Struggling to be debt free

  I did not get the non-litigation position that I applied for a few months ago. I just found out on Thursday.  It was not unexpected and was definitely a long shot from the beginning.  There a few more non-litigation positions that I will apply for, hopefully, tomorrow.  I just want to stay in the same salary range, $140k to $160k.  My job is entirely too stressful, and it affects my mental health.  I have tried anti-anxiety and antidepressants and they do not seem to help very much. I'll keep pushing along and find the right fit for me.  

In addition to paying off my sister's $3,000+ furniture bill, the new HVAC (which works great by the way)I have paid about $800 for a crown because I cracked a tooth.  Oh, I also had a super expensive car repair as well! Yes, I have paid out over $15,000 in cash over just a couple of months. Thank GOD I paid off all of my debt (other than my mortgage) because otherwise I just would not have been able to cash flow any of this stuff.  When it rains, it pours.  So of course, now I have to replace all of the money that I have spent. Which means I will not meet my retirement savings goal for this year.  Or really any other money related goal for the year.  My plan is to stop my retirement contributions (I still had about $3,964 left to contribute for the year) and stop paying extra (approximately $500) on the mortgage.  All of the extra money I can muster will go towards recouping the cash that I have spent.  I think, generally, I would not stop ...

Yesterday was International Women's Day.  On twitter I read several threads about women lawyers dealing with inappropriate male bosses, yet overcoming their situations and continuing on into their legal careers. I thought these stories were inspiring and many were shared by very strong women.  These women were no shrinking violets, but they were overwhelmed with the situations that they found themselves in. I thought I would share my experiences here. When I first started practicing law, I worked for an older man (somewhere around 50).  He previously had been an entertainment lawyer in Miami, Florida.  I don't even know how to describe this man.  He was scum. We worked in an area of the law dominated by women.  Most of our state contacts were women. He hit on women that he was attracted to, yet he was married with a kid.  He was probably more than twice the age of the women (just fresh out of college) that he was hitting on.  One girl repor...

Hi Everyone, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  I am still on vacation and enjoying my time off.  I hope to be able to get back to reading and commenting on my favorite blogs soon.  (For some reason the comments from my phone will not post??)  I just wanted to pop in very quickly and post about my raise. My boss called me on the second day of my vacation to let me know that I am getting a raise starting January 1, 2019.  My salary will now be $90,000 (up from $85,850)  I received my last raise in August of 2017 ($80,850 to $85,850) so I am pleased about the increase in income.  Based on the online calculators, I should receive an extra $118 per paycheck (an increase of $236 per month).  I need to figure out what I want to do with the increase in income for the 2019 year.  Probably a combination of mortgage pay down and savings. 

I had an epiphany the other day about work (i actually had 2, but will only write about one for today's post).  My boss likes to incite controversy.  He deliberately takes jabs at his assistant and uses me as the stick.  Over the years that I have worked at this firm, he and his assistant have developed a very close relationship.  Uncomfortably, close.  Apparently, that is normal for him as he had the same relationship with his previous assistant.  His current assistant has stated that she feels like his girlfriend and his mother.  For some reason, however, he likes to try to incite jealousy in his assistant.  For example,  a few weeks ago, My boss told me that we needed to talk about a comprehensive listing of defenses for each type of case that we defend.  I went ahead and prepared a memo listing everything I could think of so as to not to waste time.  I left a copy on my boss's desk for him to review.  Well, the next da...

I probably shouldn't post this, but I am planning to ask my boss for a raise.  Yes, I know that I received a raise a year ago.  No, I'm not being greedy.  Here's the back story: my boss is actively seeking to take on a new client (A company) with a diverse, widespread and large book of business. The company has cases throughout the State.  I have been supportive in assisting him with obtaining this client. He definitely needs to build his brand.   I helped him to submit a proposal, informational paperwork and encouraged him to attend meet and greets with the company big wigs so that he would be awarded the contract. Now, it looks like he pretty much has the contract.  He has intimated that he wants me to run this project. Undoubtedly, if he secures this contract I will have an even larger work load.  I'm already busy.  I think it's only fair if I am compensated with a raise.  I'm trying to think of a fair compensation arrangement, but...

So I got contacted by a legal recruiter head hunter on Friday.  It was out of the blue and I'm not sure how my name came across her desk.  I didn't have much time to speak with her because I had a conference call to jump on within minutes of her call. She said she did not have much information about me because our firm does not have a website.  She asked me to send her my resume and whether I was interested in looking at new opportunities.  I told her I would send her my resume and that I was interested in new opportunities.  I got her email address and confirmed her name.  A few hours later I googled her to see if she was legit and apparently she and her agency are legit.  I don't know how this works and I guess I should get some information before I move too quickly into engaging with her.  How do these headhunters make money? Shoot, maybe I should look into a career as a headhunter.  I wonder how much they make??? Every time I meet with ...

Things at work are just terrible right now.  My boss is a liar (ha ha, I know all attorneys are liars) and because of his lies he is causing problems in the office. He is making life miserable for me.  I just want to find a new job.   I'll admit I kind of slacked off (totally slacked off) with regard to my job search.  The job market here is so tough, it's hard to find anything to apply for.  I can't seem to find any positions for which I am qualified that are decent paying jobs.  I feel stuck and I hate feeling stuck.  I am going to re-up my job search.  I might even start attending the bar meetings with the hope that I'll make a connection for a new job. 

My crazy boss has me so stressed that I am actually entertaining the thought of changing careers.  He has officially ruined my chance of getting a job offer from the company I interviewed with and he continues to behave in a counterproductive manner.  Sigh. I am VERY frustrated.   I still have student loan debt- so I'd like to pay that off and save up some money before heading back to school to seek a career change.  I have always liked math and science. I don't know what else I can do that will produce a comfortable living- so I am thinking a new career.  Any ideas?  What's a good career other than being a lawyer? I need a plan because every Sunday night I feel like stepping out into the middle of traffic. I need something that I can take classes for online, at night.  I was talking with a friend on Friday night  (also a lawyer) and she told me that she would also like to change careers due to the deep dissatisfaction that she feels with...

Yesterday I mailed off a shiny brand new resume for yet another local law firm.  Whew, the stress of preparing cover letters, selecting writing samples, etc is crazy.  Also, I heard from one of my references and the company that I interviewed with Monday (or whatever day it was--this week has been a blur) is conducting reference checks.  Hopefully, I will be offered a second interview and then finally the position!   Okay, I've already changed to my May 1-15 budget to the following $1,480 mortgage $200 student loan $167 garden stuff $60 pet plan $90 groceries $217 spending $100 gas $100 savings I really want to get some yard work done so I decided to include a line item in my budget for it.  I hate not paying as much as I wanted to on my student loans, but I need a project to work on to keep me going.

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!

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 b...