Money In My Pocket

Coffee

I have found that many meetings occur over coffee.  The problem is that I do not drink coffee.  I have been trying to set up meetings with various people as I am continuing the job search, and most people suggest going to get coffee and chat.  This is great because it provides a central location for us to meet, but I always feel obligated to order something.  I will drink hot coco wherever I go, and while I don’t drink it normally, I can stand the taste, while I cannot stand the taste of coffee.  So for every one of these meetings I spend approximately $3 to get advice or go over my resume.  I guess it is pretty cheap for the (hopefully) valuable information I am garnering from these people, and if it leads to a job, I will have a guaranteed source of income for a while.  I hope that these meetings pay off and that I can one day return the favor to a frantic college student like me.

Law School Visit

I am considering law school for my next step after graduation as well as getting a job, and Friday I went on a law school visit to see what this might be like.  I do not have classes on Fridays this semester, so it is easier for me to plan visits like this without having to worry about missing classes and assignments.  One of the things we talked about when I spoke with one of the people in the admissions office was scholarships, financial aid and loans to help pay for law school.  Law school is certainly expensive, but there are ways to pay for it.  A few schools offer scholarships, which are merit based.  This means that only the very top portion of the applicant pool will get scholarships, but you never know where you stand because you obviously cannot peruse others’ application information.  The next option is getting the government to help you pay for it through financial aid.  Finally, there are loans.  This is probably the most popular way to get through law school.  While getting these loans can make law school tuition, books, etc. affordable, you can spend years and years trying to pay it off.  Some misuse these loans, which is something I will definitely not do if I decide to go to law school.  These are all things to consider when looking into my future.  It will be a hard decision about whether to get paid or pay someone to stay in school. 

Cost of the Cold

Throughout the east and Midwest we have been experiencing very cold temperatures this past week.  Since I live in on-campus housing, my closet is small.  This means that I am not as prepared for the cold as I would like to be.  But instead of going out and getting cold weather gear to deal with the chill as I am walking to class and meetings, I am getting creative, and it saved me a ton of money because those coats, etc. can get pricy.  I took the advice I saw on the morning news when I got up, and it kept me warmer than I could have been if left to my own devices. 

First they said to layer.  I knew that, but I used some Christmas gifts to make this even better.  I got a fleece sweater which I put over a shirt and an undershirt then put on my wool coat to keep my upper half warm.  Then I grabbed an old pair of tights I found in my drawer to act as my thermal underwear and put it on under my jeans.  A pair of socks and a warm pair of shoes were next, but I was still not prepared to go outside.  I learned this morning on that news program that you lose 40% of your body heat through your head, so I got out my scarf (also a gift) and made sure it covered a good part of my face and topped it all off with some gloves and sunglasses.  A friend of mine from Chicago said that the sunglasses are really key because they keep the wind from hurting your eyes.  While it was still cold when I went out I was much more prepared than I usually am, and did not have to buy anything extra to deal with it.

Parking permit

Last semester I found this great place to park where a campus parking permit was not required, and yet I could still get to my residence hall and classes easily.  I saved money by not buying the permit and it did not inconvenience me much.  Well this all came back to bite me when I arrived back on campus the other day.  I drove to my secret parking spot, and could not get there.  There were big traffic blocking signs and what looks to have been some recent road work and evidence of much more to come.  My plan to cheat the system was foiled.  But I did not worry too much.  I headed over to the parking office to get a permit at what I expected to be half price because the academic year was half way over.  Wrong!  When I got there, they charged me the full academic year fee—a real hit in my bank account I was not at all prepared for.  I seriously contemplated paying the fee to park in the visitor lot and just rarely moving my car, but I gave in and got the full-price decal so I would not have to walk all the way across campus when I needed to go somewhere.  I am now second guessing that choice a bit.

Friends of the New Co-op

Moving out of a college town and into the working world is a major change. It will be difficult to find new friends in a new city that I know nothing about. Even though my old friends live several hours away, I do not plan to abandon them. I foresee a couple road trips in the near future. Hopefully, gas prices will remain low. 

I have made several friends on the job site. True, there is a small age gap, and it will be interesting to see how we relate. For instance, I am going with a couple co-workers to see another co-worker in a volunteer-based play at a small theater. Also, I find myself lost and alienated in conversations that I can not offer any tidbits of knowledge, i.e. home loans, diaper purchases, life insurance, marriage disagreements, aging pains, etc. I’ll just observe their situations and hopefully demonstrate wisdom when I approach these frightful circumstances. I have no idea which direction my adventure of new friendships will take me, but I do have a feeling that my social spending habits will change.

The Roof Over My Head

In my Boy Scout survival class, I was taught there are three key items for survival: Food, Warmth, and Shelter. The most expensive being the last one. This essential demand is often supplied by a binding lease. This was definitely the case at school. Now I have learned process and acted with better wisdom when relocating to my current work location.

Luckily I was able to find someone to sublease my room back at school. Another co-op who is on the opposite work-study schedule as me will be able to fill my room. I wish I could have found another student to sublease from while working in this new location, but I was forced to sign a new lease for a one bedroom apartment. Thankfully, I was able to find a five month lease versus the traditional twelve month lease. Several apartment complexes have penalties if a resident wants to break the lease. I will be able to avoid that penalty, but I was still obliged to pay all the appropriate fees to start a new lease. The administration and application fee along with the security deposit were required. If everything goes as plan, I will recover the security deposit and reapply that towards the next roof to cover my head while studying back at school during the summer months.

The largest problem that I encountered during this repositioning of resting spots was my credit report or lack there of. So I needed a cosigner (thanks Mom and Dad). After this leasing term, I should have a positive record of credit. Therefore, allowing more financial independence after graduation (goodness could sound any scarier).

Co-oping

 There is big news for Lincoln Loan this week; I have officially accepted a cooperative education (co-op) offer from an engineering company. It is common practice, but not required, for engineering students to participate in co-op programs in order to gain experience in their specific field of study. A co-op program is traditionally known to be three alternating semesters of work intermixed with classes. It is essentially three guaranteed internships. The program can start any semester, but I have decided to begin the first term of work during the spring 2009 term. This will delay my graduation date, but I determined gained experience during the program would make me a more marketable graduate.

With all things considered, I was extended an offer that I could not refuse. Trust me, I considered a lot of different items, and I plan to address each one of these in the future posts. This decision could easily be the most difficult question ever placed before me. Some of these items include leaving friends, breaking a lease at school, signing a new lease, relocating, addressing schedule changes, scholarship deferment, establishing credit, medical insurance, job placement upon graduation, and several other smaller items.

           

Free Book

I read blogs and subscribe to them via an RSS feed so I don’t have to check every different site every time I want to see the new content.  Well, it paid off recently.  After reading one blog, there was a special offer.  To the folks who emailed in, we got a copy of a directory of businesses in our field of interest.  This will be an invaluable resource as I am searching for jobs, and this will save me a lot of time and money too.  Now instead of looking for all of this information online, it is all compiled for me in an easy to read format.  I am also saving money, because to buy directories like this, it costs hundreds of dollars.  Free stuff is always good, but my recent acquisition is even more valuable because the information within might help me get a paying job down the road.

The Power of Warranties

I recently had to return two key pieces of technology because of faulty parts. Thank goodness these two life saving pieces of equipment were covered by their warranties. My laptop is covered by the extended three year warranty that I purchased when I originally acquired it. My cellular telephone is covered by a manufacturer lifetime warranty.

For some unknown reason, my computer’s fan decided to quit spinning and cooling my computer. This caused my computer to overheat and shut down unexpectedly in order to protect itself. After talking to support staff over the telephone, they sent me a protective box with paid postage so I could safely return the computer. The technicians replaced the fan and sent it back to me. All expenses were prepaid by the warranty, who knows what the real bill would have totaled.

As for my cell phone, it is of a similar story. I primarily use my basic phone for three purposes; phone calls, texting, and personal calendar. My second function was heavily crippled by the faulty sensor beneath the pound button also known as the space button to any rabid text messenger. If you haven’t noticed, every word is concluded by a space. Without this button, texting is nothing but impossible. My cell phone manufacturer had much of the similar procedure as my lap top manufacturer. I was only inconvenienced roughly two days. I am just thankful I was not forced to sign a new contract and purchase a new phone. There is much to be said about the power of warranties!

Stock

My big Christmas gift this year was stock my parents got me.  While they told me about the purchase at Christmas, I am just now filling out the paperwork for it.  They of course need my signature and personal information (I assume so they can make sure I pay taxes on it), but they also have some interesting options for me to explore.  First, it asked if I would like to receive dividend checks or reinvest in more stock.  Since I am currently a student, and the dividends will not be much, I don’t desperately need the money now.  I chose the option to reinvest, always leaving the dividend checks as a possibility for the future when I won’t be under the support and care of my parents.  It also asked if I would like to withdraw money from my bank account regularly to buy more stock.  I kind of liked the idea of this option because it would take all of the work out of buying more of this stock—I would just specify the amount I would like withdrawn and they would do the rest and just send me statements.  After talking with my parents about it, I decided not to do it because I do not have a really reliable source of income.  Sure I have a campus job, but that is not a huge income, and if I go out into the work world when I graduate in a couple of months it would be better for me to save my money now instead of spending it on more stock.  Their advice was sound—take this gift and when you are in a more stable place financially you can begin to grow your investment.