jasong
03-06-2006, 05:41 PM
Here's the situation: (for those of you who get bored, please scroll to the dotted line)
I'm not recovered enough from my illness to work full-time, and I'm assuming my job will be minimum wage or a little more(let's say $5.75-$6.00). I'll probably work anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a week. Also, because of the government assistance I'm on, there is a tax, fine, penalty(don't know the right word) after I make above a certain amount in a calendar month. The equation works as follows.
[(total pay)-$65]/2 plus the $65 back.
In other words, to explain the equation. The first $65 I make in a month is free and clear, but after that, for every $2 I make, they take $1 out of my government check. So if I work all weekdays and only weekdays(not knowing what my job will be, this is just an assumption) and assume I work 15/hr weeks at $6/hr that's about $360 a month. Assuming I don't pay taxes(since I'll probably get them all back anyway), after the fine, or whatever you want to call it, that's $212.50 a month.
So we'll call it $200. 15%($30) goes to my local church group(for those who believe in prayer, I asked God to forgive my lack of tithe when I was jobless, the 15% number(applied the way it is) has an extra 5% because of my conscience) $170 is left. I want to build my account up to at least $800(if it goes above $2000, than my SSI is taken away. I'm not the only one that thinks it's stupid that they won't let your bank account show more than $2000 no matter what your needs, or saving abilities, are) Because of my desire to build up my bank account, I look at the $170 and, not at the bank, but in my head and on paper, I put aside half of that as mad money and half to build up my account. Plus another $50(after social expenses coming out of money that I consider mad money out of my government allotment), I have $135 each month to "go wild."
Here comes the dotted line:
----------------------------------------------------------
For the next 3-4 months, after I get my job, I'll have about $135 to throw around, and then when my bank account gets a little healthier, maybe $220.
Given this and the fact that I'm a geek(even though my monetary income would not indicate it), how would you guys spend the money?
My thoughts on spending plans are as follows:
---Get enough money on my debit card(didn't mention it) to get it right at $200, and not over unless I'm planning an immediate purchase. That's about $65 away, and most store purchases are cash.
---Purchase the defrag software that I downloaded(a necessity that needs to be done ASAP)
Here's where it gets iffy:
---I badly want to upgrade my Tivo to one with a DVD burner and a MUCH bigger hard drive(about $350)...OR
---Buy a dual core to make as a diskless node, which would be my second, although the first one isn't even installed since I need a place to put it.
Have I bored you enough? This is more to post my thoughts than to get a response, but input is always appreciated.
I'm not recovered enough from my illness to work full-time, and I'm assuming my job will be minimum wage or a little more(let's say $5.75-$6.00). I'll probably work anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a week. Also, because of the government assistance I'm on, there is a tax, fine, penalty(don't know the right word) after I make above a certain amount in a calendar month. The equation works as follows.
[(total pay)-$65]/2 plus the $65 back.
In other words, to explain the equation. The first $65 I make in a month is free and clear, but after that, for every $2 I make, they take $1 out of my government check. So if I work all weekdays and only weekdays(not knowing what my job will be, this is just an assumption) and assume I work 15/hr weeks at $6/hr that's about $360 a month. Assuming I don't pay taxes(since I'll probably get them all back anyway), after the fine, or whatever you want to call it, that's $212.50 a month.
So we'll call it $200. 15%($30) goes to my local church group(for those who believe in prayer, I asked God to forgive my lack of tithe when I was jobless, the 15% number(applied the way it is) has an extra 5% because of my conscience) $170 is left. I want to build my account up to at least $800(if it goes above $2000, than my SSI is taken away. I'm not the only one that thinks it's stupid that they won't let your bank account show more than $2000 no matter what your needs, or saving abilities, are) Because of my desire to build up my bank account, I look at the $170 and, not at the bank, but in my head and on paper, I put aside half of that as mad money and half to build up my account. Plus another $50(after social expenses coming out of money that I consider mad money out of my government allotment), I have $135 each month to "go wild."
Here comes the dotted line:
----------------------------------------------------------
For the next 3-4 months, after I get my job, I'll have about $135 to throw around, and then when my bank account gets a little healthier, maybe $220.
Given this and the fact that I'm a geek(even though my monetary income would not indicate it), how would you guys spend the money?
My thoughts on spending plans are as follows:
---Get enough money on my debit card(didn't mention it) to get it right at $200, and not over unless I'm planning an immediate purchase. That's about $65 away, and most store purchases are cash.
---Purchase the defrag software that I downloaded(a necessity that needs to be done ASAP)
Here's where it gets iffy:
---I badly want to upgrade my Tivo to one with a DVD burner and a MUCH bigger hard drive(about $350)...OR
---Buy a dual core to make as a diskless node, which would be my second, although the first one isn't even installed since I need a place to put it.
Have I bored you enough? This is more to post my thoughts than to get a response, but input is always appreciated.