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)

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!

Day 1 of $160,000 loan

so i started this new blog because i am dealing with a hefty loan! $160,000 loan! yuppp i know that alot, but depending on what career you picked. i picked NURSING! it can be paid off. anything can be paid off depending on your attitude in life. well it took me three years to realize that i wanted to do nursing. i wasted three years doing dental hygiene till it hit me that cleaning teeth for the rest of my life isn't me. sooo i picked nursing and it took me four years. lots of ups and downs but i got it done!

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 hahaha
 i 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.