And I am finally moved in to my new home! It's a one bedroom apartment. Kitchen, living room area, bathroom, basic cable included. I'm paying $650 a month, and compared to where I was living in Vancouver for $1000/month, I feel like a ****ing king right now. It feels so good to have a place of my own, and I really need to do everything in my power to make it the most productive grind space that I can as well.
On that note, I have cut the cord with my parents. I am now paying fully for my rent, my phone, my internet, my power, and my insurance when I get it. And food. I mean, if I really **** up they'll be there to bail me out. They kind of have to. I'm pretty confident they won't have to do that though.
So I'm gonna try crunching some numbers. Rent is $650, phone $80 for now, internet $30, insurance maybe $30, and power maybe $30. So that is my ballpark on all of those, which means I'm spending about $820 per month on all of those expenses. Let's push my monthly budget up to $1250 a month factoring in groceries, entertainment, and maybe just ****ty underestimation on my part. Really need to watch my frivolous spending and eat cheap at home as much as possible.
So, I am gonna say my monthly budget is $1250. I still have $11k in the bank after finally paying all of my deposits and first month bills. So if that budget holds true, I have a little over 8 months before I run out of money.
So some variables. I haven't factored poker winnings or losses into the equation. I find it hard to believe I am going to be making more deposits onto the sites, but I think it will be a while yet before I actually begin making an income from poker. My bankroll is still too small to withstand large withdrawals (~1.7k USD). On top of that, I am splitting my profits 50/50 with BPC until I reach 10k Euros. I'm like a seventh of the way there, and hopefully as I really start to grind and devote as much time to poker as possible I will reach that goal very quickly, but if I am being realistic it will still be a few months at the least. So I don't see poker being a source of income for a while yet.
So yeah. Eight months is a while, but it is very daunting. February has been a bad month for play so far. I'm only down like 90 euros, but I've only played maybe five or six days. The move along with some resting last week really pushed me back, but I am gonna grind the weekend and hopefully skyrocket in productivity. I've been slipping on studying once again as well, so I need to do that. The best thing about living in town is that I can play poker during the morning/day and see people at night. I won't be sacrificing my social life, needing to pick and choose what I want to do each day. Being able to have both is going to be huge for me, and I'm really excited to have some more balance in my life.
So... eight months. Sorry, I got sidetracked. It's still a long time, but it doesn't feel like it's that long. I am strongly considering getting a job maybe in the next two or three months to supplement income and pay for the bills if I really start feeling the pinch. Like I said, I was never opposed to getting a job. I think it's more of a realistic necessity at this point with my cost of living going way up. If I can get a job maybe working 3 days a week, where I can cover most of my bills, play the other four days and study when I'm done work, I still like my chances of making this happen. I'm still comfortable to sit tight for a few months however, and that is what I'm probably gonna do. Also, I can definitely move somewhere cheaper. Living by myself has driven up the cost of living, but it's something I want to try out for now.
So that is the financial update. I was a bit of a bozo and didn't get my power or internet lined up for when I moved in. I won't have internet until Tuesday (Monday is a holiday), so I'm going to use my phone's hotspot for the weekend grind. No music for me this weekend, need to watch that data haha
Last note. Like I said, I didn't play that much last week. What ended up happening was I just really focused on myself and this piece I ended up finishing for the mental health blog I talked about. It was one of those things that I just needed to get off my chest. I sent it in to the girl that manages the blogs, but she hasn't posted it yet. Honestly, that was a few days ago, so maybe she'll completely forget the piece exists. Doesn't matter too much either way. It just felt so good to put my thoughts down. The friend that was there for me in November proofread it for me, and she liked it and had some kind words for me. So even if the piece doesn't get out, I am so glad that I wrote it.
I ended up writing about my experiences in my last year of school, specifically around reading week. Last year's reading week was when I walked across the Granville and Burrard bridges checking to see if I would actually die if I jumped off. I never actually felt in true, true danger that I was going to kill myself, but it was a volatile time. That was basically a year ago, and if I knew I would be playing poker in my hometown in my own apartment with friends and family around me all the time, it would have sounded like a complete fantasy. It still does, a little bit. I am so happy with this path that I've chosen and have no regrets about it. There are still steps to go in this poker journey, but my personal wellbeing has improved so much that the poker journey is honestly kind of secondary. I am so glad to be enjoying life again considering I was stuck for such a long time thinking my life was over. Ready for that grind tomorrow, see ya later