Wow, am I in a better place than I was 5 years ago. As of August 1st, my mortgage goes down to $1044, compared to $1900 in 2004. My kids are old enough to stay home alone during the summer, saving me $500 a month in day care. If I was still paying those other things, with the price of gas being what it is and the increase in the cost of groceries since 2004, I don't know how I'd be making it.

Then again, we've added luxuries.. new car payment, digital cable with many premium channels and DVR, cell phones for the kids. But, I do recognize they are luxuries and if things got bad, I could cut those expenses. And, now I'll be adding about $4000 a year tuition/fees when I start grad school, over and above the $3000 my employer will pay me in tuition reimbursement (but which I DO have to pay upfront). I feel quite lucky to be in a better spot now than 5 years ago!

Bitch*bitch *moan*moan* blah

Pull your pants up and get a job. You won't find a job standing on the corner bustin rhymes and talking on your cell.

PS. Pick up the garbage in front of your house.

Funny how quickly everything changes. My ex lost his job so I'm giving him back his child support every month. Additionally, I'm paying for everything for the kids. I think some of those luxuries are going to have to go if this keeps up for long. I've told the kids that they may get IOUs for Christmas this year and get their real gifts when I get my tax refund :(

I have $15.95 until further notice. $3 of that has to go toward a math placement test sometime between now and November 16th, which I have to borrow someone's calculator for. Hopefully I'll win my appeal with Unemployment on Thursday or I'm doubly screwed in owing them $680.

On the bright side, I have money coming from my grandma and a maybe some from my dad. Still, it sucks not having enough to take a girl out for a nice dinner or Starbucks.

Being a poor college kid sucks.

ETA: Bookstores need to abandon this idiotic policy of "we only do buybacks during finals." This textbook is absolutely unless, has been opened twice, has been PRE-APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY for 2009-2010 and can easily fetch me $20. Why make me wait another 3 weeks?

</rant>

I'm okay for now, but I'm definitely glad I'll start working again soon. Well for one, it's boring being unemployed!!! I'm turning in my applications for substitute teaching by the end of the week. Actually, I can turn some in on Wednesday afternoon as soon as I get my TB test results. Subs get paid about $100 to $120 per day, so I'm excited! I'm not sure how much work I'll be able to get, but that's a lot of money for me!

LOL i just tweted about this last night. My aunt swears Christmas should be in February, in time for tax season.

and yes, im broke. Im a VISTA member. broke is my middle name for the next 8 months. :(

My parents (bless them!) had set up a trust, instead of wills, so my brother & I will dodge federal inheritance taxes (44%), according to our attorney. We'll still have to pay the state taxes (4.5%), though.

On the downside, since we have a family business, just about everything is frozen for roughly another month. This may be another Christmas when I get very, very creative with gifts! :(

I have $6.00 in my wallet and about $20 on my card.

I'm getting a Little Brother this weekend and I need to pay for both my food and stuffs and his food and stuffs, plus the gas our driver spends, plus the tolls we'll be hitting on the way to Location X. Although it's my fault I'm in this sticky situation, it still blows.

Ugh, little brothers. I was in the same situation last semester and you don't want to be the disappointing poor big who doesn't do anything.

I can't wait until I can work next semester so I'm not in such dire straits - I'm pretty sure I only have one dollar and five hundred rubles (about 17 unusable dollars with current exchange rates) in cash at the moment :(

Just found out I probably won't be having christmas presents this year, either.

I always feel so awkward when people buy gifts for me and I can't afford to give them gifts in return (and yes, I know it's not about that, but it still blows).

Amen to that.

I second this 100%

The worst part that live-in had ordered and just received a Christmas present for me in the mail. I pulled it out of the box, on my way home from work, after being told that I was going from full-time to part-time, he took it and squirreled it away.

I wish I could get him something nice. :(

My dad is saving me on one front. He called tonight and wanted to know if we had a Wii. I told him yes. He said he wanted to get us a family gift this year and I told him that our main computer in the family room is getting really bad so a computer would be really helpful, a desktop, and we don't need a monitor if it's got a VGA video card. He said he'd get us one. That's one less thing for me to worry about figuring out how I would afford it.

My daughter called tonight from her dad's house. She needs $8 to pay for the solo & ensemble band competition TOMORROW. Pay day is Friday. I have $3 in my wallet and $12 in the bank. The ATM only gives money in $20 increments. How do I come up with $8? I told her to ask her dad and tell him I would pay him back. He had the cash, thank goodness.