Figuring

So I've been totaling what I spent money on for the past 30 days:

• Groceries $153.78
• Fuel $103.52
• Gifts $81.99
• Cell phone bill $43.54
• Health care $29.33
• Misc. costs (mostly shipping for gifts) $18.18
• Dining out $11.18
• Bus fares $10.00
• Clothing $10.00

Note that this doesn't include cash expenditures, only those purchases which involved my bank in some fashion. So most of my dinner / drinks / movie rentals with friends aren't accounted for, which adds another $25-30 on top of all that.

There's nothing in the figures that's too shocking, with the exception of $100 worth of fuel. Ouch. However, I've done more than my usual share of late night just-me-and-all-these-thoughts-in-my-head driving over the last month, so that figure's more elevated than usual. I'd be happy if I could get that down to about $50 or thereabouts.

I don't live lavishly. Hell, between student loan and credit card payments, cell phone bills, and groceries, I can't afford to -- especially given my current income situation. I'm not particularly interested in living lavishly. I just want to be able to

• pay my regular bills
• make progress toward paying off my debt
• afford a decent apartment (with windows and lots of light!)
• eat high-quality food (notice I didn't say expensive food -- they're not the same)
• help provide for the child who'll soon be coming into the world
  
• start putting some money away in an emergency fund
• have a little cash left over for pleasant diversions

I really don't think that's too much to ask of a salary for an intelligent, resourceful, motivated young college graduate. Is it?

1. This week I'm going to schedule that appointment I've been putting off with the career counselor at the Oregon Employment Dep't and see about generating some ideas. There's got to be something out there that a person with my education, experience, and interests can do to get paid at a respectable level.
2. I'm also going to send an introductory letter to Burt Waugh Jr., who is the president of the real estate agency I've been temping at, and who runs a nonprofit program which provides assistance to homeless and transitional youth, in hopes of turning up either a full-time position, or part-time or volunteer work that will allow me to gain experience working in a nonprofit environment.
3. This week I'm going to study up on Word (with the help of Rachel's training manuals) so I can take the appropriate tests with temp agencies and hopefully open some more doors that way.
4. I'm also going to see if I can coerce Bonnie (hi!) into giving me a down-and-dirty Powerpoint primer. It never hurts to gain skills while I can; even if I don't use them right away, there will probably come a time when they'll prove useful.
5. This week I'm going to finish the budgeting process that I've been working on for a few weeks. To do that I'll have to finish analyzing my spending since August, estimate future expenses (including how to save on those expenses), and determine the income I'll need to meet that figure. Since I'm no good at such things when left to my own devices, I'll ask for Paul's help in setting some goals to meet and a timeframe.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm trying to overcome years of drifting through life -- particularly as it relates to finances -- and hoping for the best. And while that's generally worked well enough to get by, I want to do more than that now, and that requires planning.

And now I'm going to drink some of this tea I've re-heated twice already. How's that for a goal?