Monday, February 11, 2013

Miscellaneous

As I’ve been pondering the changes we’re making and the budget changes I’m going to undoubtedly be making because of them, one thing that keeps coming back into my mind is how bizarre it is that having a reliable, same-every-time paycheck is…foreign to me.

I’m not accustomed to approaching a budget the way the vast majority of Americans do: Being able to say “I can count on this much money coming in, on the following days…”

For me, budgeting has usually been done with more of a high/low estimation of what I would probably be bringing home – trying to guesstimate for each month how many days I wouldn’t be paid for due to somebody being sick or the company being closed for a holiday, trying to keep a read on how likely it was that the project would be continued following the latest round of budgeting by the client, and so forth.

The idea of having two paychecks that will arrive at exactly the same times each month for exactly the same amounts…is a little hard for me to get my arms around.

But I suspect I’ll get used to it.

I’m almost to the point of actually doing stuff at work; up until now, it’s all basically been “research” – reading through approximately 32,000 pages on various Wiki libraries about which parts go with what parts by huh-now?! methods.

I’ve been enjoying the relatively free time while it lasts. And trying to make my work-day eight hours and then HARD-STOP.

I need to get into the habit of not attempting to do “everything” myself; and of making sure I split my attention more evenly between work and home.

And also I need to take better care of my garden. Last year was a pretty rotten one, all things considered; and it was entirely because I didn’t put in the same effort I had before, choosing instead to allow myself to be dragged into all-night coding “parties,” working over weekends on projects I knew were doomed to failure no matter what I tried, but, gamely wading in and trying anyway.

It’s going to be another interesting year.

Can’t wait to see where it leads us.

4 comments:

PipneyJane said...

Congratulations on going salaried. You've worked for megabank so many times over the years, it must feel really strange to know that, this time, there isn't an end date. (Was your first day like a home-coming? Do tell.)

On the flip side to your new bi-monthly guaranteed salary, my DH is still having a hard time getting his head around being a contractor and being paid fortnightly. Accounting for vacation days in his budget is the problem. However, when he started, I made him implement my "Contractor's Mantra" so he has some wriggle room. (The mantra: Monday is for me; Tuesday is for the taxman; Wednesday is the mortgage; Thursday is the emergency fund; Friday is for debt repayments/investments.)

Mother of Chaos said...

OMG, yes ,it was a homecoming! There was an awful lot of HUGGING going on, for a (cough-cough) stuffy old financial institution. I suspect a few of the new-since-I-was-there folks were a tad freaked out by it. Startin' the gig off right, making my immediate neighbors suffer Severe Raised Eyebrow Cramps on my very first day...bwa!

Mother of Chaos said...

OMG, yes ,it was a homecoming! There was an awful lot of HUGGING going on, for a (cough-cough) stuffy old financial institution. I suspect a few of the new-since-I-was-there folks were a tad freaked out by it. Startin' the gig off right, making my immediate neighbors suffer Severe Raised Eyebrow Cramps on my very first day...bwa!

PipneyJane said...

That's excellent news! I'm so glad to hear it. It's nice being popular.

I am cheeky enough to love giving certain-stuffy-people Severe Raised Eyebrow Cramps. I don't do it to everyone, but certain important to me project people always get a hug good-bye and a kiss on the cheek (not so much on the "hello's" though. Strange). Oddly, given that I work in a male dominated environment, that's guaranteed to get raised eyebrows from the handful of women around. (The men either don't notice or don't care.)