Broken eggs...

Budgeting sucks. I planned for $125.00 in my budget that has not come through and will not be coming through for any foreseeable time period. This, in addition to me quiting my second job, has put me into a bind. Money for July is going to be very very very tight.

Lesson Learned: Only count on money you have in your hand...or in the bank.

Er'body and their mother's cousin's dog toto wants my money.

This is definitely how I am feeling right now.

The day began well enough...I got up, fairly late in the morning, completed my m.y.s.t.e.r.y shops for the day (this was a very good day and I completed about seven shops, in tow hours, for approximately $125.00) and arrived to work shortly thereafter. I could not have been at work more than five minutes when my cell phone starts ringing. I hear, "Please hold for an important call from AES." I proceed to hold and am finally connected to a gentleman who reminds me that my loans are entering their repayment period. He then ask if I am going to be able to make the payment for this month. I told him that I made a payment last month (it was only interest) and I was aware that the loans were leaving the grace period and I was prepared to make the payment. He wanted to continue talking to me about a reduction in my interest rates (read: .25%) if I decided to enroll in ach. I told him no thank you and hung up the phone (now that I am getting my ish together, I like to be in control of my money). I then proceeded to log in online to my AES account, as I did not believe that they came out of grace until August and didn't know what my payment amount would be. After logging I was shocked to find out that my payment was for $375.00 and was due on the 22nd of July. As in NINETEEN days from now, and the day after I have to pay the federal gub'ment $132.00 for my federal student loans.

I immediately broke out into a cold sweat and began trying to crunch the numbers in my head to see if this was going to be possible. While crunching the numbers I decided to log into my e-mail account and was greeted with a message from the house where I lived this past spring. Apparently, there was a mistake in the bursar billing and the charges were reversed. They wanted to know my current mailing address so they could send me a bill; the bill will be to the tune of $6000.00! I also had notice from my soon to be Alma matter letting me know that my grace period for them had also ended and that I owed them $60.00 ever month beginning on August 1st.

At this point, my head was spinning, I felt faint and I had to sit down.

This lasted for all about five minutes before the wheels began to turn, I got out my calculator and my calendar and started crunching the numbers again.

Since I want to aggressively pay off the student loans anyway, I will (Lord willing) continue to make the payments on all of the student loans, in full, for July and August. In September, when I am registered as a full time student again, I will defer all of my loans, still continuing to pay the $60 I owe my University in full, the $131.00 I owe the gub'ment in full and as much as possible on the AES balance. (There is something that my change this plan of repayment, as my gub'ment loans may be paid off very shortly, however, I will discuss this possibility in a later post.) The AES balance will continue to be paid after the Rank of America balance as paying off my dwindling credit card debt remains my top priority.

2008 New Year's Resolutions

2008 New Year’s Goals

1) Lose 70lbs. and become more physically fit.
a) Exercise five times a week

2) Eliminate all credit card debt!
a) Pay off Rank of America Card
b) Pay off Shi*ti Card
c) After Shi*ti Card is paid off, use monthly payment towards Rank of America Card

3) Become more financially knowledgeable.
a) Take a seminar on tax preparation.
b) Meet with a financial planner.

4) Graduate with a 3.0+ GPA.
a) Complete work and arrange for any/all grade changes
b) BUST YO ASS!
c) Meet with Dean _____ and figure out what exactly is needed to graduate

5) Become more frugal!

6) Organize finances!
a) Open a High Yield Savings Account.
b) Deposit $50.00 a month until the end of undergrad and $100.00 every month thereafter.
c) Create a spreadsheet to track finances.

7) Stop procrastinating!

8) Get an entry level job and volley for first promotion!

9) Repair, Establish & Maintain GOOD credit.
a) Follow up with collections agency.
b) Get a credit card and begin a good relationship paying of balance in full at the end of the month.

10) Find a church and rededicated myself to living a better life.

____________________________________________________________________

In my next post I will reevaluate my New Year's Resolutions and the progress/changes that have been made toward each goal.

"Well, I prefer to work for white men."

Recently, while having a conversation with a friend she mentions that she preferred to work for white me. She expressed that she felt that they worked the hardest and were the easiest to get a long with. At first I didn't really say anything except, "Umm...okay." After I changed the conversation to something else she eventually came back to this topic and continued to press the issue. When I finally gave in, I explained why I felt that the development of stereotypes, like the statement she had made, had the potential to be incredibly disadvantageous to women and minorities. That her statement reflected her feelings not just towards white men, but particular groups of white men and how the fragmentation helped to reinforce particular types of work cultures. Her eyes glazed over after the last bit and I again changed the conversation to Eyrka Badu's new album.

In retrospect, I guess what bothered me most about this conversation is that it was coming from a very hard working black woman. My friend bust her ass every day to earn the respect of both her co-works and colleagues and I guess I find it very hard to understand how someone who works so hard to combat stereotypes is so increasingly complicit in their re entrenchment.

In thought,
BEN

"It's okay, you're done." WTF?

So today, after my first job, I rode my bicycle back to my summer sublet, got in my car and drove to my second job. If you remember from this post, I had recently put in my two weeks notice. During weekdays, my second job starts at five and my first job ends at five; this is something my second employer has been aware of since I was hired. So today when I arrived to work, at around 5:30pm I was walked directly to the time clock and tried to log in. The machine read: employee ID not found. I tried again twice on two different screens. My boss then walks out of his office and the conversation something like this:

Boss Man: Oh. I didn't know whether your were coming in so I got ________ to cover your shift.
BEN: *looking slightly confused* "Oh, okay. I tried logging in and it said my employee ID didn't work."
Boss Man: *looks slightly confused* Oh, well that's strange. Actually...you're good.
BEN: Um, like permanently?
Boss Man: Yeah. You're good.
BEN: Okay. *walks out*

The first thing that I thought about as the door knob hit my narrow ass on the way out was, "Damn, I am gonna miss those last two paychecks." I then became slightly elated because I had began to dread going to work each day. However, somewhere in the twenty minutes it took me to get home I became irrationally angry. Even as I type this I am still confused about where this anger came from. Perhaps it was because I didn't like the fact that my dependability had somehow been put into question. I ALWAYS showed up. And I worked hard, damn it. *shrugs* All I know at this point is that the money that I will make from m.y.s.t.e.r.y s.h.o.p.p.i.n.g this week, which was supposed to be a bonus payment on my Rank of America Card, will now go to my checking account to help cover the cost of my attendance at my Sorority's National Convention.

8:54 PM Update: The money will come from somewhere. Now and between my Sorority's National Convention in three weeks I will make $300.00 in addition to the paycheck from my first job. I don't know where it's going to come from, but I am going to get it. *starts singing the hook to Fidy's I Get Money*

In thought and hustle,
BEN