How Much Do I Need?

Well, by now you'd think I would know the answer to this question. I need to know just how much money I need to get by each month. There are set bills and bills that only come up every now and then. What are the ones I can do something about?

My light bill is on the budget billing plan so I know how much it is every month. It is $245 per month at the moment and I am by some small miracle under budget. Christmas Day the giant leak in my duct work was found and now that it is located hopefully it can be fixed well enough to keep the bill from sky rocketing and throwing me over budget. Space heaters may be the temporary solution to that problem, I haven't decided yet. I could be going to portable air conditioning units if I can come up with the money.

Well, I need to have approximately $120 each month for three supplements that run out regularly. That's $365 right there plus another $20 for an old account is $385. Then there is my Internet so that I can work which is $50 a month which brings me to a total of $435? and that's not all of them........I'm tired of figuring out how much money I don't have at the moment so I'll be going.

Increasing expenses and still decreasing income

I haven't felt much like writing lately. That'd be fine except for one thing.....I make my living writing. I had some time off because of a costly injury and now my vision is blurry. I'm not sure if it's because of the light or if my eye is worse. I'm hoping I just need new glasses that I've need for a while or at least since the pair I'm supposed to be wearing broke.

I have one more payday coming this month unless I can manage to get some articles submitted and accepted for upfront payments. I have four bills left to pay that won't be covered until payday, and not enough to cover the rest of the things that have to be bought. I should be writing an article right now but I'm not. I took Theresa to therapy today. I have less than a half of a tank of gas to last me until the 10th which is Sunday. We have one appointment tomorrow, two Thursday luckily within ten minutes of each other. Friday our appointments are in one building. I should have enough gas to last all week. The 10th I fill the tank and make it last the rest of the month.

I think I managed two articles today but I'm not sure. I did a load of laundry which reminds me that I'm going to need laundry detergent soon and don't have any of the ingredients. I can't buy the ingredients this month either. I really don't want to spend a $1 on a generic box that won't last the month and doesn't work very well. I may end up hand washing a large portion and using the washing machine for Theresa's clothes.

Theresa ran out of two of her supplements. The zinc is approximately $8 and I keep forgetting to get it. The fish oil if about $38 when I have it delivered and I don't have $38 to order it right now. I have to pick up two new supplements for Theresa in the morning. Together they should come to about $14.

I separated the finances from dear hubby because he doesn't seem to understand the concept of bills. Actually I know he doesn't and he doesn't actually make enough to cover any at the moment. So he's now responsible for taking his paycheck and paying his child support, cell phone bill, his portion of the auto insurance and buying what he needs. This month he's not doing so well. Of course with all the extra expenses I'm not doing so well this month either.

Oh well, all this talk of finances makes me realize that it's past time to work. I have an idea to submit to AC for upfront payment but I have to actually write it in order to submit it.