I'm sitting here reading people's blogs when Trevor came into the living room (the term is used loosely because our apartment really only consists of three barely separate rooms, the living room being one big open space to everything else) and said that we forgot to pay rent. Now this isn't a really big "oh fuck!" kind of moment, because we have until the 5th until we are really screwed by our rental agency place. No, the really big "oh fuck" moment is that it's just another big stupid bill that I need to pay off that I kind of let slip out of my mind.
In the last week, I've paid off my 6-month car service maintenance fee and my annual license plates for said car. Today I also have to go to the insurance place and pay off my car insurance for the year (gak!) and look into getting tenant insurance. I know I should have looked into the latter a lot sooner, considering that I've been living in my own apartments for the last 7 years, but until recently I just didn't give a damn. The biggest possession I cared about was my laptop and I figured that if something was to happen, I would grab it before I abandoned my other possessions in a flood, fire, etc. Plus, it always lived right beside my bed, so it wasn't like anyone was going to steal it in my sleep. But, now I have to take responsibilty for all my shit and the sudden chance that something could happen, I'm not totally screwed.
The last thing I have to pay off is my soon-to-be Director's Guild union membership. I finally, finally, finally have enough production days to join the union, which my well-being is definately thankful for. I couldn't tell you the last time I went to the dentist/eye-doctor and not having to pay for it again will be ever so sweet. Especially the cavities/new eye glasses that are going to come with it all.
The only crappy thing is that now in joining this union, (besides paying off the crazy, enormous member fees) is that I now have to choose a retirement plan. Basically, the way I thought it went was that you choose an plan with a nice looking interest rate and then as you age, the money you put it grows based on that interest rate, so that when you finally retire, you have a nice sizable chunk of cash put away to do with as you please. But no, the bitch-reality of it is that they give you hundreds of options to choose from and based on the one you pick, you may or may not make a lot of money off it, or may even lose tons of money, depending on the market and even-shittier economy.
I don't like this idea. Why would I put money into a plan when there is a significant chance that it will decrease over my life, therefore screwing me out of my hard-worked money? I'm so not a gambling person (I've never bought a lottery ticket and I hate the depressing atmosphere of the casinos) and it just seems stupid.
If it was an option, I would much rather put my money in a show box in my closet where even though it doesn't have a chance to grow, I won't lose it all either. Unless someone decides to break into my place, which is where the tenant insurance comes in.
1 comment:
Yeah, bills are a bitch. I'm surprised you have so many to pay off. The only real bills I have are my rent, SaskTel and my power. Even though they take up one of my paychecks, I'm proud to say that I've never once had a check bounce or was unable to pay for any of that. Anything else that comes up is just stuff to take out of savings. Which admittedly is more than I'd like to, but I always put back what I take out.
As for the retirement plan (which is just a foreign concept to me at this point), the best advice I can give you is maybe put them in government bonds. Even in these economic times, they are more stable than stocks. Or just ask your parents. They have enough experience to know about money and how to save for it. I know that's where I get all my financial advice.
Post a Comment