19: money, volunteer, gatekept

today was full.

i started the day pretty normal. made breakfast, cleaned up, relaxed, and made and ate lunch.

after lunch, i took a deep dive into my finances. I looked at how much i've spent in June, and wow. i've spent money money. to be honest, it's not as bad as i thought. here's the breakdown:

most of it is rent and it's dummy high because of the broker fee, security deposit, and 1st month's rent. i also paid for the wifi at my current lease so that was $22. but $7569.50 dang.

next is entertainment at $1479.68. that is basically the macbook ☠️. i put it under entertainment because it was not a necessity but a helpful tool. i can't quite claim it's for business purposes just yet since i have not even uploaded one youtube video yet 🙄. but it's coming soon and learning about video editing has been fun!

overall, the other categories aren't looking too bad but it's only halfway through the month. that's wild, I've spent $10k in two weeks. WTF

i wanted to see my spending in comparison to a typical rent month and without a macbook. she's looking a little pricy still ngl. I'm going to be making around $4200/month after tax so I'd have $1,000 for the month for the rest of my expenses, insurance, and saving.

I definitely can save on transportation. I've been taking lots of Citibikes this month and I don't think I will be using them going forward. Also necessities will likely go down and travel will likely be down, so it's doable. My goal is to save at least $500/month.

AFTER crunching these numbers, it was time for my shift at the Bowery Mission! I signed up for a dinner shift at the Bowery Mission, a homeless shelter in nyc that opened in the mid 1800s. I walked in and everyone was genuine and welcoming! There were around 10 volunteers and the kitchen operations were run by Richy, the cook. he was hilarious

he was nice loud sarcastic guy who chopped it up with anyone and everyone. the group of volunteers was surprisingly diverse. age ranged from 15 - 55 and out of the 10 volunteers, half of us were young.

the food was already cooked and we took assignments on what to do. most of the volunteers were serving food. the line to get food operated pretty efficiently: hungry people would line up, be handed a tray, be asked if they wanted a certain food, and move on. tonight's dinner menu consisted of penne pasta, chicken, salad, and bread. the food looked pretty gas ngl, i almost snuck a plate for myself lowkey

i worked in the back as a runner. essentially if they needed to restock trays of food or really anything in the back of the kitchen, that was all me. at 5:00, the doors opened, people started walking in, and i was ready to go at lightning speed. but it turned out to be super chill.

i was expecting it to be like prime time dinner shift at olive garden where i'm hustling and bussing tables pronto for 3 hours straight & sweating like niagara falls. but nah, everything was chill. highkey, made me feel useless because i felt like i wasn't doing anything ☠️

but i eventually did things, talked with other volunteers, and overall had a good time! the shift started at 4:30 and ended at 6:00, so super short and i made my way out. would def do again 😌

later, i grabbed dinner with anderson at this indian fast casual restaurant with the smallest portion size i've ever seen in my life bro. i ordered a wrap for $12 and it was half the size of a chimichanga. at least it was fire

after getting scammed once again by nyc food prices, we pregamed and started heading out to the bars. let me tell you, this was not a good night for us. i don't know if we went too late, but we could not get in anywhere.

1st bar, they were only taking reservations. 2nd bar looked promising, we waited  for like 45 minutes and when we get to the front, it's 23 and up. WHO DOES THAT?? 3rd bar, line is dummy long. 4th bar, the bouncer says my ID is fake???

i tried telling him that it's real and he's having none of it. LIKE ????? ITS REAL SIR 😹

he says he's been doing this for 7 years and doesn't have to tell me why it's fake. my roommate responds "are you serious, he's literally older than me" the bouncer then starts pressing us. i just wanted to avoid the altercation and plus the bar was def not all that so we start walking away, and the bouncer STARTS FOLLOWING US. he gets in my roommates face talking like "what'd you say to me?? say it again huh??"

bro, it was interesting. we got into some bars throughout the night, but they were full of people in their late 20s just talking. no young people and no dancing. nyc nightlife feels mad exclusive for what, i don't get it man, maybe we'll try going earlier or something