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.

More Health Details Than You Ever Wanted

Yesterday I took the day off work. Because I had a headache. Again.

And it pissed me off.

I finally hit my breaking point with all the migraines and stress headaches I have been suffering through lately. When I woke up yesterday morning with ANOTHER headache this month, I was angry. I called my doctor and made an appointment and then I drove for almost an hour to get there because my Primary Care Physician is 45 miles away and knows my history with headaches. If I had gone to see anyone else, they would have assumed that I was a drug seeking lunatic. Which I kind of was, admittedly. But dammit. I am so over this headache bullshit that is my life.

But the doctor told me to try 400 mg of Magnesium-0xide, once a day. Which I will. And he gave me a prescription for Lortab as well, for pain, to take as needed. Well, I took half of one this morning about 930 and another half at 1230. And they make me itchy. I feel like I have fleas. And the magnesium pills are making my stomach upset. And the vomiting. I don't know which one is responsible for that, but I am not a happy camper right now.

AND it's review day at work. Our yearly reviews are today, which no one told me about ahead of time. I came into work because I cannot afford to take another day off, ate my pills and was told that reviews begin at 230 pm. OH MY LORD. This is going to be the most awkward and uncomfortable review session for both me and my reviewer. I'm scratching like a junkie/fiend and I can barely sit still because I feel like vomiting every 3 minutes. Plus I'm pretty sure I'm about to start menstruating any second now.

But yesterday, despite going to the doctor and feeling like hell, was a good day overall.

I got an oil change for free. Well, my uncle did my oil change. All I had to buy was the oil & filter. I also picked up an air filter for my car since I needed one. I spent less than the cost of an oil change at a Jiffy Lube or Midas.
Total: 26.00

I got a free pedicure too. Which was awesome. My sister is a licensed manicurist and she gave me a pedicure for Christmas, which I hadn't redeemed yet. Since I was in town yesterday with some time to kill, waiting on prescriptions to be filled, I took advantage of that.
Total: 2.00 (I bought her cheap-o burger lunch)

Gas to drive there and back. I needed to fill up anyway.
Total 31.00

Also did laundry at my mom's house. While we waited on the oil change to happen.
Total: Free

Called my credit card settlement company today to make my monthly payment. Found out that the minimum they will settle for is right around 3200 total. I can try to save this up in the next few months and be finished with them completely. This would make me happy.

But until then, I think I'm going to throw up some more.

Stupid Things I've Done This Week

Well, since I don't really have any fiscal or financial updates to talk about AND I haven't read a book in far too long, I'm going to tell you all about the many stupid things I've managed to do this week. And they are quite dumb, I'm not going to lie.

Stupid Thing #1: Not eating breakfast before the dentist.

I had a dentist appointment scheduled for 9 am on Monday to get the first of my fillings. Not a big deal normally, but when you do not eat breakfast before the dentist and they give you a lidocaine injection, it might does not end well. What should have been a 20 minute procedure took almost an hour due to me breaking out in hives and almost passing out in the dental chair. Both the tech and the dentist were a little freaked out by how quickly I blotched up and got dizzy. They made me lean back with the little alien oxygen nose mask on for what felt like forever. I finally felt better and about the time for the fillings to be completed, I started almost having a panic attack. I could not breathe and started getting dizzy again. This is a very awkward feeling when there are two peoples hands in your mouth and it's full of cotton balls. They were finally able to finish the first two of my five fillings and I sat in the chair for another 10 minutes waiting for the wobbly woozy feelings to pass. Then I paid my bill and drove myself home. STUPID. I should have made someone come get me. I made it home okay, but it was not a good idea, at all.

Stupid Thing #2: Lost my lip balm.

This actually occurred earlier in the week than the dentist, but I didn't find out until I got home from the dentist. I lost my Burt's Bees lip balm at some point over the weekend. I think I may have left it sitting on my desk at work, where the night cleaners probably found it and then threw it away. This is not a big deal, I know, but it's still almost 3.00 worth of lip balm that I just lost. This irritates me. One tube of that stuff lasts me several months and it's not cheap. Ugh. Good thing I bought the four pack last month. Now only three left to go.

Stupid Thing #3: Ordered AT&T U-verse internet package.

I don't have internet at home. I have been "borrowing" it from a neighbor, (or the bar across the street, I'm honestly not quite sure), for quite some time. Well, this connection is no longer available and it has made me sad beyond belief. This is because I have managed to become a TV junkie this year. I watch about three shows regularly and will watch about a dozen more if given the chance. The Walking Dead is the TV show I would watch if I was trapped on a desert island and could only watch one show. I am fine with not watching something the very day it comes out, but I need to watch it within the next day or two; otherwise, the office chatter will ruin it for me. Plus, The Walking Dead is awesome. And I think I have a secret crush on Shane. He is my favorite. I also watch Grimm. This show has quite a few people from the Buffy-verse attached to it, namely David Greenwalt. I loved Buffy and I love this show. I also started my MA in English with an emphasis on children's literature quite some time ago, which I WILL finish someday, so this show is right up my proverbial TV alley.

And while I am proclaiming all the greatness of the TV shows I have gotten myself addicted to, the downside of this new-found internet connection is that AT&T uses a proprietary modem, which they charge $100 for. This seems like a bit much for something that doesn't cost that much in the stores. AND I already own 2 modems. One for DSL (from about 800 years ago) and one for cable internet connection. Neither of these will work, apparently. So, they get my $100 for another modem to add to my collection. But the internet itself is only $20 a month and it will be included with my cell phone bill. This will put my total AT&T monthly charges somewhere around $110 including taxes and fees. I can handle that. I may regret this decision in the near future when gas prices rise above 4.00/gal, but right now I am okay with it.