Melt (Day 278)

Now that I've gotten my first paycheck and I'm closing in on taking care of some of my debts, I need to start thinking about a budget for myself. Once I'm on my feet, I'm going to have to start paying for utilities like electricity, water, and internet. I'm not entirely sure how much that's going to cost me or if I'm even going to be making enough money to feasibly support myself. My first paycheck was for only $352, which covered 50 hours of work. I think on average I'll have more than 50 hours over a two week period, but it seems like in this case a conservative estimate would be best.

Let's assume I make $700 every month. I hope this doesn't turn out to be the case because that's quite a bit less than what I was expecting, but again, it's best to be conservative here. The main problem I have with drawing up a budget is that I don't know a lot of the specifics on how much each bill will amount to. Once I get my cell phone reconnected, I'm probably going to be paying $62ish a month if I add the line to my mother's account. Electricity could be anywhere from $100 to $300 depending on usage. I'm not a fan of the variability there. Internet service is going to run me about $65 and water $10 to $15.

Let's add up all the quantifiable expenses I can think of here:

Cell Phone: $65

Internet: $65

Electricity: $200

Water: $15

Car Insurance: $75

Total: $420

This leaves me with $280 for other expenses for the month. This means I need to take care of food, gas, and recreation with this cash. It costs me somewhere around $50 to fill up my tank and I could most likely get by with only one full refill per month--although it would probably me smart to allocate at least another $10 just in case. Food is somewhat trickier. I'm currently eating out way too much and I already know I'm spending way more money than I should. I could get by with much less, but convenience so often trumps cost effectiveness in this case. I will have to do some research on how to prepare meals cheaply at home and at work.

I could go ahead and allocate funds like this:

Food: $120

Gas: $60

Other: $100 or whatever is left

I feel like I'm probably missing something important--and even though my meager funds seem to be able to cover my expenses, anomalies will occur. In these first few weeks, I'm definitely going to need some help because I still have other expenses I need to take care of. I still have to get my car licensed and the taxes paid for as well as getting a new key made since I seem to have lost the old one. . .