Money woes.

(Ironic that this post comes hot on the heels of a 'I want this cool expensive thing abso-fucking-lutely now!' post, isn't it?)

Finances are a bit tight at the moment, so I'll be terse because I don't want to bore you. (And yes, I have no problem disclosing exactly how broke I am)

Weekly expenditure

1. Guitar lessons : $40
2. Petrol: $50
3. Gym membership: $15
4. Camera payments: $20

Total expenditure/week: $125
Current salary per week: $203.41 (after tax)
Disposable income per week: $78.41

Factoring in food and other necessities, I'll barely break even. Considering that I sort out most of my meals despite living at home, I eat cheap. Trying to cut carbs (indomee's out), so I'm eating protien (chicken or eggs) and frozen veggies for each meal (works out to abour $4/meal). Surprisingly, I'm still fat.

And let's not even get to mobile phone bills and other recurring costs like toiletries and such.

Travelling less (or simply not going out) to reduce fuel costs as well. Gym's necessary though. It's too cold out, and the dry air makes my nose run. Seeing as I don't appreciate having a perpetual runny nose, gym is a better option. Plus I get to meet people, which is half the reason for even going to the gym.

The camera's a hobby more than anything else, and a guy does need hobbies before he goes insane - even if he is broke.

I really should stop guitar lessons. Although it'll be foolish to call it quits so early. I need the lessons and my teacher IS good, $40 is just more than I can afford right now. I'm trying to talk my folks into paying for it, seeing as they DID offer. However, mum's notoriously good at forgetting about things like that, and even asked 'why should I? It's your lesson!' when I broached the subject.

I'll try guitar for another couple of weeks and reassess the situation then. No point rushing into things.

The new job will pay about $538.46/week after tax. I really can't wait.

I figure that if I continue my current expenditure, I can probably save about $200 a week ($3200 by end of contract). Only trouble is the parents insist on going back to Singapore over December, and insist on going on a 'family holiday'. There goes whatever I can save. Looks like I'll be back to square one when I head back to school next year.

I have been protesting going back to Singapore/family holiday based on the grounds that I can't afford it AND go to Kuching with Char. No luck so far. Mum always promises to pay, but never pulls through when the time comes to put the cash down.

Guys, it's not personal. I just really can't afford to come back and see you fellows for anything longer than a week. Ideally, I'd go back to Singapore for a week, fly to Kuching for a week, then get back to Perth and work.

Checking in.

Just went for my guitar lesson (yes, I'm actually taking lessons), and I'm amazed at how crap I am. I'm starting on playing the blues, since they're the basis for most music out there today. Not so wild about that though, I'd rather jump straight into the rock I so love. Then again a guy has to start from the basics, right?

Still trying to feel my way around the guitar a bit. Technique's shaky, but that's something that only practice can cure. Trying to break a few bad habits too.

Popping out in a bit to mail out/settle things for my new job. It's a pain. I'm spending around $116 in total to run all these federal checks in order to be eligible for the job (working with children, police records, etc, etc). Thankfully I can claim that back at the end of the tax year.

In related job news, Life Without Barriers called me this morning for an interview. I'm really not keen on this job, but I'll go for it just to keep my options open. Took their bloody time though. The information session I went for was a month-and-a-half ago. Ridiculous, no?

Okay, I'm off again! No rest for the weary, eh?

EDIT: Got back from sorting out the job stuff. Apparently all the clearances will take another 3-5 weeks to process. Crazy shit. Good thing the job doesn't start until July.