Books!

Law school orientation was about 20 bazillion times more enjoyable than I remember undergrad orientation being. Turns out all I needed to be comfortable in my own skin was seven extra years:)

In addition to getting oriented, I've also been getting acquainted with my textbooks. Both in the sense of reading them and puzzling out what they actually mean, and in the sense where I've pretty much memorized their ISBN numbers, since I've spent so much time trying to figure out how to get clean copies of current editions without breaking the bank.

I've used a combination of the following online resources:

Amazon (for a discount on books published in 2009, and thus not really available used)

Half.com (searched over the course of about a week for used copies that weren't highlighted)

Ebay (for a book that is required reading but not a textbook... I'm pretty sure the only reason we're buying it is because the Professor wrote it)

Google's Product Search (to determine which of the three above was my best bet)

I also used:

The used book sale at the law school.

Three university libraries (I have access to quite a few university libraries because this school has share agreements with others in the area) to get me access to books that will come in the mail at a later date.

The official bookstore, for books I couldn't find cheaper elsewhere, and for books that I couldn't find at the library, but that I can return for a refund before next Friday.

Despite the fact that orientation started around August 20th, it took me until today to order everything. I'm still waiting for some stuff to come in, but I have library books available to cover me for about a month, so I should be all set.

Had I simply gone to the bookstore and got the books, I probably would have been a bit less pressed for time to actually sit down and do this week's reading. However, I also would have paid the princely sum of $798.60 for books for four courses. I managed to more than halve that amount, for a total of $384.52. Yay!

No Money Coming In = Scary

I deposited my last paycheck this past week. It was more frightening than I thought it would be.

I now officially have no income. The plan is to make my savings last for three years. By which I mean, have my savings cover three years of living expenses. Three years of tuition will be paid for by a) my parents b) loans from my parents and c) subsidized Stafford loans.

The sum total of my savings is $41,000. There is some cushion built in there (I'm not counting the $1600 security deposit on my apartment, I have some IRA money that I could take out if absolutely necessary, and I expect to earn some money over the summers), but basically, $41,000 is all that I have to work with.

Dividing that by three nets me $13,667 per year. Dividing by twelve leaves me with about $1,140 per month. That's about what I spent last year, but it's going to be a stretch this year. Especially considering my rather high rent ($795 per month) and the fact that I have to buy books for law school. Guess it's a good thing that I don't cost very much to feed and clothe:)

RIP Shuchong's Computer

I had grand plans to post while in China. They involved proxy servers and third-party posting software and all sorts of fun stuff. The flaw in the plan was that every single part of it required a working computer. I no longer have one of those.

I suppose I can't be too upset about that fact, since my previous computer was purchased in 2002, and has seen some seriously heavy use since then. I've taken it apart once or twice to replace parts. I've dropped it a few times. And even now, it's not completely dead... just useless because the screen has gone bad. I could hook it up to an external monitor and it would still work, so I'll be able to get everything I need off of it.

But for now, I'm computerless, in a completely new city, where I know absolutely no one. I was kind of counting on Google maps to help me get around. Luckily, I have managed to find the law library, and I'm typing from there. Now all I have to do is research and purchase a new computer, and I'll be all set!

Woops.

So, the bad news is that the Great Firewall is blocking blogger now. Grrr...

The good news is, I've obviously found a way around it. And I have lots of finance-related stuff to say, so I'll be back to semi-regular posts soon:)

Oops. Turns out I kind of suck at life...

I haven't posted in a while, but I have several good excuses, I swear!

They all boil down to one fact: I am not very good at being a grown-up.

Case in point:

I'm moving to China for the summer. My flight leaves next Wednesday. I haven't started packing yet. I just signed a lease on a studio for next year (more expensive than I wanted it to be at $795 per month, but I really didn't want to go to China without a place to live when I came back). I have no idea what to do with the random furniture that I've accumulated (I'm thinking freecycle, but that involves effort on my part, especially because my furniture is not exactly light).

I also have not yet said goodbye to my friends in the area. Nor have I taken care of the health forms that I'm supposed to take care of before I can enroll in law school. A doctor's appointment for a physical is scheduled for next Monday. My joy knows no bounds. I'm pretty sure the last time I had a physical, I was in high school.

Tonight, I'm saying goodbye to one friend by grabbing dinner with her and then dragging her off to an evening showing of the new Star Trek movie. (I may possibly, and I admit this only because none of you actually know who I am, have had a large poster of the Enterprise D on my wall during most of middle school. I may possibly also have owned a Klingon-English dictionary, though in my defense I'm pretty sure I never actually read it).

Tomorrow, I'm going to be at work until around 8:00pm, training my replacement and meeting with our accountant.

That leaves me with Thursday and Friday to frantically stuff everything I own into suitcases. And also to do laundry, which is something else that I've put off for far too long. Saturday I'll be hauling all my stuff to my Grandparents, where it will sit in their basement for the summer. I'd kind of like to also haul my mattress and boxspring with me, but I'm too chicken to call and ask them if they'll have room for it.

I could go on, but I think the above paint a sufficiently unflattering picture:) It's a darn good thing law schools only care about academic performance, and not about actual life skills, or they wouldn't have let me in.

Credit Card Companies... Gotta Love Them

My Open Wallet linked earlier today to an NY Times article on how credit card companies are going to try to get more money out of those who pay cards off on time, since their profits are being decimated because of higher default rates and new rules about interest rate hikes and billing practices.

Contrast that with this WSJ article on the rich moving from states with high state income taxes to those with low/no income taxes, and you see how this strategy might not work so well.

I pay my credit card off on time every month. Never carrying a balance means that I actually have the cash to pay for what I buy. If credit card companies start charging me for the privilege of carrying a card, I'll simply stop carrying one.

Note to credit card companies: you would be better served by increasing charges on merchants (something also mentioned in the NY Times article), who will then pass the increased costs off to all consumers equally. That way, I won't realize that I'm being fleeced.

Penury here I come!

So, I've never really bought a luxury item before. Apparently, I've been saving up so that I can blow tons of money on something really, really expensive.

I present to you my newest money sieve: a JD!

Like most other luxury purchases, it's going to require a bit of upkeep, and can also be viewed as an investment. Also like most other luxury purchases, it costs as much as a small house, yet provides me with no shelter. I expect my net worth to go negative sometime in 2011, as I'll be borrowing money from the feds and from my parents. Best case scenario: by the time I actually get a degree, I'll have taken out $25,500 in subsidized Stafford loans ($8,500 per year over three years, the max subsidized amount allowed) and $60,000 worth of zero-interest loans from my parents. That totals $85,500 of debt. Oh, and all my savings will be wiped out as well.

And yet, even after having typed the above paragraph, I'm still ridiculously excited about my decision. Sure, I can justify this as a smart financial move (you know... if I try really, really hard). But finances were only a part of the reason I made this decision. I looked at the money I have on hand, and the money my parents were willing to pay, and I decided that going to this school was definitely doable. That settled, I started getting really excited about all the classes I could take, and the options I could explore, and the jobs I could conceivably be doing after I get my degree.

It's actually been great to take a step back and view money as a tool that allows me to do the things I want to do, instead of focusing, as I have been recently, on just money. Possibly dangerous, but still great:)