shortfall

— पांच हजार तीन सौ तेरह — Shobhit wanted to go over budgeting for next year last night, and I was honestly kind of annoyed by that, as I always am because he's always so obsessed with money. And now? Even factoring in the three grand or so that we should get from my cashed-out PTO on Friday next week, as well as what small amount of extra money I should be able to set aside from each paycheck between now and then, we're still falling a fair amount short of projected costs for that whole vacation—which, I have already noted, is shaping up to be likely around $10,000 in costs, including airfare, hotel, and expenses. Depending on how strictly we tighten our belts—and we've (or rather, I've) already done that to a significant degree—we're looking at a possible budget shortfall of between $800 and maybe two grand. Mind you, this is only in reference to budgeting. Between the two of us, we actually have plenty. And, bear in mind, so far at least, I am the one financing this entire trip. I have a large amount in my savings account but Shobhit likes to regard that as sacrosanct, something not to be touched for any reason except for an emergency. He already blew a lid when I borrowed $1,500 from savings to cover airfare expenses already incurred—and probably he'll feel even more justified in that now, as at the time I had thought I would just replace that with my PTO payout. It's going to take much longer to replace that now, and it doesn't matter to him that the amount (as of now anyway) is all of 5% of my savings. It should also be noted that this is all being paid for with cash. Most people take trips like this on credit, paying it off in monthly installments (plus interest!) indefinitely afterward. Neither Shobhit nor I spend large amounts of money we don’t already have. Over-spending on a credit card would put Shobhit into a tailspin; he gets emotional, as I said, if I simply borrow from money already in my savings account. Honestly, right now I'm just grateful that when it comes to this trip to Australia, we are now well past the point of no return. There's no canceling it now. And Shobhit can disagree (maybe) all he wants, but I still feel there are multiple compelling arguments for having planned on a return in 2023 all along: the timing of Sydney World Pride in 2023; the possibility that this will be the last time we can visit while Uncle David and Mary Ann are still as mobile as they were the last time (they both turn 76 next year); climate change itself, and the likelihood of repeats of the horrible 2020 bushfires being far more frequent the longer we delay. The way I see it, there is every reason to make this happen in 2023 and not wait. The budget crunch being much tighter than I realized notwithstanding, I remain incredibly excited about this trip. — पांच हजार तीन सौ तेरह — — पांच हजार तीन सौ तेरह — I thought about watching a movie last night. Then, I realized I am much further behind compared to previous years working on the annual calendars I make. I need to select and save over seventy photos just for the calendar grid squares (for birthdays, anniversaries, etc), in addition to the twelve photos enlarged for each month, a separate set each for my extended family who traditionally get one; Shobhit; Uncle David and Mary Ann; and maybe Jennifer. The "grand theme" this year was brought up as an idea at the family vacation in Leavenworth, but getting enough photos to flesh it out into a full calendar has proved somewhat challenging. What I've got so far, though, I can still work with and I think will make people happy. In any case, I set about gathering grid photos last night, which is on its own fairly time consuming. Once I have all the shots I need and they are edited the way I need—and, hopefully, doing the work in the order I laid out for myself last year in a note for future years, hopefully to increase efficiency—the work of just assembling the templates online should not take too much time. I think I should get it finished within a week or so, which should still leave me plenty of time to place the orders and get them mailed to me in plenty of time for Christmas. Shobhit came into the bedroom last night and said, "Calendars done?" As if! I don't think he realizes how much work it entails. He tried to suggest coming up with a digital version, but that just won't work as well. I did kind of have a feeling like last year the calendars had waned a bit in how much they mean to people, but that may also have had to do with the theme (the holiday fruitcake through the years; I was really happy with it anyway). We'll see how it plays out this year. The more time goes on, the more I might actually shift my approach to these calendars, and maybe even start printing fewer of them, unless people want to send me the money to cover the always-surprisingly-high cost of just having them printed. For now, though, I get the feeling there would be open disappointment if anyone who usually gets one does not get one, so I'm covering the costs as usual. I'm not mailing a calendar to Australia again this year, though. I paid a fortune (nearly $80!) just to pay for shipping last year, only for it to take weeks and weeks to get to Uncle David and Mary Ann, well into January. What bullshit. I'll be seeing them in March anyway, which is the only reason I'm still going to make one for them at all. They just won't have their calendar for the first two months of the year. 2024 might be another story; I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. — पांच हजार तीन सौ तेरह — [posted 12:29 pm]