Saturday 6 February 2010

The Budget

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.

My name is Emily Jane Stedman. I am 17 years old. I come from Kent in England. I currently live in Québec, Canada where I am an ‘exchange student’ learning French. I left England in August ’09, and I will return in July ’10. I don’t have a job (visa says no) and therefore have a rather limited budget.

Don’t get me wrong, my parents are extremely generous. They have shelled out a lot for me to even be here this year. They send things I’ve forgotten (watch), or replacements of things I’ve lost (plectrums) or broken (glasses!). They give me pocket money every month. I couldn’t (wouldn’t) ask for more. The pocket money is a very decent amount and I am in no way hard-done-by, but there’s always something that needs paying for. School fees, choir fees, skiing days, gym membership, letter sending, toiletries, hair cuts, winter clothes, school trips (one to Montréal in October that set me back 150$ initially, and another 150$ on the actual trip, and a trip to New York in April which is 420$ PLUS the money I choose to spend there on things like eating more than once a day). Then there’s prom which includes paying for the ticket, the photo album, the dress, shoes, hair, jewelery, additional photos etc. On top of that there’s also money spent just doing things with my friends – going for a coffee, for a meal, shopping (I do this rarely, and it’s even rarer that I buy anything unessential i.e not from Wal Mart).

After all that, how much do you think I have to spare to ship peticoats from Japan?

So, setback one : small budget