NOVEMBER 2009 | You & Your MoneY 33

I’ve always been financially irresponsible. It’s something that has followed me around since

my youth like a stray cat. I want something, I buy it, then think about the consequences later – about two weeks later when I pop my bank card into the machine and, instead of politely asking what denomination I’d like that b100 in, ‘YOU HAVE INSUFFICIENT FUNDS IN YOUR ACCOUNT’ flashes up on the screen in great, big bold lettering, so I have no doubt that the ATM is shouting at me for being so careless with my cash.

This recklessness with my funds hasn’t really posed much of a problem thus far. I live with my parents, therefore there’s always food in the fridge, the bills are paid and I don’t have to worry about pesky little things like remembering that shower gel doesn’t just appear in the bathroom, nor does it grow on the shower gel tree. Granted, I have indeed enjoyed the last number of years (a large number at last count) having my washing done, my dinner made (embarrassingly, also my breakfast) and my clothes ironed and popped back into my wardrobe, I figure it’s high time I fend for myself.

This is where my pesky recklessness becomes a problem. I want to move out, but my ability to spend all of my money in a matter of days has really hindered my savings. By hindered I mean they’re non-existent. I can just hear my ex-boyfriend in the back of my head whispering ‘I told you so’ and I’m big enough to admit (although not to his face) that he may have been right about those rainy days. I assumed this was all nonsense, made up by the same scaremongers who said your eyes would go square if you sat too close to the TV.

How wrong I was. Lo and behold that rainy day has come and I have not an umbrella, shelter, hood – nay, a newspaper, to hold over my head.

So I’ve been thinking through my options.

1 get a loan This has the benefit of providing me with

the lump sum necessary for my deposit and first month’s rent and letting me pay it back in manageable instalments over a specified period of time. The snag? My bank has decided that you have to earn more than John O’Donoghue got in expenses before they’ll give you a loan. Eh, wouldn’t need a loan if I earned that much.

2 get an extra job Back in my heyday I had three

jobs – and I’d have no problem doing it again. But with 440,000 people signing on the live register at last count I don’t think a job, never mind an extra job, would be easy to come by.

3 save Well there’s a lot to be said

for saving – apparently. The ex loved it. I mean really loved it. And he made it look so easy. I’m sure if I gave up my magic bean/diamond shoes/tiara habit, the coffers would thank me for it. But then again, I’d have to give up the life I’m accustomed to. Well I say life, but I mean the first two weeks after payday.

4 selling an organ There are a few bits and

pieces I could manage without, like the appendix. Unfortunately, after a bit of market research I

found that there isn’t much of a market for the ticking time bomb of the human anatomy.

After reviewing my options – and desperately racking my brain for alternatives that were not forthcoming – I decided saving might be the most plausible route. So having made my life-altering decision, I set out to procrastinate for a bit (one of my other great afflictions) and start next month.

My soon-to-be housemate is, at the moment, only partially employed and as such I was under the assumption he wouldn’t be able to afford to move out for quite some time. Apparently, even those who don’t earn a regular salary can also manage to save more than I can, as only yesterday he informed me that he was ready to break out the removal van, bagsie a bedroom and get on to the bank about that direct debit to the landlord.

So now the heat is on to jump on board the relocation train, next stop Savingsville. Unless of course… anyone in need of an appendix?

me and my money | Money

A noble truthWhen a lifetime spender decides to become a solid saver, it’s a magical

moment, something ‘Buddhistical’ takes place. Laura Bury recounts her moment of clarity over a peppermint mocha twist.

INSUFFICIENTFUNDS

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