What to Do

Guys, I'm at a bit of an impasse here and I literally don't know what to do. I'm loving living in Dublin because I've met some seriously cool people and the city is wonderful for the most part. Where I find myself struggling is with finances. I am not overspending on a personal level, I've completely cut out buying coffees and eating out for the most part so I could save money there. I go out once every other week with friends and cut out shopping as well. With that being said, I find myself constantly struggling with money here. It's a frustrating situation to be in considering my living situation in Canada was so much easier and carefree. Mind you, I didn't have much spare time from working like a slave, but I always had money.

One of the reasons I'm here in Dublin is to gain access to the rest of Europe for travelling which I'm doing my best to take advantage of. I just came back from Germany and have trips to Scotland and the Netherlands coming up as well which I'm super excited about. However, I find that because I'm planning these trips, the costs associated with them are eating away at my limited budget and I find myself barely scraping by in between. I know this is part of the experience and all but I also wonder if there's not an easier way to do all of this that will still leave me with more money at my disposal. 

I've been toying with the idea of finding a part time job to do for a couple of months just to get extra money. I've also been toying with the idea of moving out of Dublin to Galway or Cork perhaps to cut down on my living expenses but with that would come more difficulty for travels. It's such a tricky situation because there doesn't seem to be an easier way to go about things and I think that frustrates me more than anything. I consider myself fairly resourceful and I literally can't figure out a solution that works for me.

You know, I expected things to be different here in Dublin but I never expected to be living paycheck to paycheck either and I haven't had to that in years which is frustrating you know? I'm in my thirties and don't have anything because I pissed away my savings just starting out here in Dublin so I don't even have a cushion to fall back on. Without that security blanket, it makes everything more real because I really do have to watch everything I do to make sure I can afford my rent at the hostel, food, paying my credit card down, and travelling. Not to mention all of these things come out of a fairly minimal budget. All of this is making my head want to explode if I mist be honest.

I feel awful for complaining you know because this opportunity is such a great one that there's almost a sense of being ungrateful that comes along with my complaints but that couldn't be further from the truth. I think I'm just looking for ways to get the most out of this while also keeping myself afloat and able to live the way I'm accustomed to. I think I need to just get used to this life of barely scraping by until I get back to Canada right? Do I find another job, move from Dublin?? I don't know but I do know that I need to figure something out because I feel slightly trapped and I don't want these feelings to ruin my experience here.

HAPPY VEG