Money money money.

Sometimes it seems like it's all anyone talks about these days. The economy has become an obsession for almost everyone, yet most people have almost zero power to effect any sort of change. And those who do, well, it feels like they can only talk about how "We must all make sacrifices" to justify all the cuts that are about to be made.

Yesterday we created a budget for ourselves using a handy excel spreadsheet that covers our weekly expenses from now until March of next year. By March, if we are to pay our bills -- the minimum essentials -- we need to come up with an additional 6500 euro of income somehow (about 9250 US dollars). It's seriously alarming.

So we will have to bite the bullet and ask our landlord for a rent reduction, and I think we'll have to apply for rent allowance as well. But with the cuts that may happen, our income may go down even more. All of this takes a toll on the ole ego. Each week I apply to jobs only to get a rejection email a few days later. Back home I had a career doing a job I really enjoyed, and I felt as though I had options. Here, I can't seem to get jobs that are on my resume from years ago when I was just starting out.

But still, I really like it here. Dublin is a lot of fun, and I am still loving exploring the city. We are committed to staying for a long, long time. I just wish someone would cut us a break!

In other news, I called up and got my Medical Card number, finally! So I made an appointment to see the doctor about this awful chest cold that I can't seem to shake.