The Overdraft Blues

I wanted to do a few papers towards my masters degree this semester. After Christmas it's become clear that not only do I not have the money, I barely have enough to pay the bills.

Let me be plain, this is not because I'm paid just on or above the poverty line. I earn something like $40 000 per year, gross. Not US dollars (if only!) It's enough to live, if not comfortably, then at least without worry over where the next meal is coming from. If I worked at a comparable job in a PICU in the US I would make between twice to three times what I make here, depending on location and bonuses. In the UAE, about the same once you discount the taxation differences. Still, I get a reasonable wage. I think it should be more, but I'm aware that there is not a whole lot of extra money flying around in our national health budget and I'm (somewhat) resigned to that.

The trouble is, I'm not terribly good at managing what I earn. Real estate is extremely expensive here, and at my current rate of saving I'll be fortunate to be able to afford to put a deposit on a house sometime in my fourties. Very fortunate, actually. I may need to become resigned to something else: renting for the rest of my life.

So, further education is on hold for at least the first half of the year. It's becoming more and more tempting to take a working holiday overseas to build up some reserves, although right now it's the last thing I want to do.