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: A Public Defender's Life in Alaska

So, I'm broke. My own fault I suppose. To a certain extent, I have made some choices that caused this. But this just isn't working anymore. My paycheck just went down $350 because of increased medical premiums. It went back up $100 because of a 2% raise but we are still short $250 a month. It doesn't work. It's true that I have a couple of toys but damnit a lawyer who is almost 40 should be allowed to have a toy or two without living on credit. I'm not whining. Really. We are broke but not poor. We live well and are luckier than most, I know. But the simple fact is, that after bills, we have $1000 a month to live on. In Alaska that seems pretty hard to do for a family of 5. Maybe if nothing went wrong in a given month I could. But the cost of everything here is high. Kenai has about the highest priced gas on the road system in the United States at $3.69 a gallon. We went grocery shopping for basics last night. Basics. Not even buying meat, which we don't do. $384. That $250 that now goes to Well Fargo Insurance allowed me some fun. Paid for some of the things that break over and over and over. Those of you who know me, know my luck. Most concerning is the lack of savings. Anything beyond $1000 a month has to go on a credit card. Debt is growing. So what to do? I have four possible options. 1. Sell some stuff. 2. Move someplace cheaper (even that will mean more debt in the short term) 3. change my lifestyle and just stop doing anything or 4. make more money. I have decided to do a combination of #1, # 3 and # 4. In fact Jeremy and I have decided to do something. Details to follow. If it works, I won't be living on credit every month. If it doesn't, I am even more screwed.

Full post as published by A Public Defender's Life in Alaska on July 30, 2010 (boomark / email).