No Job, so What's Next?

I got a reply about the job. They need somebody to start within a week's time, so I had to decline since I'll be trotting around Europe instead. That's alright--the pay for that job was DISMAL.

Instead, I've refocused on what I want to do this summer. Should I job hunt right away? Tackle some of that student loans while I'm at it?

My sister lives in Asia where she teaches. She lives there with her husband, and the two of them just had a baby. She asked if I'd like to go and visit, and I'm really debating it. The cost of the return flight would be nearly $2000 I think, but it might be worthwhile. That way, I can stay there for three weeks and then come back and really job hunt.

Job Hunting

I'm still not done my studies here. School isn't quite finished yet--three essays, a report, and three exams to write--all of which are due NEXT WEEK. I kid you not; I don't quite understand these Brits sometimes.

But I digress.

A week from now (eight days to be exact) I will (hopefully) be writing the last exam of my bachelor degree. Then I will spend two magnificent weeks traveling through London, Paris, Rome, and Madrid before I return to England and pack up my things to fly back home. To Canada. At which point I will be confronted with the fact that I AM UNEMPLOYED. Scary.

So I started the job hunt recently and found a short, summer contract for students. It's right up in my field and located close to my home. Even though the pay is dismal (it's half of what I made at my last job) it would be a good job to have since I could start right when I get back while I search for something long term. The problem is that they want the person to start right now, and I can't do that. I explained that in my cover letter and shot my resume at them anyway... To which I got a reply that I'd been selected for an interview. Scheduled for next week. I explained once again that I'm not able to come in for an interview so soon since I'm overseas. We'll see what comes of it.

Wise Financial Decisions in College

I was randomly surfing the internet when I came across a post on wise financial decisions in college by I've paid for this twice already. The two smart decisions she says she made included not using credit cards and only getting student loans to pay for tuition. I started to think about what smart moves I've done financially while in university.

1. Avoiding leases like the plague.
I only signed a lease once during my university stint, and that was on purpose in order to learn about the tenant/landlord minefield. Apart from that one time, I never signed a lease. Leases generally carry a minimum duration of 12 months, and I was never at school for the whole year. Instead, I scoured rent ads for people who wanted lease takeovers and subletters. That way, I negotiated the duration of the lease to only be for the length of time I needed, and sometimes I would also bargain to have internet included in the monthly rent. (I think a lot of people go about this unethically, but I tried to be as fair as possible and not a bully).

2. Working full-time jobs in between classes.
Whenever I wasn't a full time student I was employed full time (except for one summer where I went to a few developing countries to do volunteer work). The money that I made from each of these jobs went first to my tuition, then to paying off student loans. After that I used my money to pay for fun stuff.

3. Setting financial goals.
I never, ever would have been able to tackle my finances if I had never started university with the goal of paying for it myself and walking away without debt. Yes, I still have debt now, but it's my choice (because I opted not to use my money to pay off my loans just yet). That's incredible freedom that I have.

Maybe in a few years I will look back and add a few other things I think were smart decisions.

Cute Reducipe

I just came across this recipe and I can't wait to try it out!

Grace Period

My student loans are officially in the beginning of the grace period, but they're still accruing interest at $1.94 per day. That is kind of unnerving. I mean, that's like a coffee from Tim Horton's each day being swallowed up by my student loans. And I'm kind of forced to sit back and watch it grow while I finish my studies and try to find a job. I don't want to complain too much--I mean, without these student loans I wouldn't have been able to get to the point where I am. And I know that my job prospects are already a lot better than my parents, who never got a postsecondary education. I just mean that I've never liked to be one to sit around and not tackle debt.