End-of-the-month budgetary blues

I try to discipline myself to live within my income. I never, ever like to spend more than I have earned in a given month.

This, however, can be very difficult, not because of any weakness of willpower on my part (honestly!) but simply because my income here is always so erratic. The first two months of the year, disrupted by the lengthy Chinese New Year holiday, are always particularly slow times for work. This year seems to have been worse than ever.

This month I am clearly not going to be able to live within my income, since I will have earned less than 5,000 RMB. One private student has suspended her classes because she is "too busy" at the moment. A day's teaching work I was supposed to have been doing this Saturday in substitution for a friend has just been cancelled. And a voice recording gig this morning that was supposed to have been 3hrs + in fact turned out to be only 50 minutes. All rather galling.

I haven't "overspent" by too much so far, and I suppose I could allow myself credit for an editing fee that went straight into the bank (and there's another BIG fee from just before the holiday that I'm still owed). However, I fear the tail-end of the month is likely to prove especially expensive: all my utilities have fallen due at the same time, and I'm going to have to put another 500 RMB on my electricity top-up card within the next few days if I don't want to lose my power; and, of course, there's some serious consolatory partying to be done.

Yep, at present I am probably just within that 5,000 RMB spending limit, but I reckon I'm going to go at least 2,000 RMB over it by the end of the month. Damn. I HATE to erode my savings like this.

I figure I can cut myself a little slack on this, since it's a fairly small overshoot; and I earned reasonably well in the first half of January (while abstaining from alcohol for most of the month and living very quietly - and cheaply). So, over the year so far I think I will still just about have covered my expenditure with earnings.

Well, all of my expenditure except rent, that is. And that's due too. Usually I manage to have six months' rent salted away by the time the landlord comes round to collect for the coming quarter, so parting with 13,500 RMB in one go doesn't leave me feeling too vulnerable. But not this time: I don't yet have one cent stashed away towards paying for the quarter after next. (Well, I have the money. I have quite a bit of money really, little stashes of it here, there, and everywhere: but it's all earmarked for various purposes - new computer, trip home, emergency reserves - and is not really 'available' for use as rent money.)

I need to find myself a new job. And soon.

[Sorry. Exceptionally boring post. Just "thinking out loud".]