Moving.
It feels like as soon as I get completely comfortable in a place, and have accepted that I live there, and found multiple things that make me happy about the location, that it is time to move. Again.
Not being tied down by work, and not yet being tied down by school, I can finally move to the city. I have terror in my soul about this. I have two cats, number one. They don't like each other. The one cat is highly, highly susceptible to stress. And no wonder, now that she's been diagnosed with a heart murmur, renal insufficiency, and idiopathic cysotsis. I'd be stressed, too.
But cutting the space they have available to, well, have space from each other, is scary to me. I don't want to make either kitty more stressed than they already are.
I am also stressing that my credit, like the credit of our country, has been downgraded. Personal credit isn't like the Standard and Poors credit rating, but, in essence, I've been downgraded from A to B. This doesn't mean I won't pass a credit check. And it doesn't mean that I don't have kick ass rental history. Both aren't an issue.
The issue is employment verification.
And, frankly, while I know that it's time to get off my ass and get a job, most of the jobs out there aren't going to pay as much as unemployment. I'm between a rock and a hard place. On the flip side, I had nightmares about waiting tables last night, for the first time since 2004. This is actually an excellent sign. It means my subconscious, while scared shitless, is on board with my conscious plan.
Money. Money. Money. At the end of the day, here's the problem. I run out of funds mid-October.
$ - Kitty #2 will need her blood checked again in about a month, she'll need to get the ultrasound necessary in order to diagnose the kidney issue (kidney failure? Or just one kidney is kaput?), and, oh yes, establish care with a local vet in the first place. Plus Rx kidney diet food, which will run about $50 a month. Kitty #1 had a cough recently, but upon the discontinuation of a new aerosol air freshener she seems to be better. This does not change the fact that for a week I was convinced that she had lung cancer. Since Kitty #2 is going on wet food, Kitty #1 needs to as well. That easily adds up to about $100/mo in cat food expenses.
$ - School. School will need to either be paid up front, or paid via Stafford Loan. Looking at the rules and regs, it's unlikely that there will be dollars leftover to put in my pocket. Can I subsidize with a Navy Fed loan? Yes. Why am I resistant to all this? I don't know. North Seattle CC starts Winter registration Nov. 14. It's going to run me $1120, plus books.
$ - Also, moving expenses. Up to and potentially including: First, last, deposit. Pet deposit. Non-refundable pet fee. Storage unit. Boxes. Truck. Potential fees due to carpet damage to my existing apartment. I understand that some of these can be, likely, solved (boxes, truck) but some are just flat expenses.
$ - The car is due for a 105K service. $87. Not a lot, but after kitty hospital stay ... right.
$ - Teeth cleaning. I'm not willing to go without, based on my history of, well, rotten teeth. Thank God I've spent beaucoup dollars there in the past, because the office manager has agreed to split the cleaning into 2 payments. This makes it barely doable, thank God.
While those are the expenses, this is the rub: While ONLY paying the bills - this means no groceries, no gas, no cat food - not to mention no discretionary spending - I'm $86 in the hole every month. UI drops 25% as of January 1. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the status quo can't continue. But, see note above about expected wages being less than UI.
All of this compounds to mean that, what with sick kitties, moving in December, and school in January ... plus, get a job slinging plates ... I just don't know. I don't see a way out of this mess without cashing out the 401K. That gives me room to breathe. Jamie perhaps said, correctly, that I shouldn't use the 401K for anything but moving and school. I feel comfortable adding on reasonable medical care for the furbabys and $200 a month in running money for gas & groceries, plus another $100 for cat food.
I've been over it and over it. Even with the dollars I have set aside, which aren't many, there's simply not a way around it.
I wish my mother were here so that I could get her opinion.
Not being tied down by work, and not yet being tied down by school, I can finally move to the city. I have terror in my soul about this. I have two cats, number one. They don't like each other. The one cat is highly, highly susceptible to stress. And no wonder, now that she's been diagnosed with a heart murmur, renal insufficiency, and idiopathic cysotsis. I'd be stressed, too.
But cutting the space they have available to, well, have space from each other, is scary to me. I don't want to make either kitty more stressed than they already are.
I am also stressing that my credit, like the credit of our country, has been downgraded. Personal credit isn't like the Standard and Poors credit rating, but, in essence, I've been downgraded from A to B. This doesn't mean I won't pass a credit check. And it doesn't mean that I don't have kick ass rental history. Both aren't an issue.
The issue is employment verification.
And, frankly, while I know that it's time to get off my ass and get a job, most of the jobs out there aren't going to pay as much as unemployment. I'm between a rock and a hard place. On the flip side, I had nightmares about waiting tables last night, for the first time since 2004. This is actually an excellent sign. It means my subconscious, while scared shitless, is on board with my conscious plan.
Money. Money. Money. At the end of the day, here's the problem. I run out of funds mid-October.
$ - Kitty #2 will need her blood checked again in about a month, she'll need to get the ultrasound necessary in order to diagnose the kidney issue (kidney failure? Or just one kidney is kaput?), and, oh yes, establish care with a local vet in the first place. Plus Rx kidney diet food, which will run about $50 a month. Kitty #1 had a cough recently, but upon the discontinuation of a new aerosol air freshener she seems to be better. This does not change the fact that for a week I was convinced that she had lung cancer. Since Kitty #2 is going on wet food, Kitty #1 needs to as well. That easily adds up to about $100/mo in cat food expenses.
$ - School. School will need to either be paid up front, or paid via Stafford Loan. Looking at the rules and regs, it's unlikely that there will be dollars leftover to put in my pocket. Can I subsidize with a Navy Fed loan? Yes. Why am I resistant to all this? I don't know. North Seattle CC starts Winter registration Nov. 14. It's going to run me $1120, plus books.
$ - Also, moving expenses. Up to and potentially including: First, last, deposit. Pet deposit. Non-refundable pet fee. Storage unit. Boxes. Truck. Potential fees due to carpet damage to my existing apartment. I understand that some of these can be, likely, solved (boxes, truck) but some are just flat expenses.
$ - The car is due for a 105K service. $87. Not a lot, but after kitty hospital stay ... right.
$ - Teeth cleaning. I'm not willing to go without, based on my history of, well, rotten teeth. Thank God I've spent beaucoup dollars there in the past, because the office manager has agreed to split the cleaning into 2 payments. This makes it barely doable, thank God.
While those are the expenses, this is the rub: While ONLY paying the bills - this means no groceries, no gas, no cat food - not to mention no discretionary spending - I'm $86 in the hole every month. UI drops 25% as of January 1. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the status quo can't continue. But, see note above about expected wages being less than UI.
All of this compounds to mean that, what with sick kitties, moving in December, and school in January ... plus, get a job slinging plates ... I just don't know. I don't see a way out of this mess without cashing out the 401K. That gives me room to breathe. Jamie perhaps said, correctly, that I shouldn't use the 401K for anything but moving and school. I feel comfortable adding on reasonable medical care for the furbabys and $200 a month in running money for gas & groceries, plus another $100 for cat food.
I've been over it and over it. Even with the dollars I have set aside, which aren't many, there's simply not a way around it.
I wish my mother were here so that I could get her opinion.