Today I got paid for the month of September, and was pleasantly surprised! My stipend turns out to be about $1200 each month. That is $200 more than I was originally told, and more than I expected! Needless to say, I'm really really excited about this. It makes my budgeting go so much easier, and there *might* even be the possibility of extra cash to throw around. Yay!
And plus, I helped my professor out with some of her research this afternoon and got paid $20 bucks for it! I'm pratically raking in the dough now! :-P
Aug 29, 2008
Aug 25, 2008
Thoughts on Teaching
Today was my first day of teaching, and it went surprisingly well! I had pretty much imagined the worst, but it turned out ok I think. It's easier to stand and talk in front of them than I thought-- my only complaint is that they just stare so much. Everything I did, they were staring at me. I guess it's to be expected, but it is a really awkward feeling for me. Overall though, I'm really very proud of myself! This is the scariest thing for me that I've done in a long time, and I did it fairly well. Get this- Im even excited to teach them more tomorrow.
But some of them already dropped my class! I take offense to this- I may not know exactly what I'm doing, but that totally doesn't mean you should drop my class on the first day! I know it happens for many different reasons, and our advisor did tell us not to be upset if many people drop, but still.
But some of them already dropped my class! I take offense to this- I may not know exactly what I'm doing, but that totally doesn't mean you should drop my class on the first day! I know it happens for many different reasons, and our advisor did tell us not to be upset if many people drop, but still.
Aug 24, 2008
Yay!
I am really stoked that my books for the semester only cost me 125 bucks!! So far, I am a big fan of grad school. :-)
Aug 23, 2008
Long time no see
Hey wow, sorry I have been lame on the updating front recently. I've been super busy this week, moving into my new apartment and going to orientations for grad school 9-5 each day. But now I've settled in mostly, and I really love my apartment and my roommates. Only one complaint- the walls are so thin and the sound carries very easily. But other than that, it's about a million times better than my old apartment at MU. So I'm not complaining.
I'm ready for classes to start on Monday. I have three classes this semester, and I have to teach one section of German 1 as well. I'm soooooo incredibly nervous about teaching, but sometimes I think it might be fun too. This week has been full of mega mood swings, ranging from "I hate my life, what was I thinking" to "hey this could be really awesome." But as of right now, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a plan for the first day, I already saw my classroom and played around in it, and I even looked some of my students up on Facebook to see what they're like. I just have to remember to relax and be confident, which of course is easier said than done...
I'm ready for classes to start on Monday. I have three classes this semester, and I have to teach one section of German 1 as well. I'm soooooo incredibly nervous about teaching, but sometimes I think it might be fun too. This week has been full of mega mood swings, ranging from "I hate my life, what was I thinking" to "hey this could be really awesome." But as of right now, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a plan for the first day, I already saw my classroom and played around in it, and I even looked some of my students up on Facebook to see what they're like. I just have to remember to relax and be confident, which of course is easier said than done...
Aug 16, 2008
Terminated
Well, I am now officially unemployed. Yesterday was my last day at work! It was really nice, they took me out to lunch, gave me a present, and even let me go home early with pay! It is so insanely weird to think that I won't work there anymore- I worked there for seven years (to the day)! I'll admit, I got a little teary eyed when I had to say my goodbyes to everyone. But now starts the new chapter in my life- the grad school chapter. :)
Aug 12, 2008
IRA
I just opened my new IRA account! Since I am leaving my job, I decided to take my 401k with me and put it into an IRA. This way, I can keep adding to it and invest however I want to. I don't have a whole lot of money in it right now, but I think it'll be good to get it in some funds while the stock market is down, so I can get lots of shares on the cheap. Then once all the money rolls over, I want to turn it into a Roth. It was cool-- the guy I called to set all this up was so nice, and he really helped me out with all my questions. Now all I have left to do is fill out the paperwork I got from HR and give that back, to have all my funds emptied out and my 401k closed. I really hope all this goes smoothly!
Aug 11, 2008
Well this doesn't look good
So grad school is starting soon (I move in one week!!) and I’ll be honest- the idea of having to live off of around $1,000 a month scares me. I don’t make much more than that right now, but I have very few expenses that I have to pay- on an average month over half goes to savings. But now I have to pay for everything. I am trying to make a rudimentary budget, and it's not going well at all. I think I'm going to have to dip into my emergency savings for some things, like car insurance, and maybe gas. Which, you know, is awesome- NOT. So this is what I'm planning right now; I have no idea if this is how it's really going to work.
Rent $655 (this includes all utilities which is sweet)
Food $130 (hopefully I can use even less than this!)
Student Loan $150
Fun Money $65
So basically, that leaves about $40-50 for gas and $71 each month for car insurance. I guess this will be coming out of my emergency fund, unless I can find a part-time job or some other form of supplemental income. Oy, this is more depressing than I originally thought...
Aug 5, 2008
New ING Fund
Well, nothing too drastic happened, but I revamped some of my money goals (you can see the new and improved versions on the side). Considering I drive a beater, I want to buy a new car in the next few years. I would prefer to pay for it mostly in cash, so I started a "New Car Fund" with my ING account. So far I only put in $1,000, but I hope to get about ten before I buy the car. I'm looking towards a Yaris or a Versa, so hopefully I'm not dreaming too big. I'm not sure how long it will take me to bank $10,000 since I'll be in grad school for the next two to five years, but we'll see. Plus, if it's earning such high interest, the money will grow much faster than if I keep it in my bank at home.
Aug 4, 2008
Roommates
Well, I emailed my roommate (the one moving in on the 18th) and asked her if I could stay overnight as her guest instead of at the hotel. She says that's totally fine (if she said no, frankly I'd be a little nervous about being her roommate!), and is going to call me when she gets the keys and all to let me in. Hopefully it's early enough that I can throw some of my stuff in the apartment, so it's not sitting in my car all day and overnight.
One thing did bother me slightly though- she asked if I am bringing a car to campus, because she is not. She said she just joined Sam's Club and wants to make trips there, but has no car. I didn't think of this before, but I really hope that I am not the only roommate with a car and that she doesn't ask me to drive her there alllll the time. That would be really annoying, not to mention it would blow my already tight budget!
One thing did bother me slightly though- she asked if I am bringing a car to campus, because she is not. She said she just joined Sam's Club and wants to make trips there, but has no car. I didn't think of this before, but I really hope that I am not the only roommate with a car and that she doesn't ask me to drive her there alllll the time. That would be really annoying, not to mention it would blow my already tight budget!
Aug 1, 2008
Roommates & Housing Rant
I found out who my roommates are for grad school last week, and since then we've all been emailing back and forth to see who has what stuff for the apartment. It's a grad student apartment through the university, so it's all furnished- we just have to bring things like kitchen & bathroom supplies, cleaning things, etc. So far it seems like between the four of us, we have everything covered and won't need to buy anything, which is good. They also seem pretty cool, so I'm excited to meet them.
The thing that's getting me is that I have to be at school on August 18th for, but the housing officer told me I cannot move in on that day (the lease doesn't start until Aug 23rd). She said my room won't be ready yet, and she told me to get a hotel for that night and move in the next morning- which in the town where my school is, is not cheap. But when emailing with my roommates, I found out the one girl is allowed to move in on the 18th! I called housing yesterday just to check that there wasn't any mixup, and they confirmed that she will be moving in, but I still cannot. I realize that there is someone living in my room now, and not in hers, and my room needs to be cleaned first. But seriously, I don't see how checking in late the night before is going to be any different from checking in first thing the next morning. Check-in goes until 10pm- who is going to be cleaning my room at ten at night? Plus even if my room isn't totally clean by then, it's going to be my apartment, why can't I just come check in that night and sleep on the couch or something? I don't mind leaving my things in the car until the morning. I just want to avoid spending $80 on one night in a motel, when my extra rent for the whole week is only $88!
The thing that's getting me is that I have to be at school on August 18th for, but the housing officer told me I cannot move in on that day (the lease doesn't start until Aug 23rd). She said my room won't be ready yet, and she told me to get a hotel for that night and move in the next morning- which in the town where my school is, is not cheap. But when emailing with my roommates, I found out the one girl is allowed to move in on the 18th! I called housing yesterday just to check that there wasn't any mixup, and they confirmed that she will be moving in, but I still cannot. I realize that there is someone living in my room now, and not in hers, and my room needs to be cleaned first. But seriously, I don't see how checking in late the night before is going to be any different from checking in first thing the next morning. Check-in goes until 10pm- who is going to be cleaning my room at ten at night? Plus even if my room isn't totally clean by then, it's going to be my apartment, why can't I just come check in that night and sleep on the couch or something? I don't mind leaving my things in the car until the morning. I just want to avoid spending $80 on one night in a motel, when my extra rent for the whole week is only $88!
