as time wears on, I come to see some problems;
I'm 21. I have 3 accounts of misdemeanor theft on my record, from stealing one digital projector from the university I used to attend. this occured september 2006. I was turned in by my best friend's girlfriend...literally while I was on the way to return the projector. oh well, I am not ashamed of anything regarding that, because it has made me a better person on the hole, and God obviously had a lesson for me to learn. the 3 accounts are expunged upon completion of 2 years of probation, which ends june 2009.
resulting, I spent one semester out of school. then went back for one semester, cleaned up my act, retook a few classes and jumped my GPA up to a 2.9 from a 1.7. then back out of school, because I owed them $7800...fafsa did not come through in time for that semester, and I thought that my parents had payed for the previous one. oh well, I blew enough of my money that semester to probably cover school, so I accept responsibility. I can learn from this.
so, I've been regaining my ground. I was working as a lifeguard in the town where I attend college...45 minutes from home, and getting 29mpg until the motor blew in my 86 comanche (my fault) and I started driving the 87 a few weeks later...it got 17mpg, and took half of my paycheck (at least) plus then I had car insurance to pay on it. I kept that job so that when I went back to school, I would have a job (they're notoriously hard to find in college towns).
well...spending half of my income on gas, and the other half on getting the truck done as well as paying bills...I didn't get too far. so now a jeep friend was good enough to hire me at the shop he runs, which services coca-cola machines. I like it, it's not too bad. right now I'm working nights for a KBB remodel at wisconsin-area McDonalds, so I work Sunday through Thursday nights, between 4 hours and (more likely) 12 hours a night with driving included.
so I just have one full day off, and two half days off. both half days are usually sleep catch-up days, so I can at least have one normal day with friends and family. ironically, upon thought, stealing a projector tends to cause one's friends to think twice about their association with one'self. kinda sucks, but it is life and it's not the worse thing in the world...I can learn from this.
basically, I'm paying for my mistakes. this is good, it builds character. It is the way things are supposed to be.
the unfortunate thing is, that both of my trucks need work, and I have a company vehicle to take to work and back. I'm making money, but all of it is going to pay debts, or finish the trucks, which leaves me broke and generally means I spend more time fixing things and less time socializing, because most socializing costs money that I don't have, or have alotted elsewhere.
so, I've been thinking lately about just selling the jeeps, buying a small car, or a stock jeep or something. I don't think that there is 5,000 dollars sitting in the jeeps since one has been totalled (makes me want to cry...$7500 investment, first father-son project) by another driver who turned left into it, and the other one is just a lifted but well equipped truck...
I don't know what to do. there's no $$$ to buy a small car unless both of them are sold, or I could just stop working on them for now and stop driving on weekends until the $$$ is there. I feel guilty when work doesn't get done to them (and they need it, like any jeeper would know) so leaving them sit isn't all that appealing.
I'm basically trying to get back on my feet without going broke, and make enough money that when I DO go back to school (hopefully in the fall of 2009), I can do so with enough $$$ in my bank that working 20 hours or less a week at some piddly job where I have no responsibilities, will be possible.
sorry guys for the long post...i don't feel sorry for myself, and don't expect you to. just laying it out so you can develop opinions based on full knowledge of the situation.
do you have any thoughts or ideas?
I'm 21. I have 3 accounts of misdemeanor theft on my record, from stealing one digital projector from the university I used to attend. this occured september 2006. I was turned in by my best friend's girlfriend...literally while I was on the way to return the projector. oh well, I am not ashamed of anything regarding that, because it has made me a better person on the hole, and God obviously had a lesson for me to learn. the 3 accounts are expunged upon completion of 2 years of probation, which ends june 2009.
resulting, I spent one semester out of school. then went back for one semester, cleaned up my act, retook a few classes and jumped my GPA up to a 2.9 from a 1.7. then back out of school, because I owed them $7800...fafsa did not come through in time for that semester, and I thought that my parents had payed for the previous one. oh well, I blew enough of my money that semester to probably cover school, so I accept responsibility. I can learn from this.
so, I've been regaining my ground. I was working as a lifeguard in the town where I attend college...45 minutes from home, and getting 29mpg until the motor blew in my 86 comanche (my fault) and I started driving the 87 a few weeks later...it got 17mpg, and took half of my paycheck (at least) plus then I had car insurance to pay on it. I kept that job so that when I went back to school, I would have a job (they're notoriously hard to find in college towns).
well...spending half of my income on gas, and the other half on getting the truck done as well as paying bills...I didn't get too far. so now a jeep friend was good enough to hire me at the shop he runs, which services coca-cola machines. I like it, it's not too bad. right now I'm working nights for a KBB remodel at wisconsin-area McDonalds, so I work Sunday through Thursday nights, between 4 hours and (more likely) 12 hours a night with driving included.
so I just have one full day off, and two half days off. both half days are usually sleep catch-up days, so I can at least have one normal day with friends and family. ironically, upon thought, stealing a projector tends to cause one's friends to think twice about their association with one'self. kinda sucks, but it is life and it's not the worse thing in the world...I can learn from this.
basically, I'm paying for my mistakes. this is good, it builds character. It is the way things are supposed to be.
the unfortunate thing is, that both of my trucks need work, and I have a company vehicle to take to work and back. I'm making money, but all of it is going to pay debts, or finish the trucks, which leaves me broke and generally means I spend more time fixing things and less time socializing, because most socializing costs money that I don't have, or have alotted elsewhere.
so, I've been thinking lately about just selling the jeeps, buying a small car, or a stock jeep or something. I don't think that there is 5,000 dollars sitting in the jeeps since one has been totalled (makes me want to cry...$7500 investment, first father-son project) by another driver who turned left into it, and the other one is just a lifted but well equipped truck...
I don't know what to do. there's no $$$ to buy a small car unless both of them are sold, or I could just stop working on them for now and stop driving on weekends until the $$$ is there. I feel guilty when work doesn't get done to them (and they need it, like any jeeper would know) so leaving them sit isn't all that appealing.
I'm basically trying to get back on my feet without going broke, and make enough money that when I DO go back to school (hopefully in the fall of 2009), I can do so with enough $$$ in my bank that working 20 hours or less a week at some piddly job where I have no responsibilities, will be possible.
sorry guys for the long post...i don't feel sorry for myself, and don't expect you to. just laying it out so you can develop opinions based on full knowledge of the situation.
do you have any thoughts or ideas?
since I joined back in 04. Either I didn't have any extra money that couldn't be put into bills/loans/etc or the Jeep wasn't ready. It may not be fun to not go wheeling, but $250 for a day of fun is pretty expensive when you're broke. And when you've got debts at 21, $250 extra in a month is a great thing to use to make more than the minimum payments. When I got my first big married with child tax return ($4000), where'd it go? Not fun or wheeling, it went to the loan on my Jeep and paying off debts, buying a new car seat and stroller for the baby. As such, I paid off my 4 yr loan in less than 1.5 yrs. Saved a ton of interest. It'd probably save you more than $250 in interest if you put that $250 towards any sort of interest bearing debts.
