My first day as a teacher at the Alaska Gateway School District begins tomorrow. Exciting!
My time to budget is expired as the future has arrived. Costs are already flowing out of my pocket.
As a reminder, I am an author of fiction and this is a creative work. This blog series is only inspired by my personal perspective, and is not intended as an accurate portrayal of my financial situation.
Expected Budget Final State
The following table shows the final budget breakdown.
| Budget Item | 7/24 Budget Expectations | 8/24 Budget Expectations | Delta |
| Health Ins | $119.00 | $119.00 | $0.00 |
| Car Ins | $150.00 | $123.00 | $27.00 |
| Child Exp. | $976.00 | $1,035.00 | -$59.00 |
| Rent | $950.00 | $1,200.00 | -$250.00 |
| Rent Escrow | $0.00 | $141.00 | -$141.00 |
| Utilities | $60.00 | $60.00 | $0.00 |
| Grocery | $600.00 | $600.00 | $0.00 |
| Auto Fuel | $250.00 | $106.00 | $144.00 |
| Mobile Phone | $120.00 | $118.00 | $2.00 |
| Miscellaneous | $225.00 | $225.00 | $0.00 |
| Medical | $100.00 | $150.00 | -$50.00 |
| Savings | $100.00 | $0.00 | $100.00 |
| Total Change | -$227.00 |
Apartment Upsize
At the beginning of the month, I did in fact move into this small $900/month apartment. As I write this blog post, I am still sitting squished between children’s playthings and toolboxes.
With each trip carrying my belongings from my loaded truck into the apartment, the space became, shall we say, “friendlier and friendlier.”
The clothes that I and my children intend to wear for the year are currently spilling out of the quarter-sized closet, still wrapped in the white plastic trash bags I used to keep them dry while I relocated during the rain.
My jackstands, power tools, and other not-for-kids metal things — essential for keeping my transportation operational without paying for labor — are stacked to my right beside the bed.
Our family camping gear sits to my left on the mattress, with my sons’ stuffed dragon and raccoons resting on top where they can watch me work.
My water dispenser and silverware are hanging over the edge of a two-and-a-half foot counter space.
My bottle of dish soap must frequently rest on top of the propane burner of my stove to make room for my bowl and spoon.
Stacks of memory boxes and kitchenware block the window.
My computer sits underneath the kitchen table, which is itself covered in the favorites from last year’s Christmas presents.
Much as I would love to stay, this isn’t a safe place for a four-year and six-year old pair of children to play. They’ll probably get crushed while breathing in the wrong direction.
After all that excitement at finding the smallest apartment in town, I did have to upgrade my contract — and obliterate my budget in the process.
My landlord happened to have a larger unit available.
The ink is dry on the paper.
Total price change went from $900/month to $1200/month, making for a budget deficit of about $300/month.
An Additional Category
How could I forget that to get my apartment, I would need to pay for a month’s rent in advance, and also provide a security deposit?
This is a new category to track.
Savings Deductions
There were a few hurdles to jump over before the job could begin.
The following costs came out of savings.
| Description | Amount |
| Rent and Rent Escrow | $2,800 |
| Car Insurance | $750 |
| Childcare Payments | $5,350 |
| July Fuel (Moving Costs) | $375 |
| Total | $9,275 |
Car Insurance in Advance
My car insurance provider takes payments in six-month increments, and the timing was such that I needed to pay in June for the upcoming half-year.
A Head Start on Daycare
One of the biggest financial hurdles I face is paying for daycare.
(We do have great daycare and after-work care providers, so I have nothing to complain about. Our service providers do amazing work.)
Some of the above cost is for July and August payments. The rest was given to pay our providers in advance for February thru May of 2025.
It’s always nice to get those latter payments out of the way, so that I can look forward to a few easy months with less weight on my paycheck.
All of these costs will need to be recuperated into savings as the year progresses.
Other Costs Not Considered
In the process of moving, there were dozens of other costs that arose.
For example, my old 1993 Chevrolet K2500 Silverado was (and still is) in sore need of repair.
For my fellow backyard mechanics, maybe a list like this sounds familiar?
- Rebuilt the rear emergency brakes
- Replaced the side-view mirrors
- Swapped out the washer-fluid pump and nozzles
- Replaced the blower motor and resistor
- Changed the oil and filter
- Repaired a flat
- Rebuilt the passenger door window motor
- Fixed the tailgate handle
- Resolved a radiator fluid leak
- Pulled out the starter for testing and broke it along the way
That was a lot of fun.
I don’t know why it’s so enjoyable to fix simple tasks as an amateur mechanic.
There’s just something about sitting in a musty old truck, with the engine turned off, your hands still wrapped around the steering wheel, the smell of dingy upholstery stinging your nostrils, the heat from the dashboard sizzling your skin, and knowing that this metal beast under you can pound its way through the brush while towing thousands of pounds.
I swear, there’s some ancient connection between a man and his truck that goes back to our ancestors who first tamed the horse on the Eurasian steppe.
All that fun had a cost, and either I could put the money into my truck, or I would have to leave it behind (and then rent a U-haul moving truck anyway).
Those and many other costs are ignored, just cause.
How You Can Help
If any of this is ever going to work, I will need outside support.
Here is a link to a blog post that describes how a supportive reader can help me in my quest.
In short, you can…
- Like, comment and share
- Buy a copy of my children’s novella, Westly: A Spider’s Tale
- Help me connect with part-time and contract work