Preparing for Poverty in France

I always told myself that if I could afford a plane ticket somewhere, I’d be able to survive once I got there… regardless of how much money I have. Well, I’m starting to get a little nervous about that. You see, an assistant doesn’t make a lot of money. Actually, our wages are pretty terrible. Not only that, but we don’t get paid until the end of November, so you have to bring enough money to survive on for 2 months. You’d also have to bring spare money that you might want to use to travel during the many vacations that we get, because you probably won’t make enough to travel on in France. I’d really like to go to Spain, Italy, Germany… maybe Morocco if I can afford it. Well, I can’t afford it.

Actually, it looks like I can’t afford anything. I figured out how much money i’ll need to get settled and live for 2 months. I was pretty tight when creating my budget, which isn’t a good idea in general. Experienced travelers tell you to figure out how much you’ll need, then bring double. I’m bringing closer to half of what I’ll need. Uh oh.  I need a little over $2,000, and I have less than $1,000 at the moment.  That $1,000 will be almost completely gone with just 2 months rent alone, not including other living expenses as well as the cost of getting settled.  Time to make friends with my credit card, I guess.  Either that, or start looking for a cozy park bench.

So what am I doing in the meantime to make some cashola?  I just quit my job because I was spending half of my paycheck on gas.  I’m teaching beginner’s French on edufire, believe it or not.  You can even request tutoring from me!  That brings in a little income, but not much.  I also just started tutoring on another platform called fluentlingo, so hopefully I’ll make a little money from there.  Besides that, I’m selling all of my worldly possessions on craigslist.  I’m realizing now that these worldly possessions are not very valuable, so that’s not bringing home too much either.  Of course, I’m accepting donations if you’re feeling generous .   Oh, I’m also looking to make some extra money in web design.  I’m not a professional, but I’m decent enough and can make a wide variety of customized websites, whether they be for personal pages, wordpress themes, or professional designs.  So, if you know anyone who wants to have a website or a theme designed, send them my way!  I know I’m not a pro, so I’m willing to do it on the cheap.  Anyway, I figure that I’ll be able to survive regardless of my financial situation.  I can use a credit card to pay for everything and let interest accrue if I have to. My mom won’t be happy about that.

Related posts:

1. Big money, little mousey
2. Wrapping up travel plans
3. The Itch