Setting Your Life Up On A Budget
$200 in your account? That’s more than enough
You might be going overseas or returning home. You might be midway through a trip or struggling with high living costs.
There are endless reasons why people may not have a lot in their bank accounts.
For me, it was a lot of travelling I have done in the past year and I returned home with next to nothing.
Friends asked me how much I returned with, expecting a lot. They were shocked to here I was scraping by. I was surprised by their surprise.
Sometimes people go overseas and return with a healthy bank account and sometimes they return with next to nothing. I am in the latter category.
I am extremely lucky to be setting myself up in a place with a wide range of support. I currently have a roof over my head and I am able to snack on the food in fridge.
But I need to set myself up.
Like, properly.
I need a place of my own, I need my own social circle, I need my hobbies, and dear I say it… I need my routine.
I’m not a routine person but as I age I see the benefits.
People, even those close to me, are confused as to why I’m in a rush to leave the parents house and take my empty bank account into the stress of rental payments, high grocery bills and what-not.
Maybe it’s a me thing by being in my mid/late 20’s and having spent a year overseas, that independence is important to me.
A life lesson I am keeping with me after my travels is: If you don’t ask you don’t get. The worst you’ll get is a no and that’s the position you are already sitting in.
I managed to find a job pretty quick and found a flat in my ideal area in my ideal budget. I just hadn’t received that first pay check yet, or my bond back from a tricky situation I had hastily thrown myself into.
After checking out the place I was more convinced this was a step in the right direction.
They agreed and let me know I had the flat if I wanted it.
Great!
One problem: My finances were is a trickier situation than when I went for the viewing.
I had two options:
- Let it go and do the responsible thing. Take it slow and let my bank account fill up in the safety net of my parent's home before committing to something so financially risky.
- Ask for what I wanted and see what they said.
I asked. I asked if they could push back the move in date by a couple weeks and explained my bond money was tied up in an awkward situation with a previous flat.
They were thankfully extremely understanding. They didn’t agree to exactly what I asked for but we managed to come to a comprised that kept us all happy.
I managed to find a flat with only one weeks worth of rent sitting my bank account. No more than that. None more. I’ve had to cancel plans and not leave my house to keep that money in my bank account.
I am sure I will have the bond money by the date I gave them, no doubt in my mind. I have no intention of scamming or undermining anyone — just trying to put my own mask on first while being honest about my situation.
If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
I have no intention of writing this with the purpose of getting attention for something crazy that I did. No.
I write this article because there are many people with very little in their bank accounts and it can be scary and shameful to admit you are struggling and you can’t give what’s being asked.
Worse — why would you put yourself in a situation to give when you don’t have the means?
There are many reasons.
All you have to do in ask and be honest about what you can provide, there is always a compromise. Sometimes it doesn’t work out but there will be times when it does.
You have to put yourself out there to find those situations that work for you.
