Sunday, June 2, 2013

May Bonus Money

May was an expensive month, and, unfortunately June will be too.  In May, I had to put down the security deposit on my new apartment, and in June I have to pay rent on two places *fist shake*.

However, somehow the universe managed to align itself in such a way that I actually almost broke even on my extra expenses for May.  I don't normally track bonus money like some other bloggers do, because I really don't make that much, but for an expensive month, it's nice to take a look at all the little extras that (thankfully) added up.

Bonus one: Selling Stuff
Since I'm cleaning out my closet and packing things, I'm also doing a lot of purging.  In the month of May, I managed to sell my rowing machine, treadmill, a purse, several bracelets and a gift card netting me a cool $250.  Unfortunately, in the case of the treadmill, rower and purse, I sold them for what I paid for them, so it was really a breakeven, but I'm still looking at it as a positive!  Especially since the purse was barely used, and I had been planning to just drop it off at the thrift store.  Now my friend Danie is carrying it around and posted this update on my fb page: "I have my whole day (extra shoes and file folders) in this bag. And it's not bursting at the seams. It's perfect for me. That is all."

I am bumming hard about my beloved treadmill though, but at least I know that my friend's mom is using and enjoying it.

Bonus two: Blog Income
I barely make any money on this blog, which is fine because I don't do it for money, I do it for love!  However, it is nice to make a little extra every now and then because that's the money I put in my travel fund.  For the month of May, I made a cool $40, which is a happy little treat for me.

Bonus three: Extra Shifts
At one of my jobs, one of the regular staff quit and someone went on vacation, so I was able to pick up three extra shifts for the month.  Two of them were Sunday shifts, which were time-and-a-half, and one was a Tuesday where I took a vacation day from my regular job (I had more days than would carry over at the end of the fiscal year), so I got double paid! It kind of sucks, because this money is all going toward car insurance and not something fun, but at least I don't have to worry about where I'm going to get the car insurance money.  Extra shifts means about en extra $300.

Bonus four: Extra Paycheck
May and November are three paycheck months.  Obviously this isn't really bonus money, since it's just a paycheck at the end of a two-week period, but it actually is extra awesome because when we get three paychecks, they take less out of the third one!  My health and dental insurance come out of my first paycheck of the month, my 401k and union dues come out of the second.  Since those are already taken out, we get more take-home pay in the magical third check something to the tune of an extra $100.

All totaled for the month of May, my bonus money was $690, which is not quite enough to cover the security deposit, but quite a lovely chunk of change nonetheless.  Huzzah for bonus money!

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