Paraphrasing Clemens

Apparently there was once a report about Mark Twain's health, which he is incorrectly quoted as having responded to with the following statement...

The rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated.

... to which I will paraphrase regarding my own situation...

The rumors of my wealth are greatly exaggerated.

Well, not greatly exaggerated. As some of you will remember from this post, I had initially predicted a post-paycheck balance of up to $3500. With a $5.95 payment made to Hot or Not yesterday, my final balance, with my bonus and everything in my change jar, was $3185.89, a full $314.11 less than I had hoped for. There were several reasons for this.

I'd have needed a paycheck of at least $1200; my final pay for last month was only $1016.72

The aborted evening with DHSM resulted in a $10.45 charge ($8.95 plus $1.50 gratuity).

The Hot or Not charge resulted in a further $5.95 drop.

So, if I hadn't made those two purchases, it would have been a final tally of $3202.29, not bad, but not thirty-five-hundred. Since I was at the bank, I've had the following deductions:

$39.99 for a new pair of Carhartt jeans; of my two existing pair, both have massive holes in the back left pockets from a couple of years of carrying my wallet, and one has a hole near where the four pieces of material meet under my groin, so I've needed at least one new pair for over a month.

I owed my mother some money, which has now been paid.

So, recapping my wish list, I'm thinking that less items will be crossed off this month than I would have hoped. Perhaps a book and a CD? My goal for last month was to retain at least $1800, and through somewhat fervent frugality, I saved about $2020. I'll run a budget tonight at work and figure out what my goal for saving this month will be... Then maybe it'll be time to splurge, just a bit.

Ironic, isn't it? Even on payday, fate digs its talons into me.