If you’ve been following earlier blogs, you may remember the discussion of being in “financial winter”. Well financial winter is now turning into actual winter as the seasons give way from summer to fall..and so on…. This is the time of year where because of the long nights and rainy weather I find myself generally more on top of my finances, less engaged in that breezy, laissez-faire, who-cares-about-money-its-summer attitude.

This year, owing to holidays, a recent health crisis and doing my best to squeeze as much as possible into the remaining last whispers of summer, somehow I seemed to miss two payments of my phone bill. I couldn’t even tell you that last time I actually *missed* a bill payment, even in summer when I’m less structured with my habits I don’t usually get that far off track. I’m convinced I didn’t receive my statements, but if I did, I certainly don’t remember dealing with them. I have a rather reliable system I use and I just can’t imagine having been so involved in other aspects of my life that I could have missed TWO months worth of payments! But it goes to show how simply touching base with my bank account online and reviewing my money regularly would’ve caught the oversight much sooner than having to come home to a recorded message from the credit department of the phone company! I reviewed my banking online, discovered what I’d done, called the company made an immediate electronic payment but it I still found the experience unnerving! I don’t like feeling so out of touch.

Additionally, the winter which looms ahead brings further schooling (read: tuition fees) and the desire to purchase a gym membership if I am to survive the winter with my sanity intact since without regular exercise I go quite stir crazy in the rain! I’m still feeling the impact of a week’s missed pay from earlier this summer when I took unpaid leave, in that it’s been too tight to continue my regular savings contributions. Add to that my recent health crisis which has me potentially faced with another week off work for recovery time in October. I currently have 3 days of paid leave left for the remainder of the calendar year which means more lost earnings and the ever-approaching deadline for tuition and gym membership. This is when I feel frustrated by the ongoing cycles that are created by no savings, no passive income and a full-time job which I love, but which has income limited by the nature of my contract. I’m not prepared to give up the work, so I’m still finding strategies to get through these times.

I hope there will be a day where I earn income not merely sufficient for my needs, but to actually exceed them considerably. I would like to have a feeling of “money in the bank” aka financial security - and not be biting nails in times of unexpected crisis. It’s important for me to strike a balance. I don’t want to give all hours in a day to working simply to earn money, because then there’s no time to enjoy the money. I know that if I had my druthers, I’d work 3 or 4 days a week and earn a very high income, live life well, have all my basics met and lots left over to travel and play.

The most recent blog entry written by someone who is emerging from debt for the first time since adolescence both encourages and discourages me: discouraged because I see my own circumstances reflected there and don’t want to have to leave the job I love so well, which nurtures my heart & soul, along with my professional and personal development, simply for high-paying employment. And yet, I’m also encouraged knowing that something unexpected suddenly shifted for him when all hope looked lost. So for now, I’m still planning ahead for my current reality and considering creative strategies to make “Shift Happen”!

Kat