My Student Loans, A Neverending Story.

This is another one of those things that I really just need to "man-up" and deal with. My student loans.

I am one of the far-too-many Americans who are currently underemployed. I make a pithy amount of money. Terribly small considering the degree and amount of education I have. I hold two Bachelor's of Arts degrees in English and Anthropology and started my Master's of Arts degree in English a few years ago. Yes, I did drop out of the MA program, but it was simply to spare myself the oncoming mental breakdown that I saw myself crashing into. It was for the greater good of everyone in my life, really. And at that point, I had eradicated so many people that I probably should have just stuck it out and been friendless and alone with an MA.

As good as that sounds now, considering I am friendless and alone WITHOUT an MA, I think the impending mental breakdown would have been too much for me. But, the reality is this, I am edumacated. I have gottens my schooling. And for what, really?

I work as a receptionist at a national brokerage. This in no way fits my highly liberal arts education of English and Anthropology. I make way less money than the average college/university graduate does. The qualifications for my job only require that you be a high school graduate with reception experience. I could have gotten this job at 19. And yet, here I sit, at 27 with 2 college degrees. This seems wrong. And probably is. Thanks American recession!

The real point of this post, and I'm posting a lot today, is that my student loans are due. They actually WERE due 3 months ago. I had them in forbearance last year since I didn't make any money the year before. I didn't make 10,000 total in 2010. It was much less than that. Last year, my finances were only double what I made the year before, and the total was still less than 20,000 gross.

Well apparently, I am 1000 past due to one of my student loan lenders. At this point, I have 3. I know, it is my job to keep up with exactly when my student loans are due and take care of them accordingly, but dammit, I am a normal American. I forget things like this when I haven't paid them for over a year. And yes, I should have been paying at least something towards them, to knock the interest down a bit, but I have not had the extra money. And maybe I have. I don't know. I'm terrible with finances. That is one of my goals this year. To get a better handle on these little fiscal responsibilities.

I scheduled a payment of 100.00 to go through on the 18th, which serves to eradicate the 1000 I'm overdue and put my account into forbearance, once again, until March 2013. I need to start auto-paying 50.00 a month to this lender at least. It'll help get the principal down while the government (wonderful entity that they are) is paying my interest.

And I need to stop spending so much money on useless trinkets and booze. I feel like this has become my life. And books. I also like books.

New Budget Update/Crisis

Well, I have blown my budget for the month of March, which puts me at having ZERO money until my next payday. Which sucks. A Lot.

I guess I should also take into consideration the fact that I went to St. Louis last month, on my fake spring break. Where I spent a lot of money. Hotels aren't cheap. Neither are t-shirts, restaurants, or zoo memorabilia. This may be what did me in, but I'm still struggling with my budget as is.

So, it's budget reevaluation time!

The Old Amounts:

Rent: 585 (This is non-negotiable, but does include my water bill.)

Electricity: 100 (I budget a little high for the winter b/c I get cold easily.)

Mobile Phone: 90 (This is also sort of non-negotiable. I pay for an iPhone with unlimited data. This is how much it is per month with taxes.)

Groceries: 100

Fast Food: 20

Restaurants: 50

Renter's Insurance: 25

Gas & Auto: 150

Savings: 100 (I auto-draft 50 every pay period, which is every 2 weeks. This averages out to twice a month, most months.)

Total: 1220

The New Amounts:

Rent: 585 (Non-negotiable.)

Utilities: 175 (This now includes my electricity as well as my mobile PLUS the internet I just got for my house from AT&T.)

Food: 200 (This now includes ALL consumables including alcohol. If I buy more groceries I won't eat at fast food so much. This seems logical. It's worth a try.)

Renter's Insurance: 25. (Non-negotiable)

Gas & Auto: 200 (With gas prices rising the way they have been, this line needs to reflect that a little better.)

Savings: 150 (I want to start contributing more to my emergency fund. 25 dollars extra every pay period would go a long way and I wouldn't really notice it missing, honestly.)

New Total: 1310

I'm only raising my budget by 90 total and of that 50 more is going into savings. Let's see if this works. I'm starting fresh on April 13. Whatever is left in my checking account as of then is getting pushed over to my savings.

I'm also in the market for a new job too. But that's a post for another day.

No Food February

I almost forgot to mention the most important thing I have decided to do with my finances (and health) this month.

NO FOOD FEBRUARY!

No. I will not be starving myself this month. I guess I should retitle it. "No FAST Food February." Here's the plan: What I will be doing is buying more groceries and less fast food/delivery food. I spent entirely too much money last month on things like Chinese, pizza, and sandwiches from the cafe at work; that it's nauseating to think about.

[Image from here.]
I haven't decided if I should include alcohol in this spending ban or not. I typically only buy 1 bottle of liquor at a time, a bottle of Jack Daniels. Said bottle usually lasts a month. Sometimes I'll splurge on beer, something along the lines of a 6-pack of nut brown ale from Blackstone Brewery, it's literally across the street from the building I work in. It's a good beer and fairly inexpensive, in my beer snob eyes. Okay, it's 10.00 for a 6-pack, I'll be honest. Not PBR cheap, but I can't do that to myself. I have standards, even if I also have a budget. Plus my beer snobbery keeps me from drinking tons of the cheap stuff and gaining a beer belly. This is how I stay trim. By drinking not-cheap beer. There's logic in there somewhere. I know it.

But, this is my plan. No fast food/delivery food. I just want to see how much money I can save by making my own food and taking it to work as lunches. This is my biggest weakness, eating out every day at work. It's terrible. But if last month's finances are any indication of what I could potentially save by NOT spending excess money on food, I'll have about half my emergency fund saved in a little under 3 months. That's awesome (and sad that I didn't realize that before now.)