The long drought is over! The first paycheck since May 20 (that's 112 days ago, folks) is sitting in my checking account this morning!

It's the one from my part-time teaching job, which pays on a biweekly schedule. My "real" paycheck for the full-time job arrives on the 20th--it comes monthly. Most years, I get my 9-month salary budgeted out over 12 months for me, but this year it wasn't since I was only part-time last fall and didn't go back full-time until January.

I knew I had to budget ahead for the summer, but came up about $2400 short because of tuition expenses (I took 3 courses over the summer), a major car repair, and a big vet bill. That $2400 has been sitting half on a credit card and half as a loan from my mom. Now I can begin to pay off the credit card--I'll pay it in full when the real paycheck arrives--and then, next month, begin to start putting money back into the depleted emergency savings account (Mom is expecting repayment in December; that gives me 3 months in which I can put some money towards that debt and some towards savings, and then begin to put the full amount in the emergency fund as of Janaury.

I feel quite relieved to know that the income stream is flowing again.