i'm fucked (kinda)

ok, so i was expecting that either today or tuesday i'd receive a check paying out my last four invoices (one from july, three from august) from my last freelance gig. i expected this because they had been paying out my invoices two at a time. so following that logic, when i didn't receive a check for my last july invoice and my first august invoice around the 20th, i figured it had to do with my last day being the 17th, and that all four of my invoices would be paid out 10 days from the 20th, which is when my last invoice was submitted.

i just checked my mail, and i had received a check. i felt a little relieved. then i felt the envelope. it felt a little light. (this is important because they include a sheet that itemizes my invoices by time spent for each client and time spent working on agency projects and time spent not working. the last time i got paid out four invoices at once, there were four sheets of paper in there itemizing everything.) i opened the envelope.

the check only paid out my last invoice from july. which wasn't that much. but technically i can't get mad at it because the check was paid out 30 days from when it was submitted. so is this how they're going to pay out the rest of my invoices? if so, i'm kinda freaking. that means i'd get invoices paid out on the 6th, 13th, and 20th, and i'd received them several days after that (the checks are coming from new york).

it's not that bad, really. the check i got today, combined with what i had left in my account, pays for all my bills this month. the three invoices yet to be paid out will cover my bills for october. but again, it's going to be really tight. and i'm trying my best to not dig into my savings. because i know i'm going to have to dig into my savings when i go back to school in january. i haven't heard from financial aid, but i'm pretty sure all i'll be getting is a loan. and i'm sure the loan will cover my tuition and fees and all that, but if things go the way they did when i started at swt back in jan. '04, then i won't be getting the remainder of my loan money until mid-february.

so yeah. i'm long-term freaking out. also, no-fun freaking out, because i'm barely going to have enough money to eat. i'm probably going to have to give up comics for a while. and cable. gah.