My budgeting this year has been a difficult process.
First I had a setback at work and had to take a demotion just to remain employed.
There weren’t many jobs left in the journalism world with the massive decline of print media since the early 2000s. I saw it coming, but I really hoped that I could pivot into a job position that would still give me a chance at some kind of economic security. I wanted to work as an editor and at the time editors were given more job security. But the company realized that reporters were getting laid off left and right while the editors were all keeping their jobs. So within months of getting an editor position at my newspaper, the position disappeared entirely. Thankfully, I had a friend working for a public relations company and they were looking for new hires after losing a bunch of employees to their competitors. While I was immensely thankful for the job, it didn’t pay as much as my editor position at the newspaper. Even with raises over the past two years, I haven’t been able to recoup the losses in my salary no matter how hard I try. That makes the process of budgeting harder than ever before, particularly with inflation levels threatening the balance of everyone’s financial stability. My air conditioner needed new UV-C bulbs because they only last for a year. Unfortunately, UV-C bulbs were expensive before the pandemic and since they have only gone up in price. HVAC equipment is expensive and difficult with budgeting.