Wow! After the speed trap ticket, the gutter installation, the unexpected pool repair, the purchase of three pair of $14 shorts (what an extravagance!), the two service calls from the locksmith to remove and reinstall the complicated lock so the painter could refinish the door, and the unplanned lock repair, I’ve overrun this month’s credit-card budget by an astonishing $747.99.
No, wait; that doesn’t even count the speed trap rip-off. As it develops, the traffic school doesn’t charge the $188 gouge to your credit card until it receives a signed piece of paper from you. This month’s AMEX cycle ends on the 20th, and so if I delay mailing that thing another couple of days, the charge will go on next month’s bill.
Fortunately, The Copyeditor’s Desk, Inc. owes $608 of this, for hosting, computer supplies, incorporation costs, and the solid-core door and hardened lock I put on the office. Having received several payments from clients, the little corporation actually has that much to spare. Even more fortunately, because I’ve come in under budget for three of the past four months, plenty of “extra” money has collected in the account that I use to pay credit-card bills. I hate to have it go away, because I was counting it as part of the savings that I hope will ease the transition to permanent unemployment. And pushing the speed trap rip-off forward means I start next month $188 in the hole.
Oh well. At least right this minute there’s enough to pay this month’s bill.
😯