"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
06/03/2019 at 21:02 • Filed to: Updates
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"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
06/03/2019 at 21:02 • Filed to: Updates | 2
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I mentioned that I changed my strategy from salary driven to savings focused. Last April, w ith this new mindset, I stopped working locally and took on a fulltime nationwide travel position because I saw an opportunity to not only be more visible but also have a multi-million dollar company pay for my Zebra Cakes habit. A fter 45 days, I realized that I had c ompletely underestimated the brilliantly brutal bureaucratic beaver buster that i s outdated corporate expense reporting.
It started out rough because the expense system took 6+ weeks to reimburse f rom filing to deposit and the expenses could only be submitted after the trip ended. So, if I worked June 3rd to June 24th (one long trip), I would submit on the 25nd and be reimbursed around August 9st . At which point, I would have paid for all of June, July, and part of my August trip by the time I saw cash back for the June trip! Weathering that kind of torment like an On-t he-Scene redshirt reporter in Louisiana is really what got me supercharged on finances.
The great news is that I received a corporate card back in January! * Finger guns (pop pop pop) * Unfortunately, this has been such a big change that I have transformed from an average guy, with an average salary, trying to do ordinary things into an average guy, with an average income, in an exceptional situation trying to do extra- ordinary things. Here are the main work perks and features (there’s more but the bullet points would become missile sites by the time I explain them) :
Per Diem for food (while out of state ) .
Fuel Card (87 Octane Unleaded Only).
Car Allowance ($112.50 a week)
I keep all Airline, Hotel, and Rental Car rewards.
I’m only home 4-8 days a month so I can live on most people’s beverage budgets and I dont put many miles on my cars. I do s till get the allowance because beaucractic systems deal in disparate dollars, not common sense.
As far as my “at home” expenses go , I mentioned that I ha ve been killing off recurring monthly payments everywhere I can because I wanted to move from:
Day-to-Day (cash) living to,
Week-to-Week (paycheck) living to,
Month-to-Month ( credit card) living to finally,
Year-to-Year (retirement) living.
I dropped my personal phone and now use my work cellphone so that I no longer have a phone bill. This is why I’m not around online much anymore.
I will continue to rent for a few more years because I’m gone too much to be responsible for a home, plus renting gives me the option of paying off my lease year-to-year (this is a HUMONGOUS benefit for saving up cash). It’s one of those situations in which the math on paper and the math in practice are diverge due to the Ps ychology of O n -Ha nd Ca pital ( co ming to a Barnes and Nobles near you if those still exist in the future) .
T he goal of nearly every hustle, degree, or budget strategy is to have more money in your hands each month, I’m just doing the deconstructed digest version.
All and all, my current reoccuring monthly spending for the year is as follows:
$375 car payment (which will go away in November).
$300 across utilities, gym membership, food when I’m home, and random things like entertainment, clothes, cleaning, and so forth. No subscriptions, cable, internet, or anything interesting since I’m rarely home .
Af ter the Jeep is paid off, I’ll enter 2020 with $300 of reoccurring month-to-month spending. The car allowance covers this so I’ll be saving 100% of my net monthly salary (but not really because it goes to rent, insurance, and non-reoccuring expenses). Plus, I dont want to get into a habit of not spending any money and turning into a miser. In fact, I find that making things challenging forces me to find new ways to arrive at difficult places to get to.
I’ll still find something — * cough * GranTurismo * a ck em * marry my best friend and have lot s of babies * hack * — to place a specific amount of income towards . Thus , going into 2020, that’s what’s up and if you aren’t down with that then I’ll catch you on the flipside, ung h !
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2019 at 21:25 |
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Welcome to the wonderful world of the traveling consultant. I’ve been doing this for nearly two years. I’m lucky enough to get lodging, per diem for meals, a rental vehicle, and it all goes on my corporate card. The points I’m racking up are insane!
I’m in a very different situation than you, though. I have a wife and two kids at home. I waited until the kids became teenagers so they don’t miss me being around as much. The best thing I did was limit my travel when they were little and adjust my work hours so I could be around for all their after-school activities. When you finally get married and have kids, you’ll see.
Enjoy the travel while you can!
f86sabre
> Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2019 at 21:52 |
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If you use Amex for your company card you may be able to arrange for any points accrued through that card to be transferred to your personal card. It will likely cost a fee.
MM54
> Wobbles the Mind
06/03/2019 at 21:56 |
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I travel between 10 and 50% for my job (depending on the phase of the moon), wildly varying as projects come and go (it was sold to me as rarely more than 10% and never more than 20%...) and hate every* moment that I don’t get to go home at the end of the day.
*There was one time I actually got per-diem meals (rare!) that wasn’t bad since I eat way less than $50/day. It wasn’t as bad, but I’d still rather not be out of town for days/weeks.