"Lower Income Moms" September 2007 Support - Page 4

[lil_earthmomma]

Originally Posted by dnw826

I am so jealous! I wish I lived near you to stock up!

It's the one perk of this job he's doing! It's yucky hours but it sure has stretched the diversity of what I can make with corn, and peaches for that matter! I'm trying not to freak out about the end of the season, as I'm not sure what the next move is...

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by gradmama

I'm a graduate student who just moved to a very expensive area of the country to go to school (and yes, I feel a little guilty for doing so, but the opportunity outweighs the cost and I've decided that it doesn't negate my right to occasionally complain about the very high cost of living that makes an already poor family poor).

OT butWhat are you getting your degree in? Where are you going to school at?

[gradmama]

I'm starting the MA/PhD program in Sociology at the University of California Santa Barbara. Love it here so far......walk to the beach in 15! I'm sooooo lucky. Even my girls, who were P.Od at having to move again, like it here.

[mrskennedy]

Made $45 today. Had it spent--or rather, saved--before I got it. But at least it's here now!

[MrsMike]

Hi everyone! I'd just like to say that y'all are in my prayers.
I posted a couple of times on the last thread. To recap, we're living with my parents right now. My dh and I have a son and three (naughty!!!) kitties. I work part time as a licensed vet tech. He works for Wal-MArt (enough said). We have been plagued with financial problems for three years now. We had to move in with my parents because our lease was up and we couldn't afford the rent increase. We looked for a new place for many months but couldn't find anything in our price range. Everything is so overpriced. We can't buy a house because of bad credit and, duh, no funds. So, here we are. We thought moving in with the parents would help us save money but we're still stuggling. We work far away (and quitting/transferring is NOT an option) from my parents and the cost of gas is completely eating any savings. It's been a very rough few months. DH tried to get a job with Whole Foods but they turned him down. It has seemed like one thing after another lately and I'm finding it harder to look on the bright side.
I'm thankful for the fact that my parents are letting us stay here.
My goals:
find a place to live
help dh find a better job
get some bills paid

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by gradmama

I'm starting the MA/PhD program in Sociology at the University of California Santa Barbara. Love it here so far......walk to the beach in 15! I'm sooooo lucky. Even my girls, who were P.Od at having to move again, like it here.

Sociology was my major when I was in college.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by mrskennedy

Made $45 today. Had it spent--or rather, saved--before I got it. But at least it's here now!

That's great!

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by MrsMike

So, here we are. We thought moving in with the parents would help us save money but we're still stuggling. We work far away (and quitting/transferring is NOT an option) from my parents and the cost of gas is completely eating any savings. It's been a very rough few months. DH tried to get a job with Whole Foods but they turned him down. It has seemed like one thing after another lately and I'm finding it harder to look on the bright side.
I'm thankful for the fact that my parents are letting us stay here.
My goals:
find a place to live
help dh find a better job
get some bills paid

Sorry about WF...I hope he finds somethiing just as good or better.

[Purple Sage]

I'm so disappointed right now. My financial aid was denied for the the medical transcription program I wanted to do at Everett Community College. : Turns out I have too many credits for them to give me any aid. They said I could appeal the decision, but I'm just going to save up for Career Step instead. I think this is for the best, anyway, but I'm still bummed about being denied.

[LankyLizards]

Originally Posted by lemongrass

I'm so disappointed right now. My financial aid was denied for the the medical transcription program I wanted to do at Everett Community College. : Turns out I have too many credits for them to give me any aid. They said I could appeal the decision, but I'm just going to save up for Career Step instead. I think this is for the best, anyway, but I'm still bummed about being denied.

You might want to try the appeal, actually. I've had to appeal financial aid twice, for different issues, and it was really simple and easy both times. I just wrote a quick letter telling them why I needed to get fin. aid and what my goals in school were. It was maybe three paragraphs long. Both times I was approved quickly and painlessly. It's worth a shot, IMO.

Hi, MrsMike! I remember you from the last thread. And your poor DH who wants to get out of Walmart. I hope he finds something better soon!

[gradmama]

What about Direct Loans? Even if you can't grants, usually they offer loans?

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by lemongrass

I'm so disappointed right now. My financial aid was denied for the the medical transcription program I wanted to do at Everett Community College. : Turns out I have too many credits for them to give me any aid. They said I could appeal the decision, but I'm just going to save up for Career Step instead. I think this is for the best, anyway, but I'm still bummed about being denied.

That sucks! I have ~110 credits or something, so I'm sure they'd deny me, too. :

[mrskennedy]

Originally Posted by lemongrass

I'm so disappointed right now. My financial aid was denied for the the medical transcription program I wanted to do at Everett Community College. : Turns out I have too many credits for them to give me any aid. They said I could appeal the decision, but I'm just going to save up for Career Step instead. I think this is for the best, anyway, but I'm still bummed about being denied.

The CC program is the same as Career Step's anyway. Career Step has a scholarship you have to write an essay for, and also loan and other payment options. THe only difference with the EvCC program is that it's not self-paced, and they take fed. fin. aid. But you can save on the Career Step course by:
1. applying for the scholarship
2. paying $1320 for the basic course in full, b/c you'll get a 5% discount
3. upgrading later, if you want the grad support/job placement

You may pay slightly more when you add it all up, but you'll be able to start sooner. And you won't have to finish in 9 months, like the CC requires. CS is less than $2000 even with all the options you could possibly choose, and the CC charges $4200.something for the same thing. Tell me that makes sense? :

[mrskennedy]

Forgot this earlier... DH starts translating on Friday, so keep your fingers crossed for him! He's afraid he won't do it well enough. I think he'll be fine. But even if he doesn't do well, we'll be no worse off than we are now. In some weird way, that's a comfort.

[2Sweeties1Angel]

Well crap. We had our van repo'd back in January and I just found out today that they're suing and have a court date set for Monday. We still haven't even been served because for some reason the police can't seem to find us despite knowing exactly where we live Now I have to hurry up and file for bankruptcy so they can't garnish my or DH's wages. Yay.

[sonrisaa29]

Originally Posted by 2Sweeties1Angel

Well crap. We had our van repo'd back in January and I just found out today that they're suing and have a court date set for Monday. We still haven't even been served because for some reason the police can't seem to find us despite knowing exactly where we live Now I have to hurry up and file for bankruptcy so they can't garnish my or DH's wages. Yay.

I don't understand why'd they sue once they have the van? Or are they just suing for the payments before the van was repo'd?

[2Sweeties1Angel]

I don't understand why'd they sue once they have the van? Or are they just suing for the payments before the van was repo'd?

They want the money for the van. It's standard practice. They're suing for the total purchase price ($15,000) for some reason, even though we paid at least $3,000. What did they do, pay someone to take it??? Eh, they're not getting any money out of me.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by mrskennedy

The CC program is the same as Career Step's anyway. Career Step has a scholarship you have to write an essay for, and also loan and other payment options. THe only difference with the EvCC program is that it's not self-paced, and they take fed. fin. aid. But you can save on the Career Step course by:
1. applying for the scholarship
2. paying $1320 for the basic course in full, b/c you'll get a 5% discount
3. upgrading later, if you want the grad support/job placement

You may pay slightly more when you add it all up, but you'll be able to start sooner. And you won't have to finish in 9 months, like the CC requires. CS is less than $2000 even with all the options you could possibly choose, and the CC charges $4200.something for the same thing. Tell me that makes sense? :

Oh yeah, that makes total sense. That's why I was thinking that EvCC denying my financial aid was actually a good thing - for all the reasons you just said.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by LankyLizards

You might want to try the appeal, actually. I've had to appeal financial aid twice, for different issues, and it was really simple and easy both times. I just wrote a quick letter telling them why I needed to get fin. aid and what my goals in school were. It was maybe three paragraphs long. Both times I was approved quickly and painlessly. It's worth a shot, IMO.

I thought about it, but I don't really want to add another lump of money to my already huge student loan debt. I think we'll be able to swing the installment plan with Career Step after we get caught up on one of our big bills in a couple of months. But thanks for the encouragement.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by mrskennedy

Forgot this earlier... DH starts translating on Friday, so keep your fingers crossed for him! He's afraid he won't do it well enough. I think he'll be fine. But even if he doesn't do well, we'll be no worse off than we are now. In some weird way, that's a comfort.

Wishing him lots of luck. :