he will pay the rest of it when he picks it up.  By then he will be home from school and able to put in more hours at work.  Once we return from our visit tomorrow, I guess I’ll lock myself in the house to keep from spending any more money.

Oh, Mr. Struggle got a call back from one of his job applications this week!  They have set up an telephone interview for next week.  I don’t hold out much hope, since this job is out-of-state and they are not likely to offer a relocation package.  But, who knows, maybe the salary will be enough to make it up.  We’ll see. 

We’ve lived in the same town since before our children were born.  We liked the stability and roots it gave to our family.  I’d prefer to stay here another year or two, to make sure the kids are settled in their own homes, not just dormitories, but Mr. Struggle is getting behind at work, in both salary and benefits, and it’s time to do something about it.

How much of a salary increase would it take to make you up-root and leave your home behind?