I am flat broke. Although I always playfully say that, this is the first time that I have actually been broke in seriously I don’t know how many years – probably all the way back to that first year when I stepped out into the work world for the first time and was pretty much earning peanuts – as one usually does when one starts out.
Although we had made all the necessary plans and budgeting last year already, unforeseen circumstances like Jessica’s unexpected arrival hit our bank balance hard. What with having just purchased the house and now added child care costs, the fact that we lost Chantelle’s income for the duration of her maternity leave and then the subsequent screw up with UIF application, means that at the moment, my solitary salary has pretty much got to cover everything.
And it turns out that it just doesn’t quite make it.
We made significant cut backs in our household spending and have pretty much suspended all non-essential services (hey, I even have Chantelle on single-ply now!), but between all the existing debit orders, huge petrol bill thanks to my daily commute and of course the various medical costs associated with Jessica (and on that note, thanks to the Montgomery clan for helping us out on that one extra doctor’s visit), this is the first time that I have ever had to live off my credit card – in other words using money that I don’t actually own at the moment.
And of course, as life usually does, I got kicked squarely in the balls last month by the arrival of a whole batch of new expenses for this period, like a huge back-dated levy, doubled municipal bill, expired car license, expired TV license, broken oven and even a massive R600 speeding fine to top it all off!
Sigh, so it really is dry toast months for the next little while until Chantelle gets her first pay check at the end of April – heck, I’ve even pawned off a whole heap of my remaining old games in order to get some cash for petrol!
The only positive spin-off from this whole debacle is of course that it has re-ignited my passion for some of my old passive income generating business ideas, and I’m happy to report that at least two of my projects are now under development with one motivated coder behind them.
Nothing like empty pockets to motivate a man I tell you! :P