The money situation is not where I’d hoped it would be at this point. I’m starting to get seriously worried about the prospect of looming unemployment. I know they’ll offer me something, so I could just take what’s offered, but I hate the idea of not having the power to walk away if they try to force a pay-cut. Teaching is difficult, and doing it for less money is not appealing.
Also, moving into the van and finding remote work would be fun as hell. It would all just be a lot easier if I had 5 or 10 grand more than I do right now.
With van payments down to about 500/month, six months of payments is only 3k. I can definitely come up with that. I have 1.5k saved right now, and 3 more paychecks coming on this contract. If I really push things (and don’t spend a dime needlessly), I can come up with 8 or 9 k before this job ends. But I need new tires. And the van needs lots of stuff. I think 7k is realistic. And that could easily be 6 or even 9 months if I’m willing to float some costs on a credit card. All the cards are paid off completely right now.
Huh. Just found out you can buy 1/4″ cedar boards on Amazon. And I’ve got that “12 months 0% apr if paid in full” option with big purchases from them. So I could buy a bunch of cedar, 4 new tires, and a window for the sliding door all on Amazon and not have to worry about the full payment till I have a new job (though it would increase the monthly cash needs). Oh, and suspension upgrades. And better brake disks.
It’s risky to spend a bunch of money on credit while barrelling into unemployment, but this may be my best option. Keep all available cash liquid for the sake of van payments. And start scrambling for a job.
And there’s always the possibility that they’ll offer me the 7.5% raise that is the barest minimum of what I deserve. But I kinda doubt it.
