Thursday, April 30, 2015

Budget May 1-15

$1,480 mortgage
$367 student loan
$60 pet plan
$90 groceries
$217 spending
$100 gas
$100 savings

I might change this around a bit- all of the travel of the last 2 months has stressed me financially.  I also have some dental expenses to pay for so I may need to put a little more money towards paying for those upcoming expenses.  I have to find a polite way to ask for the firm to hurry up and pay my travel vouchers. 

I still have not heard anything from my interview on Monday.  I imagine that the further away from the interview without any follow-up contact is not a good sign.  Oh well, I am still pushing ahead.  After I finish this post I have another resume to get out. 

Work is still tough.  My boss continues to take many days off at a time, which encourages his assistant to do so as well.  It's frustrating to me because they both get paid to not work.  Neither has any vacation time left or sick leave left, but they still get paid to be at home.  All the while, I can't get my travel vouchers paid within 30 days.  I'm so glad I don't depend on credit cards to cover my travel expenses. 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Interview #2, part 2

Interview #2 took place yesterday.  This company has a very low turnover rate, all of the employees seemed happy and the 3 attorneys that I interviewed with seem very nice and pleasant.  It seems very busy and the company does a lot of volunteer work.There are awesome benefits, sick leave, paid time off, retirement, health insurance, etc. 

My interview total was about 40 minutes. It seemed to go very well.  I lack experience in arbitration and I asked to be able to give 4 weeks notice to my current position.  I think those were the only 2 things which were blatantly concerning. I did not get a chance to discuss salary with them.  If I make it through this round, I will be invited back for a second interview.  Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed for me!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Interview #2

I have a job interview tomorrow afternoon.  Usually by now I would be stressing out about an interview, but for someone reason, today, I am not.  I am going to put together some interview packets with my resume and writing sample and hope for the best.  I have researched this company on the internet, but there's not much out there.  I plan to ask for a pretty high salary despite the benefits offered by this potential employer.  This company has a retirement plan with a match and I am super excited about the possibility of being able to start participating in retirement savings again.

However, I'm not super interested in this position, but after the last blow up with my boss I decided just to apply for the job because I am qualified for the position. It seems this position would be limited to labor and employment law and I like the idea of being able to practice in a variety of areas, so I won't be upset if I am not offered the position.

While I am expecting a lot of backlash once my boss finds out about this interview- I tend to think that he probably won't say a word to me. He typically avoids confrontation. 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

April 16-30 Budget

I'm so tired this morning.  I got back late last night from out of town and I will be working all weekend. I am definitely burning the candle at both ends.

Anyways, here is the 2 week budget. 

$190 utilities
$100 groceries
$100 savings
$1,560 student loan B (Paid in full!!)
$130 travel expenses
$33 alarm monitoring
$201 spending
$100 gas

I have around $19,600 left to pay off on student loan A.  I have a $10,000 emergency fund and around $2,800 in an online savings account. 

Friday, April 17, 2015

Student Loan B- Paid In full

Student loan B is PAID IN FULL!! I saved over $2000 in interest by paying the loan off early.  I signed onto my account this morning just to make sure that everything was applied properly and it was. 

All I have is one student loan left.  So now's the time to focus all of my energy on student loan A. I hope to have it paid off by early next year- so my goal is March of 2016.  However, my absolute deadline is to have it paid off by July of 2016- refuse to take any longer than that to get rid of this weight around my neck. 

Okay, just had to report that- off to make a 4 hour drive south for work!

Saturday, April 11, 2015

The Job Market

For some reason this Spring, the job market seems to have picked up a little bit.  There have been quite a few jobs posted lately.  Well, maybe not quite a few but a few more than usual. That being said I still have to parse out the jobs that I am qualified for so as not to waste my time or the potential employer's time.  I have applied for 2 jobs- 1 at a large regional law firm and 1 for the city I live in.  The city job has advertised the position since at least January, so apparently the city does not move quickly.  The large law firm began advertising at the beginning of March and the ad ran for a month.  I have not heard from either- but I'm still hoping for good news.

I decided not to apply for a job with a local college (general counsel's office) because I just did not like the idea of being around young college aged kids.  (Boy, did that sound old or what!!) I also decided not to apply for a job with a recovery company.  The company, I believe collects credit card debt.  Neither of those positions really interested me.  I have also declined to apply for any of the state government jobs that have been posted.  I worked for the state right out of law school and I really did not like the bureaucracy of state government (I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to apply for the city job).

The last category of jobs that I have encountered have been nonprofits. There is currently a nonprofit that is advertising a position.  I think I am going to apply.  I have never worked for a nonprofit company, but I think I would like to try.  I have asked around and my understanding is that nonprofits are very political and the legal department is often caught in the middle.  I like the idea of becoming more involved with the political aspect of the nonprofits mission and thus, only having to deal with a limited amount of the bureaucracy of government.

Wish me luck in the continuing job search!!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Checking In

Hi everyone, I'm just checking in today.  I don't really have anything important to post about right now.  Payday is next week so I can update debt payoff and budget planning then.

I did have to make some modifications to this current budget (April 1-15) due to a death in the family of a close friend. I took the money I had set aside for Easter and savings and had a basket of goodies sent to her. It does hurt a little not to put some money aside for savings for this budget period- but it was for a good cause. I hope it cheers her up.  Even without the extra money Easter was still fun-I spent it with my mother and sisters.  We dyed Easter eggs, did egg hunts, barbecued and had a great time on a beautiful sunny day. 

I know I'm not at the point of investing yet, but I have been spending a little bit of time looking at the different kinds of stocks to invest in. Specifically, I have been looking at dividend stocks.  I kind of like the idea of being paid to invest- even if it's not much.  I know I could be investing, but I really want to pay these student loans off, it will be 10 years that I have been paying on them come the end of this year.

That's all for now folks!

Friday, April 3, 2015

Ethical Dilemma, Part 2 and Updates.

So here's the update to the ethical dilemma.  I have again started applying for jobs- I have applied for 2 so far and I hope to apply to at least 1 more this weekend.  I'm probably only really qualified for one of the jobs, but I plan to just apply for anything and everything at this point.  I'm ready to leave this firm and a raise wouldn't hurt!  Here's hoping that I get interviews for any of these positions and then, ultimately, a job offer (for more money)!

It doesn't hurt that my boss and I are not getting along right now.  He tried to bring the partner from the central/south Florida office into the disagreement, but she sided with me.  I can't stand all this drama and he (my boss) is very dramatic. He has yet to address it directly with me.

On to the updates.  I earned $1.71 on my savings account last month! I have earned $4.65 so far this year.  I have a total of $2,807.37 in the account.  I know that's not much, but I would rather be earning something rather than nothing.  I've already earned more than half of what I earned last year!

With regard to debt- Student loan A is at $19,587.89 and Student loan B is at $1,555.17.  Student loan B should be paid off in 12 days! Gosh darnit, I am going to pay off that loan no matter what.  Well, at least I hope so. I really, really want to pay that loan off. As of January of this year I owed $3695.56 on Student loan B.  I have paid off $2,140.39 cents so far this year.  That only averages $713.46 a month.  Arghhh!!

Lastly, still no travel reimbursements yet.  I have spent over $900 on travel (For February and March) and I have yet to see a dime back from the firm.  This still bothers me. I have a few more trips for April and I doubt I will get paid before May.  I also will need a oil change in a few weeks.  I need the reimbursements to pay down on my student loans, replacement the money I used from my dental fund, replenish my travel fund and get my oil change on my vehicle. 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Where have I been??? Budget for April 1-15

$1,480 mortgage
$267 student loan
$33 alarm system
$50 savings
$60 cat plan
$90 groceries
$184 spending
$50 Easter
$100 gas
$100 lawn mower repair

Whew, this traveling has worn me out and my world is being neglected! Hopefully things will settle down in about 2 weeks.  Student loan B is down to $1,555.17 I hope to pay that off from my mid-April paycheck.  Then I can focus solely on Student loan A which is at approximately $19,587.89.