I love being a nurse. I love the unit I work on (although staffing can be absolutely horrendous sometimes). And I love the coworkers and patient population that I work with.
But I always had a desire way deep down in my heart for something else.
I just want to be a mom. A stay-at-home mom. A mom who has the time to help her kids with their homework every night and have a fresh loaf of bread baked when they get home from school.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a path for every woman; and there are plenty of woman out there with thriving careers who are out there killing the mom thing.
But that's not what I want for my own life.
While I was growing up, my mom was a stay-at-home mom; and looking back I had a stability in my life that many kids didn't. I always knew that my mom would be home when I got home from school. And that there would likely be leftovers in the fridge from the meal she made the night before. If I needed help with my homework, she was there. And I always had a ride I could depend on whether it was for volleyball, knowledge bowl, gymnastics, or softball.
One big road block to continuing on my current career path once I have kids is that I like working nights and have no plans to ever live that day-shift nurse life, unless its clinic work. I have multiple reasons for this. I am very much a night owl, although I love being up early. Also, night shift just has a different culture, things are a bit slower and you get to know your coworkers better. Night shifters also have the best personalities 😜
Working nights would obviously make accomplishing many of my life goals much harder, although I do have many coworker's who work straight nights and have families.
So right now I'm planning.
Yes, from the outside that sounds kind of weird, especially in 2020. But I know that much of the reason that many people feel that they can't stay home even if they want to is because of finances. So I'm kicking my debt in the butt and cleaning it up hopefully before the end of 2020! I want to lay the plans for a sound financial future while I'm young so that my dreams will actually be attainable and I won't be putting a burden on my future family.
So wish me luck and check back for updates!
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Sunday, May 3, 2020
With Gazelle-like Intensity
(Just a quick FYI, this post has been sitting in my drafts for at least 9 months so I am much further along in this journey now than when this post was initially started, but I still want to share this so that we can start at the beginning).
So private college is expensive.
I obviously knew that going in, but the reality has really started to set in.
My debt totals over $65,000. Which to some (like myself) is a jaw-dropping amount, while for others it seems fairly average.
Your probably wondering why I chose to go to this particular school if I knew it was going to cost so much. Well honestly, had I known what I know now about the bondage of debt I never would have chosen to attend a school that would saddle me with debt equal to over an entire year's income for my job field. However, I will never regret choosing to go to this particular school because of how much I learned and because of how much I grew as a person during my time there.
So now it's time to clean up the mess.
And I'm choosing to dive in head first!
My loans are technically all 10 year loans, but I have decided that's far too long to have them hanging over my head and I have set the goal to pay them off in 4 years or less!
The plan I have chosen to follow is based on principles taught by Dave Ramsey. I grew up hearing his name mentioned by my parent's friends, but I never really paid attention because I was like 14... and had like $30 to my name... and no debt.
But here we are, 8 years and $65,000 later and I have got to do something.
I love Dave Ramsey's quote, "Live like no one else, so later you can live and give like no one else." As a Christian, I believe I have a responsibility to be a good steward of the financial resources God has given me and I've been really convicted that debt is 100% not being a good steward.
I want to have the funds available to assist those in need, but as long as my money already has someone else's name on it, I have very little if anything to give.
So gazelle-like intensity it is. I have been doing half-hearted attempts at budgeting to the last 5 or so months but this month I am going all in. I was seriously shocked to see how much I was spending on eating out and groceries... it was nuts... and I live in the rural midwest!
So I have decided to slash all my spending categories to the bare minimum and actually make an attempt to squeeze the wasted dollars out and throw them towards those loans.
So far it has went alright but I did forget to budget for a weekend trip to a wedding... but hey, things happen and I tried my hardest to keep spending to a reasonable amount.
Live and learn.
So follow me on my journey to being debt free! If any of you have similar stories, please feel free to share in the comments!
So private college is expensive.
I obviously knew that going in, but the reality has really started to set in.
My debt totals over $65,000. Which to some (like myself) is a jaw-dropping amount, while for others it seems fairly average.
Your probably wondering why I chose to go to this particular school if I knew it was going to cost so much. Well honestly, had I known what I know now about the bondage of debt I never would have chosen to attend a school that would saddle me with debt equal to over an entire year's income for my job field. However, I will never regret choosing to go to this particular school because of how much I learned and because of how much I grew as a person during my time there.
So now it's time to clean up the mess.
And I'm choosing to dive in head first!
My loans are technically all 10 year loans, but I have decided that's far too long to have them hanging over my head and I have set the goal to pay them off in 4 years or less!
The plan I have chosen to follow is based on principles taught by Dave Ramsey. I grew up hearing his name mentioned by my parent's friends, but I never really paid attention because I was like 14... and had like $30 to my name... and no debt.
But here we are, 8 years and $65,000 later and I have got to do something.
I love Dave Ramsey's quote, "Live like no one else, so later you can live and give like no one else." As a Christian, I believe I have a responsibility to be a good steward of the financial resources God has given me and I've been really convicted that debt is 100% not being a good steward.
I want to have the funds available to assist those in need, but as long as my money already has someone else's name on it, I have very little if anything to give.
So gazelle-like intensity it is. I have been doing half-hearted attempts at budgeting to the last 5 or so months but this month I am going all in. I was seriously shocked to see how much I was spending on eating out and groceries... it was nuts... and I live in the rural midwest!
So I have decided to slash all my spending categories to the bare minimum and actually make an attempt to squeeze the wasted dollars out and throw them towards those loans.
So far it has went alright but I did forget to budget for a weekend trip to a wedding... but hey, things happen and I tried my hardest to keep spending to a reasonable amount.
Live and learn.
So follow me on my journey to being debt free! If any of you have similar stories, please feel free to share in the comments!
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