REPO Man wrote:
Somehow, my balance is about $5 in the red! Yesterday, it was about $2 and change, and now I'm five bucks in the red, even though I haven't used my card at all since Monday night when I bought that wastebasket. And I'm just afraid that my account's just gonna keep hemorrhaging money until I put something in there to bring it to a positive balance, which looks like Monday when I get my next unemployment check. And because of how far the nearest location of my bank is, I can't just go there and get some answers or even to change my address (the address in my account is still my old address, which I haven't lived at in weeks).
There's no reason why you have to go to the bank in person. The only time I ever physically go to a bank is to pick up a cashier check. Otherwise, I use the internet or the ATM or the phone. So give them a call to get it straightened out. Also, all bank institutions should have online access. So login via the web and look at your account statement to figure out where your money is going.
You might also want to consider getting an overdraft line of credit. So if your account goes in the red, it draws from a credit line. It's cheaper to pay a little interest than to rack up overdraft & bounced check charges.
Try to focus more on saving instead of spending. When I had my first job as a newspaper carrier as a 12 year old, I had to put half of my earnings in the bank, the rest I could spend as I liked. The net result was that I had around $12K in savings when I graduated from college. I also used my savings during college as spending money so I didn't have to work and go to the school. The savings would get replenished when I worked over the summer.
o.pwuaioc wrote:Uh, to be fair, he did say that he's going on free comic book day, so no purchase required. It is, in general, very good advice, just not appropriate to this situation? (Then again, the "when I have enough money" bit does seem to indicate a purchase will be made, but that is almost certainly negated by the excitement for free stuff.)
The comic book was not free. It would be free if he rode his bike or walked over there but he took a bus which means that it was probably around $4 or so. Personally, I would get into the habit of riding the bike more often. There's no reason why you can't go 10 or 20 miles on a bike. Besides being "free" aside from wear/tear on your bike, you get the bonus of physical exercise to be healthier/stronger.
REPO Man wrote:
But when I've been here for about a month now and the only employer (of the 6 or 7 I've applied to) that I've heard back from tells me they're "unable to hire [me]" at the moment, it's not like I have any other options aside from unemployment. .... It's also how I got pushed into a higher tax bracket and getting more money taken out of my return.
6-7 applications over a month is not very many if you're really trying to find a job. You should be doing 6-7 per day if you're serious about getting a job.
Being in a higher tax bracket does not mean more money taken out of your return since it's a progressive tax system. The first x dollars are taxed at a low rate. The next y dollars are taxed at a higher rate. The higher rate does not apply to the first x dollars.
It could be something like you're taxed 10% for the first 10 thousand dollars but 10,001 through $40,000 is taxed at 15%.
: I've yet to be paid for last month and finally figured out the reason for it today: The woman I have to give my invoice to never turned it in. Oh goody.
: Despite all that, the person who cuts the checks felt very sorry for me and was given permission by the 'money man' to print out my check. I have been assured that I will get last month's check tomorrow......
Found a new band I like.
Its funny, because you have to take the STAAR test! 
Freaking horrible night at work thus far. Just took a look at my stats, and I'm seriously worried about getting fired. Ugh...
Still really embarrassed over my outburst yesterday. Maybe I need to make some actual friends.
