Wednesday, March 6, 2013
CHOP Orientation and free parking in the city?!
CHOP
Children's hospital of philadelphia.
Day 1
Today was my first day of orientation. It went good. Alot of information about policy and procedures, as well as benefits and discounts. I was able to hear two stories about pt families that made me really be thankful for my career in oncology, but also learn to listen to family and put them more into my nursing care. I also met couple of people who were very friendly and nice. I was able to speak up on some occasions because the 66 new employees were very quiet.
Day 2
More relaxed environment. Did a funny skit on drug free zone which i enjoyed. i also drove around town and saw an apartment. i was able to to hangout with someone i met during orientation and he showed me around town in the car and where to park and how to get around. that was really cool. We did see an apartment, but it was too much money. I must find something under $500. It the only way that I can come up on top with this job pay increase and pay off my student loan.
Day 3
General orientation finished and it went great! Now we are in the nursing orientation. I am becoming more financially savvy and made a great financial decision today. I FOUND FREE PARKING!! I was able to find parking near the hospital and walk. It was a ten minute walk, but it was free parking. I would not be spending $10 for one day parking anymore. I can now only worry about ez pass and maybe a trolly which will be $2 one way. Total before was $15. total now is $5 (toll only) but if i have to catch a trolly is would be $9. Im saving more than $6! and Im not buying food from the cafe! saving me more money!! yesss dave ramsey would be proud!(even if I know I have to sell my car eventually)
in other news.
I got to meet my floor managers(who hired me) and orientation manager and that was great. Off course I thanked them for hiring me and showed them how happy I was to be part of their floor. Im so happy to be at CHOP. They gave us a free shirt and a bag of goodies about Philadelphia which was good for me. I met tons of people and learned so much about the hospital.
Day 3 was much better than day 1 when everyone was quiet and shy. Now everyone knows each other and able to really maybe hangout. I went to check out another apartment today that was under $500. This place was great(inside), but the outside needed some help. Its not in the location i want to be, BUT it has other positives. I will write a review about my apartment shopping and how that will help me with my student loans.
Tonight i will go over my budget to check out where is my money going to go for the rest of this month and next month.
My goal is to find an apartment by the end of the month and pay off the rest of the collection agency. Just one more agency and I will be done with them.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Collection Agency
Collection Agency 1- Gym contract
They don't play. I am sucker when it come to joining things unfortunately. I now finally starting to say NO, but before I learned to say no I decided to do a gym membership contract (bad idea). The owner said if I were to move out of town it will be cancel. I move out and it wasn't cancel. It went straight to a collection agency. I did make a settlement before it went to my credit score. So I am happy about that, but upset about the whole thing. DO NOT DO CONTRACT!! There soo many gyms out there that you can do month to month with no contract. Do not get pushed/bullied by the people about "how good the deal is" or "why not, why not, and why not" or "its only 30 bucks a months", "its nothing, you pay do it","think longterm"... NO NO NO NO two letter, one syllable, one word so simple yet we don't say it because we scared. well I was since I got suckered in. I unable to say no. I said maybe, let me think about it, but i should have said no. so simple yet far from my head. That guy was persistent and did not let me leave the gym without saying yes and once I said yes wow did those paperwork go fast. So many signatures and BOOM one year contract! bully I tell you! a big built bully! I am now making two payments of 185 to a collection agency because of me! not the bully because I could have just said no, but I blame myself.
Collection agency is another story. they are mean and do not, I repeat do not want to be your friend. they want your money and are going to call you up to five times a day to get it. Im lucky that did not happen to me because I decided to settle on the first phone call. I also did not know my gym membership went to collection till they called me and was not ready to destroy my credit again. march 2nd will be my last payment and i will make sure they are deleted from my checking account because i don't trust anyone with my hard earned money. i should have sent them a money order or a check according to articles, but it was too late.
Collection Agency 2- Medical
Now this one is soooo not my fault. I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua. It was actually a medical mission trip and I came back sick. I had to go to cdc and a tropical disease doctor! so many doctors appointments and medications. This trip was four years ago!! I sent all my bills to the school. Majority of the bill was all the labs and Dr appointments. The school said that my trip/school insurance should pay for it. NEGATIVE! They did not pay and for years it went not being paid. Guess who is paying for it now. THIS GUY! Four years later I am called by a collection agency letting me know my unpaid balance from my medical bills. I told them my story and they really didn't care. It did affect my credit score unfortunately without me knowing, but i am now paying for it $1600. I have paid off $1000 so far and have one more payment at the end of march for $527, but will pay early with my emergency fund. This sucked balls, but i learned that when you get a bill make sure you know what happen to that bill. check if it got paid or not. don't just forget about it.
tip 1- pay it off fast- Do not do 20 payments of $10 dollars. Figure out a way to pay it off fast. I will be using my emergency fund since i don't want it to ruin my credit anymore. I also would say pay it off fast by selling stuff or working an extra shift.
tip 2- no credit cards- The lady said i should use my credit card and then pay my credit card monthly and built my credit. NEGATIVE! no no no i will pay with my debit card because thats my money that i worked for. Im very lucky to be staying at my gf parents house for free for a month (transitioning job) so the money for the rent went to pay off the agencies. Do not let this stupidity happen to you!
tip 3- check if it was paid- Do not just give it to someone else and forget about it. But check that insurance company paid for it or not. I did not.
tip 4- do not give them the story- they don't care about how you got to a collection agency. they just care how you going to pay for it. so just be straight forward about payment plans and try to pay as much as you can, as fast as you can.
March- Collection agencies- PAID total=$1926
They don't play. I am sucker when it come to joining things unfortunately. I now finally starting to say NO, but before I learned to say no I decided to do a gym membership contract (bad idea). The owner said if I were to move out of town it will be cancel. I move out and it wasn't cancel. It went straight to a collection agency. I did make a settlement before it went to my credit score. So I am happy about that, but upset about the whole thing. DO NOT DO CONTRACT!! There soo many gyms out there that you can do month to month with no contract. Do not get pushed/bullied by the people about "how good the deal is" or "why not, why not, and why not" or "its only 30 bucks a months", "its nothing, you pay do it","think longterm"... NO NO NO NO two letter, one syllable, one word so simple yet we don't say it because we scared. well I was since I got suckered in. I unable to say no. I said maybe, let me think about it, but i should have said no. so simple yet far from my head. That guy was persistent and did not let me leave the gym without saying yes and once I said yes wow did those paperwork go fast. So many signatures and BOOM one year contract! bully I tell you! a big built bully! I am now making two payments of 185 to a collection agency because of me! not the bully because I could have just said no, but I blame myself.
Collection agency is another story. they are mean and do not, I repeat do not want to be your friend. they want your money and are going to call you up to five times a day to get it. Im lucky that did not happen to me because I decided to settle on the first phone call. I also did not know my gym membership went to collection till they called me and was not ready to destroy my credit again. march 2nd will be my last payment and i will make sure they are deleted from my checking account because i don't trust anyone with my hard earned money. i should have sent them a money order or a check according to articles, but it was too late.
Collection Agency 2- Medical
Now this one is soooo not my fault. I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua. It was actually a medical mission trip and I came back sick. I had to go to cdc and a tropical disease doctor! so many doctors appointments and medications. This trip was four years ago!! I sent all my bills to the school. Majority of the bill was all the labs and Dr appointments. The school said that my trip/school insurance should pay for it. NEGATIVE! They did not pay and for years it went not being paid. Guess who is paying for it now. THIS GUY! Four years later I am called by a collection agency letting me know my unpaid balance from my medical bills. I told them my story and they really didn't care. It did affect my credit score unfortunately without me knowing, but i am now paying for it $1600. I have paid off $1000 so far and have one more payment at the end of march for $527, but will pay early with my emergency fund. This sucked balls, but i learned that when you get a bill make sure you know what happen to that bill. check if it got paid or not. don't just forget about it.
tip 1- pay it off fast- Do not do 20 payments of $10 dollars. Figure out a way to pay it off fast. I will be using my emergency fund since i don't want it to ruin my credit anymore. I also would say pay it off fast by selling stuff or working an extra shift.
tip 2- no credit cards- The lady said i should use my credit card and then pay my credit card monthly and built my credit. NEGATIVE! no no no i will pay with my debit card because thats my money that i worked for. Im very lucky to be staying at my gf parents house for free for a month (transitioning job) so the money for the rent went to pay off the agencies. Do not let this stupidity happen to you!
tip 3- check if it was paid- Do not just give it to someone else and forget about it. But check that insurance company paid for it or not. I did not.
tip 4- do not give them the story- they don't care about how you got to a collection agency. they just care how you going to pay for it. so just be straight forward about payment plans and try to pay as much as you can, as fast as you can.
March- Collection agencies- PAID total=$1926
Good bye Michigan
Last shift...
Bitter.Sweet.Goodbye Helen Devos Children's Hospital
It was my last shift on feb 25, 2013. Boy was it a good one! I had sooo much fun. Steph,jamie,jp,eric,kelly, jen, jess, and two new nurses Cristine and veronica surprised me with food and desert. It was chips and salsa which was very nice of them. The funny thing is that I don't like chips and salsa hahaha, but I was very thankful for this. We did work off course, but we had talks that were funny and sad(work,weddings etc.). They were asking me what im going to miss? what would i change? top 5 patients? worst day at the job? best day of the job? so many questions that i look back at now and realize how much I have grown and experienced in this hospital in just 12 months! I came in not knowing anything about cancer and I leave with so much knowledge, but still seeking and yearning for more and MORE! After the shift was done I had parents who said thank you for caring for there daughter/son during my last shifts/days which meant alot to me. Sometimes we(nurses) feel that we might not be making a difference or change especially during the night shift, but to have a parent wake up to say thank you before I left meant sooo much to me. After the shift was done I went out to eat with all the guys from our floor. jp,eric, and adam. I know only three haha, but we held that floor down! Especially when we all worked together! Soooo much fun to work with them. I was glad to finally eat with them and talk about the girls hahaha just talking with guys is rare in this career, but when you get to it feels great.. I was unable to say goodbye to alot of people which made me sad, but I will definitely visit soon and give them updates about things I have learned. I'm thankful and blessed to be part of that team. I will miss Helen Devos Children's Hospital. Thank you for the memories.
Good bye Grand Rapids Michigan!
NO bitter. NO sweet. just goodbye! hahahaha
Sorry, but I will not miss michigan. I miss my family too much. I was sad/depressed and thought I was suffering from sad (seasonal affective depression) it was always snowing and so gloomy outside. I love snow, but not sooo much that you can't even go out! In my twelve months of living there my favorite time was artprize(wow) and when all of chrissy friends came to visit and we went to get pizza and saw a baseball game.------> that was so much fun. i am not going to miss michigan. BUT i will miss the people i met. Moving to michigan for 12 months I was able to meet my amazing girlfriend gymnastic friends. Now I can officially say they are my friends too. To be their roommate for three months was fun. Hanging out, playing video games, and having people over was fun and I will miss it. La familia of hillcrest drive. lol other than that I am glad to be leaving. Sorry, but im just not a mitten man(michigan is shaped as a mitten) I have nothing against the people who live there and nothing against the state. Its not a boring state, it very bueatiful. i was unable to go to traverse city or makinac island or the upper peninsula, but i did go to grand haven, south bend and st joseph. i will eventually go to upper peninsula one day. goodbye michigan.
Bitter.Sweet.Goodbye Helen Devos Children's Hospital
Good bye Grand Rapids Michigan!
NO bitter. NO sweet. just goodbye! hahahaha
Sorry, but I will not miss michigan. I miss my family too much. I was sad/depressed and thought I was suffering from sad (seasonal affective depression) it was always snowing and so gloomy outside. I love snow, but not sooo much that you can't even go out! In my twelve months of living there my favorite time was artprize(wow) and when all of chrissy friends came to visit and we went to get pizza and saw a baseball game.------> that was so much fun. i am not going to miss michigan. BUT i will miss the people i met. Moving to michigan for 12 months I was able to meet my amazing girlfriend gymnastic friends. Now I can officially say they are my friends too. To be their roommate for three months was fun. Hanging out, playing video games, and having people over was fun and I will miss it. La familia of hillcrest drive. lol other than that I am glad to be leaving. Sorry, but im just not a mitten man(michigan is shaped as a mitten) I have nothing against the people who live there and nothing against the state. Its not a boring state, it very bueatiful. i was unable to go to traverse city or makinac island or the upper peninsula, but i did go to grand haven, south bend and st joseph. i will eventually go to upper peninsula one day. goodbye michigan.Monday, February 18, 2013
The Drive, Valentine Day, Tolls, NYC, Updates
THE DRIVE...
My drive from Michigan to New Jersey was expensive. sooo many tolls.
Ohio-$3 toll
Penn- $25 toll
NewJersey $11toll
and then fill up twice which came up to $80. And then there was food(starbucks, burger king, snacks) So I spent about 100 and something dollars on a one way trip. I must figure out a way to budget this coming trip right. Maybe I can stop at cheap gas places. i can also make my own lunch. I did buy a Dave Ramsey audiobook and that was good!! it cost me $25(barnes and noble) bucks, but i learned a lot of things. wish I bought it when I was 21, but not time to think that way.
Review- Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.
Positive- Love the whole audiobook and especially the steps. I am currently on step two which is the snowball I believe.there are many steps but its possible. I also like the myth vs reality. That made me really think about so many things out there about buying and purchasing products. I like that he put in God in his book and bible verses also. I like that the problem is not money, but the person! your the one in control of your money and money should not be controlling you.
negative- too short. the biggest negative is the tone of how he reads the book. Especially in the beginning. Very strong and hard to listen. Im saying its tough love, but there are some parts that i feel that he is just being mean. Maybe its just him being so passionate but his tone does improve later in the book.
All in all i am glad i purchased the audiobook. I still would like to do the finacial college plan with my gf before we get married. Not worth twenty five bucks because i have been reading so much that what he said could be found on his website. hopefully the financial college is not the same.
VALENTINE DAY...
boy o boy. i do not like this day of the year. the one day that everyone spend tons of money on flowers (die in two days) chocolate(give you a stomach ach) and teddy bears (how many can you buy year after year in three years of dating). not only am i in a budget but i was tired of doing what every one does every year. i know i can make my gf feel specially without having to buy and spend hundreds of dollars.(this can also be applied to weddings, but thats for another blog hahaha) i decided to make her an indoor picnic! i did buy a couple of things such as cupcake and candles and a couple or art and crafts-thank you pinterest. total of the whole valentine day came up to $45!
im sooo happy because i not only do great with the budget, but i made it special (well i hope i did) i did have things i had to do(work) and we did have to wash dishes after we were done, but we both know that we just don't have the money to go out right now. i do promise her that once a lot of my loans are paid off i can do more than just take her out to a restaurant but really take her on an adventure. it hurts that i can't do what i want to do, but this was the decision we both made in january and sticking to it. birthday and christmas is going to be hard but we will plan when that time comes. all in all it was a great valentine day and honestly the best one. last year i worked 7am till 7pm and by the time i got home she had to do spanish homework and was doing gymnastic so we saw each other at 10pm and i got her flowers and that was all. i had to sleep cause i had to work the next day. two years ago i was in nebraska and she was in michigan and we mailed each other letter and that was cool. but not better than this year. i love my gf so much and she means everything to me. she was my valentine and i was her's.
NYC...
soo im here in nyc visiting family and once again I'm reminded why i don't come to visit. the number one reason i don't come to visit is because i don't know who to hangout with. everyone is at work and so i stay at my sister home doing nothing. i could be doing nothing at home hehe. its new york city sooo much i can do right. WRONG nyc is one of the most expensive places to live and to travel a metro card for one way is $2.25 and just a water bottle is arm and leg. and its super cold. with me and my budget i MUST stay home. i HAVE to stay home because i know myself to well. i would spend all my money on clothes and entertainment. yes i am bored but i will be happy once I'm back in jersey saying that i did not spend any money.
today i stayed at my sister and baby sat my nephew since its presidential monday (she has to work)... boooooy does he have energy. he does not take naps. we have played, jump around and played and ate and soooo many things and he is still full of energy. I'm soooo tired! lol i don't think i can have kids right now in my life. lol i can only take care of them for a twelve hour period hahahaha i love kids but 24hours 7days a week is hard. not only do you have to make sure the are fed but you have to make sure they don't hurt themselves. i have had to tell my nephew no soooo many times today. no jumping on bed no do not eat that. no i will not buy you more toys. urghhh good thing i didn't take him out.
i love my nephew so today was a good day because i honestly believe i bonded with more than i have since he has been born. he is in the age that he listens and understand so i can tell him go get me my computer or my cell phone or something to drink! HAHAHAHA.
UPDATES...
I still have my $1000 emergency fund whoo hoo. i did have to take some money out to pay for the rent, but put it back once i got paid. I'm also still good with credit card debt of $0. i did call american express and told them if they can take the finance charge but off course they said no."nothing we can do about it."
i finally have everything done for my new job. now i have to patiently wait for the mail for everything to come in. I did my first official drive to the hospital and timed it. toll came up to $5. Gas was about 40 miles to get there. Took me 45 mins with no traffic. i came back another way which took no tolls, 60 miles to get there and 120 mins to get home. GPS sends me different ways, meaning I must memorize the best way.
So far i have written down all my loans in lowest to highest and not in APR. i really want to feel im getting something done but ding low to high. i also wrote down the people i need to pay d/t weddings and cell phone. Now i begin paying. Im frustrated because i want to do so much for my gf and her financial situation but to, but i have to wait and have patience. i must take care of my stuff so i can take care of her and her mother and sister. they are my family as well. i know in the long run we will be fine with the plan we are doing, but right now it hard not buying her things or taking her out to eat. i saw an episode of suze orman today and she made soo many good points on valentine days, weddings, and relationship.What a great episode. I must have my gf see it. It was suze orman valentine day special episode. you can watch it on her podcast. if there is one thing i can say is DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHER.
Its february 18 and i have still ahead of schedule on my goals. i must keep my head up and continue to work hard. Above all i must continue to praise and thank my God for an amazing girlfriend and family.he is also He has blessed me so much and i know that he is guiding me threw all my financial decisions.
(once again i do not check my grammar on my blog so i apologize for my misspelling and run on sentences)
My drive from Michigan to New Jersey was expensive. sooo many tolls.
Ohio-$3 toll
Penn- $25 toll
NewJersey $11toll
and then fill up twice which came up to $80. And then there was food(starbucks, burger king, snacks) So I spent about 100 and something dollars on a one way trip. I must figure out a way to budget this coming trip right. Maybe I can stop at cheap gas places. i can also make my own lunch. I did buy a Dave Ramsey audiobook and that was good!! it cost me $25(barnes and noble) bucks, but i learned a lot of things. wish I bought it when I was 21, but not time to think that way.
Review- Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.
Positive- Love the whole audiobook and especially the steps. I am currently on step two which is the snowball I believe.there are many steps but its possible. I also like the myth vs reality. That made me really think about so many things out there about buying and purchasing products. I like that he put in God in his book and bible verses also. I like that the problem is not money, but the person! your the one in control of your money and money should not be controlling you.negative- too short. the biggest negative is the tone of how he reads the book. Especially in the beginning. Very strong and hard to listen. Im saying its tough love, but there are some parts that i feel that he is just being mean. Maybe its just him being so passionate but his tone does improve later in the book.
All in all i am glad i purchased the audiobook. I still would like to do the finacial college plan with my gf before we get married. Not worth twenty five bucks because i have been reading so much that what he said could be found on his website. hopefully the financial college is not the same.
VALENTINE DAY...
im sooo happy because i not only do great with the budget, but i made it special (well i hope i did) i did have things i had to do(work) and we did have to wash dishes after we were done, but we both know that we just don't have the money to go out right now. i do promise her that once a lot of my loans are paid off i can do more than just take her out to a restaurant but really take her on an adventure. it hurts that i can't do what i want to do, but this was the decision we both made in january and sticking to it. birthday and christmas is going to be hard but we will plan when that time comes. all in all it was a great valentine day and honestly the best one. last year i worked 7am till 7pm and by the time i got home she had to do spanish homework and was doing gymnastic so we saw each other at 10pm and i got her flowers and that was all. i had to sleep cause i had to work the next day. two years ago i was in nebraska and she was in michigan and we mailed each other letter and that was cool. but not better than this year. i love my gf so much and she means everything to me. she was my valentine and i was her's.
NYC...
soo im here in nyc visiting family and once again I'm reminded why i don't come to visit. the number one reason i don't come to visit is because i don't know who to hangout with. everyone is at work and so i stay at my sister home doing nothing. i could be doing nothing at home hehe. its new york city sooo much i can do right. WRONG nyc is one of the most expensive places to live and to travel a metro card for one way is $2.25 and just a water bottle is arm and leg. and its super cold. with me and my budget i MUST stay home. i HAVE to stay home because i know myself to well. i would spend all my money on clothes and entertainment. yes i am bored but i will be happy once I'm back in jersey saying that i did not spend any money.
today i stayed at my sister and baby sat my nephew since its presidential monday (she has to work)... boooooy does he have energy. he does not take naps. we have played, jump around and played and ate and soooo many things and he is still full of energy. I'm soooo tired! lol i don't think i can have kids right now in my life. lol i can only take care of them for a twelve hour period hahahaha i love kids but 24hours 7days a week is hard. not only do you have to make sure the are fed but you have to make sure they don't hurt themselves. i have had to tell my nephew no soooo many times today. no jumping on bed no do not eat that. no i will not buy you more toys. urghhh good thing i didn't take him out.
i love my nephew so today was a good day because i honestly believe i bonded with more than i have since he has been born. he is in the age that he listens and understand so i can tell him go get me my computer or my cell phone or something to drink! HAHAHAHA.
UPDATES...
I still have my $1000 emergency fund whoo hoo. i did have to take some money out to pay for the rent, but put it back once i got paid. I'm also still good with credit card debt of $0. i did call american express and told them if they can take the finance charge but off course they said no."nothing we can do about it."
i finally have everything done for my new job. now i have to patiently wait for the mail for everything to come in. I did my first official drive to the hospital and timed it. toll came up to $5. Gas was about 40 miles to get there. Took me 45 mins with no traffic. i came back another way which took no tolls, 60 miles to get there and 120 mins to get home. GPS sends me different ways, meaning I must memorize the best way.
So far i have written down all my loans in lowest to highest and not in APR. i really want to feel im getting something done but ding low to high. i also wrote down the people i need to pay d/t weddings and cell phone. Now i begin paying. Im frustrated because i want to do so much for my gf and her financial situation but to, but i have to wait and have patience. i must take care of my stuff so i can take care of her and her mother and sister. they are my family as well. i know in the long run we will be fine with the plan we are doing, but right now it hard not buying her things or taking her out to eat. i saw an episode of suze orman today and she made soo many good points on valentine days, weddings, and relationship.What a great episode. I must have my gf see it. It was suze orman valentine day special episode. you can watch it on her podcast. if there is one thing i can say is DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHER.
Its february 18 and i have still ahead of schedule on my goals. i must keep my head up and continue to work hard. Above all i must continue to praise and thank my God for an amazing girlfriend and family.he is also He has blessed me so much and i know that he is guiding me threw all my financial decisions.
(once again i do not check my grammar on my blog so i apologize for my misspelling and run on sentences)
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Day 5 -EMERGENCY FUND - DONE!
WHOOHOOO just got my income tax back and im happy/sad. It wasn't alot of money, BUT it was enought to accomplish my goal for MARCH!! I can't believe I acomplishing my goals so quickly. I have offically save up for an emergency fund.
Its not alot of money, but its enough for two months of survival lol and not have to depend on my credit card. I can now start paying off my loans. My first one is Union College which is a loan of $850 with an APR of 5% sooo I must pay it off quickly so it won't add up like it did last year.
I can't believe that im doing so well this year and its only feb.this shows that I could have done this last year but just wasn't motivated. I have had to make some sacrifice which I would have not done last year, such as not buying golf clubs today at the michigan golf show and also not eating out. This has been the longest I haven't eaten out. I usually order pizza or go to mc donalds, but im strict this time by cooking what i have at home.
Work is going well. Im busy all the time, but it makes the time go fast and im learning alot. Alot of the nurses found out this past week that i will be leaving. It was sad because I wasn't going to tell them not because I didn't want to, but because i felt like im not big into telling everyone and being big news or the talk in town...
Im starting to work on how I can save money once i get to Philadelphia. There 3 plans.
Plan A. live with a family from a church and rent out a room.
Plan B. rent out a room from craiglist and continue to save.
Plan C. live with my gf family and save TONS!
We will see what God has in store for me.
Im also working on tithe. I need to change my attitude about it. The money that im making is not mine, but God. I need to learn that money isn't everything and he will find a way if im broke. I do hope that I can stay strict on tithe and hopeffuly be able to give more than just 10% in the future(from the heart and not because I have to). I have to two weeks till i leave Michigan.im going to miss it a little(very very little). Valentine day is in 3 days and i still have alot of work to do. for now I can say that I am doing well but still have alot to get done. I still have not touched my loans, but I can finally say "im feeling it" its time to start paying!
goal-emergency fund- accomplished!
Its not alot of money, but its enough for two months of survival lol and not have to depend on my credit card. I can now start paying off my loans. My first one is Union College which is a loan of $850 with an APR of 5% sooo I must pay it off quickly so it won't add up like it did last year.
I can't believe that im doing so well this year and its only feb.this shows that I could have done this last year but just wasn't motivated. I have had to make some sacrifice which I would have not done last year, such as not buying golf clubs today at the michigan golf show and also not eating out. This has been the longest I haven't eaten out. I usually order pizza or go to mc donalds, but im strict this time by cooking what i have at home.
Work is going well. Im busy all the time, but it makes the time go fast and im learning alot. Alot of the nurses found out this past week that i will be leaving. It was sad because I wasn't going to tell them not because I didn't want to, but because i felt like im not big into telling everyone and being big news or the talk in town...
Im starting to work on how I can save money once i get to Philadelphia. There 3 plans.
Plan A. live with a family from a church and rent out a room.
Plan B. rent out a room from craiglist and continue to save.
Plan C. live with my gf family and save TONS!
We will see what God has in store for me.
Im also working on tithe. I need to change my attitude about it. The money that im making is not mine, but God. I need to learn that money isn't everything and he will find a way if im broke. I do hope that I can stay strict on tithe and hopeffuly be able to give more than just 10% in the future(from the heart and not because I have to). I have to two weeks till i leave Michigan.im going to miss it a little(very very little). Valentine day is in 3 days and i still have alot of work to do. for now I can say that I am doing well but still have alot to get done. I still have not touched my loans, but I can finally say "im feeling it" its time to start paying!
goal-emergency fund- accomplished!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Day 1 of $160,000 loan
why so much money. im proud to say that i graduated college on my own with no ones help till my last semester when i was loaned out and needed help.got help from alot of people who i thank everyday! but i honestly didn't do it on my own. i really made it thanks to loans. i want to thank sallie mae, privat loans, apr, income based(speech award). lol but i GOT IT DONE. BSN nursing.
i graduated two years ago now and have starting dealing with loans in a bad way. so i decided to blog about it. write down my ups and my downs.
i was doing great paying my loans on time. im glad i picked a career that i make enough to pay my bills. i use a whole paycheck to pay off one month of loans. 1200 paycheck in loans each month. buut if i miss one day of work im screwed and i did due to back injury.and that was when it all went down. you miss one bill then you say i can catch up and then your behind so fast that you can't do a 49ers comeback!
i also saw a suze orman show one day and then analyzed my life and saw that i was living paycheck to paycheck(still am for now) something has to change!
so this is day one of my 160,000 loan! i know i won't be able to pay if off in one or two years but i am determine to pay off as many loans as i can wth many sacrifices on the way.
my background
im hispanic, the only boy, and one of the few that got a college degree from my block. i am not using spell check for this blog because i just want to type what i feel and have no time to go back and check for grammar. there will be alot of run on sentences and bad spelling hahahai was raised to be independant at a young age with my dad in jail. i was the only boy. i worked my first job at 16. every paycheck went to help out and buy clothes. enyce, rocawear(trying to be ganster lol back in those days). now i wish i can go back and redress myself. lol i have two sister. one younger and one older. my younger one i believe is the richest! no loans, no car payments, no leased apartment. but she is also living pay check to paycheck but better than me. my older one has a great job but she buy clothes constanly and has a child and her own loans. no car payments and no lease in a house or mortgages but still living payycheck to paycheck. i want to be different!! half of the people i live with are living the same way. paycheckc too paycheck. i don't want that for my life, my future wife and kids.
im not being negative. im so happy to have a degree in something. especially nursing. as hispanic and male i am more likely to get a job which make me very thankful. i just wish i was better educated about my college decisions. about signing those loans(soul to loans) lol i signed one loan with an apr of 10%!!!! are you kidding me!!wish i had more education when i was 19-24. now im 28 and have bills bills bills. i just wish i was more educated about my decisions. and this blog and other will help.
january 2013
GOAL- FINANCES IN CHECK
i knew first thing to do is to pick up extra shifts from all the articles i read. i was behind a couple of months in some of my loans. SO this month was about getting my finances in check. calling all my loans and checking what i can do to catch up. And all of the loan company helped me out. off course that meant more money in the long term by doing a forbearance, but it had to be done according to them cause i just didn't have enough to catch up. but i did accomplish my goal for that month which was to let all my loans know that i mean business this time! goal- accomplished!
Febuary 2013
GOAL-PAY OFF CREDIT CARD, FIND JOB
This month is huge!! i knew i must pay off my bills and take this serious. so change had to happen. i love my job, but i was in michigan all by myself and was not getting paid enough to stay and i was going crazy with all the snow!! so i decided to get another job. one that will pay more and would be closer to family. much closer to family. my goal for this month was to pay off my credit card! DONE!! i paid it off with the 3 extra shift i picked up in january. i had to decide to buy an engaement ring or pay off the credit card. credit card duuh!! hahaha i know i have to eventually buy the ring, but i must get out of as much debt as possible!! pay off as much as i can now while still not married.
i also have decided to live my gf family/ and my family for a couple of months. that would save me about $600-$700 a month i can use to pay of loans. that adds in the long run. this plan is till i get married offcourse wth the love of my life. im only 28 and she is 21 so we have alot of time. but this is the year. i can't say when (she might be reading this) but it will happen. so i have to be financially fit because i do not want to be broke while married.. this month will be huge because i start working march. i get a big pay increase. i have to by an ezpass and will be spending a little more in gas but i think i save more than spent. for now im happy with my accomlished goal of paying off $1500 in my credit card. i have not cut it but its in the back of my freezer hahahaha.. goal-pay off credit- accomplished
o yea i will be working at the children hospital of philadelphia!! yeaaaaaa. i will learn so muuch and i feel i will truly touch many people lives as well be touch by peoples lives. im excited and scared because of the huge change in environment. from 25 bed to 50 bed unit. over 100 nurses. and more than 5 male nurses whoohoo. i been trying to work here since my senior year of college, but just don't get the interview. but i got it this time and i praise God!! God is amazing to give me this job. i became a nurse to help and show people christ threw my actions and healing. i want to still be a missionary but i must gain knowledge and experience first. this hospital will open my eyes to so much and i can't wait. so im so excited to accompliished this goal. goal-find a job- accomplished.
i won't be writing everyday but i will write good things and bad things.. lets see what happens rest of the month.
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