Slice of Chaotic Life

The daily life of a celibate middle-aged man.

Paying bills

Posted by Itlandm on October 23, 2011

Usually I pay the bills on the 15th or so, but this month there were no bills at the time, so I waited a little longer. Also, some bills arrive after the 15th but fall due before the next 15th, so I have to log on twice a month anyway.

Anyway,  it is not exactly a problem to pay my bills, neither technically nor financially. Even though I am barely middle class by Norwegian standards, and pay a rent suitable for a whole house or nearly so, I generally have more than I need from month to month.

I have a credit card account that I pay into each month, and that I use if I buy something more than living expenses. I used it when I moved two years ago. Back then I paid double rent for four months, in addition to paying four months in advance for the new place, so I guess in a manner of speaking I paid triple rent for four months. That is a bit when you are renting a whole house alone (even a small house), so I ended up borrowing a bit back then. Also the moving cost a little – that was when I moved to Riverview, the move from there to Mandal cost me almost nothing. But anyway, I’ve paid it off. Or rather, I still have a small amount of credit card debt, technically, but also have more than that in the debit account most of the time. If I pay it off completely – and unless something very unpleasant happens, that won’t be far off – I think I will have a separate savings account instead. Less impulse for impulse shopping that way.

But I’ll probably be back in debt again next time I move. In the future I will probably need to hire movers, and those are hideously expensive here in Norway. So I won’t have a problem with getting rid of my money. And I do intend to move eventually. I am not in a hurry right now, but I may be if a larger family moves in upstairs. I was up there once and it seems there is no hot water tank there. Meaning that the whole house uses mine. Luckily the family with the toddler moved out and the place is empty now, but if a large family with small children moves in, that could get hideously expensive. And while the price of renting a whole house has risen a bit over the last year (Norway is still in its property boom with fantasy price growth), it may well end up cheaper to rent a whole house elsewhere. But not right now. Right now I rent half a house and the other half is empty, which is for me just as good as renting a whole house and only use half of it. ^_^

Anyway, banking here in Norway is done on the Internet. It is many years since last I saw a check, something like 20 years or so.  Most of my bills come in electronic form also, but a few come in the mail, so I have to fill in a few numbers on the screen rather than just press a key to pay. Still, it is pretty easy. I can see how this large gap of abstraction can make it hard to think clearly about money for those who have a lower level of cognitive development. But mostly I think people’s money problems are a matter of being unable to control their impulses. In Norway, I mean. In your flearidden and inferior nation, all bets are off. But here in the zeroth world, it is mainly a matter of not wanting everything you see.

I still want yogurt, though. Lots and lots of yogurt.

 

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *