Countdown: 23 days to freedom
Well, a short freedom, anyway. I've been talking about this cruise for months and months now, and it's finally in the home stretch. TheBoy and I leave the Sunday after Thanksgiving for 11 days in the western Caribbean on a boat sailing from New York City.
11 days.
On a boat.
In the sun.
With all kinds of fruity, cold, girly drinks.
Wow, I can't wait. Except now I have all of this detail-related stress like:
Should I pack my own shampoo even though they provide their own? How many bathing suits should I bring? Am I going to get the cruise ticket in the mail or what? How am I going to get myself to the pier? Oh my god, look at how full my credit card is. How the fuck am I going to pay for anything on the damn cruise with a maxed-out credit card oh dear god where did all that money go how have I been charging so much I can't pay that off how the hell am I going to pay that off where did all of those interest charges come from oh my god I'm freaking BROKE.
Stuff like that.
In regards to that credit card issue there, I did the most responsible thing and applied for another credit card to transfer balances over (o% APR, y'know). You can never have too many credit cards, right?
...ur
NO - One credit card is more than I ever, EVER wanted. I hate the things and am scared to death of them. I hate that I have the ones I do and wish I could just pay them all off and cut them up into tiny little pieces and never look at them again.
I didn't even want an ATM card when the bank offered it to me when I was 17. Having unlimited access to my own (pathetic) bank account was too much for me to deal with at the time, knowing that if I wanted cash, I could just GET IT. ANYWHERE at ANYTIME. Scary. Especially when you're working minimum wage at about 15 hours a week and your biggest savings was all of $250.00. I was smart enough to know that giving me a Magic Money Card would have been the death of that $250 and I had better just stick to visiting Linda at the Apple Bank on Friday afternoons to get my weekly money. I wasn't such a dumb kid.
But NOW. Now there's a house with a mortgage and bills. BILLS like I've never seen before like OIL for HEAT which is F-ING expensive and you use things like credit cards for such purchases because otherwise they want CASH and I don't usually have that kind of cash on me, dammit. Nor am I waiting around at home in my robe and slippers for the oil man to come with his delivery.
And HEBREW SCHOOL. For children. Children that aren't mine but need to be Jewish. Because their mother doesn't care one way or another if they're Jewish even though she CONVERTED before she married into a Jewish family so that the children would be Jewish upon arrival. But now that they're divorced, she's not willing to pay for the jewishness anymore. Can't say I blame her, but she SIGNED ON FOR THIS. NOT ME.
Maybe this post became a little more that what I had intended when I sat down to write it. Maybe I should just say, Whoo-Hoo! 23 more days until vacation! Vacation that I've been planning since freaking March! March! 8 months ago! It's about time I get on an F-ing boat already! I! Love! Exclamation Points!
11 days.
On a boat.
In the sun.
With all kinds of fruity, cold, girly drinks.
Wow, I can't wait. Except now I have all of this detail-related stress like:
Should I pack my own shampoo even though they provide their own? How many bathing suits should I bring? Am I going to get the cruise ticket in the mail or what? How am I going to get myself to the pier? Oh my god, look at how full my credit card is. How the fuck am I going to pay for anything on the damn cruise with a maxed-out credit card oh dear god where did all that money go how have I been charging so much I can't pay that off how the hell am I going to pay that off where did all of those interest charges come from oh my god I'm freaking BROKE.
Stuff like that.
In regards to that credit card issue there, I did the most responsible thing and applied for another credit card to transfer balances over (o% APR, y'know). You can never have too many credit cards, right?
...ur
NO - One credit card is more than I ever, EVER wanted. I hate the things and am scared to death of them. I hate that I have the ones I do and wish I could just pay them all off and cut them up into tiny little pieces and never look at them again.
I didn't even want an ATM card when the bank offered it to me when I was 17. Having unlimited access to my own (pathetic) bank account was too much for me to deal with at the time, knowing that if I wanted cash, I could just GET IT. ANYWHERE at ANYTIME. Scary. Especially when you're working minimum wage at about 15 hours a week and your biggest savings was all of $250.00. I was smart enough to know that giving me a Magic Money Card would have been the death of that $250 and I had better just stick to visiting Linda at the Apple Bank on Friday afternoons to get my weekly money. I wasn't such a dumb kid.
But NOW. Now there's a house with a mortgage and bills. BILLS like I've never seen before like OIL for HEAT which is F-ING expensive and you use things like credit cards for such purchases because otherwise they want CASH and I don't usually have that kind of cash on me, dammit. Nor am I waiting around at home in my robe and slippers for the oil man to come with his delivery.
And HEBREW SCHOOL. For children. Children that aren't mine but need to be Jewish. Because their mother doesn't care one way or another if they're Jewish even though she CONVERTED before she married into a Jewish family so that the children would be Jewish upon arrival. But now that they're divorced, she's not willing to pay for the jewishness anymore. Can't say I blame her, but she SIGNED ON FOR THIS. NOT ME.
Maybe this post became a little more that what I had intended when I sat down to write it. Maybe I should just say, Whoo-Hoo! 23 more days until vacation! Vacation that I've been planning since freaking March! March! 8 months ago! It's about time I get on an F-ing boat already! I! Love! Exclamation Points!
posted by claire at
3:31 PM
6 Comments:
I'm not so jealous of your stress, as I too am broke, BROKE.
But I don't have an upcoming cruise to make myself feel better about it. Drats.
By
Christine, at 11/03/2006 9:12 AM
Whew! That post just took me back to when I felt all that money stress!
Oh yeah, that was this morning.
Have fun on your trip! Everyone needs a break now and then.
By
Anonymous, at 11/03/2006 11:10 AM
I am broke as a joke too. So broke (because I was overdrawn almost $200.) that I don't even have the dough to take mom in to NYC next Saturday for a nice b-day dinner.
Because we're going away for turkey day, and I need cash for that. And then Christmas gifts.
Argh! can't I just be 7 years old again. Yeah, I think 7 was a good age.
Why don't our parents tell us when we're kids how much it sucks being a grown-up?
By
Orelinde_03, at 11/03/2006 11:55 AM
focus on the boat.
focus on the booooooat.
foooooocus on the boooooooooooat.
By
FirstNations, at 11/03/2006 12:45 PM
christine - the upcoming cruise makes it feel better, but also adds to the stress. because of all the purchasing i will be doing on the boat, i am freaked.
nikol - yeah, i did it this morning too. my bank account says what?? gah!
orelinde - $200 overdrawn? they let you do that?
fn - boooooooooooattttttt... sigh.
By
claire, at 11/03/2006 1:40 PM
You know what I say? I say DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE MONEY. If you let money worries invade your mind on the trip, you won't enjoy it nearly as much! I, too, have had my share of spending problems with the plastic -- as a matter of fact, I'm still paying a bill from our honeymoon two years ago. But you know what? It's only money, and it was SO. WORTH IT. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Just think about the Caribbean sun, a pina colada, and the ocean breeze -- and smile!
By
Anonymous, at 11/03/2006 2:17 PM
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