$ecret $tash of Ca$h

Nursing Shortage my ...

2008-11-10T12:36:00.001-08:00

I know I have only been aggressively seeking employment as a nurse for about 2 weeks, but seriously?!? Not 1 call back?!? What in the world is going on here? I could have sworn that all my professors and people I ran into and chatted with about nursing said "ooohhhh nursing...you will never have a problem finding a job!" Well they were all wrong, with at least 5 hospitals closing in Northern New Jersey and the dismal economy I guess no one is really hiring right now... let alone hiring a brand new graduate nurse. I have applied to 7 different hospitals and have yet to hear anything back from any. Well actually I have heard back from 1 saying they are not hiring any new graduates right now.... a whole entire hospital and not 1 spot open for a new grad? I find it hard to believe but okay... crossed that place off the list and added another. **shrugs** I'm hoping I find something soon because my pockets are quickly deflating.

Playing Catch up

2008-10-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have not posted on here in forever. But I passed the NCLEX! I had a major delay in getting my ATT number so I had to wait longer than I expect but I passed! I'm super excited and so ready to embark on a new chapter in my life. Here is a quick update since the last time I posted. I was seriously broke... still! :-( I did not expect that I would just be taking and passing the boards, in fact I though I would be employed by now. So the money I had saved and the loan money is completely gone.... long gone. So I took a part-time job at Macy's just to get by. Now I am aggressively looking for a nursing job and I am hoping to be employed by Thanksgiving or mid-December at the latest. The job at Macy's is not cutting it at all, but I'm hoping that things will turn around for me financially now that I am officially a nurse.

My 23rd Birthday

2008-09-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Birthdays always make me reflect on my life, I'm another year older and not a penny richer. In my eyes, there is something terribly wrong with that, so I'm setting a personal goal to have at least 50% of my entire debt total paid off (including student loans) and at least $5,000 just sitting in a high interest savings account for whatever I choose to do with it by my next birthday.

My life has not been a total flop though, within the past year I've done some things that I am proud of. For example, I received a second bachelor's degree, refinanced my car to save some money, started my very own blog that's doing well (well I started two, but this one is not nearly as popular as the other), and learned so much more about myself. I've made great new friends and overall I'm happy. So Happy Birthday to me!

Snowflakes: Amazon

2008-09-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

I recently sold 4 old nursing textbooks on Amazon for a total of about $117, minus shipping I probably banked about $105. I then made a payment to Geico (my car insurance) for the amount I had made. It did not fully cover the expenses, but it certainly took a chunk out of the amount that actually came out of my pocket. I have a few more books left on Amazon to be purchased, I'm hoping the sell soon since back to school is finally here.

I wish I had more textbooks to sell, but I finally think I've cleaned out most of the books I do not wish to keep.

What is WRONG with me?!?

2008-09-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

I have a serious problem with spending money. I know my money is limited, yet I still find ways to spend it on nonsense! I just spend, spur of the moment, just buy it/pay for it. Then later, I get upset with myself. I have a serious problem with self control when it comes to money. I mean it's not like I'm buying $1,500 shoes or $5,000 purses but still $20 here and there all adds up when you have no money coming in. I don't know what to do with myself, I'm seriously considering only putting a $20 in my wallet at the beginning of the week and leaving my debit card home. If I spend the $20 in one day, too bad! Tough love, right?!? I really need to get a handle on my spending.

Shrinking Funds

2008-09-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

The summer is officially over and I do not have a job lined up yet, actually I still don't even have my test date yet. I'm waiting to get my fingerprints done and a background check first, then I get the test date. I applied to a few hospitals online and went to one open interview type of thing, I haven't heard anything yet. I could have sworn we were in a nursing shortage! Only one of the 23 students graduating with me has a job lined up so I don't feel too bad. I'm enjoying not having a job, but my funds are quickly depleting. I'm thinking about getting a part-time job just to hold me over, but I really don't want to have to do it. I'm really enjoying the time off and just hanging with my friends, lounging around the house, and just doing nothing. Plus, if I had a job I would not be able to go to Fashion Week! After Fashion Week maybe I'll look for a part-time job, doing something really really easy. I don't want to have to think! I feel like I've been in school forever....thinking and working forever. It's nice to have a break.

Snowflake Funds

2008-08-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

This is a list of a few different survey sites that I use and any income from them will be considered snowflakes and applied to the bills.

ThisSiteisforreal.com

Cashcrate.com

Opinion Outpost

Mysurvey.com

SurveySavvy.com

Survey Slacking

2008-08-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been slacking on completing my surveys because I have been busy with blogging (mainly for http://www.theantihairslave.com/) and doing lots and lots of school work. I finally finished with school. YaY! So I plan on doing more surveys in my spare time, so hopefully I will have more snowflake money!

I want to build a snowman! haha

Snowflaking? What is that?

2008-08-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

Okay so I read about snowflaking on a few different sites but I still had no idea what it really is. The author of I've Paid for this Twice Already clears it all up.

"Snowflaking is a spinoff of the Snowball approach to debt reduction popularized by Dave Ramsey. With the Debt Snowball method, you figure out what amount you can pay to debt every month, and then you keep paying that amount, even as your debts shrink and your minimums get smaller. To implement it, in a nutshell, make a list of all your debts, order them from either smallest to largest or highest interest to lowest interest (that is a debate in itself), and you focus all extra money above the minimum payments on a single debt (either the smallest total or the highest interest, I use interest order). As you eliminate debts, you apply the payment you were making to that debt to the next debt in line until the snowballing effect of decreasing minimums and increasing amounts applied to particular debts eliminates all the debts on your list.
Well, what are snowballs made of? Snowflakes! I have a set amount I pay to debt without fail every month that is above my minimum payment due (about $800). On top of that, I also try to collect up little bits of money wherever I can and I apply those as well to my top priority debt as immediately as possible. I take surveys online, I sell possessions on craigslist and ebay, I have yard sales, and any money I get from these endeavors goes directly to my debt. I also keep a very strict accounting of all the money that comes in every month and what I spend and everything left over at the end of the month not earmarked for future expenses also goes directly to debt. These are my snowflakes. I have averaged over $200 extra going to pay down my credit card debt every month due to these snowflaking efforts.
Many small snowflakes make a snowball, and no amount is too small for me to snowflake. I used to pay my credit card directly every time I collected a snowflake through their online interface, but now that I have moved my credit card debt to another card with a 0% interest offer, I collect the snowflakes and pay them once per week (I am limited to the number of payments I can make to this card a month). If you are able to and your debt is not at 0% interest, I highly recommend the “pay snowflakes immediately” method. The faster your balance is reduced, the less interest you will accrue.
So, that is my snowflaking method. Small efforts matter, and many little things can add up to a huge snowstorm. I use it because of anything I’ve tried, this has kept me the most focused and deliberate about debt reduction and eliminated debt the fastest. I cannot take credit for the idea or the implementation, many many other personal finance gurus and bloggers alike have used this method before me, and I first read about it on an iVillage Debt Support message board. I am just a subscriber to it. Maybe someday I should read some Dave Ramsey and learn from the granddaddy of the snowball himself."

Sounds like a great idea right? I'm going to start doing this... I'll save all the snowflake money then use it to make the payment higher on my priority bill. My priority bill is the credit card bill with the highest interest that I am semi-aggressively paying off.

RN Job Hunt

2008-08-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm a bit on a wild goose chase because I have been sending my resume over the internet to different hospitals and I have yet to hear back. I'm starting to think that replying online to open positions is not the best way to go about searching for an RN position as a new graduate. Maybe I'm just impatient too, I have only applied to three different hospitals within the past 3-4 weeks. I could have sworn I would have heard back already... I mean helloooo isn't there a nursing shortage?!? :-) I think I'm going to go to a few different open houses if I can find some, with that being said I'll have to remember to print up a few resumes while I'm at school since it's free!

A Deeper Look inside my pockets

2008-08-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still in debt and while the majority is student loans and a car that I owe about $7,500 on I still have some credit card debit that needs to be addressed. I'm currently working on paying them off and not use them to purchase anything, but it gets hard.

Capital One $435.81

Store Card 1$728.72

Store Card 2$388.80

Household Bank $ 2,388.10

Store Card 3 $483.86

Store Card 4 $191.28

The grand total is not too bad, I know people with a lot more credit card debit than me, but still this is pretty bad. I have been semi-aggressively paying off the card with the highest balance while making payments over the minimum on all the rest. I know being debt free is important to me so that's what I'm currently working on. Also, why anyone needs 4 different store credit cards is beyond me so once they are paid off... they are getting cancelled.

Money for Magazines?

2008-08-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

At this point in my life I can't justify shelling out money to buy magazines, there are a few that I have 1 year subscriptions to because I requested them as my survey reward payment but other than that I don't purchase them. For the most part I just go online to the magazine's website to see what's going on or I could always head over to my local library and spend the afternoon catching up on my magazine reading. I have to say I really do enjoy reading magazines and I am often inspired by different magazines for blog posts on my hair and beauty blog (http://www.theantihairslave.com/) but I'd rather save the money.

H&R Block

2008-08-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

I saw a commercial recently that caught my eye.... H&R Block now offers classes on tax preparation. I thought it was pretty neat because all my nursing professors talk about how they deduct their continuing education credits, journal subscriptions, and other career related things such as scrubs and sneakers. I have no idea how to go about itemizing and I would like to learn. I am seriously considering take the course. Here is some more information on it:

This course will give you the skills you need to prepare tax returns for H&R Block.* You don't need previous experience.

What You'll Learn:

Tax theory
Easy step-by-step skills for preparing tax returns
How to apply the latest tax topics and tax law changes
How to talk tax clients through the filing process

Why Take the Course from H&R Block:

We created the tax preparation industry
Learn from the industry's best tax experts
Receive hands-on training with everyday life case studies
You may be given the opportunity to begin a successful and exciting career with H&R Block, the tax industry leader
You can choose to take your course at a time convenient for you: days or nights, weekdays or weekends

In addition, the H&R Block Income Tax Course is recognized for 4 hours of credit with The University of Phoenix®.¹

My First Place

2008-08-05T15:22:00.001-07:00

Now that I'm finally going to be starting my career I can't get past getting my own place. I even went to check out some new condo's that are being built within the area of a prospect employer. The place was out of my price range for someone just starting out, but I've made up my mind that I want something along those lines. It was a beautiful condo with two bedrooms and a den that could be used for a nursery or office, in my case an office. Two bathrooms, two walk in closets, and tons of other great stuff. I've hung up the floor plan in my bedroom at my parent's house as inspiration and motivation to save!

No more impulse buys

2008-07-31T02:28:00.000-07:00

I recently changed wallets and the new wallet has less card holder slots so I was forced to remove all my store credit cards from my wallet. Which has already saved me $248.... I went into Express just to do some window shopping and looking around but I spotted a really cute leather bomber that I really loved at that time. I tried it on and said okay I need a leather jacket (I don't have any) I'll get it, but then I remembered that I didn't have the store card so I didn't buy it. I kept thinking about it throughout the day and I realized that I would rather have a tan colored leather jacket for the fall, so by not carrying the card I narrowly escaped a impulse purchase. Plus the very next day I got coupons for Express in the mail so just in case I decide to purchase the jacket later, at least I would save 30%.

State Boards

2008-07-30T14:28:00.001-07:00

Yay! I'm getting so excited about school being almost over. I just passed the Hesi, which is my school's exit exam. I've been hearing that the Hesi is harder than NClex, I'm hoping that's true so I definetly pass that on the first try. I don't know how much it would have cost me to re-take the Hesi, but I'm glad I don't have to so that's extra money in my pocket because my school paid for the first attempt. I just sent off the preliminary paperwork to the State of New Jersey to start the process rolling to get my Nclex date. It cost me $195, but it's money well spent.

No Review No Cash

2008-07-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

So remember a while back I wrote how I left my job but they promised they would give me my review and retro that they owed me for months before I left? Well they still haven't. I'm not waiting around for it for anything in particular but I do want it because I earned it and worked for it. I hate when people play with my money.... It's really annoying.

I wrote a couple emails so we'll see what happens.

Money Spent and Money Saved

2008-07-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was able to save a few dollars by purchasing a used tire at $40 including the tip for the nice guy working at the tire repair shop. Hopefully, this will last me until the start of the winter. I plan on buying four brand new tires so that I’m safe this winter. I’m so happy that my check from school finally came. I deposited the $3,000 check into my account this morning. I need to pay my grandmother back, because she was nice enough to lend me the money to pay for my Kaplan RN review course. That’s $400 dollars, leaving me with $2,600 dollars.

Money Spent

2008-07-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

I spent right around the amount of money I was shooting for over my mini break from school, not including the $399.00 I spent for the Kaplan NCLEX-RN review course. But, unfortunately I got a flat iron and now I will have to spend additional money on a new tire.... GREAT! Just my luck! Every time I turn around I have additional unexpected expenses popping up. I guess that's just life, right? Right... But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck!

Happy 4th Of July

2008-07-04T10:58:00.001-07:00

Go enjoy some free fireworks!

Sold Another Book

2008-06-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

I sold another book on Amazon.com, I just listed two last night and one of them already sold. That is one of the pros of using Amazon.com as soon as you list your item it may sell. Now I'm just waiting the 5 business to have the money deposited directly into my checking account (my new account with Commerce mind you.) So if there are any students out there with books left over from classes, trying listing them on Amazon.com

Sovereign Bank Sucks

2008-06-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

I recently deposited cash and a check at a drive in window, the cash was not immediately available. Since the cash was not immediately available like I expected (since it normally has been in the past) I overdrew on my account, not once but three times. All three times were very small amounts on money ... ranging from 3-5 dollars. So of course the bank charged me $33 three separate times for a total of $99. I feel as though this is crazy, it's almost like robbery. I went to the branch to complain and see if the charges would be reduce or removed entirely, of course they would not/could not remove the fees. I very calmly deposited enough money to make my account "green" again and I left the bank. I have many things attached to this checking account, but that will not stop me from taking my services elsewhere. I have one or two more paychecks coming from work, my school refund check will be deposited into that account as well, and I have one bill that will be paid online through that accounts system on June 26th. After these things are done, I will remove the money and take it to Commerce Bank where I opened a new checking account minutes after I left Sovereign Bank.

Commerce attracted me because of it's numerous convenient locations, not to mention that number is increasing due to the TD Bank merger. The benefits of my new checking account include the best banking hours available. Commerce is open 7 days a week and they have relatively late hours when compared with other banks. The penny arcade, pour in all your change, and get a slip with the amount of money, then give the slip to the teller for cash! It's free and easy and I can't wait to use it. I also got a free Visa Check card printed up right there, it took less than 5 minutes. The account also has free online bill pay and online banking.

Just Shoot Me Already!

2008-06-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

I am convinced that the Financial Gods have it out to get me. Every time I turn around there is a unexpected expense or something crazy going on with my money. Just like now, my $6,000 student loan for summer session 2 was turned into two separate payments. So that means two separate refunds instead of one large check. I already paid for summer session 1 via personal check, but the lovely people at my school decided to divide up the $6,000 requested for summer 2. The first half disburses on July 1st and the second half on July 27th. Remember, the whole point of taking out more than I need to pay for classes was to cover my expenses because I want to devote all my extra time to studying and preparing for nursing boards. So tomorrow I will have to make a trip to the financial aid office and see if there is something that I can do to get the money disbursed sooner.

Where's my Breadstick!?!

2008-06-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

I recently saw an article on AOL.com about how different restaurants are making cutbacks due to the current economic status of the US. I thought it was interesting and browsed the comments. One commenter said that Olive Garden is now only giving 2 breadsticks in the dish once you finish the first batch. I laughed out loud and said noooo that can't be true. So when the opportunity arose to go to Olive Garden I went and let me tell you IT'S TRUE! Olive Garden happens to be one of my favorite places to go for lunch because of the unlimited soup and salad deal. So I told my BF about the breadstick thing in the car on the way there, he didn't believe it either so when the waitress sat our second batch of breadsticks down and there were only two in there we laughed. I was kind of shocked at the cutback, but my BF said he thought it was just a way the company was trying to eliminate wasted food as well as many monetary cutbacks. The people are Olive Garden were more than willing to bring out more breadsticks, still two at a time, but at least they offered to bring more. I mentioned I would have never noticed if I didn't read about it online. My dear BF replied, "I would have noticed, but I would have just thought it was because we are black." *blank stare* Anyway, our poor waitress had to make several trips back and forth for more breadsticks, so I wonder if the lack of productivity will counteract the attempt to save money?

RN Job Hunt

2008-06-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Graduation is right around the corner. I'm starting to narrow down my top three choices of hospitals. This is a very exciting time for me, but it is also a very stressful one as well. I want to make the right choice when choosing a place of employment. I know that salary is important, but it is not as important as other things, such as benefits, retirement plans, 401k's, etc. I'll continue to post on this topic as it gets closer to that time.