Easy Come, Easy Go

There are as many quotes and sayings about money as there are ridiculous pictures of Celine Dion, but I feel the one that best describes my relationship with money is this: Easy Come, Easy Go.

At least, it used to be. It has been about a year since the first part of that held truth. But, never one to deny my roots, I have held firm to the second part. Consequentially, my life has turned to one of Hard Come, Easy Go. That sort of sounds like my sheets need to be laundered, but I assure you they are fresh. Having recently resumed full-time (ish) permanent (ish) employment I am about to re-enter the world of Easy Come. It’s a sticky situation. I would rather not remain in my current mess, so I have resolved to impose upon myself the rule of “Hard Go”. I’m not really sure exactly how this will pan out, I just expect it won’t be easy, but then that’s the point: change easy to hard.

So how to set out on this mission? At this point, I have not yet been paid for my first week at work, and having money seems theoretical and intangible. When that money comes in, though, how to impose Hard Go?

Hmmmmm.

I foresee that I will have to draw up a budget that allocates my income to various outgoings. Then I’ll be sure to have enough to cover the important things, and pay off debt and I’ll know when I do not have enough for that extra glass of wine or new pair of trousers. But the prospect of doing so seems to me incredibly difficult to draw up, and harder yet to carry out. So I’m going to start with one thing and work my way up to advanced budgetary discipline. What to do first?

First thing’s first.

Oh how I hate that phrase. It’s not a real set of words that means an actual thing. It’s merely a place holder. And yet, it is appropriate here because I’m stalling. How about another place holder:

http://www.bigfoto.com/miscellaneous/photos-12/shadow-man-8i3.jpg

OK. I think I have it!

My priority in this endeavour is to pay off debts, so I will set up a regular payment that pays off a significant amount each week. Yup. That’s my extreme, revolutionary plan. It may be all I manage from my first paycheck, but it sets a ball rolling. And if there’s one thing that is a natural fit for easy come, it is rolling balls…