So in good news... I got the job! I'll be working part-time hours this coming week, then moving to full time. Very exciting! I'm definitely going to be a busy girl.

Now that I've got the job, this weekend I'm getting a car. I know, I know. I've already gotten the "you cant buy a car in one weekend!" speech. And I know it's haphazard, but it's what I've got to do. I dont really have a choice in the matter. Transportation has become a must. It's now or never, kids! So I'm going to go out over the next 2 days and see what I can get. I'd ideally like to finance an older toyota or honda. Spend between $3-5k. But that's wholly dependent on whether or not I can get financing. My credit score isn't terrible... close to 700, but my debt-income ratio isn't all that great. So we'll see what I can get.

If worse comes to worse and I cant get financing, my employer is going to help me out and front me some money to buy something cheaper... closer to $1200. So we'll see what I can come up with over the next 2 days!

In other news, my application for examiner was accepted, so I'll be writing for them as well as associated content. Exciting I'm almost positive they pay better than AC, and they're much more selective, so we'll see how it pans out!

Yesterday was also a no-spend day. I wrote 2 articles. I only have one more to make 5 for the week. Excellent!

So it's time to be off! Wish me luck!

So yesterday was a *No-Spend Day* Woot! I did in fact paint grandma a b-day card, and had dinner at mom's. In other successes, I lined up a tutoring job for next week. $20/hr. Only an hour a week, but still. That's an extra $80/month! Hopefully I'll pick up more of those.

Today I clean. I have a weekly gig doing that. It pulls me in about $50/week, which is nice to have. So for being unemployed, I'm still making a bit of cash. Listening to my music and cleaning isn't a terrible time, either!

So I'm off to start my day. I hope everyone has a great one.

Well, it's already november. Again, I haven't been keeping up with my blog here, and consequently my wallet has been suffering. I need to be more conscious of my spending or I'm never going to meet the goals I've put out for myself.

I'm still in the process of looking for a job. I had 2 interviews about a week and a half ago, and no word yet. The one place said, however, they weren't doing any hiring for another 2 weeks. I'll have to give them a call here soon.

The army has managed to really mess up my pay. I'm still being paid active duty pay... good I guess because I'm getting a lot of money. Bad because they are in fact going to take it back... through my pay for the next year or so. I guess I can treat it like a loan. They also managed to mess up my job training scheduling so poorly that my enlistment bonus is up in the air...

So very frustrating.

So, I have no car still. And no job. These are kind of top on my priority list at the moment. The good news is that I'm getting unemployment, and I'm enrolled in classes for the spring. A shining glimmer of hope indeed

Also, my student loan payments once again get deferred as of January, so I wont be shelling out over $500/month on those... I'll focus more on paying down the CC then.

With my finances being so screwed up it's relly difficult to budget and predict what my income is going to be for this month. I guess all I can really do is attempt to spend as little as possible. The good news? There's a new boy And staying in to cuddle and watch movies costs nothing at all!

I'm going to start tracking my spending again. It seems to be the only way I curb my spending. With xmas coming up, I'm going to need the extra cash for sure. Not only that, but it looks like I'm going to have to fund my own trip out of the country this summer if I cant get that bonus money. I'm not going to depend on it. I cant, or I know I'm just going to let myself down in the end.

Xmas is going to be a rough one. I'm definitely planning on buying the new BF hockey tickets. Because he loooves the Penguins. And so do I. Therefore it's really like a present for both of us! Mom's present isn't going to cost me a dime. But she's going to love it I'm making the BFF a scarf. There'll be a few more $ on that, but nothing crazy. We'll see what happens for everyone else.

This week is a busy one. Going to do karaoke tonight with a friend who is in town. I'll probably have a couple drinks. I'm limiting myself to about $10. Tomorrow night is my grandma's b-day celebration. FREE Wednesday night is a going away celebration at an open mic. I'll have a couple drinks there as well. Thursday night is going out night. Sigh. More drinks. The good news I suppose is that I've been DD the last few times we've went out, so I drink substantially less. Much cheaper. haha.

No plans for the weekend, but I see it being rather low-key. I like that. The halloween hubbub has passed, and it's kind of a relief, though it was a great one

So enough of this blabbing. Time to go do something productive! Hope you all have a wonderful day.

So I made it safely home, thank goodness-- after almost missing my flight due to a bank error. Bleh. Words to the wise: if your platoon sgt tells you to wait to the last minute to get money out of the ATM to pay the cab driver to get you to the airport, do yourself a favor and just kick him in the face.

My checking account is frozen, zeroed out online for some strange reason. It says something about transfer balance for conversion, and I know they're switching systems here soon, but I have to pay my bills, and I cant if my money is locked in limbo. So I have to call them or go to the bank tomorrow. Yippie.

Other than that, my travel home was really quite painless. No terrible delays, spent a good portion of my layover chillin on a couch in the USO (those are pretty fabulous, by the way). And it was free! Didn't have to pay for a cab in the end, the flight, or my baggage (and there was a LOT of it).

Went to my storage unit to get my clothes out and pay my bill... mom was slacking. Told them I'd be out by the end of the month, so I'll get the rest of my stuff moved and I wont be paying for storage anymore woo! Thankfully the BFF has plenty of space in her house for all my crap.

We went out to dinner last night with a couple friends, which was *amazing*. And went out dancing til the wee hours of the morning, which is always a good time. It was a pretty excellent day. Well, except for the ex driving me crazy... but that's a whole different story. Sigh... I'm fairly certain men will be the death of me.

As for today? Art in the Park. The BFF is in the shower, and I'll be following, then we're off! And making dinner for her father in law tonight. His wife died a few months ago... everyone we know was really close to thier family, and it was pretty devastating to him. BFF goes over there every sunday to have dinner with him, and now I get to be part of the tradition

Other than that, no plans for today. Finish unpacking my clothes... try not to go insane... haha. We have to go get keys made for me. Party... haha.

Tomorrow I go to my unit to get all my paperwork copied and in order. Get my bonus paperwork in so it can get processed and I get *PAID*. Get my scholarship paperwork in and my GI bill rollin for the winter. I have to go to the university here soon as well, and get everything straight for school in January.

And job hunt... I need to do a whole lot of that too. There are a whole list of places I need to grab applications from. I did see my LES, and I will be getting paid on tuesday. Woo! So I'm not totally screwed for the month. It's a total relief. I just have to watch the spending. As soon as I get my bank situation under control, I'll get my budget in order and really buckle down on things.

So I'm going to go get my day started. Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

So it's come to my attention that I'll be back home in Ohio in less than a week. Holy crap. heh.

I've been trying to prepare for this for a while now, and each day it gets a little easier and I get a little more excited. I was dreading my return not a month ago, but I feel I'm finally ready. It's time.

Money is going to be INCREDIBLY tight until January. My grace period ended on the student loans, and I'm paying out about $400 a month until I'm enrolled back in school. The good news is once I am enrolled, my loans will be deferred again and I'll be getting my GI Bill-- with kicker. Which means the army will be giving me more or less $500/month. That's on top of paying for my school. So I'll still hold at least a part time job, and be good to go.

Until then, however, I have work to do. I'm lucky in that I'm going to be living with my best friend in her house, and she wants no rent from me. I'll secretly hide money in her pockets come November, but for the next couple months, I'll likely take advantage of that while I get back on my feet.

I'll get my bonus money within the next 2 months. After taxes that should net me somewhere around $8000. A chunk of that is going into a savings account for emergencies and my travel savings. The rest will be used to put a down payment on a car. I'll definitely need one come the wintertime. For job and school purposes. Until then, I'll be pedalling it on my bike and bumming rides.

I was looking at the local YMCA website, seeing if they had military discounts, and I went out on a whim and looked at job postings. They had a few, and I filled out the online application for the hell of it. Got a call a couple days ago from the director of the childcare department. I have a job interview the week I get back. I'm rather excited about that. I love kids, and I think I would like it a lot. I do need to discuss what I would be getting paid/hours I'd be working. At this point, however, it's nice to know I have the job hunt started. And with the way the job market is looking in Ohio these days, even if I'm getting close to minimum wage, something is better than nothing. I've got bills to pay.

Even if I dont get a very high paying job, the good news is that I get $150/month in drill pay. Not much, but it's something. And I do my fair share of babysitting. And I'll be getting back into my music once I get home, with a friend who is an exceptional guitarist. We're hoping to start playing out in the next few months. It would be great if that generated some income as well. Every little bit helps.

I'm going to post my financial goals here in the next week. I'll be posting much more often once I get home. My internet access out here is limited, so it's rather inconsistent. I also have to establish said goals, so look forward to them!

I've started doing some lightweight budgeting, but it's hard when I have no clue what my income is going to be. So it's a rough draft thus far. It's going to be pretty tight for the next couple months for sure. But I'm okay with that. Lucky for me, my friends and I do many cheap(er) things for fun... like playing board games and drinking haha. I'm definitely looking forward to spending time with my friends. Particularly my best friend. We'll call her DW, because on facebook we are technically married. haha. Her husband is actually returning from his deployment next month as well. It's going to be quite the party.

The only clear goal I have is going to Kenya next summer. I'm budgeting $2k for plane ticket and spending while I'm there (which will be minimal). If I use a chunk of my bonus money, monthly saving wont be too bad. But we'll see. I've been trying to get out of the country and see the world for a while now. I think this is my chance. I'm rather excited about it

So I think that's enough for now. Hope everyone is doing well, and I'll post again soon

So it's come to my attention that I'll be back home in Ohio in less than a week. Holy crap. heh.

I've been trying to prepare for this for a while now, and each day it gets a little easier and I get a little more excited. I was dreading my return not a month ago, but I feel I'm finally ready. It's time.

Money is going to be INCREDIBLY tight until January. My grace period ended on the student loans, and I'm paying out about $400 a month until I'm enrolled back in school. The good news is once I am enrolled, my loans will be deferred again and I'll be getting my GI Bill-- with kicker. Which means the army will be giving me more or less $500/month. That's on top of paying for my school. So I'll still hold at least a part time job, and be good to go.

Until then, however, I have work to do. I'm lucky in that I'm going to be living with my best friend in her house, and she wants no rent from me. I'll secretly hide money in her pockets come November, but for the next couple months, I'll likely take advantage of that while I get back on my feet.

I'll get my bonus money within the next 2 months. After taxes that should net me somewhere around $8000. A chunk of that is going into a savings account for emergencies and my travel savings. The rest will be used to put a down payment on a car. I'll definitely need one come the wintertime. For job and school purposes. Until then, I'll be pedalling it on my bike and bumming rides.

I was looking at the local YMCA website, seeing if they had military discounts, and I went out on a whim and looked at job postings. They had a few, and I filled out the online application for the hell of it. Got a call a couple days ago from the director of the childcare department. I have a job interview the week I get back. I'm rather excited about that. I love kids, and I think I would like it a lot. I do need to discuss what I would be getting paid/hours I'd be working. At this point, however, it's nice to know I have the job hunt started. And with the way the job market is looking in Ohio these days, even if I'm getting close to minimum wage, something is better than nothing. I've got bills to pay.

Even if I dont get a very high paying job, the good news is that I get $150/month in drill pay. Not much, but it's something. And I do my fair share of babysitting. And I'll be getting back into my music once I get home, with a friend who is an exceptional guitarist. We're hoping to start playing out in the next few months. It would be great if that generated some income as well. Every little bit helps.

I'm going to post my financial goals here in the next week. I'll be posting much more often once I get home. My internet access out here is limited, so it's rather inconsistent. I also have to establish said goals, so look forward to them!

I've started doing some lightweight budgeting, but it's hard when I have no clue what my income is going to be. So it's a rough draft thus far. It's going to be pretty tight for the next couple months for sure. But I'm okay with that. Lucky for me, my friends and I do many cheap(er) things for fun... like playing board games and drinking haha. I'm definitely looking forward to spending time with my friends. Particularly my best friend. We'll call her DW, because on facebook we are technically married. haha. Her husband is actually returning from his deployment next month as well. It's going to be quite the party.

The only clear goal I have is going to Kenya next summer. I'm budgeting $2k for plane ticket and spending while I'm there (which will be minimal). If I use a chunk of my bonus money, monthly saving wont be too bad. But we'll see. I've been trying to get out of the country and see the world for a while now. I think this is my chance. I'm rather excited about it

So I think that's enough for now. Hope everyone is doing well, and I'll post again soon

Well, I had my interview this morning. It wasn't quite as much an interview as it was a meeting with a person at a staffing agency, though. They started me a profile in thier database, and asked me some questions about my strengths, skills, etc. They sent me a couple tests for accounting, and I did okay on them.

I actually scored better on the cost accounting test than the accounting terminology test. lol. At least where percentiles are concerned. Just goes to show that when you take principles of accounting I and then wait 3 years to decide to take on business as a major that you forget a lot of that information...

They wanted me to do 2 typing tests as well, but for some reason my computer wouldn't run them... so we'll see how that goes.

I revised my resume, and have another meeting at the center for career management on monday, then a workshop on career fairs. Then a career fair on thursday to go to, so I have (hopefully) some good prospects. Those few days will give me some time to tweak my resume and research some of the companies that will be there. I dont feel terribly rushed to find anything in the next week, so it's nice to explore my options rather than settling for something.

Either way, let's hope things go well. I'm thining I may have to go buy a new top to wear to this career fair. I have one nice one, but I managed to get food on it in a couple places, so there are 2 small stains. I just need a plain white button up top. I'm sure I can find one somewhere for not too much money. I got 2 pairs of nice closed-toed dress shoes at payless last night. One pair black, the other brown. I looove the brown ones, and they're not too terribly dressy, so they look cute with jeans as well. Money well spent, I believe.

Well, gonna get going here. I think it's about time to head home and take the pup out, then get to bed. I'm pretty sleepy. Everyone have a great night!

Well, still thinking over the Pampered Chef thing, but I did have an appointment with the center for career management at my university. We went over my resume, and a bunch of other stuff. I have some homework to do with all that. I also made a call about an ad that I saw on craigslist for an "inventory administrator with accounts recievable." I have an interview tomorrow, so all I'm thinking about now is getting my resume in order, and figuring out what to wear. lol. My interview is at 11, and I get out of class at 9, so I'll have a little bit of time to do some homework and still get there early.

I'm also going to a career fair next week, so I'll have (hopefully) some other opportunities to find a job. We'll see, I guess. Wish me luck!

Puppy is doing okay. Her crate and potty training has been going alright. She had more accidents today than she has over the last week, though we were at my mom's for a lot of the day. Lucky for me, a couple of the big accidents were on linoleum. I think she gets a little too excited when she's around my mom's dog...

Either way, I should get working on this resume. Everyone have a great night!

Well, this week will be interesting indeed.

I got a "notice" from my boss yesterday, more or less telling me that my job was in jeapordy. I wont go into details about how or why this is ridiculous, I'll only mention that I do nothing differently than any other employee at my restaurant, and for some reason get treated differently than anyone else.

I've been considering quitting for the last few months. My boss is a total a**hole, and treats me like I'm an idiot on a daily basis. I've always been told that if you dont know the answer to a question, you ask. It's terribly simple. My questions are answered with rude and demeaning comments. I've been given absolutely no training and have no experience bartending, yet I get yelled at for doing things incorrectly. I think doing things incorrectly is pretty par for the course when you're learning as you go along.

I think my boss had much higher expectations of me than what I was capable of when I took the position he asked me to take. He's used to dealing with people who have been bartending for years, and got frustrated when I didn't do everything to his liking (despite the fact he never told me how he wanted things done in the first place).

I think this frustration lead me to be the one he dumps all of his problems on. I'm pretty tired of being his punching bag. There have been a couple times he's really went off on me, swore at me, and embarrased me in front of customers. My coworkers all have told me that if he treated them like he treats me that they wouldn't be able to work for him.

I decided yesterday that I couldn't either. If he is going to threaten my job for such petty reasons as he did, he must not really want me there in the first place. It makes no sense for us to be wasting our time. I've been miserable for a few months now. It's time to go.

So now I'm on the job hunt. BF is helping me out financially until I can find something. I've been in contact with the university's career management center, so I'll be updating and improving my resume in the next few days. I plan on sending them out to quite a few places. I've been looking on craigslist and in the paper to find office and accounting related part-time jobs. I'm also going to look at the job postings board in the college of business.

I'm going to attempt to find something along these lines before settling for a non business-related job, but if I cant find anything in a few weeks, that's what it will come to.

I usually stick by the rule of having something else lined up before quitting my current job, but things just didn't work out that way this time. I tried to make it work for a while, it's just that no amount of money is really worth being verbally abused everyday.

Thankfully I have that refund check for the excess portion of my student loans coming. I'm still going to put over $1000 of it into my CC, but it will also serve as just in case money. Regardless, I'm going to be super tight on the spending. No eating out at restaurants for me. Just the bare essentials.

On the lighter side of things (not that I dont consider quitting my job a good thing. I'm actually quite relieved), BF and I got a puppy She's a rescue from a puppy mill, and a gorgeous little thing. They said she's a husky mix, though I dont think she looks much like a husky. She's 2 months old, and we named her Madi. Here's a picture of the pretty girl:



She's doing okay on the potty training. We've had a few accidents for sure, but she does wait to go outside unless she really has to go, in which case it's really our fault for not realizing it. What we're really working on is the cage training. She hates being in the cage, so it's been a noisy last couple nights. Our neighbors probably hate us by now...

She's darling, though, and I can tell she's going to be a great comfort when BF goes to Iraq in December. I wanted to get her a couple months before so that BF could help me train her. So far it's been a tough, but rewarding experience. It's really like having a kid, from what I can tell. haha. She really is just a baby.

Okay, that's enough for now. I hope everyone has a great night. Wish me luck on the job hunt!

Hello again, friends!

It's been quite a while since I've posted a blog... I've been incredibly busy with school and work. No big suprise, I'm sure

I'm not 100% on what my last post said, but things are going alright. I still have yet to get my financial aid pushed through... have to talk to the office tomorrow. Class itself is going well, but it's tough while working full time. I've been slipping financially because of my constant motion. I grocery shopped on sunday, however, so I can stop dumping so much money at restaurants Things are getting back on track progressively as I get accustomed to this new schedule.

BF and I are doing fabulously. It's 9 months now. It's scary that he's going to be leaving for his pre-deployment training here in just a couple weeks. It's coming up so soon! That being said, the new puppy will likely be bought next month. I cant say I'm not excited. I've wanted a puppy for many years now.

Work is going alright. I'm making good money, though I'm a bit miserable working for my boss. He's turned into quite the monster over the last couple months. I need to talk to the university career center and work on getting an internship or part time job for the spring semester. It's in the works.

I put together my october budget, and I'm determined to stay on track. I never put one together for september, which would explain the casual spending left and right :/ That's what happens when I stop tracking my expenses...

At any rate, I'm going to get going. There is homework to be done! (always).

I hope everyone is doing well, and I'm happy I could pop in and give you all an update!

Have a wonderful night!

Well, I'm registered for my classes. The trick now is paying for them. This is not my favorite game, let me tell you. I'm one of the lucky random students being audited for my fafsa, so it's a mess of paperwork before I can even get evaluated for my financial aid. It'll take another 5 weeks. Because of this, I have to sign up for a payment plan, which includes a $30 fee and a $500 deposit. Argh. I'd have the money if I didn't just spend it all on my summer classes...

Soooo. I have until this coming monday to come up with the money, or I'll be slapped with a $50 late fee. Then, I have until next friday to come up with the amount plus the late fee or I get my classes dropped.

Why does it always seem like I'm racing against the clock? Or the calender, as it were.

The good news is that I think I may be able to wing it by monday. Assuming that I make semi-decent money at work in the next couple days. But then again, it is nearing the end of the week, so that may not be a possibility. We have more people on staff at the end of the week, thus more people to split tables between. Let's hope there are a lot of people out there who wanna drink at my restaurant!

In a guilty fuss I'm going to admit that I *gasp!* spent money on clothes in the last week. I was at walmart and saw plain tanks for $4 each, so I bought 2 (mine are getting kind of gross because I wear them like crazy). I was also at the consignment shop picking up the last of the profit my clothes generated (a whole $9) when I spotted a pair of american eagle jeans in my size for only $14.38. I reeeeeeaally needed another pair of jeans. Mine are all full of holes, and it's getting quite ridiculous. Thus, spending the money was well worth it. There you have it. My back to school shopping. $23-ish.

It's been a stressful week, and it seems that it's not going to get any better. I've got quite a bit of pressure on me to make some money. I have tuition and books (to the tune of $200) to cover in the next week. My credit card will be maxed out, and my EF is gone. It's times like these that make me happy that I opted to do school part-time this semester. I want to get some stuff caught up and whittled down. I hope business picks up a bit.

I was hoping to go out this weekend to celebrate the new semester, or at least mourn the last weekend I'll have free. My schedule is going to be quite hectic come next week. Here's how it stands:

Monday: Work 11-6pm. School 6:40-7:55pm.
Tuesday: School 7:45-9:00am. Work 11-6pm.
Wednesday: Work 11-6pm. School 6:40-7:55pm.
Tuesday: School 7:45-9:00am. Work 11-6pm.
Friday: Work 11-6pm.
Saturday: Class 12:00-2:40pm.
Sunday: Sweet sweet relief.

Saturday class wouldn't be so bad except it's 35 minutes away, so it's more like class from 11:15-3:30pm, which pretty much kills my saturdays. Ah well. Guess it's time to put those time managment skills to work.

It's looking like I wont meet all my goals for this month afterall, but I'm hoping I will have my classes all situated before long. That's definitely top priority.

At any rate, enough rambling. I hope everyone is doing well, and good luck to the rest of you students out there. I hope we all have a great semester!

Well, not that much on the financial front. I made really decent money yesterday, which was great. Ate dinner in last night: zuchinni and shells in chunky marinara. Mmm. BF and I were both terribly tired and ended up going to bed fairly early.

I have a couple of errands to run this morning. I need to go to the bank to make a deposit, then I have to go to the post office to send out the books I sold on amazon.

Then work til 6. Bleh. Work has been going good except my boss has been a raging jerk for the last few days. We need to call in a doctor to surgically remove the stick that's been up his *ahem*. Enough griping, however.

Tonight BF and I are going to mom's for dinner. My little brother is in town (he's been doing basic and training with the Airforce for quite a while now). I'm pretty excited to see him and hang with the fam

Well, I've got to get this day rolling. Everyone have a good one!

Well, we're getting moved into the apartment just fine. I'm loving the extra space and all the natural light. I never noticed just how dungeon-like the old place was until I had windows in every room!

I've resolved to not move again for at least another 2 years. This whole moving every year thing has gotten quite old...

There is no internet in the new place yet, so I've been doing a lot more reading at home. It's probably a blessing in disguise, considering the hours I waste away on the computer usually. I finished Suze Orman's YF&B, and it has definitely given me some things to think about. I'm going to start really planning out for my financial goals. Not just the small, short-term things, but also the longer-term things, such as retirement, buying a house, eventually owning my own business, etc.

I'm going to talk to my mom (my insurance agent) about different options on my life insurance policy. It's a variable policy, which means it does have an investment element to it, but I realize it's probably too expensive. All of the mail I recieve about the financial advisors and such makes me think I'm probably paying too much. So I'll get quotes on term life, and I'm going to look into opening a Roth IRA sometime in the next year or so. I'm going to do some shopping around for a while first. I'm assuming that a term life plan for someone as young as me isn't going to be very pricey, and I can put the difference into a Roth and probably fare better.

I'm also going to sit down and go over joint financial hooplah with BF. I like Suze's idea of having a joint bank account for living expenses. I think it'll be good for sorting through things together. Besides, I want to get out of that "his money, her money" mindset. We go out and I "let him pay" quite a bit, knowing full-well that his and my money will one day be the same, and he shouldn't be "paying for me," he should be sticking that money to something a little more useful (and we should just not go out to eat at all out of convenience).

Started my new shift at work yesterday, and I think it's going to be very successful. I'm pretty excited. I'm definitely ready to start making the big bucks.

I'm trying to get things in order for school this week. I have to call my university in PA and have them mail this university my transcript. I'm going to do the part-time thing in the fall, try and pay down my CC (that will be racked up to pay off these summer classes), and make up for it next summer by taking a few classes (that I will save up the money to pay for so I dont get stuck like I did this year).

It's almost time to do my July totals and budget for August! I cant believe how fast this summer is going by! Less than a month before school starts again... jeez. I'm looking forward to it, though I'm not going to get all hyped for fall until these summer classes are paid for. With my luck things will go awry and I'll have to put it all off. I'm hoping this is not the case, but in the event that it is, I dont want to let myself down.

Other than that, I dont think I have any real news. I'm just trying to get my mind-set in order to make the most money and get the most out of my job I can, while at the same time get my life in order and come up with a plan. It's strange to me trying to be a grown-up now. I'm trying to balance the things I love with paying off my debt, and planning for the future. It's a lot of work and most certainly a huge thing to tackle. But I'm enjoying tackling it, which is the nice part. I feel so much more responsible.

Either way, I should get going. I have more fun to have at the library before walking over to work.

Everyone have a wonderful day!

I got a call from the bank yesterday. It seems they decided to hire the position internally, and there are no other slots in my area, so I'm out of luck. That kind of stinks.

On my first day of my new job (job #3), my boss at the restaurant (job #1) gives me an offer. My coworker quit for much the same reason I was looking for a new job. He was our day bartender, and was used to managing restaurants, not working for someone else, and thus wasn't making much money. My boss, now, wants to hire me as the daytame bartender (as we are training new day servers). He offered me $240/week + tips. I would end up working about 35 hours, which totals up to $6ish/hr. This sounds bad, but that's pretty darn good for a service position. I know for a fact that my coworker could come home with as much as $80ish in a shift in tips. When I averaged it at $45/day in tips, I would make roughly $400/week. Some weeks I could make more. That's pret-ty good.

The problem is, I would more or less have to leave job #3. They dont want me cleaning at the crack of dawn, and my boss really needs me on that schedule. I was trying to figure out a way to work it that everybody wins, but it's not looking like that's going to happen. This new job is really nice. Yesterday I cleaned for a few hours, then made dinner for the 3 of us. Aside from my back hurting from bending over so much, it went really well.

I dont want to bail out on these people my first week. It feels really unprofessional to me, even despite the fact that she keeps asking me if it's too much, and if I'm sure I still want to do the job. It's not too difficult, and I enjoy it. At the same time, however, my boss is pretty desperate for a day bartender. All the night people want to stay on nights. And my boss would be doing me a pretty big favor giving me the position. He really didn't want me to leave to begin with, and neither did I. I just wasn't making enough money. This way I would, and I'd get to stay.

I thought about what would happen when school starts. Because the cleaning job is much more flexible. But I've also been considering taking a semester off to save up some money, or just go part-time and pay off some of my debt, save up for my next full-time semester.

When I talked to the woman I clean for, we discussed options for my schedule, but nothing seemed to work out. She did say to me that from a totally non-selfish standpoint that I should pick whatever would make me more money. I'm just not sure. The way my schedule works out this week, I'm working the same number of hours between the 2 jobs (about 35, but this doesn't include my weekend job, which puts me at about 45 for the week).

I'll make about $350 this week between the 2 jobs. That's if I clean/cook about 4.5 hours mon-thurs. I dont know how many hours it's going to be once I get past the big initial cleaning, though. It could only be 2 hours or so every day after that.

Bah. I'm thinking too much (if there is such a thing). I think it would be nice to jump back down to only 2 jobs. 3 just feels a little overwhelming. But I dont know... I do know that if I do end up taking this job and dropping the cleaning gig that the woman does have other responses, so she wouldn't be totally stranded. Besides, I'd still work through the rest of the week, so she'd still have a much cleaner house! At least for now haha.

I'm going to try and decide by the end of the day... Wish me luck!

Well, the week continues being good. Things seem to be turning around a bit for me

I woke up and saw that I sold yet another book. So I packaged it up and stopped at the post office. Between the 2 books, after shipping, I made $20.38. After going to the post office, I stopped at the library to pick up some stuff I had on hold. I got a CD, and 2 movies (well, one was Scrubs season 3 disc 1), and picked up 3 financial books: The Everything Personal Finance in your 20's and 30's Book, 50 Simple things you can do to improve your personal finances, and The complete personal finance handbook. We'll see how they are.

Work was okay. I didn't make fabulous money, but I didn't make bad money either. I brought my leftovers again. That's about $4 so far saved this week!!

After work I walked home and stopped to get coals for the hookah.

BF went to the hospital today because he fractured his foot somehow and it's been bothering him really bad for a couple days now. Lucky for us, he has pretty good insurance. Looks like he's probably going to be home for the rest of the week. Poor guy.

I had my second job interview today. Well, it was a phone interview with the bank. They're setting me up with a face-to-face interview. It's been quite the process. haha. I had to take an online questionarre, a math test, and do a phone interview before I get to see anyone. I feel like Indiana Jones. haha.

I'm pretty excited about this position if I get it. It's $9.75/hr, which is more than the record company would pay me. At the same time, I would be limited to $20 hrs/week, but if I can schedule them for 3 days rather than 4 hrs/day, I can still work a couple days a week at the restaurant. The branch I'd be working at will also be about 2 minutes from the apartment we're likely moving into as well. haha. When I asked her I found it so funny. Also, I'd get some benefits. They'd start me with a 401k and I'd get some vacation time. I'd have health insurance, though the woman said it would obviously be more expensive than if I was working full time. But also, there would be room to move up, and it is more directly related to accounting than office work is.

Tonight I guess BF and I are going to his brother's house for dinner. He's making lasagne. He needs to call his brother and ask if he wants us to bring anything. Regardless, it'll be nice to spend some time with them. I also have all those movies that we could bring over and watch with them.

I still need to head over to the university and sell my books back, but they aren't going anywhere. I feel pretty productive today regardless

Well, I need to get going. Need to do the dishes and start reading all these books! I feel like a nerd getting so excited about personal finance books. lol.

So this has been the best day I've had in a while. It was a great start to what will hopefully be a great week.

BF and I went and looked at an apartment today that is perfect. It's much bigger than we thought it would be, less than $500 a month, has 2 big closets, plenty of counter space, a little storage closet that would be great for BF's gas-soaked work clothes, on site laundry services, a little yard. It's a 2nd floor apartment, so I wouldn't have to worry about leaving my windows open at night, it feels really secure.

It's also within walking distance of a bar we frequent, the restaurant where BF's family goes all the time, the grocery store, and closer to my mom, BF's family, and good friends of ours. It's $20 extra per month for pets, but that puts it at still cheaper than any of the other apartments we were considering. So when I finally get my puppy, we'll be set.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about it. I was really not all that thrilled to be moving again, until I saw this apartment, and now I'm totally stoked. We were going to look at a few more places, and we still may, but I'm pretty sure my heart is set on this one. It's the best price we've found yet, and in the perfect location.

Adding to all that, when we got home from looking at the apartment, I got a call from a woman about my application at the bank. I have a phone interview tomorrow at 3pm. That's 2 job interviews this week

I made decent money at work today-- about $45. Much better than any day last week. Told my boss today that I was looking around for another job. He understood. No one at the restaurant is making any money, which is quite the bummer. It's a really fun place to work, and the food is really quality. It's just a really bad location, especially in the summer months when there aren't as many people downtown.

I had my first job interview of the week this afternoon, and it went well. After talking to the owner of the record company for a while, he gave me an application so they could do the background check and all that fun stuff. It seems like it would be a fun place to work, but there would be some running around to do. I think working for a bank may be a little nicer. It's more stationary (for days that BF has to drop me off, etc). But it's really going to depend on what branch I would be working at, what hours I would be working, how much I would be paid, etc. Those are the kinds of questions I'll be asking tomorrow, of course. BF's sister used to be a bank teller, and she said she made around $9/hr. Which is about the same as what I would make as an office assistant for the record company.

So we'll see... Regardless, it seems like August is going to be an exciting month, between a new apartment and a new job.

Last night I picked BF up from his unit and made dinner. The greek salad turned out amazing. Tonight after my interview I picked BF up from his grandma's. He was cutting her grass. We stopped at Dairy Queen and picked up a couple blizzards. Definitely an uneccesary expense, but it was such a nice warm day and it had been way too long since I had icecream.

I didn't buy any food at work. I packed my sandwich, and some leftovers. That $2 I saved was spent on icecream. lol.

I made dinner again tonight. I made a lemon-dill chicken salad, which turned out really good. We ate it with the leftover salad. In addition, we have enough for at least 2 or 3 more sandwiches. I'm out of chicken now, so I'll have to figure something out for the rest of the week :/ maybe we'll go all-vegetarian for the rest of the week. We have stuff for salads, so we should be fine. I've been quite the chef lately. I'm looking forward to moving into a bigger place. I miss inviting people over. I want to have people over for dinner more often

BF and I seem to be getting on the same page with not spending money. I like that a lot. For instance, he was talking about a bedroom set he wants to get for the new apartment. He said it's "only" $700-some dollars, and it's really nice. But I explained that I think it's uneccesary to get anything like that. We have everything we need, and the closets in the new place are huge, so we dont really need another dresser. I told him I'd prefer it if he put the $700 on his CC. He agreed Sometimes you just have to talk some sense into these boys! haha.

He went off to work, and I made him a sandwich to take with him while he was packing. He also took a few cans of the diet mountain dew we bought on sale in cases, rather than blowing way too much money on it at gas stations.

This week shouldn't be terribly pricey, until sunday. It's BF's sister and nephew's b-day, so we're going to a water park. I think they sell discounted tickets at the grocery store, but I'm not sure how much it's going to cost, or if you are allowed to bring food into the park, etc. Guess we'll see. I work friday and saturday nights. Hopefully this week I wont get sent home early both nights, and I'll actually make some money. That would be nice :P

I have a couple more things to list on craigslist/amazon. I'm going to make a couple more peices of jewelry, too. I need to work on generating that extra income. Last month I did pretty good.

A couple little victories I noticed today:
*I haven't bought a book for non-school reasons since April.
*I haven't spent any money on clothes since may, and the month's total then was $3.40

Trying to keep up the good work in July

Hope everyone has a great night!

Well, it's been a fairly productive day. I washed my dishes, straightened up the apartment, and put my laundry away. Then I listed 7 books on amazon. Eventually I met my coworker out at this place for a drink and an appetizer. He insisted to pay the bill, which was nice. I paid the tip. So $7 out of pocket (much better than $18).

Just got home not too long ago, checked my email to find that one of my books sold for $17 Let's hope I have just as much luck with the other 6. Some of them were really pricey, mostly textbooks. 2 were around $30 and one was $75, so we'll hope!

I'm pretty excited for my interview tomorrow. I have to admit, I love job interviews. As narcassistic as it sounds, I love spending an hour talking about myself. Something aobut the idea of selling myself is really fun. I've also never went on a job interview and not gotten hired. Let's hope I dont break my stride. I decided what to wear today, and I think I'm ready. Wish me luck!

It's going to be a busy week. I work mon-fri lunches, friday and saturday night at the bar. I'm going to look at an apartment in the morning, and have my interview after my work shift. I need to get some stuff taken care of for school this week. I have some phone calls to make, applications to put in, etc. I think I'm going to go for the BA in accounting. It seems the most logical thing to do. I may eventually get a master's degree, but for now I need to focus on getting a job and paying down all of this debt.

Last night I got sent home again at the bar. We were supposed to have a big party of 100 people (the reason I was scheduled to come in), and they never showed up. I sat around for 3 hours doing nothing. I have to admit, it was quite the bummer. I'm really trying to make some money, and it seems like it doesn't matter what I do sometimes, I just have terrible luck. Mom and her BF took me to dinner, though, which was very nice. I ate my leftovers for breakfast

I have some really good meals planned for this week. I'm going to be bringing my leftovers to work for lunches, so I needed some real motivation. haha. Here are the tentative meals:

*Tofu Cabbage Salad with Peanut Dressing
*Greek Chicken Salad (though I may make it with tofu)
*Chicken Salad Sandwiches (or on top of greens)
*Grilled Chicken (or tofu) and mashed sweet potatoes
*Salad with cottage cheese, pineapple chunks, and poppyseed dressing.

I figure at least 2 of the nights will be throw-together nights, but regardless it's going to be a real salad week. I'm trying to get my eating habits back in order. I'm going to make some hummus here soon. Actually, I may make some before BF gets home in a couple hours. Suprise him

I also came across a recipe for home made energy bars. It may have been in the SA forums. I dont remember, but I might try them this week. They would be good to take to work on nights.

Because I dont have evening classes anymore, I'm also going to be going to the gym at least mon-thurs. I was doing really good when BF was gone, but for some reason dropped the ball. Really busy, I guess.

Well, this weekend has been pretty fun thus far. Last night I went to work, but it was so slow that I sat for an hour with nothing to do, and they sent me home. I work again tonight, hopefully with much better luck.

This morning I sent another resume out for an executive/office assistant position. It's 30 hours/week and it only pays $8.50/hr, but it's still far better than what I'm making currently.

I went grocery shopping with a friend of mine. I introduced her to the glory of ALDI. Then we stopped at Giant Eagle because there were a few things that I needed that ALDI didn't have.

The damage:
ALDI
12 pack of Toilet Paper $5.29
1 Grapefruit $0.59
3-pack cucumber $1.19
1 Red onion $0.49
1 Bag of spring mix salad $1.99
1 quart soymilk $1.39
5 tomatoes $3.95
1 bag radishes $0.89
1 can chunk pineapple $0.89
1 box granola cereal $1.59
1 tub yogurt $1.59
1 tub cottage cheese $2.29
1 thing peanutbutter $1.39
1 can black olives $0.99
1 bag baby carrots $1.19
Total with tax: $26.05

Giant Eagle:
Feta Cheese $2.00
Soy Sauce $3.09
Can Chickpeas $0.60
Sesame oil $2.99
Firm tofu $2.99
Green onion $0.79
Total: $12.46

Complete total: $38.51

It seems really high, but BF will be reimbursing me part of it. Also, shopping today convinced me to cook lunch with my friend as opposed to going out to chipotle where we each would have spent $10. He bought the avocados, I bought the tomatoes we needed to make our shish kabobs and our tomato-avocado salad.

Also, I have to confess... I've been cheating a little. I bring my sandwich to work every day, but that's never enough food for me. And I know this, of course. So every day I've been splitting a meal with my coworker. I only usually spend a max of $2.25 every day, but if you take an average of $2x5 days of work, that's $10/week. $40/month. I bought extra groceries so I cook more, and I'll be taking my leftovers to work.

Speaking of work, as I was getting back from grocery shopping, I got a call from the place I sent my resume to this morning. We talked a bit, and set up an interview date-- monday at 3pm. Yippee! I need to figure out what I'm going to wear now...

Monday morning BF and I are looking at an apartment. We really need to figure out where it is we're moving to. The lease is up the first week in august.

So my friend and I went to my mom's and we cooked lunch. It was nothing short of amazing, and we both had leftovers to take home. And mom got a nice meal for free. All she had to do was the dishes It was a really nice time.

Tonight I have work, tomorrow I have some cleaning to do around this apartment, and I'm getting together for lunch with my coworker. Then it's off to the drive in to see Wall*e again after BF gets home.

Got a pinecone check in the mail today

This coming week is going to be a very busy one. Still chugging away at that to-do list, it's been a slow process, but I see things looking up. Anyhoo, time to finish getting ready for work!

Everyone have a nice evening

Well, still didn't make that great money today. Boo. I'm really glad for this second job thing. Also, I got a call today from the woman who had me babysit her 2 girls a couple weeks ago. As it turns out, her and her husband have season tickets to the football team out here, and they need a sitter for quite a few of the games. They're going to pay me $60 every time, so that's pretty exciting. She emailed me the dates, and it seems like it wont be a problem for any except a couple (work would interfere and all that). But we'll see. I'm not sure what my schedule is going to be like at the new place.

Other than that, I dont have much financial news. I've been thinking more about my school situation. It occured to me last night that it was ridiculous to finish my degree in sociology and then get a master's in accounting. I could finish my BA in accounting in 2 years, and it would take me a year to finish up my BA in sociology + 2-3 years for a master's program. So I may just go into the business college, finish up my BA in accounting, then take the CPA exam. I may eventually get an MA, but I really want to get a decent job sometime in the next few years. I really need to start paying down this debt.

BF will get home tonight about the time I get out of my exam. Not sure what we're doing tonight. I know he has some paperwork to do still, so it's looking like it will probably be a night in. I guess that's fine with me, I got 3 movies from the library today: Cinderella Man (a good one I haven't seen in a while), Casino Royale (a favorite of mine), and Ratatouille (which I have not seen, but am totally stoked to watch). So I suppose I have things to keep me busy, and I'm sure BF is going to want to relax a little. He's had a looooong week.

I've got saturday during the day to do whatever. That'll be nice. I still have a hideous to-do list. Sunday I have plans with friends and my co-worker to go out to lunch and have a couple drinks. My only entertainment money spent this week. Sunday night mom suggested going to the drive-in to see Wall*e. BF and I have already seen it, but loved it so much we'd be willing to pay the $2 each to see it again. So we'll see.

Well, have to get to my exam. It's the final, so after today I'm done til fall. I'm pretty relieved. I didn't really care for this class, afterall. And I get to sell the books back

Have a good night, everyone!

Well, I made better money at work today than yesterday, thankfully. It still seems to be not nearly enough. I sent a couple resumes out yesterday for receptionist positions. We'll see if anyone bites. I did find my second job, working at a bar a few nights a week. I start friday evenint, which I'm very excited about. I was hoping I would be able to start this weekend. I definitely need the money. Besides, BF is out of town this weekend anyway, so I'll need something to do (my friends are obviously not part of the equation. haha).

Did my laundry at mom's last night. Still waiting to see if my articles get published. Trying to keep busy and make some money. Today is my last week of class til the fall. Final is on thursday. I'm not really looking forward to that. It's been a rather lazy day. I haven't really wanted to do anything. I'm trying to motivate myself to go to the gym, as I really should. I'm paying all this tuition for essentially 2 classes, so I may as well take advantage of the perks.

I have an endless to-do list, and it's so overwhelming. I wish I could snap my fingers and all that debt would erase itself... ugh. At any rate, better get on those billion things I have to do.

Hope everyone has a great night!

The last couple days have been absolutely horrendous. It seems that even though lending club approved me for funding a week ago, that the same credit information wasn't good enough a week later. I lost my $1000.

That being said, things have to change. First of all, I had to drop a couple of my classes. Had I not they would have dropped them anyway, and I would have paid full price. As it stands, they're only reimbursing me for 30% of the one because it had already started. Total BS. I have to talk to someone higher up. But that's neither here nor there at this point.

I have to transfer schools again to avoid moving back to Pittsburgh, where I would face tuition that is way too much. I'm starting to kick myself in the butt for ever having moved there and enrolling in a private university... but it was my decision, and I have no one else to blame.

I'm switching majors, as the psych program at this university is drastically different from the one in PA. I'm going sociology, it'll be much less painful than going through a cognitive-behavioral psych program, and I can specialize in social psycology. I'm actually a little excited about the program itself.

I talked to a transfer counselor, and I would only have to take 1 or 2 gen ed courses, so the bulk of what I would have to take would be major courses. It would potentially only put me back a semester. It'll be a little more money, obviously, but not much considering the price difference between the universities. My tuition in PA is $20k a year, here, it's $10k. So an extra semester will be about the same, if not less.

So it's bad news, but I'm trying to make the best of it and remain optimistic. I always knew there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to pull the money together, and I did my best, but no cookie.

Class ends next week, and then I [hopefully] start my second job. I'm pretty sure I'll be hired. I met with the manager the other day. I'll be bartending, hopefully 3 nights a week. So let's hope I make some cash! I made a nice amount at work yesterday. I'm hoping the trend continues.

BF is back to work and stressed again. It really sucks sometimes, because I feel awful. He works terribly long days quite often, and in times when I really need him (like over the last couple days), he's been unable to really be there for me. But I understand. I think it's great that I'm mature enough to realize that I have to deal with things on my own, that everyone has thier own problems and not everyone is able to support another when they're dealing with themselves. We got into a bit of a spat yesterday, but we're okay again. We're both stressed, but lucky that we are both willing to work things out and be understanding.

My last article I submitted, Eating Healthy on a Budget, didn't make the grade for an upfront payment. I guess they have too many articles like it. But they did publish it, and I'm still getting pay per clicks. So give it a read if you could please haha. I wrote another this morning, so we'll see how that goes.

I like writing articles. BF made a comment last night when I asked him to throw out a topic idea, "You trying to make your next $3?" haha. I can proudly say that $3 is worth quite a bit to me. Because it all adds up I've gotta get this boy on track! haha.

I'm supposed to get together with a woman next week to go over the children's book she's writing. She saw my ad on craigslist for editing/proofreading and sent me an email. So I have an editing job! I've never edited a children's book before, but I'm pretty excited. I guess the illustrator is doing his job now, and we're going to sit down and go over the text with the illustrations, and I'll be checking the text as well. I'm afraid I'm probably not charging her enough, but I want to be reasonable (I am a bit inexperienced afterall, and a children's book is minimal page count). But still, I find it rather exciting, and it could open up opportunities in the future.

I think that's really all the news I have now. I'm supposed to go see mom soon and help her get her finances in order. I sent her the link to SA, and I think she might join haha. Guess I should stop talking about her all the time now. haha.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Today's Grocery Shopping Trip:

Flat Leaf Spinach $1.49
Avocado $0.79
Whole Wheat Bread $1.49
Bananas $0.88
Light Poppyseed Dressing $0.99
Baby Carrots $0.80
Peanut Butter $1.39
Frozen Berries $2.79
Tub Plain, Nonfat Yogurt $1.59
Soymilk $1.39
Can Butter Beans $0.59
Can Chunk Pineapple $0.79
Tub lowfat Cottage Cheese $2.29

TOTAL: $17.27

There were a couple extras thrown in here. I love avocados, and haven't found them less than $2 each for months, so I decided to treat myself I still have plenty of poppyseed dressing, but like other favorites I've found at ALDI, they dont always continue carrying them, and these were marked "while supplies last," so I figured I'd pay the $0.99 and have an extra. I made a kidneybean hummus the other day, and it was pretty good, so I decided to get another can of beans- white ones- so perhaps I can make a cheaper version of the chickpea favorite BF and I enjoy (he's not a fan of kidney beans). Bread I only buy every other week, same with the berries. And the peanut butter should last me a little while.

In other financial news, I worked a looong day yesterday. My restaurant did a 3-hour event, so I got paid $50 for working that. Also, when we returned from the event, the restaurant was slammed, and I took a table, so I made another $11 or so in tips, and worked a couple extra hours.

I stopped at the bank on my short-lived break yesterday and my request for the other CC was denied. Not suprised, and not really all that bummed about that. I'd rather find a cheaper alternative. Someone put a comment on my last post about lending club, and I signed up, so we'll see if anyone funds me. That would be great. The interest rate would be much, much lower.

I transferred more $ to my savings account, so now I'm up to $1510

BF and I had a really nice talk last night on the phone. He'll be home friday, so I'm pretty excited. We talked about a bunch of things, but applicable here is the topic of debt. See, I still dont know how much debt BF has. I know he has a considerable amount, mostly CC debt. He made some unwise spendy choices in the last few years, and has been a little embarrased about telling me how much. But he says he wants to sit down and go over it with me. Which I'm incredibly happy about.

Talk about getting married was brought up again, but he's still not decided. We both want to get married, the timing issue is what is up in the air. It's beneficial to us on many levels if we get hitched before he leaves for Iraq (in December)-- financially, emotionally, better for him if I can take care of his stuff when he's away, etc. But at the same time, we dont want to rush into things.

Personally, I'm all for it I guess the girl in me gets excited at the thought of it. But at the same time, I know myself pretty well, and I know it wouldn't be a mistake. There are, of course, things that could happen. But at the same time, things could happen regardless of whether or not he goes overseas.

However, I'm not rushing him into a decision. He can take as much time as he needs to think it over (well, as long as it's before he leaves! haha). But we'll see. There may be a wedding in November, there may not. Either way I'm happy being with him

Well, time to get my day started. I'm going to work out at some point, and I have work at 7:00pm. Gotta make some money!!

Everyone have a great day!

...to get a $3000 loan?? Bah. Went to the bank after work today. Needless to say, things didn't pan out as well as I had hoped they would. I cant say I was entirely suprised. Sallie Mae wouldn't give me a $3707 student loan, why would National City give me a $3700 personal line of credit? However, we discussed my options. The only thing we came up with was a possible interest back CC. This is, of course, my last resort. I'll find out tomorrow if I was approved. Aside from that, I really have no plan. The no-credit-no-cosigner loans I found online had even worse interest rates than the CC, and I dont mind paying now. Actually, I prefer it. Until then, however, I am making/saving as much $ as possible.

I took a look at my credit report today. 9 accounts in good standing, no negatives at all. So that's not it. The bank manager said it was my income:debt ratio that's killing me. Understandable. But really, how can these people expect me to pay for my college if I dont have the time to work (due to classes). That being said, I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get another job. If not to pay for my classes by July 11, to pay off this newly acquired CC as soon as possible.

I think I'm going to try bartending. I've done a bit at the restaurant I work at currently, and I have a pseudo-in at a local place that seems pretty laid-back, but fun. I'm going there tonight with mom to put in an application (her and her BF go there all the time. Said BF golfs on thier league and such). Even working 3 nights a week or so will pull me in some much needed cash. It'll be difficult, for sure, with classes and all, but I'm a tough cookie. I'll figure it out. It'll be much easier come mid-august when classes end.

Other than that, I have little financial news. Made decent money at work. Mailed that book finally. Funds should be transferred soon, though I hardly made any money on it. I did another pinecone survey, so hopefully I'll be seeing that check at some point. I never did get the first one. Does anyone know how long it takes them to mail them generally?

Also, having issues with etsy and paypal. I want to mail my earrings, but I want to wait til the payment goes through. It's been about 5 days since the purchase, so I would imagine it should be there by now, but nothing is showing up. grr.

Alrighty. Enough rambling. Everyone have a good night!

Well, it's been a couple busy days... all is well on the financial front. Tips at work have been pretty solid thus far this week I'm also working saturday night this week, which should be lucrative. Also, my boss wants me to help cater a luau on friday evening, so that should be fun and make me some money.

Today was a no-spender. Took my sandwich to work again!

Some fantastic news... I sold my first item on etsy That was pretty exciting. I'm waiting for my paypal payment to go through, and then it's off to the post office to mail those earrings Also need to mail the book I sold on amazon still, I was waiting to do it in one trip.

Other than that, things are pretty low-key. Mom picked up my laundry yesterday and washed it, which was some pretty sweet laundry service I'm going over tonight to pick it up and hang out with lil sis, who I guess is a little lonely in the new apartment. Mom hanging out doesn't seem to help, but I guess that's what happens when kids hit the teenage years.

Really looking forward to BF coming home next weekend. Still not sure what I'm doing for his birthday-- aside from cleaning the apt top to bottom. his car, too. But I want to buy him a little something. We've been talking a lot lately about him leaving for overseas come December. I'm a bit exhausted from such emotional conversations, but it seems we're really coming to understand each other and how we feel, which is great.

Also, I made thee best salad last night, and figured I'd share:

Spinach
Chunk pineapple
cottage cheese
poppyseed dressing
tiny bit of shredded cheese.

Everything can be bought at ALDI for very little $, of course

Hope everyone has a great night!

Well, I had class, then went to the University health services. I had an appointment at 9:30am. As it turns out, I have a viral infection in my throat, but I basically have to ride it out. Still hurts to swallow, and again last night I kept continually waking up. But other than that, I feel fine. Perhaps a bit tired.

The best news? The visit was free, and they even gave me cough drops and a few allergy pill samples (they said it might help). Also, I found out that my university offers discounted massages in the wellness center, so I signed myself up for a much-needed 30 minute massage for $15. You really cant beat that price, and with the amount of stress I've been in lately, I can sacrifice in order to enjoy that luxury

I got pretty worried about my throat, and it got me thinking today about how much it would cost had I needed to go to the regular doctor's. I no longer have insurance because mom and step-dad split. After all of this tuition mess is taken care of, I'm going to start a medical EF. Mom is getting me just-in-case insurance, but it'll only cover things after the first $1000, but I'm going to need that $1000 on hand if things do come up...

A funny thing happened at the doctor's this morning. The nurse commented on how much she liked my earrings, and I mentioned that I made them. She said, "really?" and I said, "yeah, I make jewelry and accessories." She asked if I sold them anywhere, and I told her online. So she gave me her email address for me to send her links It was definitely a nice start to my day!

Also, my missing bobbin case came in the mail today, so my sewing machine is up and running. Need to start working on some projects now I meant to run to the craft store today, but it's not looking like I'm going to have enough time. Tomorrow I dont have class, so I'll probably go after work.

Tonight I'm going over to mom's to hang out. Lil sis is having a sleepover. Mom is going to need another big girl to hang out with

And last, but not least, once again made good money at work. $55. It's been a good work week. I'm not complaining!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of thier day!

Well, I yet again made good money at work today... $50.96. I stopped at the bank and made a deposit on my way home. Then transferred $110 more to my challenge money. So that brings me to $1145. Not bad for less than 3 months...

I need to get some homework done and go to BF's twin's. It's thier birthday today, and they're having a cookout. Then I have to duck out early to go to class :/ Bah.

At any rate, I should get on that homework. I hope everyone has a great day!

I did my first pinecone survey today, so I should have a $3 check coming my way soon. I made somewhat decent money at work today... $27.96. Not great, but not terrible. I really need something [more] on the side.

Having said that, I did find a babysitting job tomorrow morning for a few hours, so that'll be about $30.

I listed my bracelet on etsy. I plan on making a few more things here in the next few weeks. I also need to exchange my sewing machine. The bobbin case was missing for some reason. So a trip to Target is in order. I want the machine up and running so I can use it.

Other than that, I have no real news. BF leaves tomorrow morning for a 3 week training thing for the military. Blah. Not sure if he's taking the car or not, so we'll see.

Not sure what my plans for tonight are. I've been pretty tired all day. I've been thinking too much lately. Hope everyone has a nice evening.

So today I went to class, then work. I made $45, which is pretty good for a lunch shift. I'm happy to report this After work I went to the craft store to use one of my gift cards. I ended up buying some beading stuff. I got a set that came with 2 kinds of pliers and wire-cutters, as well as these fancy tweezers. Also I bought some beads, wire, and this 3-clasp thingy. I know no technical names for anything, I just bought what looked good together. I wanted to make myself a bracelet.

After my night class, I did it. It didn't take me very long, which is nice. I'm used to having to spend days crocheting something. This was a bit trying for my first time, but I think it turned out great. It's so very "me." And I have plenty of beads and wire left for other projects as well. I have to say it was money well-spent. Here's a picture, let me know what you think!:



So now I'll have to add jewelry to my repetoire of things I can make to sell. Woo hoo!

So I've been doing a LOT of thinking about my future and what I want to do with it. I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty stressed about the level of debt I've already accumulated. And the closer I get to graduating, the more I dread spending 6+ more years in school pursuing my PhD. I've thought about my options, and what I've been feeling lately, and I think I may change courses again in life.

From the 3rd grade on, I've been starting "businesses." In 3rd grade, a friend of mine and I made paper bookmarks and sold them to classmates for dimes. In the 6th grade, friends of mine and I started a "beadie baby" business.. making bead animals and turning them into jewelry. We made a decent amount for 6th graders. haha. Toward the end of middle school I picked up babysitting and networked my way into quite a few summer jobs. At the end of highschool, I started playing music and marketing myself to coffee shops, on the internet, etc. So I think it's safe to say that I'm a business minded person.

Now I'm attempting to do crafty things and sell them again (though it's been a slow start). But I think later in life I'd like to start my own *real* business. I've always loved the thought of owning my own restaurant, or lately, hookah bar. haha. But this is a long-term goal. I think it sprung from an idea I had a few weeks ago.

I love this site. I love working with money. I love keeping track of every penny I earn/spend, and I love researching new ways to make money on my money, save the money I have, and find new ways to make more. When I was a business major initially, I loved my accounting course. It was easy for me, and incredibly practical.

So I'm thinking about getting my master's in accounting after I graduate in the fall. It's a funny idea, considering I'd be going full-circle (I switched majors umpteen times, and yet started out as a business major). I dont need to have a BA in accounting to get in the program, it's about 2 years to get the degree, there is a scholarship that would grant me full tuition plus stipends. And I would be certain to get a job.

I think I'd like to start my own consulting business. I'd like to do what I do for me, but for other people. Businesses or personal instances. I think it sounds like something I would be great at, and it's something that wont take me a decade to achieve.

Actually, the program I'm looking at has the possibility of starting in the spring, so if I started it next spring (the semester after graduating), I'd be almost done with the program by the time BF gets home from Iraq. Not only that, but I'd stay in my hometown, something I'm keen on doing because my family/friends are all here.

Also, I figure if I go the PhD route, the interest on my already ridiculous loans will double my debt by the time I get a job. Not to mention, if I go ahead and get my master's in psych, I wont find a program with tuition waiving, and jobs wont be quite as available.

I'm becoming really reluctant to stay in school that long. I want to start my life. I want to be a grownup (finally). I want to start a family. I never expected to hear those things come out of my mouth, but I underestimated how important these things are to me.

Well, that's enough rambling. I'm still reviewing my options. I just needed to get it down. Let me know if you guys think I'm crazy (which I am, but some encouragement wouldn't hurt! haha).

Hope everyone has a great night!

So I got a text from my mom this morning saying that my $300 check came in the mail. Woot! Of course, that money is going straight to the tuition payment. I need to do more researching into loans I can get to cover that so I can put all that money toward my CC. That would be wonderful if I could do it. Right now, I have $685.00 in my emigrant account, with that $300, it kicks it up to $985. Not bad for just a month.

I made $36.21 at work today, still above average for the week. However, I did buy a sandwich-- only because I had nothing to pack and bring. Which brings me to my next point... I really need to go grocery shopping. I made a list, added up my estimate, and I'll still be under $13, which is my budget for the week.

On the list:
Hot dogs
Buns
Yogurt
Muesli (kind of like granola, but better)
Salad mix
Wraps/tortillas
Black olives
Cucumber

We have a couple cans of saeurkraut, and I like it on hotdogs. I figured I could make a pasta salad at some point this week because we have plenty of pasta and I have some yummy vinegars to put in it. I just needed some veggies to put in it. I have some frozen, but in my opinion, pasta salad is not complete without olives and cucumber. I can also use them in the veggie salad wraps I'm going to make using the tortillas. We also have pasta sauce, so I can also make spaghetti and salad. The yogurt and muesli are for breakfast. Oatmeal just doesn't last long enough, and I dont get enough calcium in my diet.

As long as I keep to the list, I should be under budget.

I wanted to go to the craft store, but BF has the car, so it can wait til tomorrow. I got a reply online for a potential group of kids to play music with. So I may or may not be meeting them tonight. Looks promising, and with any luck we can play out and make some extra $. I miss being in a band, I think it'll be fun.

Well, I need to do some homework. Hope everyone has a great day!

Alrighty, June is here. I have about a month before my tuition is due. That means I need to kick things up a notch. I still dont have my schedule for this week... which is rather odd, I think. Why in the world would my boss wait so long to put up the schedule? Sigh. I do know, however, that I am working tomorrow, and I worked today.

I made about $40 at work today, which is pretty good. I was pleased I'm still searching for something to do on the side that will increase the cash flow. I've responded to a couple ads on craigslist looking for a part-time sitter and another for someone that wants a housecleaner 2 times a week. But no reply yet. I sent another reply to a different person that wanted an occasional sitter. We'll see if anyone is willing to work with me.

Plans for this week are shaky. I know a friend wants to meet me out on thursday night. That will be nice. I may or may not be visiting PA on saturday night. Depends on whether or not I'm working. The rest of the week is a question mark.

I opened my new sewing machine yesterday, and the bobbin holder is missing. Not quite sure why. I'm going to call the company and request them send me one, though I think I'm just going to go look for one in the meantime. I'm sure they're not expensive. I want to take a trip to the craft store anyway. I want to use my gift certificates

A pair of my jeans ripped in the butt today :/ That kind of stunk. I only have a few pairs of jeans, so now I'm down another pair. I'll use them to make something cool though. No use in wasting the material.

I need to come up with another project to do here soon. I wanted to finish something this week, which means I need to go to the craft store either today or tomorrow. I have a few hours before class, but I'm going to stop at my mom's and make my sister dinner before going to class. Perhaps I'll brainstorm today and go to the store tomorrow. Sounds like a plan.

I stopped at the bank and deposited some money I had. I also wrote out the check for my last internet bill. woo!

Everyone have a great night!