This is the Excel monstrosity I plan my finances on:

and it’s rather useful. I first crafted it back in February, and if I dug up an old saved copy it would probably say I should have £3,000 by now or something, but we all know that we spend more than we budget and save less than we should.

Which is why, if I’m to survive in Japan, I have to assume the worst: I’ll get a crappy ¥1,000 job, spend way too much, not be able to rely on money from home, and only get work for a couple of months. And if, even in the worst-case scenario, I somehow survive to the end with money to spare then I know everything will be hunky-dory.

Unfortunately, assuming the worst, I end up running out of cash in December. But surely I can’t spend ¥200,000 a month… can I?

Additionally: this is why I will never consider getting a kanji tattoo. (Or any tattoo, for that matter. What’s with people who get tattoos of their own names?)