![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
As The List shows, one of my unfinished tasks is to update my financial worksheet with the past year (or two) of data. Although I haven't done that yet, I have a decent idea of where my money's been going. It really is not to frivolous things, I'm not a spendthrift.
I know the majority is being dumped into my mortgage and condo dues; that has not been helped by the water intrusion problems that have necessitated additional condo assessments. I know that in theory I can get my mortgage lender to adjust my mortgage in connection with the federal plan. In practice, I jumped through their hoops two years ago, providing my financial data, and got a stark response that I did not fit their investor profile, meaning they wouldn't help me because they thought I was a bad investment, I guess. So once again, it comes back to needing to get more work on a regular basis. Still, now that I've filed my taxes for this year, I can update my other financial data and go through the process again, even though I expect no better answer given that my overall financial situation has become worse. If they reject me again, my options are to pursue a short sale of my place—which frankly I have my doubts on them agreeing to do, given that it's not really sellable in the current condition due to the compromised outer walls—simply go into foreclosure, or keep struggling to somehow pay them every month.
After my home expenses, I'm not sure what the next biggest portion is, but it's probably just the daily living expenses of food and transportation. Transportation isn't as bad as it would be if I were commuting by car daily, fortunately, but food's expensive. Lately I've probably been eating out a little more often than usual, but for the most part I prepare dinners at home. I generally eat only two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, but I do go out to coffee shops several times a week to work and have a snack there.
Next I think would be utilities—electricity, Internet access, and cell phone—oh and insurance (health, auto, condo) too, so this group is probably about equal to the daily living expenses.
Finally would be entertainment—the main thing there being going out to an average of three or four concerts a month, with the average cost being around $10 to $15 each. Yes, I could simply drop that. I could also go insane, or at least become very depressed. Seriously, I will insist upon that as my mental health / well-being expenditure. I rarely drink at shows, and when I do have drinks (either at shows or just out with friends) it's never more than one or two, so I'm not spending much money there. I don't want to spend a lot of time right now breaking down or defending my choices—I'd rather do the analysis first and have the actual data—but I'm reasonably confident that although I could save a bit of money by cutting this out, I'd lose a lot in happiness and the ability to cope.
Really, again, it comes down to the simple clear need to have more regular reliable income, which means finding more sources of projects, or a part-or-full-time job that I'm willing to do.
I know the majority is being dumped into my mortgage and condo dues; that has not been helped by the water intrusion problems that have necessitated additional condo assessments. I know that in theory I can get my mortgage lender to adjust my mortgage in connection with the federal plan. In practice, I jumped through their hoops two years ago, providing my financial data, and got a stark response that I did not fit their investor profile, meaning they wouldn't help me because they thought I was a bad investment, I guess. So once again, it comes back to needing to get more work on a regular basis. Still, now that I've filed my taxes for this year, I can update my other financial data and go through the process again, even though I expect no better answer given that my overall financial situation has become worse. If they reject me again, my options are to pursue a short sale of my place—which frankly I have my doubts on them agreeing to do, given that it's not really sellable in the current condition due to the compromised outer walls—simply go into foreclosure, or keep struggling to somehow pay them every month.
After my home expenses, I'm not sure what the next biggest portion is, but it's probably just the daily living expenses of food and transportation. Transportation isn't as bad as it would be if I were commuting by car daily, fortunately, but food's expensive. Lately I've probably been eating out a little more often than usual, but for the most part I prepare dinners at home. I generally eat only two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, but I do go out to coffee shops several times a week to work and have a snack there.
Next I think would be utilities—electricity, Internet access, and cell phone—oh and insurance (health, auto, condo) too, so this group is probably about equal to the daily living expenses.
Finally would be entertainment—the main thing there being going out to an average of three or four concerts a month, with the average cost being around $10 to $15 each. Yes, I could simply drop that. I could also go insane, or at least become very depressed. Seriously, I will insist upon that as my mental health / well-being expenditure. I rarely drink at shows, and when I do have drinks (either at shows or just out with friends) it's never more than one or two, so I'm not spending much money there. I don't want to spend a lot of time right now breaking down or defending my choices—I'd rather do the analysis first and have the actual data—but I'm reasonably confident that although I could save a bit of money by cutting this out, I'd lose a lot in happiness and the ability to cope.
Really, again, it comes down to the simple clear need to have more regular reliable income, which means finding more sources of projects, or a part-or-full-time job that I'm willing to do.
