Money In, Money Out

This is a sobering thought that I knew but wanted to keep in the back of my mind.  Just tonight I scheduled my credit card payments.  I have two, and combined I am paying about two grand.  It is not the first month I have shelled out more than two grand to pay down my credit card bills.  But I'm digressing.  While hoping you don't pin down how much I really make, I realized (or finally confronted the fact) that that is about how much money I make in two pay periods.  If you say that's roughly twice a month, that means all the money I'm making I immediately have to pay out in order to settle up on my credit cards.

I remember the pandemic.  Instead of going out and eating, I was holed up in my bedroom, scared that the air was going to kill me, and all I was doing all day was surfing the Internet.  But I wasn't spending anything.  Meanwhile, I was working, and slowly but relentless I saw my checking account go up and up.  Well, even though the pandemic isn't "over" over, it's over, and for the past couple years I've been spending money like I was a playboy.  It gets worse when my parents are away; I have to pay money for food, and beyond that I feel like I have the freedom to eat like a king, and I do that frequently.

And so the credit card bills pile up.  It wasn't bad at first, I swear.  But it's been about two grand combined for the past several months.  And I didn't really sweat it ever since Mother told me when she and Father were coming home.  That's because I would have free meals every night, and really, if I wanted to, I would eat the lunch they set out for me before I go to work.  I can also eat lunch with them on the weekends.  So, even if I decide to go out once in a while, I figure I would be saving money in the long run with them in town because they're providing the food.

That still might be the case.  It ain't happening this week.  Last/Monday night I thought work would be so overwhelming that I thought I should just eat out.  (Turns out work was abnormally light, but since I said I would be out, I instead went to my storage unit to go read some old literature, then go to the library to print out some tax forms, then eat at Chipotle to use the free guacamole they gave me as a birthday present.)  Tonight/Tuesday night I plan on seeing Quantumania before it disappears from theaters for good.  After work tomorrow/Wednesday I am going to the Twin Cities Auto Show.  Thursday I am at home, thank goodness.  And Friday I work second shift, so I plan on grabbing some food to eat for dinner before going into work.

I hope I don't have another week like this.  I could use even one week of just settling down and just driving to and from work.  Even one week of keeping my wallet closed would do me a world of good.  But seriously, I need to curtail my spending period, and not just hope my parents will save me from myself.