Cha-Ching

As it turns out, quitting my second job and leaving time for things that I enjoy - going to the gym, spending time with friends, not waking up to an alarm clock on a Sunday morning - doesn't pay the bills. Did you know this? Why didn't anyone tell me? I was so determined to find that second job, and then so anxious to quit. Now I'm right back in the empty money bucket that I was before. It's an intriguing concept to me. The desire to have more money flowing into my bank account, yet turning away from the possibility of it as soon as it interferes with other things. So what's the answer?

I'm a firm believer in leaving time to enjoy your life. If you work a 40+ hour full-time job, go to school (which includes 2 hours of work for every 1 hour of class = 12 hours a week for me), then throw in a part-time job on top of that, you don't get much time to live your life. But then there are people like my co-worker, I'll call her Anime, and my friend That Girl 7278. Anime works the same amount that I do at our full-time job, and she also works at a grocery store. She complains about the fact that she has chosen to be a part-time cashier, but not that she has chosen to work a second job. And for the past as long as I can remember, That Girl has worked 2 jobs because the one main job she had just didn't cut it. It wasn't as much of a choice for her. If she wanted to pay the bills, she worked 2 jobs. And she never tried to get out of it. Amazingly enough, when I would go home for a visit, she would always say something like "well, I get out of work at 11pm. See you then." If it were me, I would be weazeling my way out early, giving up the hours (and pay). I don't understand what kind of personality you have to have to make those choices. I'm in a position where I can't really afford to do anything BUT pay my bills, yet I refuse to sacrifice my time to get a job and make more money.

Whenever I get into these conversations with people, they always say "yeah, but you're in school - graduate school. You need to take the time you have and use it for that". (For those of you who don't know me, school has not exactly been my strong suit. Going to class and doing assignments wasn't high on my priority list. Most of my friends and family are flabbergasted at the amount of energy I'm putting into my master's classes right now). This is why it has become acceptable for me to be "less enthusiastic" about getting a second job.

Ok, well, I think I'm done complaining for now. OH, did I mention I can't get any more financial aid right now? ("Ah," they all say. "That's why she's complaining about money. Her back-up plan didn't come through.")