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my household budget problems

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Today I decided to sit down and work out the budget I'm currently living under, and came to some difficult realizations.

The first is that I can't afford to support my girlfriend should she come here before finding a job. So it looks like the only "move" that makes sense is for me to head back to Toronto.

The second is that Nova Scotia's higher income taxation rate means that I'm losing just about $500 a month over what I'd be earning in Ontario at the same pay. That alone would easily be enough to wipe out my remaining debt in the space of a year.

Compounding this is the fact that I can't expect a raise at the end of my first year at Keane, despite the promises when I was interviewing with them. I was told on Tuesday that under the arrangement with Morgan Stanley, in which we're billed out at a fixed rate, it's impossible for us to see a raise without Keane seeing a reduction in income. And of course, Keane will never take a reduction in income.