We've a couple big decisions looming over us: #1 work vs. school #2 car
#1
When I became supervisor I was also given the option of Full Time/Salary which = 40 hours a week always. But I get benefits: my health insurance covered, paid vacation and sick days, discounts with optical and dental, etc.
Last semester, I worked 30 hours a week (the minimum I have to work p.s.) while being full time student ... way too much for me. I did not do well in school, we'll put it that way.
So ... no matter which way we decide ... I think I'll have to go to part-time school. But how much do I give to school?? My boss has been asking for my decisions for a few months now ... :)
Let's shed a little bit more light on the whole situation, shall we ...
BYU's health insurance = crappy (what I'm on right now). They hardly cover anything at all. And no dental or optical at all. And if you go anywhere besides their health center they will only pay 30 % I think it is ... including hospitals. If I go full time ... we wouldn't even have to worry about this - insurance expense would be gone and we probably wouldn't be paying as much for prescriptions.
My job isn't what you would call a walk in the park ... atleast for me. I'm the boss of 10 people. I even have an assistant. Everytime I've been gone for more than 2 days, I get atleast one phone call from one of my employees asking something. It's hard to put my job into perspective. It really is quite amazing and a blessing that I got the job. Every single one of my employees has more education than me ... except for two and they have more experience. I just happened to be the one with the most experience at the company - I figured out the system and the owners like me.
I deal with some of the most confidential information within the company ... such as its bank statements. If anything strange happens...I'm the one that has to figure it out or how to solve it. If something doesn't get done - it falls on me. The previous supervisor was known for staying late almost everyday - she worked the most hours out everyone in the company several years in a row...not joking. I'm not by any means trying to brag ... just trying to give a little insight to what I deal with on a daily basis. And what I'm saying is that I don't always have a lot of energy after I've been at work for 8 hours of making decisions and solving mysteries. So I'm not even sure how much school I'll be able to handle while keeping myself sane. If I go 40 hours ... I'm thinking 2 classes tops.
I've finally felt like I've got a handle on things ... this summer ... not being in school. I can come home and relax if I want, without feeling guilty about not doing homework. Our apartment has gotten pretty clean. I actually cook dinner more than once a week. I can actually kinda get things done. Things are good.
And ... I get paid pretty well. It'd be nice to have the extra income to save up for when the day comes when we start our family. It'd be nice to have money put away and enough that we wouldn't have to worry about me becoming a stay at home mom.
Another note ... football season isn't the easiest thing on the wife ... or atleast me. You don't have weekends - it's as if they don't exist except for Sundays. Not a bad thing by any means ... I love going to the games but I don't get anything done.
But ... school is super important. Period. I do love to learn and I do think it's important (I already said that). It's hard especially since lately I've felt like I'm meant more for work than school. I've excelled greatly at work and my job but kinda gone down hill with school ... atleast according to my expectations for myself.
So that was a lot longer than expected and was basically me rambling. Moving on ...
#2 Car
We've been looking at maybe buying a new car. We've spent close to $1500 in just the last 3 months in repairs on the truck and car. We're basically paying a car payment but in repairs. We're kinda thinking we would rather put the money into a car we can rely on.
If we do ... we'd go down to one car - sell the car and truck and use that money to pay for the car or at least a down payment. We're trying to look at all our options. Just putting it out there but it is a big decision in front of us. Something we could have for a long long time and run into the ground. Something that we could lug kids around in ... neither of our current cars are suited for carseats. So we were thinking of getting a car now when we can afford it so that we can have it when a few years down the road we have a kid and no money. Who knows ... still a lot of thinking and looking around.
We've been looking at the Hyundai Sonatas - we test drove a brand new one and a used '07. We're not really looking at buying a brand new one but it was sure fun to test drive.
So there's our big decisions looming over our heads at the moment. Sorry for another super long post.
2 comments:
Cars are really great deals right now, especially with all the dealerships going out of business. Do your research and try to pay for it up front if you can (that's what a financial guy in our ward said when we had a big lesson on finances- never take a loan out for a car if you can help it). Don't forget to compare car insurance costs too. You should be able to call your insurance agent ahead of time and get quotes or suggestions on car options. Mine was quite helpful when we bought the van.
About school... I think you should call me. On the one hand- You're already pretty much in the field you wanted to do with your degree right? Maybe even talk to your boss or someone else who is a professional in the field and ask them and yourself which is going to be more beneficial to you at this point (given your current position and experience) and in the future- experience or education? It sounds like experience but I could be wrong. On the other hand, our leaders have certainly stressed recently how important education is, especially for women. So maybe keep at it but with the goal being obtaining an education rather than a degree. Take some independent study courses (you have a year to do them) and a night class here and there. If you only do a few classes here and there but continue it through the spring/summer then it's not that much different than you'd end up with going part time fall/winter semester. If in the long-term you want to be a stay-at-home mom and raise a family then that degree is only going to be a fallback, that education is going to serve you well, and that experience will help you prepare.
Ultimately, you're going to need to go to the temple about it and pray about it- alone and together. But I'm sure you already know that.
Just my thoughts (or some of them anyway)
Full time work
Part time school
The degree puts you in a different pay class.
Right out of school they will ask for your Grades, but once you have had a job they care about what you have done. You have the job so you can let your grades slide. You need to keep about a 3.0 and if you are thinking post graduate then this doesn't apply.
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