I have one week to work as a GED instructor. I will still be teaching for the NP I volunteer with, but no more working at the college or the community center. I'm gonna pitch my class at the NP to the college to see if they will partner with us. We will see how that goes. Because we don't have the testing equipment and resources.
I've got to get car insurance before I start my new job. Man, I don't have a lot of money and unemployment only sent me $74. UGH!!! So, I'm gonna be counting my pennies until the end of the month.
I can't wait to get my health insurance. I'm sure it won't take effect until at least 30 days after I work, but I will have it. I also can't wait to have a steady paycheck.
I've been working on my budget and I think I will be able to pay all of my debt (sans student loan) this year!!
$31,000 per year = 2,583 per mos =1,291 per paycheck.
My expenses are:
Rent= $0 THANK GOD
Utilities= $0 THANK GOD
Rental Ins= $15 per month (I have to buy) ($180 per year)
YMCA= $20 per month ($240 per year)
Car Loan= $250 per month ($3000 per year)
Car Ins= $100 per month (I have to buy insurance) ($1200 per year)
Gas=$100 per month (they say gas is going up, UGH) ($1200 per year)
Oil Change= $150 per year (4 times a year at $35 each or $12.50 per month)
Total Car expenses=$ $465 per month ($5550 per year)
Phone= $100 per month (stupid prepaid phone, I've gotta get something cheaper) ($1200 per year)
Food= $150 per month ($1800 per year)
Misc= $100 per month ($1200 per year) (tissue, clothes, lotion, toothpaste, etc)
Total= $350 per month ($4200)
Student Loan= $300 per month ($3600)
I do pay my tithes every paycheck so my tithes should total $3,100 for the year and I participate in our churches Debt Retirement program where I help to pay the churches mortgage at about $1500 per year. I also give an offering and give a monetary gift to my Apostle and his family during celebrations such as National Clergy Appreciation Month or his anniversary for a total of $1000 per year. All of these are tax deductible except the $1000 and in prior years (except this year) I have been able to use my charity donations to boost my from a standard deduction to an itemized deduction which has benefited me. For 2011, I only gave about $5000 to my church so I had to take the standard deduction. Maybe if I boost that to $6000 or $7000 I'll get a larger refund for 2012 taxes. I'll try.
So my overall month expenses= $1150.00 ($13,800 per year)
I should be able to pay majority of my bills with one check. Of about 15% will be taken out for taxes, insurance, so that will leave me with about $1000 a month.
I NEED to make sure I stick to this budget!!!
If I can stick to this budget I will be able to pay:
$3000 car loan
$3500 for my evicted apt
$1000 medical bills
And actually, I'm supposed to pay my car off this month. I'm not sure what will happen if it's not paid, but my goal is to have that paid by May.
Father God, PLEASE DON'T LET MY CAR BREAK DOWN!!! I CAN'T AFFORD TO GET IT FIXED!!!! In JESUS name. AMEN!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I AM EMPLOYED....FULLTIME
I was offered the job at the health department pending a negative drug test on yesterday. I"m excited. I got the call around 11am and I went to take my drug test. I don't do drugs, so everything was negative. I talked to HR around 4pm and I will be starting my new job on March 13!!
I will be making over $31,000 a year!! YAY!!
No, that's still less than what I was making two years ago, but I'll take it!! It's a stable job and I have benefits--health insurance!!
I can't wait to go to the dentist.
I'm assuming that my net pay would be about $2000 a month (sans taxes and retirement), so I will have plenty of money to pay my bills--car, student loan, insurance. Fortunately those are the only bills I have right now. I will be getting the internet because I NEED it. And I'm gonna get a new cell phone plan because the prepaid thing is killing my money. I need a plan that is around $50 a month. I don't need all the extra stuff. I just need to talk and text. Also, I want internet that is not more than $20 a month. I hope I can find it.
I HAVE GOT TO PAY MY DEBTS!!!!
I've gotta pay $3500 for back rent from the apartment that I was evicted from, about $1000 in hospital bills and about $3000 for my car.
My goal is to pay all of this off THIS YEAR!!!! And I NEED TO GET A NEW VEHICLE!!!
I did a budget and if I can save about $12,000. I can have all of this paid off and I can get me a new car. But, it's gonna take some serious saving, like $1000 a month. I believe I can do that!!!
Friday, February 17, 2012
So Close
BB has been calling my references. She's gotten ahold of all except one. She called me today and I was afraid to answer the phone. I didn't want to hear a rejection, so I let it go to vmail. I later checked and it was BB asking me to contact my last reference to have her call.
But......
Maybe my reference doesn't want to give me a good reference. Maybe she can't speak well of me....Maybe, maybe, maybe....I've used her as a reference before and she spoke well, but maybe, maybe, maybe....
Monday, February 13, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Million Dollar Questions
I forgot about this question during the interview:
What would you do if you had a million dollars?
My first answer was, "I'd pay my student loans." Then I said that I would give some money to my church, start a scholarship and give some money away and make sure that I'm set up for retirement.
I've thought about that a lot...."If only I had $50,000 or $100,000, what would I do...."
You think about money a lot when you are homeless and broke. You think of playing the lottery and hitting it big, how your like will change and what you can do with all that money. I understand how a person can get rich and then lose it all. I understand how a celebrity or an athlete can have millions of dollars and end up penniless. I understand it because you have to be mature with money. You can't just spend. You have to be wise!! You also have to be disciplined. You can't just spend your money on everything!!! I understand that now. And it's easier said than done!!! I've read how the Great Depression caused people to be very frugal and a lot of the older people who went through those times when they were younger learned discipline. I'm wondering if our recession is doing that for people. I know it's helping me. Yes, I still buy stuff, but I'm more conscience. I still have not paid my car note, but that's only because I needed get my brakes fixed, but I'm conscious of my money. Anyway, my references were checked today. I'm happy!! I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not. My references were for the job at the university and I was not hired. So, I'm happy, but still cautious. THANK GOD!!
What would you do if you had a million dollars?
My first answer was, "I'd pay my student loans." Then I said that I would give some money to my church, start a scholarship and give some money away and make sure that I'm set up for retirement.
I've thought about that a lot...."If only I had $50,000 or $100,000, what would I do...."
You think about money a lot when you are homeless and broke. You think of playing the lottery and hitting it big, how your like will change and what you can do with all that money. I understand how a person can get rich and then lose it all. I understand how a celebrity or an athlete can have millions of dollars and end up penniless. I understand it because you have to be mature with money. You can't just spend. You have to be wise!! You also have to be disciplined. You can't just spend your money on everything!!! I understand that now. And it's easier said than done!!! I've read how the Great Depression caused people to be very frugal and a lot of the older people who went through those times when they were younger learned discipline. I'm wondering if our recession is doing that for people. I know it's helping me. Yes, I still buy stuff, but I'm more conscience. I still have not paid my car note, but that's only because I needed get my brakes fixed, but I'm conscious of my money. Anyway, my references were checked today. I'm happy!! I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not. My references were for the job at the university and I was not hired. So, I'm happy, but still cautious. THANK GOD!!
How did you prepare for this interview
I had my second interview at the MCHD on yesterday. Thank God my "interview suit" was fresh out of the cleaners, my nails were done and my hair was flat ironed and pulled to the back.
1. How did you feel about being asked to come in for a second interview? That was my first questions. I told them (BB and JA) I was excited, but I didn't feign too much excitement because I've been on quite a few interviews to no avail this last year or so.
2. How did you prepare for this interview? That was the second question. I told them that I didn't do any preparations as it relates to practicing interview questions because I used to do that when I was younger. However, I did tell her that I was thinking about all of the stuff that I could have said during the previous interview. Which of course I didn't not write down and had not remembered at that point.
3. Sell me this bottle. That's always a fun questions. She gave me a water bottle and told me to sell it to her. I stumbled a little over my words, but I think I sold it to her as a product that was good for the earth and it was stylish because it had a design on it and it had a clip that you could clip it to a backpack.
4. Sell me this pencil (it was broken). I sold that as a tool to keep my hair up. I said that at the gym the other day the rubber band on my hair popped, but if I had that handy pencil I would have used it to pin my hair up so it wouldn't be flopping all over my head in the gym. I then told them that since it was broken, it was really cheap.
The last part of the interview questions were related to scenarios. What would I do if a media person ask med about the rate of high blood pressure in the county? What would I say is there was a blizzard and I was asked how many people would b without power? What would I say to a person who stated that they don't have need to services of the health department? What would I say to a person who said they earned too much income to use the services at the health department? This stumped me. I had to think about what I would say and I ended up talking about the testing for lead paint and swimming pools.
After the questions, we were excused to finalize the interview with me proof reading a press release. There were a ton of grammatical errors, but there were also mistakes in the language used. For example, the press release was for assistance with breaking the habit of smoking. There was mention about distractor ideas, which sounded weird, and I found out that it should have been distractor methods. After proof reading the press release, I had to critique a video from the Illinois Department of Public Health. It was a "okay" video. It was a little cheesy, but it provided a solid message. There was a variety of people with different ages, but there were no minorities. It was a good interview for IDPH. It looked cheap, but I'm sure that was their budget.
To finalize everything I was asked to complete that application because they needed my signature to be able to check my references and past employers. Overall it was a good interview. I really do need the job because I found out that my unemployment would end in March.
Father God, I pray that your will be done and I pray that I find favor because I NEED TO PAY MY CAR OFF and I NEED TO BECOME MORE STABLE IN MY FINANCES!!!
1. How did you feel about being asked to come in for a second interview? That was my first questions. I told them (BB and JA) I was excited, but I didn't feign too much excitement because I've been on quite a few interviews to no avail this last year or so.
2. How did you prepare for this interview? That was the second question. I told them that I didn't do any preparations as it relates to practicing interview questions because I used to do that when I was younger. However, I did tell her that I was thinking about all of the stuff that I could have said during the previous interview. Which of course I didn't not write down and had not remembered at that point.
3. Sell me this bottle. That's always a fun questions. She gave me a water bottle and told me to sell it to her. I stumbled a little over my words, but I think I sold it to her as a product that was good for the earth and it was stylish because it had a design on it and it had a clip that you could clip it to a backpack.
4. Sell me this pencil (it was broken). I sold that as a tool to keep my hair up. I said that at the gym the other day the rubber band on my hair popped, but if I had that handy pencil I would have used it to pin my hair up so it wouldn't be flopping all over my head in the gym. I then told them that since it was broken, it was really cheap.
The last part of the interview questions were related to scenarios. What would I do if a media person ask med about the rate of high blood pressure in the county? What would I say is there was a blizzard and I was asked how many people would b without power? What would I say to a person who stated that they don't have need to services of the health department? What would I say to a person who said they earned too much income to use the services at the health department? This stumped me. I had to think about what I would say and I ended up talking about the testing for lead paint and swimming pools.
After the questions, we were excused to finalize the interview with me proof reading a press release. There were a ton of grammatical errors, but there were also mistakes in the language used. For example, the press release was for assistance with breaking the habit of smoking. There was mention about distractor ideas, which sounded weird, and I found out that it should have been distractor methods. After proof reading the press release, I had to critique a video from the Illinois Department of Public Health. It was a "okay" video. It was a little cheesy, but it provided a solid message. There was a variety of people with different ages, but there were no minorities. It was a good interview for IDPH. It looked cheap, but I'm sure that was their budget.
To finalize everything I was asked to complete that application because they needed my signature to be able to check my references and past employers. Overall it was a good interview. I really do need the job because I found out that my unemployment would end in March.
Father God, I pray that your will be done and I pray that I find favor because I NEED TO PAY MY CAR OFF and I NEED TO BECOME MORE STABLE IN MY FINANCES!!!
Monday, February 6, 2012
This is only a test
I've decided to fast the first 7 days of each month this year. I need to move from my spiritual deadness. So, I started my fast on Feb 1. On yesterday I went to the gym and walked into the class to see Magicfingers. He's a guy that I dated about 5-6 years ago. Actually, we really didn't date, we just had an one night stand that lasted almost a year.
Well, I heard he was married, which didn't bother me, but sure enough he was in MY workout class with his wife. Well, I didn't know if she was his wife, I just suspected that she was. She was a pretty asian looking woman. I didn't want to stare too much, but I did want to see what she looked like, but I couldn't without him noticing. So, I ignored them during the class and finished my workout.
I was a little ....(I don't know the word) when I showed up to MY work out class today and I saw her again sans him the next day. I kind of got a look at her and noticed that we kind of favor with the exception that my skin is dark, but I kind of look like I have asian features. Especially since my hair is straightened.
Growing up, I used to get made fun of because my of my eyes and flat face. To keep myself from feeling bad I just told people that my dad was asian. I was lying, but it made me feel better about me. If my dad was asian I had an excuse to have "tight eyes" or "slanted eyes". People used to make fun by taking their fingers and drawing their eyes closed to mock me.
Well, anyway, I can see how he "dated" me and now married her. We even have similar body types with the exception of my boobies. I know it's crazy comparing myself to her, but all during class, I kept sneaking peeks at her. I want to see what she looked like. I wanted to see why he married her, but we rarely went out in public together. It really doesn't matter.
Is it awkward??
YES, I wish they would pick another gym because I WAS HERE FIRST, but it is what it is and I won't let it bother me. Sometimes I feel like speaking to him just to let him know that I'm not bothered, but I don't want her to have to ask him who I am. I guess it's just easier pretending that we don't know each other, despite the fact that we "know" each other very well or we "knew" each other very well......I guess this is my test to see if I'm over him and I AM. THANK GOD because if not, I'm not sure if I would have been able to be in the same room with him if I wan't.
BTW, Magicfingers is Coach's brother. I KNOW!!!! I'm pretty ashamed!!! But, God has forgiven and I have forgiven myself!!!
Well, I heard he was married, which didn't bother me, but sure enough he was in MY workout class with his wife. Well, I didn't know if she was his wife, I just suspected that she was. She was a pretty asian looking woman. I didn't want to stare too much, but I did want to see what she looked like, but I couldn't without him noticing. So, I ignored them during the class and finished my workout.
I was a little ....(I don't know the word) when I showed up to MY work out class today and I saw her again sans him the next day. I kind of got a look at her and noticed that we kind of favor with the exception that my skin is dark, but I kind of look like I have asian features. Especially since my hair is straightened.
Growing up, I used to get made fun of because my of my eyes and flat face. To keep myself from feeling bad I just told people that my dad was asian. I was lying, but it made me feel better about me. If my dad was asian I had an excuse to have "tight eyes" or "slanted eyes". People used to make fun by taking their fingers and drawing their eyes closed to mock me.
Well, anyway, I can see how he "dated" me and now married her. We even have similar body types with the exception of my boobies. I know it's crazy comparing myself to her, but all during class, I kept sneaking peeks at her. I want to see what she looked like. I wanted to see why he married her, but we rarely went out in public together. It really doesn't matter.
Is it awkward??
YES, I wish they would pick another gym because I WAS HERE FIRST, but it is what it is and I won't let it bother me. Sometimes I feel like speaking to him just to let him know that I'm not bothered, but I don't want her to have to ask him who I am. I guess it's just easier pretending that we don't know each other, despite the fact that we "know" each other very well or we "knew" each other very well......I guess this is my test to see if I'm over him and I AM. THANK GOD because if not, I'm not sure if I would have been able to be in the same room with him if I wan't.
BTW, Magicfingers is Coach's brother. I KNOW!!!! I'm pretty ashamed!!! But, God has forgiven and I have forgiven myself!!!
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