Long and Short Term Goals

The past few days I’ve been struggling with the boundaries between work goals and personal goals.

See, I taught adjunct at a local community college this past summer and was asked to do it again this summer. And naively I agreed.

The more I’ve been thinking about this decision, the more I believe it was the wrong one for my professional goals. However, teaching is absolutely the best thing for my personal finance goals.

Here’s the scoop: Teaching at the community college nets me a very sexy $5,000. I work 2.5 hours a day for 8 weeks. Not a bad deal. However, the class is right in the middle of the day (noon to 2:30pm). So because of its timing it is difficult to do anything before and I’m always so exhausted it is hard to do anything after either. With the rate I’m paying debt down and the addition of another $5,000 in the summer – I could be credit card debt free by August (not a promise, though, just an “if everything goes as planned”).

However, what I think I should do professionally is do research in someone’s lab over the summer. It advances the goals of my department (that I set), it keeps my research skills fresh, and will help make me money in the future as I’ll be publishing, be able to write grants, and there is a POSSIBILITY that whoever I work with will be able to pay me a small stipend. But if I’m teaching this class, I won’t be able to do this.

So I’m stuck between two things I want: Debt Free vs. Thriving Department

Both have negative consequences if I wait. The longer I’m out of research the harder it is for me to get back in. The longer I’m in debt the harder for me to get to my big long term financial goals.

The only half way in between I can figure out is switching to teaching a night class or finding someone who doesn’t mind me coming in just 2-3 hours a day during the week. Neither are ideal situations, but neither are perfect.

Since I’m the one who wants both of these things to happen I’m having a hard time deciding which is the MOST important at this point in time. And if I don’t get my debt paid down, I’ll be wondering the same thing next year and the year after.

So maybe I just answered my own question there…

I’m POSITIVE!

I have been quite absent in the past few months as many of you know, however, I’ve still be keeping tabs on my finances. I’m still sticking with paying in cash. I’m still saving each month to an emergency and a yearly savings account. I’m still paying over the minimums on my single remaining credit card.

When I started 2011 I had three goals.

1. Eliminate $5,000 of credit card debt. I didn’t do this.

2. Obtain a $500 emergency fund. I did this and more. It has been between $500-1000 all year (car repairs, ugh)

3. Obtain a positive net worth.

Well, I finally sat down today (I spent the first two weeks of the month in Cozumel scuba diving!) and calculated my NetWorth. And yes, my friends, for the first time EVER I have a positive NetWorth.

I suddenly feel so inspired. So invigorated. So… AMPED!

So here is the breakdown:

Assets

• Cash on hand: $500 (I always use this amount as it is an average of my cash available on any given day of the month.)
• Personal stocks: $503
• Personal mutual funds: $6,652
• Retirement: $18,386
• Savings accounts: $800

Liabilities

• Student loans: $13,444
• Credit card debt: $12,728

Total Net Worth: +$669

Net Worth Last Month: -$1,333

Net Worth a Year Ago: -$4,136

Net Worth 2 Years Ago: -$10,954

And for those of you who are picture oriented:

Quicksand

In case you can’t tell by my lack of posting in recent months, being chair is taking a lot more time and energy than I ever imagined it would. I will have sometimes 8-10 meetings a week on top of my teaching responsibilities. Trying to imagine doing research on top of this seems an impossible task. I’m thankful for two undergraduates who are especially motivated and don’t need more than a little bit of guidance from me on what to do because they’ve been at it for the past year.

For all the extra cash I’m bringing in (dripping with sarcasm), my financial status hasn’t improved that much. I still have about $14,000 on my credit card which doesn’t seem to ever go away. My emergency fund is slowly depleting as I had to do $700 worth of repairs and maintenance on my car this past month and ran out of money in my car fund for the year.

I’m thinking next year I’ll need to start putting away at least $100 a month for car repairs – compared to the $60/month I’m doing this year. My car will be 10 years old next year and I have started researching new(er) cars. But I can’t bring myself to buy a new car while I still have debt. And I want to buy a new car in cash – which means I’ll need to pay off $14,000 in debt and save up at least $6,000 in cash. $20,000?? That’s a lot of money…

I feel like I’m sinking with my finances right now, and it is frustrating. I want this debt gone more than I can explain, but there isn’t an easy fix and that is frustrating me. I feel like I’m constantly taking two steps forward and one large step back. I hope some day I’ll be where I want to be financially – I just hate knowing it isn’t today or tomorrow – or maybe even next year. But something will have to give soon, this way of life isn’t sustainable in the long run. Period.

Looking Forward

This morning was my first department meeting as departmental chair. I was so nervous. I wanted to set the tone off correctly and give the department the impression that I was competent and capable in my new role.

I started by talking about change. Our University is/has been undergoing a lot of change. Our department has more new faculty members than old, the department has lost a major in the last year, and the University itself is looking for a new president and we’re in the process of creating a new core.

I then talked about how changes and challenges are not times to be afraid of, but times to embrace what we can do as a department. Our focus shouldn’t be on the problems of things we can’t change, but on the hope and effort towards things we can make an impact on: Our majors, our department, our building, our students.

I then encouraged the department to spend some time in the next two weeks brainstorming what small or large thing they can do to get towards their ideal department. Whether it be spending a few hours painting a wall or a few days redesigning a course or perhaps even trying to optimize an entire major’s curriculum or spending a day a week in outreach to local high schools.

The general idea is that the past should be lessons to us, but shouldn’t be anchors that hold us down. We can learn from, respect and acknowledge the past, but it is the future that we can change and the future that we can build.

My first department meeting was two hours long. I think I succeeded. Only time will tell.

Applications and Interviews

I’ve had the “honor” to serve on two different search committees this summer, one as the chair of the committee, one as a member. Let me tell you I’ve learned more in the past two months of reviewing applications and CVs and resumes to feel like I am an expert at this. Okay, maybe not an expert, but let me tell you some things that I’ve learned so far in the process:

1. Check you spelling and grammar. Then double check it.

Nothing says to me “this person has no attention to detail” like the misuse of the English language. Especially on such an important document as your resume.

2. Make your application material specific to the position you’re applying.

I received one cover letter where the individual had forgotten to replace [Name of University Here] with the name of our University. Even though he had some good qualifications it was hard to take his application seriously after that. Follow that up with his errors in spelling and grammar and he got moved to the bottom of the list.

3. Make sure you show you understand the position.

It was very obvious when reading cover letters and application material who had taken the time to learn something about our institution and the position. I got applications listing graduate level classes the individual would like to teach (we don’t have a grad program), I got applications from people who didn’t have ANY of the required degrees, I got applications from people in completely different fields, I got applications from individuals who obviously hadn’t even taken the time to look at the website and see what our school and department is like. Those who had were obvious and stood out from the pack.

4. Send in ALL the requested materials.

The number one weeding factor we used when narrowing our list of candidates was whether they sent in all of the requested applications material. If an applicant didn’t send all the information they didn’t make the short list. Simple as that. It was taken as a sign of either forgetfulness or that the applicant was hiding information, both things not something we would want in a colleague.

5. Be friendly, upbeat, and earnest.

Between two equal candidates on phone interviews the person with obvious enthusiasm for the position and interest in the school got the leg-up. We could see them as potential friends and easy to work with, two things of great value in a potential colleague.

6. Have good questions to ask.

One thing I have come, already, to respect on interviews are individuals with thoughtful questions. I know that it is difficult to sometimes know the right questions to ask a search committee, but those individuals who have enough experience or have paid close enough attention in their previous positions or have done enough research on the position to ask thought provoking questions of the search committee are definitely given a high degree of preference to candidates who simply ask about the next stage of the process or generic questions that show know depth of knowledge of the position or the institution.

Changing Mentality

I started this blog with the intention of getting debt free and getting a stronger financial foothold. I had $32,661 worth of debt (and $13,882 worth of assets).

Now, almost three years later, I have doubled my assets (I’m around $27,000-ish right now, including my retirement which makes up the bulk of this increase). However, my debt is $28,589.

That’s right. In the course of 3 years I’ve only actually been able to reduce my debt by about $4,000. Now, this isn’t the minimum that my debt has been. But seeing that the change is so small has lit a fire under me.

I realize that I’ve been approaching this debt thing the wrong way. I made a budget that included paying extra on my debt and putting any extra money I get onto my debt. However, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to recognize that since I’ve been playing this strategy for three years and am just about where I started (minus $4,000), I have to make a change.

I’ve decided that the only way I can get out of this debt in a reasonable time frame (I’m going to set the date as December 31st, 2012), I have to stop treating my debt as an account that I throw extra  money at and instead think of my debt as a bill.

What does this mean? Instead of thinking that my minimum payment on my credit card is $400 and anything I pay over it is a “bonus” – my new “minimum payment” is now the payment that it will take me to pay off my debt by December 2012.

That means 16 months from now I’ll need to pay off $15,960 worth of credit card debt.

Using CNN debt calculator I figured out that it will take a payment of slightly over $1,000/month to achieve this goal. Also, after 3 months my bed will be paid off (it is at 0% interest), which means I’ll have another $115 to dedicate to my new “minimum payment”.

With my new mentality of this amount being my new minimum payment, I have to adjust my budget to be able to afford this. So I spent the majority of this afternoon figuring this out.

Above you can see summary of how this works out based on my new salary that I negotiated (which starts August 15th). I’ve decreased quite a few parts of my budget including emergency fund, food, doggy daycare, miscellaneous, gas, and clothes. The best part of this budget is that I will feel pinched (this is good as it reminds me of my ultimate goal), but I don’t think I’ll feel completely cash strapped. Also, in a few months (presuming no emergency happens) I’ll be able to decrease the emergency fund savings even more and put that onto my debt.

I’m excited and scared for this new mentality towards debt. I hope I can stick with it. I’ll start on my next paycheck, which is August 15th. I can’t wait to see some fast movement because of my large payments I’ll be making.

Oh Gym…

So the gym that I joined in January shut it doors last week. Which really bummed me out. I haven’t been too keen on finding a new one because I’ve been just running to help build up endurance for the Kansas City Half Marathon. But I really have missed my spinning classes. I just love spinning and not doing it makes me feel bad.

I had bought my membership as a year long contract and was saving $20/month for it. I’ll get prorated for the amount that I paid from after the date the gym closed. It should be about $100 that I’ll get back when all is said and done.

The next closest gym to me is half way between my apartment and work, about 2 miles away (not nearly as convenient as my two block  away gym).  The downside is that the new gym is more money a month. Even if I pay upfront for a year, which I can afford to do with the money I’ve been saving in my yearly savings account and from the prorated return from the old gym, I’ll still be looking at paying $22/month instead of the $16/month deal I was able to get at the old gym. I could theoretically opt to get a two year contract to get myself down to $17/month – but I’m not sure I want to commit myself to a gym for that long term, but then again I would have an all club access pass which would allow me to go to any of that branch of gyms so if I move I will still have a gym to go to.

Or I can just suck it up and forget the gym membership. I only go for 2-3 classes a week, so maybe I should just get my own cycling bike for the same price as a membership and do it all from home…

The Ins and Outs, Highs and Lows

The last month or so has been a whirl wind of emotions and craziness.

I did eventually break things off with Mr. Hive. He did start school, which I was happy for. But the realization that I would have to forever be a mother to him and nothing would motivate him except the fear of losing me was just too much for me. So yes fellows, SS4BC is available again.

The new summer semester started and it has been crazier than I ever imagined. I’m taking a calculus class to “brush up” my skills that is 2.5 hours a day + 5 hours a day of homework. I wish I were joking about the amount of homework. I’m not. It is crazy. Then I’m teaching a Chem class in the afternoon for 2.5 hours. The extra money is pretty damn sweet. This paycheck I got a cool $800 more than I usually do on a single paycheck. All going to savings and debt, of course.

Today was a epic mail day. I got my almost $700 tax refund from my state income taxes, a $25 gift card from Target (for using Points to Blue with Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and I got a coupon for a free drink from Starbucks. Seriously, does it get any better than this in the mail?

My debt? Well, it isn’t going to well. All those travel expenses for work just sitting on my card that I can’t reimburse until July (at least) are killing me slowly. I did put the card away, but not until  I had pushed myself back up to close to my limit. I can’t be trusted with credit cards. I need to realize this, embrace it, and figure out a plan to avoid this in the future.

I’m thinking of just setting aside my tax refund into a savings account that is just for reimbursable purchases – that way I never have to worry about pulling out the credit card again. It may even be time just to put the scissors to the card. I’m not sure if I’m that extreme or prepared to do so yet though… in a lot of ways that card is my security blanket. But I need to become my OWN security blanket.

Can You Afford Not To?

One thing that I’ve failed to mention about Mr. Hive (intentionally, maybe?) is that he doesn’t have a college education. Nothing. He dropped out after one semester because at the time he wasn’t ready for college. He isn’t dumb, he just wasn’t ready to go straight out of high school. There isn’t anything wrong with this (in my opinion) and for some career paths having a college education isn’t necessary – and many of these are high paying.

However, on the whole, you have to be pretty ambitious or pretty intelligent or pretty gifted in a particular field to make a decent salary without a college education.

Mr Hive doesn’t fall in to any of those categories above. He’s bounced around from job to job and currently at 31 has found himself in his highest paying job yet. Making $14/hour. A job has no upward mobility. Or very little. He makes around $28,000/yr before taxes. And really, he isn’t skilled enough in any particular field to do better without pursuing some education.

He has aspirations for some day working in the IT field. Which many people can do without a degree if they are self motivated to learn the material on their own – which he has not done. Or have gone through formal education to learn the material – which he has not done either.

I told him when we first started dating that it didn’t bother me that he was uneducated, however, I did know that if nothing was done career-wise or aspiration-wise that eventually it would start to bother me. Our first date he mentioned how he wanted to go back to school and get a degree in IT. The start of 3 semesters later and it finally has eaten away at me. If someone was truly motivated to pursue this career path as he claimed he was when we first started dating, wouldn’t they be saving up money to pay for the tuition? Pursuing the certification exams that are widely accessible online? Consulting with his two good friends who are in the field on the path that they both recommend? Wouldn’t a person who was truly motivated to make a career path change to better their life being doing something more than complaining about where they were at?

The community college near us even offers an A.A. degree in exactly the field he wants to be in which INCLUDES an internship component. The job that he’s at can be done at less than full time if he wanted to pursue school full time and work part time. Also, all the classes are available in the evenings if he wasn’t to continue working full time and do school part time.

I essentially told him a few weeks ago that I had reached my limit. He needed to do something. Maybe it is arrogance, but while I understand that people are not always ready for college at 18, if someone says they’re ready for it now and they don’t do it I start to believe after a certain period of time that I’ve been had and they’re really just full of crap.

(Also, it is very embarrassing for me, the Ph.D. to confess to people who don’t know him that I am dating a guy who dropped out of college in the first semester. Seriously. I’d at least like a college graduate, but maybe that’s my own hang up?)

Last night he then asked me if I would “help him with the application”.

Me: “Have you gone online and looked at it?”

Him: “No.”

Me: *FLIP A LID* Seriously? You are asking for help but you haven’t even gone online to look at it? Why don’t you go look at it, start it, and see if there is actually anything you need help with.

You have to understand. I’m an educator. I HATE HATE HATE when students come in to my office asking for “help” but they’ve never even ATTEMPTED to try the problem on their own. Try it on your own and THEN come back with your specific issues. You may find that it is much easier than you thought it was, once you start.

He says okay and gets online and within 5 minutes he’s finished with the application – without my help.

Later we’re talking and he says “I’m just not sure if I can afford to go to school right now.”

I respond: “Well, you’re in a job where you have absolutely no hope of ever earning more money. Or you have the option of being SUPER poor for a 1.5-2 years while you earn your degree and then have an earning potential of twice what you make now (or more). I don’t think the question is whether you can afford to go to school right now or whether you can afford to NOT go to school right now?“

I’m starting to feel like I’m pushing him too much, but I think he needs to be pushed. If he doesn’t want to be pushed, fine, but then I need to not be dating him. He seems to want someone to magically come along and pave the way and hand him his class schedule and a pile of cash and say “Here, have fun.” But that isn’t life. Sorry. You have to seek out what you want, opportunities are earned – not given.

I’ve given him (in my mind) an arbitrary date of Fall semester. He needs to have figured out what he wants and how he’s going to pursue it by then, or we will need to figure out something different in our relationship.

Harsh? Probably. But the reality is that when we first got together the impression from our very first conversation was that he was motivated to pursue this, and that was a condition I was okay with in terms of dating him. And to find out 10 months later that it was a complete farce is more than I can handle for a long term relationship.

One Faculty Member Down

A few weeks ago the other Chemist in the department, the same guy who was stepping down from the Chair’s role but supposed to be my Chair mentor next year, announced that he was leaving the school to go to a sister school  in another city.

When I read the email my mind went in to panic mode. There were a few nights of sleeplessness as I tried to figure out what to do.

See, at large Universities, when a faculty member leaves there are enough other faculty members around to carry the burden of their absence. Being at 7 instead of 8 Chemistry faculty isn’t so bad of a deal or even 20 out of 21 at a very large research school. But going from 2 to 1 is a huge, huge, deal.

So most schools will go a year without someone and advertise and interview for their replacement in that year.

Well, we don’t really have that luxury here. Within a week of getting the email that the other Chemist wasn’t renewing their contract I had the ad written for their position. I had it submitted to my Dean, who sent it to the Vice President, who approved it and forwarded it to Human Resources. I also had included a list of places that it should be advertised at for maximum exposure to qualified applicants.

A WEEK LATER the ad gets posted – INCORRECTLY to the website. I promptly sent an email to the HR woman, my Dean and the Vice President noting that they were advertising for MY position, not for the position that needed to be filled. (There was some copy and paste done into the advertisement that went out when I applied for the job).

A WEEK LATER the ad finally gets fixed on the website, but it STILL hasn’t been posted to any of the sites that I recommended to find another Chemist.

At this point it looks like it will be June when it gets posted, which means July for interviews – and a start date of August 15th? Who in the world would be both qualified and competent enough to move that quickly?

So I’ve been working hard on my “Plan B” scenario. Which is me being the sole chemist for a year with resubmission of our faculty ad in October and interview in December/January like a normal school.

I was able to make a plan for the Fall that involves switch Physical Chemistry over to our physicist, moving around the lectures for Nursing Chem, General Chem and Organic Chem so that I can teach them all, and getting an adjunct to cover the Physical Science class (that the physicist was going to teach) and an adjunct for the nursing and general chemistry labs. All in all, the Fall plan is doable, though inconvenient. I will have to cancel my research class, which is lame, but manageable. My contacts hours will be 11 with the plan I’ve drawn up which is above my load (9 contact hours), but not an impossible load.

Spring is where it gets tricky. I’ll need to adjunct out the Nutrition class and again the General Chemistry labs. That leaves me with Organic Chem, Analytical Chem, Biochemistry and General Chem. Which even with the General Chem lab adjuncted out will put me at 17 contact hours. Which is ridiculous. I obviously can’t do that. So my hope is that we might be able to find someone to start in January. Or even if I could get one of the biologists to teach the biochemistry class and then adjunct out one of their non-major classes like Anatomy or Biology for non-majors. Even then I’d still be looking at 14 contact hours with 3 days a week of labs. It will drive me insane I’m sure.

The moral of the story is that my first role as Chair is already a tough one: Find a person to come in with essentially not enough time for a move and ease the burden for me or run the department and teach two loads in the spring. Either way it seems ridiculously crazy. I’m not sure what the heck I’ll do. Maybe cocaine?