Stating the Obvious

I've just gotten home from an appointment that is 1 1/2 hours away, but took me 2 1/2 hours. Bleh. I really feel as though I just want to go curl up in bed. If only...

As I was driving home two staggeringly obvious thoughts occurred to me. At least they should be staggeringly obvious, but are more of the category of not something you think about unless you are in the midst of it.

The first is that having a long commute is really expensive. I mean, I knew we would have higher fuel costs and such with J. doing this crazy commute, but I guess I didn't fully appreciate what that would look like exactly. I couldn't figure out where the extra money in the paycheck from his salary increase was going. If anything, it seemed as though we had less money by the end of the pay period. So I added up all the commuting expenses. The gas, the tolls, the stops to get some caffeine and snacks in order to stay awake. The total was eye-opening and pretty much negated and then some the extra pay. Here's my advice if you are thinking about taking a job with a long commute and no expected end date. Do the math. I cannot wait to stop paying all this money to the gas companies and the IL Tollway.

The second is that moving is expensive. (Yes, there is a theme here. I feel as though I am hemorrhaging money at the moment.) The boxes... the tape (endless rolls of tape)... the slightly more expensive food because all you are doing is putting things into boxes.... the padding so that what you are packing doesn't break. It all adds up ridiculously fast. I've been diligent in keeping notices out of people giving away packing boxes, and of the hundred or so (this is a total guestimate) boxes I've packed, I've only had to actually spend money on ten. I have a bad feeling that this will end next week when my stock is used up and I still have rooms to do. And this doesn't even include the movers and such.

I... and my checkbook... will be so much happier once we are on the other end of all of this.

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