Raise and Promotion!

My supervisor just jumped me with some good news--I got an 8% raise and a promotion! This is especially impressive since we didn't have any money in our coffers for promotions this quarter--my supervisor doesn't know where they got the cash, but I found out the engineers I support were doing some covert lobbying for my raise, so apparently that helped.

What does this mean? Money-wise, this means I have about $220 more to work with a month. A year ago, this wouldn't have excited me, because I spent money so flagrantly I wouldn't have noticed the extra $220. Sad but true. These days, it means I'll pay down $2,500 more debt next year. This really balances out last month--I feel great. Coincidentally, I'm throwing a small party at my place tonight (a conglomeration of friends' birthdays) so I'll use this as an excuse to relax.

And some more good news? My supervisor told me that they've sorted through the legal matters, and if I get caught in the headcount reduction, I get 8 months of pay! Okay, I'm probably not getting laid off, especially with the recent promotion, but I wouldn't argue the severance package.