Finding Freedom

The thing about working two full time jobs is that, sooner or later, the exhaustion really gets to you.  I remember when my dad took a second job as a newspaper deliverer.  The way that job worked is that he had to get up at 2:30 in the a.m., go to the printing center, fold the newspapers, and then go through his route.  He was lucky if he got home by 6.  A couple of times, while he took a trip or something, I went and took his place for a few mornings, and it gave me a great appreciation for how much he loved us for him to be willing to go through such a ridiculous routine.  I think my dad’s pretty amazing considering some of the tough luck patches that he’s gone through.

I guess my second job at the theatre doesn’t have as much of a love for others as it is a love for the experience, but I still am getting totally trashed by the stupid number of hours I’m putting in between my two jobs.  With a month to go of the show, I’m left to seriously contemplate what kind of a crazy person would put himself through this.

However, even as wiped as I am right now, I always seem to forget about the limits of my body when I see that next audition, and I start to dream about being in that next show.  I just wish I could get an extra helping of that optimism right now when it seems the most impossible.

Another opening, another show indeed.

I have a bit of a confession.  I spent a good deal of money over the weekend on some things that I certainly shouldn’t have spent a good deal of money on. 

I’m a bit disappointed because I thought that I was past these little spending splurges, and looking back now, I can’t help but think how much better that money could have been spent paying down some of my debt.

Sigh.  I suppose these little trips off of the savings wagon make being on the wagon that much more pleasant and pleasurable.  Let’s hope that I remember that next time.

I spent the weekend at home with my parents and grandparents.  It was wonderfully relaxing, and, as most weekends spent at home often are, it was full of delicious food.

One thing that my parents and I talked about was the fact that I was a little worried about my car, as it seemed to have a slow oil leak.  My parents suggested that, before my car got too much worse, I should trade my car in while it still had some trade in value and get either a used or new car that didn’t have that problem.

This got me thinking.  While it would certainly be exciting to have a new car, I didn’t think that the prospect of having another set of bills to pay would be the best choice given my current situation.  I don’t think that the situation with my car is serious enough to warrant getting another car just yet, and I suspect that if I keep on eye on my oil level, I can keep the issue from getting out of hand.

I guess that this shows that I’m getting a little bit better with my spending.  I hope that I continue in that same direction.

Most likely if you are interested in personal financial stability, you are already a little bit wary of credit cards.  I thought that I would chime in a bit about one of my credit cards that is a pain in my butt.

I picked up my Aspire Visa a while ago, when I was still spending much more than I should have been.  When I realized how high my balance had climbed, I figured that I could just make several payments a month, and that would bring the balance down to an acceptable level (i.e. zero).  However, the kind folks over at Aspire Visa have decided that they are going to do their best to keep interest building on the credit card by using two schemes:

1)  Part of the agreement with the credit card is that the customer can only make three payments every ninety days.  This means that I can only, essentially, make one payment a month, or else I will be risking late payment fees somewhere down the line just because I was trying to pay off the darn thing.  I feel that this is especially pernicious of this company because all of my other credit cards allow me to make payments anywhere from exceptionally frequently (Discover lets me make a payment every three or four days if I want to) to reasonably frequently (My Bank of America balance transfer lets me make four payments a month).

2)  If I opt to pay online, the site charges me a fee of $4.95.  This also makes the payment process more difficult as I really don’t have the convenience/reasonable customer service option of being able to pay online, since I don’t want to give them any more money than I absolutely have to.

In short, I suspect that many of you would have looked over their customer agreement and decided not to go with them in the first place.  However, should you still be on the fence, I suggest that you go with some other credit card.

Here’s my networth update for March.  I know that it’s a bit premature, but I’ve already paid all of my bills for March, so I thought that I’d stick the numbers in early, so that I could see where I am at.

I’ve got a call back this coming Sunday evening for a local theatre company that pays its non-union actors pretty well.  This is a double bonus because, if I get the part (knock on wood), I will be getting more local exposure from a fairly reputable company who likes to hire actors it has already hired over and over again (which would lead to more work) and, the supplemental income from the show would help me continue to pay down my debt.  In addition, the show would not affect my work schedule at my regular job nearly as much as the show I am currently in is doing (8 shows a week, a one-way driving time of half an hour, three matinees during normal business hours, all of which while trying to get 40 hours in at my desk job is very, very exhausting).

The show is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I am up against two other actors for this part.  I got a really good vibe from the director at the original audition, though, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if my good vibration was well founded or not.

I’m at an exciting time in life, where theatres are starting to pay me to do things that I would gladly do for free.  Just don’t tell them that. 

I just paid off over four grand’s worth of debt thanks to the bonus.  I’ve got kind of a natural high going on right now; it’s pretty awesome.  It’s almost as much fun paying off the debt as it was to gain it.  Okay, that’s not true, but intellectually, if not subjectively, paying it off appeals to me much, much more.  I can’t wait to be back at zero.

I received some discouraging news yesterday.  In a group meeting , my boss told us that, because our company had had such a good year last year, “associates” could expect to receive as much as 10% of their annual salary as a bonus, and “analysts” could expect to receive anywhere from 25% to 40%.  This distressed me because of the fact that I, while I am doing the work of an analyst, still technically have the title of associate, and, as I am sure you have realized, there is a large disparity between 10% and 40%.  However, I knew that my boss was impressed with my work, and so I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would all work out for the best, even though I slightly grumbled to myself about how foolish it was to not address my issue of doing an analyst’s work without having an analyst’s title sometime prior in the year.  There was also some grumbling to the effect of, “If somebody else wants to do this job, they can help themselves.”

Today, I received a statement that told me how much my bonus would be, and, much to my surprise, it was over twice as much as the figure that I had been bracing myself for!  I computed the percentage the bonus was of my income, and it turned out to be 27%, which is amazingly high considering that the best I had told myself that I could expect was 10%.  In addition, I received an 8% raise, which is also pretty high, considering that my boss said that if management was expecially pleased with you, you could expect as high as a 6% or 7% raise.  This will essentially, after taxes, equal another hundred bucks a pay period that will help to pay down that doggone debt.

In short, I am pleased. 

I receive my bonus from work on the 23rd of this month.

This is something that I’ve been dreaming about for over a year.  My response to even hearing the word bonus is Pavlovian; my mouth salivates.

While it won’t be enough to eradicate my debt, it will certainly be enough to eliminate a double digit percentage of it, and that is certainly going to help me sleep better at night.  I can’t wait until my debt is all gone.

I recently received a card in the mail from Chase Manhattan Corp, with whom I have one of my credit cards.  The card had various pictures of what appeared to be groups of friends smiling at one another.  The inside of the card said something along the lines of, “Why don’t you take this opportunity to pay down some of the balance of your card?  A credit card that is close to its limit can reflect poorly on your credit score.  if you need help or credit counseling, feel free to call this toll-free number.”

By this, they of course meant, “Dear deadbeat, we’d like our money back, so please send us a check lest we send Vito and Tony over to your place to put various parts of your anatomy into vices.”

Sigh…I’m working on it, Chase.  Thanks for sending the pick-me-up.