My hand/wrist/arm is starting to bother me again, but at least I can still type without it hurting too much, so who knows how long this one’s going to be.

Things are getting more expensive. I was given a notice from the real estate agency that my rent is going up almost $400 per month. I just told them a few weeks ago that I was happy to extend my rental lease for another 6 months instead of a year. There is a bit of uncertainty of when (or where) the husband and I are moving in together while our house is being built.

Yesterday, I received a reminder about my car registration that’s due next month. That’s a bit more than $800 a year. Luckily, I can split that up into 2 or 4 payments (possibly three?). When I bought my car, it was paid upfront and it was a little cheaper. Back in Texas, I remember our vehicle registration cost being about $80 per year, of course that was like 15+ years ago.

I’m also studying full-time next semester so I can make an extra $10-20 per hour one of these days. I asked for a decrease of my contracted hours at work for this reason. Now I’m regretting it because I will need these hours.

Money’s tight and I am starting to feel the pressure. I don’t know how people get by, honestly. Luckily, I don’t have any serious financial issues. I don’t have overdue bills and don’t struggle to pay a bulk of my bills (for now). I have plenty of food and I have a nice place that’s walking distance from the beach. That’s why I say that I don’t know how a lot of people afford to live day to day, especially when they rely on a pension to get by. I feel for them.

It’s just really expensive to even exist in Australia right now and the pressure is on for me to cut costs again, so this is what I’ve done:

• Coffee Subscription: No more coffee capsules delivered to my place (monthly or bimonthly). I’ve saved $25 per month.
• Elder Scrolls Online: No more ESO subscription. It’s actually good value for the money, but lately I find myself just logging in and then logging out for the daily bonus. I maybe play for about 2 hours once or twice per week. I’ve saved $14 per month there.
• Unlimited grocery deliveries: This is a convenience thing for me because I hate shopping and my erratic work hours make this difficult. BUT it’s unnecessary. And I’m also tired of ordering something and getting the lactose and gluten free equivalents because someone wasn’t paying attention to what I ordered. Anyway, I’ve saved $15 a month from this.
• Electronics buying sprees: I’ve cut down on this quite a bit lately because I’ve got plenty of stuff that I don’t use. It’s nice to have and it keeps me from spending money entertaining myself. The savings are limitless!
• Unnecessary traveling: I still do casual work when I go see my husband but I’ve cut that down too because fuel prices have gotten so bad. I’m going there about once per month now if I have additional work to do. My car is a hybrid, but it still costs me a bit to drive back and forth. It is an 8 hour return drive… I thought about trading my car in for something smaller, but decided against it.

Small changes will add up. I really don’t want to go back to living the way that I used to: miserable and poor. I just wish things were more affordable. My jobs are already stressful and I don’t want to have to work more to make ends meet, but if that’s what I have to do, then that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m also considering going back to the gym because my strength is complete garbage right now. I’m tired of having everybody do my heavy lifting.

That’s all for now. I need to stay awake for a while so that I can sleep during the day. See everybody later!