I start to FNP school next week. :)
bethrn's Life List
-
1. lose 65 more pounds
2 entries . 1 cheer1 person -
2. see my son graduate from college
3 entries . 1 cheer14 people -
3. become a nurse practitioner
4 entries . 1 cheer53 people -
4. Help make my mothers life easier for her while she's still alive.
2 people -
5. exercise regularly
1 cheer10,554 people -
6. pay off credit cards
2 entries . 1 cheer1,393 people -
7. Save money
14,726 people -
8. keep a clean house
2 entries294 people -
9. have a beautifully manicured lawn
1 entry1 person -
10. Learn Spanish
1 entry . 1 cheer15,508 people -
11. Get another tattoo
1 entry3,420 people -
12. Take a long vacation with my family
1 entry1 person -
13. learn to play the piano
1 entry7,452 people -
14. stop drinking in all my calories
1 entry1 person -
15. live below my means
1 entry94 people
How I did it: We filed bankruptcy many years ago, and have spent the past 10 years digging out of that mess. We rented a house all this time, and paid off a massive pile of debt. We had just started to save money and pay down our few credit cards again when we found "the" house. We didn't think we were anywhere near being able to buy another house yet. Thursday night, I found a home online that I loved. By Friday at lunch time w… Read how I did it…
How I did it: I choose to do the RN to BSN online through Chamberlain College of Nursing. I went full time some semesters and part time some semesters. David, my admission coordinator, walked me completely through the admissions process and initial enrollment. The academic advisors were wonderful and assisted me with every step once I was in enrolled, all the way through to graduation. Read how I did it…
We paid them off. We got back to about 10K in debt again. We paid them off AGAIN. We were definitely on the right track. We bought a house that costs $1,000 more a month than we were paying previously, but still was very doable because we had little debt and stable incomes/jobs. Enter big whammy of $1200/month pay cut at work. Ouch. They cut all overtime and decreased us to 3 days per week. I could not pick up another (second) job because I was in school full-time, and was having medical issues. I had to take off work for 2 months for surgery, and there went another $1,000 a month off the top of our income. We have basically lived off credit cards again, not even realizing it, while I was trying to adjust to the huge pay decrease and continue to go to college full-time. I don’t have the answer on this one. I just know we are head over heels in credit card debt again (28K or so). It’s sad, and I’m not seeing much light at the end of the tunnel on this one. Maybe we can somehow tread water until I finally finish my current (and last!) educational endeavor in 2 years or so, and I should have a significant pay increase with no more educational obligations of my own by then. We currently are consolidating credit cards with a credit service just to be able to decrease the monthly payment by $700/month. You gotta do what you gotta do. I know one thing; These accounts are closed, and they are going to stay closed. We need the one card that we have had forever with a decent limit in case of emergencies, until we build our emergency fund up. Whew. How disappointing. We didn’t even see it coming, even though we have been here 2 or 3 times before. The difference is that this time the amount of debt is much higher, and my income is much lower. If it wasn’t for grad school, I’d just work all the time. I’m trying not to lose my goal of being an FNP & nursing educator.
I’m wanting a single star on my left inner wrist, but since the grad school I have applied to does not allow visible tattoos on the nursing students, well… I’ll have to wait til I graduate.


