I started my new job on Monday. So far, it's going ok. There were a few surprises-- I thought the position was benefited, and it's not. I got a nice surprise when I went to go sign my contract and my insurance contribution was $221 a month! Since I only take home about $1800, that was a pretty painful number. This will be my first week working a full six day week (since I decided to work a second job one day a week for some extra income now, while I don't have much to spend it on.) I'm hoping to put the extra money into a fund to help me buy a new car in two years or so.
I also decided to adjust my tax withholding once I saw what my refund would be this year. I realized that I was loaning the government a little over 3% of my income every year, tax free. I adjusted my withholding so now it looks like I will owe them about $25 next April, but my paychecks go up by $83 a month! I've gotten so used to not being able to use my tax return (used to go to tuition, books, or debt) that not having one won't be a big deal for me.
The other expense I'm trying to cut is my lunches-- I am really in love with this local burrito place, but I need to stop eating $8 lunches. I am trying to let myself have one occasionally instead of a couple days a week. I guess the burritos were sort of like my starbucks since I don't drink coffee.
I've also started reading the CreditBoards and MSN "YourMoney" boards to see how other people are handing the recession. I'm learning a lot about credit, savings, and debt now.
The next post will be about how I found this job in the midst of 10% unemployment...check back soon!
Also, I've been reading some pretty excellent books on my kindle lately. I'm finding I'm saving a lot of money by buying the kindle versions of bestsellers instead of hardback books. I save about $15 per book this way. If you've been thinking about a kindle or an e-reader in general, check it out-- they're really a lot of fun, and I love mine!
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