Well, now that I seem to have the spreadsheet under control, there’s a new fire to put out!

I’ve been fairly proficient at putting my head in the sand with an upcoming financial reality. I will be off work for two weeks at the beginning of June, not for holidays but for other reasons. My current employment allows for only two weeks of paid holidays and since my time off will not be R&R, I do not wish to use up my small allotment just to keep my paycheque intact.

I do not have adequate savings set aside for this, despite knowing for several months that it was approaching. I also didn’t do the necessary footwork to find out whether my benefits at work will cover me for the period I will be off. I’ve found out that there is a two week waiting period which essentially amounts to a deductible, so any money I would receive would only kick in after the 3rd week, which leaves me to fend for myself in this instance.

This is one of the things I dread about being in a financial position where I have assets, while having no liquid cash on which to draw in times of need. As fate would have it, I will be getting an Income Tax Return this year which will cover about one week’s pay, so I will only need to manage to find the second week’s pay. I’m being very creative and have rustled up some extra work, yet (currently) not enough to cover my usual paycheque. In this instance it actually worked to my advantage not to have filed my return early, since had I done so, I would either have invested the money or spent it and would not have it at my disposal for this purpose. While I am happy I have the money for my time off in June, I would have felt better had I taken this reality into account several months ago and found a way to set aside a little at a time so I would not be scrambling to make ends meet and could have used my tax return for investment or pleasure.

I have a Line of Credit on which I can rely if I can’t manage to gather all the necessary funds before June, and if I felt it necessary I could always choose to surrender one week’s worth of holidays so I wouldn’t be out of pocket. I prefer to continue to make efforts to earn extra money, avoid using credit or my holidays. I have (once again) reduced my debtload/use of credit from 5 figures to 4, so I am really NOT inclined to use my Line of Credit. It is so gratifying to see that number diminishing with each payment and to watch my savings account growing over these past weeks. I have put out to the Universe my intention to earn the necessary money and am trusting it will manifest without my having to resort to the “less preferred” backup plans. Wish me success!