Oh, about the snafu

I was informed today that I got too much money in my last paycheque. They paid me at my library rate for all the hours, rather than at the lower rate for the data entry. They have a solution worked out for how to avoid this in the future, involving how I clock in and out, but in the meantime my next cheque will be short the amount I was overpaid. I should still be able to pay my rent, though, because that's a full pay period.

I had figured the amount I would get paid and what I actually got was not far off because I had figured the taxes on the same percentage even though I figured it would be somewhat higher. I did not expect, when comparing the two pay stubs, that the federal taxes would by 5 times what I had been paying. The real pay will be somewhere in between, of course. This means I won't know my real pay for sure until mid-August, although I'll have a better idea of the taxes at the end of the month. I have a spreadsheet I can easily plug things into to help budget with.

In a way it was nice because I was able to pay off one debt completely and buy the Kindle with this cheque, along with paying some bills. Next cheque is slated for rent and taxes. Mid-August I'll pay bills again, get another bus pass, and pay off some more debt, plus start my savings up again, assuming I can do all that with the cheque. I hope so. There is an old debt (as in from the late 80s, early 90s) I have that is offering a settlement for slightly over $300 and I'd like to take them up on it and get that taken care of. I just don't know if I can pay that much at one time. If it's two payments, it doubles. I know that it's better to pay off completely than as a settlement, but this is old debt I haven't been able to pay on in years; this is the most expedient way to deal with it, I think. The idea is to pay off everything on my credit report and taxwise within 6 months. I'd hoped to do the debt in 4, but with the higher tax bracket, may have to go with six. I'll refigure next month when I get my first regular paycheque.

Finances hurt my brain. The Kindle was the one splurge I plan on, though. Everything else is all about repairing my credit and saving for a car, taking care of my bills, starting to pay my student loans, etc. I won't have any more disposable income than I do now, but my life should improve, anyway. :)