13th Month
Strange as it may seem to some people in some countries, here in Portugal most people work 11 months per year and get paid 14 'monthly' wages.
This is so because most people here are entitled to a full month of paid holidays every year but also get one extra month paid as a Xmas subsidy and another one as a holiday subsidy (yes, we do get two months worth of pay during a month we do not actually work).
Not that I am complaining, far from it.
Why did this come to mind? Because of the traffic.
Most people have received their 13th 'monthly' payment, this reflects in traffic.
Public transportation is now less crowded and everybody is driving their own cars.
There is another traffic phenomenon here: from the first day of every month (when everybody has received their pay and when a traffic boom is registered) to the end of the second week of every month traffic reduces slowly and the crowds in public transportation increase proportionally.
But this Xmas traffic increase goes way beyond that monthly variation. This is insane.
I mean, sometimes I do drive to Lisbon too, whenever I need to go somewhere where there is no public transportation after work. But it happens regardless of the time of the month or year.
Sadly this is easily understandable: people act as if they were rich when they are paid, by the middle of every month they realize they won’t be able to make ends meet spending at that rate, they start cutting on expenses and by the beginning of the next month the cycle restarts, without any lesson taken from it all.
Tags:Portugal
This is so because most people here are entitled to a full month of paid holidays every year but also get one extra month paid as a Xmas subsidy and another one as a holiday subsidy (yes, we do get two months worth of pay during a month we do not actually work).
Not that I am complaining, far from it.
Why did this come to mind? Because of the traffic.
Most people have received their 13th 'monthly' payment, this reflects in traffic.
Public transportation is now less crowded and everybody is driving their own cars.
There is another traffic phenomenon here: from the first day of every month (when everybody has received their pay and when a traffic boom is registered) to the end of the second week of every month traffic reduces slowly and the crowds in public transportation increase proportionally.
But this Xmas traffic increase goes way beyond that monthly variation. This is insane.
I mean, sometimes I do drive to Lisbon too, whenever I need to go somewhere where there is no public transportation after work. But it happens regardless of the time of the month or year.
Sadly this is easily understandable: people act as if they were rich when they are paid, by the middle of every month they realize they won’t be able to make ends meet spending at that rate, they start cutting on expenses and by the beginning of the next month the cycle restarts, without any lesson taken from it all.
Tags:Portugal
posted by DCveR at 8:22 AM
18 Comments:
DC, you are right about the upsurge in spending at the end of the month. Our restaurants takings always jump on the last Saturday of the month. And we plan for it by bringing in more staff.
I am glad it doesn't only happen in the UK.
This has given the idea of a post of my student diet! Watch my space!
Same in Poland, but I've never connected the traffic with the the 'payment time' (I have to take a look at this). The real problem is with some people which are drinking a lot. They usually lose all their wages at alcohol (or fun generally) and week after they're broke. Good for them, but the problem is that they usually have families - children, wifes... Btw. usual payment time in Poland is the end of month, but during communism it was 15th of each month and some companies still use this date so if you plan to visit post office or bank, don't do it on 15-16-17th and 1-2-3rd of each month.
I once read a book called The 7 stages of money maturity by George Kinder, a financial planner.
This book gave me a huuuge insight into the psychology of spending, people's attitude towards money, the values they learnt from childhood...and what they can do to change it.
Shyha, the same happens here, men with families, 'drinking' away their money, no milk for the baby.
cream: But your finances and you have since become "adults", now you eat equally well throughout the month, no? I can understand it to a point, but the fact is public transportation isn’t that bad around here. If I take the train it takes me 20 minutes to get to the center of Lisbon, if I take my car it can take me an hour or more with rush hour traffic.
Shyha: Here civil servants get paid on the 20th of every month and private sector employees get paid on the last week day of every month.
Isis: But that is different, I can understand some people can’t use public transportation, what I can’t understand is why do some people drive their cars when it would be less expensive and faster to take a train, for instance. Worst than that: they can’t afford it.
GG: Thanks, another book for me to buy. Guess what I save in gas, tolls and parking is what I spend in my vices, like reading.
I am lucky to live just 5 minutes away from the restaurants. I sometimes get the train instead of driving to Edinburgh.
Local transport is ok in the UK.
As for eating, yes you are right. I am not anywhere near starvation point any more. I don't know whether it is age, diet or overindulgence, but I prefer my student weight to the present one!
so basically you are saying that you're rich enough to drive everysingle day of the month! aha!
ale: Nope. In fact I actually take the train almost everyday. But whenever I drive I do it out of necessity, not out of having my pocket temporarily full.
OK, your country's WAY better than here now! ;-) Here in the UK it's just take take take!
11 months of work... and 14 months of pay???
portugal, here i come.. :D
yeahyeah---
NML & iluvnyc: Don't go rushing to the airport without checking out the rest...most of the wages are rather low and there are a lot of other issues even if the grass looks greener.
It's a book well worth the read, D, even if you don't agree with everything he says...but read it bearing in mind he's counselled hundreds of folks.
'thirteens' were very common (if not obligatory) in Poland during communism time (coal miners had 'fourteens' also) but it isn't true anymore. Although I could get to work faster by car (30-40 minutes vs. 20) I prefer the public transportation (I don't have a car but I could go with someone - my father for example). Buses are a bit privileged in the cities so staying in traffic jam is not so annoying. And, where the traffic jam comes from? 80 out of 100 cars I see going to work has only one passenger - the driver.
shyha: I live outside Lisbon, there is a train every 7 minutes during the rush hour, every 15 minutes the rest of the day. The train takes 20 minutes to get me to the centre of Lisbon. By car, with no traffic, like in the middle of a quiet night, it takes 20 minutes to drive to the centre of Lisbon (not respecting the speed limit).
So in your case it's really pointless to use car unless you really have a reason (as you said before). It's an advantage of big cities - public transportation is usually the best choice.
shyha: Yeah, but most of the people who live around here drive to Lisbon the first days of the month. Simply silly! LOL
The pay situation there seems really enviable, no matter what you have to put up with! What if you had traffic, no public transport and mostly low wages/service jobs! Then you'd probably be in the States!
being self-employed as its advantages. When I first started doing it though, it was anything but steady.
kris: But the wages here are mostly low. You're closer to living in paradise, believe me.
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