This month, I’ve got quite a few expenses piling up. My flat didn’t sell like I had hoped, so I’m stuck paying over $400 a month in condo fees and taxes. This has been happening since March, and I thought it would end by September. On top of that, September in France means it’s time to pay taxes, and I owe around $1,000 based on last year’s income. I already paid a bit in May and February, but those amounts were smaller.
When I was still confident the flat would sell, I wasn’t too worried about the taxes because I figured I’d use the proceeds from the sale to cover the tax bill. Now, without that money, I need to get creative to find the funds. I’ve been traveling for the past year and a half and haven’t maintained much of an emergency fund.
Right now, my French current account holds just $150. I made $140 selling my bicycles yesterday, which brings my total to $290. But after putting gas in my motorcycle, it’s more like $250. Fortunately, I’m staying with my mom, so I don’t have to worry about rent, utilities, or food at the moment. Still, I’m $1,100 short for the month!
How did I end up in this tight spot? I don’t like having money just sitting in my account doing nothing. So back in July, when I had around $5,000 not earning any interest, I decided to overpay a loan with a 7% interest rate to get a 7% return on my money. I was counting on the sale of my flat going through in September to cover my expenses. When the sale fell through, I realized how short on cash I actually was.
I’m not too stressed, though, since I have some cash in the UK that I keep for emergencies related to my other rental property. Worst-case scenario, I can pay the exchange rate and convert those Sterling into Euros. Another option is to ask my mom for help and pay her back next month when one of my CDs matures.
I expect my income to be pretty low for the next few months, so I plan not to reinvest that CD right away. I’ll keep some cash aside for essential expenses. Lesson learned!