tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post8147981268477888719..comments2023-06-11T02:19:27.429-07:00Comments on Academic Cog: Postdoctoral Money WoesSisyphushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-82157515174935293222010-06-29T06:52:34.891-07:002010-06-29T06:52:34.891-07:00A key reason I'd have less disposable income, ...A key reason I'd have less disposable income, though, is because I would presumably need to repay loans. But I don't have any loans to repay. And I haven't financed graduate school by living on credit. I don't carry a balance on my credit card. I also have a down payment for a house sitting in the bank waiting. <br /><br />I'm not saying my situation is typical. I don't think it is. It's because my husband used to make really good money but it's also because we learned to budget a long time ago. <br /><br />But I do I feel like she's assuming a graduate who went straight from undergrad to grad school, is single, has never had a significant income before, has never budgeted before, has many student loans, relied on credit cards to make ends meet in the past and thus has credit card debt. And on top of that, this person presumes that with their new tt income, their money troubles will disappear. Probably more common than my situation, I'm just saying...I noticed the assumptions because they don't apply to me.<br /><br />This is pretty much a pointless comment because I think her advice is great and what you add to the discussion is really solid, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-82817210037372404152010-06-28T19:45:49.134-07:002010-06-28T19:45:49.134-07:00Hmm, the only things I saw in her post were that y...Hmm, the only things I saw in her post were that you won't be paid as early as you think, you'll need to budget, and you'll probably have less disposable income than when you were a student. At first I didn't agree with the idea of an accountant, since I can use turbotax online without any difficulty, but on pondering it further I think it is good advice: an accountant will be able to help set up a budget and loan/cc repayment plan and should be able to help consolidate and get other repayment deals. I don't actually know how much an accountant costs, though (the only benefit of being poor! It's really easy to do the budget math!) <br /><br />And I feel for all you Atlases of student-loan burdens! My next plan is to win the scratch-off lottery --- I promise to send you some of my spare money once I do.Sisyphushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-64984005573692647682010-06-28T18:02:11.373-07:002010-06-28T18:02:11.373-07:00Hey Sis - never underestimate the possibility of m...Hey Sis - never underestimate the possibility of meeting a sugar daddy. haha. <br /><br />But seriously. I have 100K in student loans and have been in forbearance for a couple of years. I will likely try to do something like that again this year since I'm completely unemployed. (Unless some miracle akin to virgin birth happens and I get a job before December.) <br /><br />When I read tenured radical's post I laughed out loud. As Anastasia said, there are LOTS of assumptions there that just don't apply to me. <br /><br />Anywhooo... good luck. Survival is important. Take care of yourself!Fie upon this quiet life!https://www.blogger.com/profile/12047096700049201873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-18835241304531269052010-06-28T05:56:39.516-07:002010-06-28T05:56:39.516-07:00I totally empathize. I am one of those 100K studen...I totally empathize. I am one of those 100K student loan types. And despite the fact that I make a decent salary, I still live paycheck to paycheck and have to carefully weigh every expenditure. It's exhausting.Arbitristahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14090122079098885856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-29597206754084977112010-06-27T15:33:33.955-07:002010-06-27T15:33:33.955-07:00As much as I like TR's post it presumes many m...As much as I like TR's post it presumes many many many many things about my finances that are not true.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-64240312264381002682010-06-27T10:39:09.831-07:002010-06-27T10:39:09.831-07:00@Porp --- ahhhh! You wrecked a rental car? That...@Porp --- ahhhh! You wrecked a rental car? That's my nightmare! Ok, if I don't do that, I'm doin' fine.<br /><br />@Susan--- Sigh. I am tired of my cheap self-assembled furniture from kmart and target that is 12 years old. Even if I could get free stuff from other people at this new department, it wouldn't be shiny and new! Grumble grumble. Sigh, I can eat ramen off the floor again, I guess.<br /><br />Dame Elenaor --- I have gotten rid of my bookshelves and (soon) sofa, all of which are too fragile to make the journey (the bookshelves started coming apart on the journey down my stairs even!) but I still have all my other pieces of crap, including the kitchen table/chairs. I will try to make do, but I want something that doesn't say student-poor all over it! <br /><br />@Jane --- I did indeed get $500 for moving. But upack will cost me 1800 and the pods 2500, so, while it helps, it doesn't cover. And I don't have any books worth selling back, since I only own paperbacks and only buy used, and I've tried to sell back to the used bookstores. Two shopping bags full got me six bucks. So I'm hauling around the rest since I am attached to them! <br /><br />Once I get to Somewhere Else you will hear all about my adventures and attempts to socialize! I've gotten quite a few private emails about how isolating and lonely and scary doing a visiting/postdoc gig is, so I'm starting to get kinda worried. Thank god for the internet! THere is no way I can remove that from my budget.Sisyphushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-31111801247830728102010-06-27T00:28:32.103-07:002010-06-27T00:28:32.103-07:00Agreed on the bounty of Craiglist, Freecycle, and ...Agreed on the bounty of Craiglist, Freecycle, and especially of new colleagues giving stuff away. Also agreed on how facultyhood-as-financial-panacea is a myth: as you point out, even your tt friends have discovered the necessity of a lower standard of living than grad life. That was my experience as well. The handful of folks I know who finished with no debt described their first year post degree as "grad school, with money." Good for them.<br /><br />If you have tried to negotiate moving expenses, how firm was their "no"? My first temp gig paid mine as a matter of course, but the second did not, at first. That offer was handled by an associate dean, who claimed he couldn't authorize such an addition, so I did the equivalent of asking to speak to his supervisor. Since they were desperate to make the hire (this was in late April), moving expenses were added the contract. At this point, 7-11 weeks before classes start, your soon-to-be employer may be even more anxious about not losing their first choice, but it is a different economic climate, so tread gingerly with such a request.<br /><br />Depending on your relationship to your books, this next might be too horrific to contemplate: if you have many unmarked or gently marked books (especially textbooks that publishers still send to anyone who's ever taught a course at a large institution), you might be able to fetch pretty decent prices for them on Amazon, which gives you a lot of exposure but also takes out a hefty chunk of fees. Plug in some ISBNs to see how much a neglected volume can fetch. Had I to do it over again, I would not have moved 2000 pounds of books with me three times. Never mind the expense, which, though reimbursed, was absurd; the fuel consumed makes me shudder. Almost any book is replaceable.<br /><br />With regard to the budget, not eating meat <i>and</i> knowing how to cook can save enormous sums of money. For all I know, you're already a vegan who points out how all the dishes on <i>Top Chef</i> can be improved before the judges do, but food is the most flexible part of the budget. As an inveterate spending-tracker, I'm horrified by how often I ate out as a grad student, when life was so much more leisurely. Sites like <a href="http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Cheap Healthy Good</a> abound with ideas for eating low on both the food chain and the budget. If Somewhere Else has good farmers' markets, go late, when vendors will virtually (and often literally) give stuff away because they don't want to pack it up. Cook once a week and stock your freezer with your own superior Lean Cuisines. Coffee drinks are shockingly easy to make, though cleanup is a bore.<br /><br />Socializing doesn't have to be expensive. You'll earn brownie points for student engagement by attending students' readings and other functions; drag your colleagues along. If you're moving somewhere walkable (check out <a href="http://walkscore.com" rel="nofollow">WalkScore</a>), your colleagues are probably also walking to campus, and you should join them. I do so often, and we usually invite each other in for a glass of wine—on the way home, not in the morning (which, come to think of it, would make a day of meetings much more tolerable). That said, I think it is important to socialize with people NOT associated with work, especially when that work is academic. It takes over your life. Plus, everywhere I've ever taught, no matter the size, has been really insular. Befriending non-academics is necessary for a sense of perspective. Meetup.com gives a good idea of the types of things that interest people in Somewhere Else. That's how I met all my Tea Party BFFs. Kidding! My computer almost caught fire when I typed that.<br /><br />And may I just say how impressed I am at your thoughtful planning, given the trepidation—and excitement—of moving on? Don't underestimate how hard the transition can be, but if your preparation is any indication, you're going to be much better than just fine. Best of luck with everything.Lucky Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15559413853493688108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-37933296788864938812010-06-26T18:35:57.480-07:002010-06-26T18:35:57.480-07:00Freecycle furniture. Your new colleagues might ev...Freecycle furniture. Your new colleagues might even have stuff they want to get rid of and would be happy to give you, if you're not proud. I scored a dining room table, 2 chairs, and a washer and dryer from my new colleagues when I took my job.Dame Eleanor Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06512884104691200975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-35781478379035987192010-06-26T17:30:27.691-07:002010-06-26T17:30:27.691-07:00This is definitely the companion to TR's post....This is definitely the companion to TR's post. I kept the (free) dining table that a grad school classmate passed on to me for about 5 years post graduation. I think the free lounger, with a big slit in the vinyl, lasted even longer. <br /><br />It's always tricky knowing what's worth putting in the u-haul and what makes sense to leave. Fortunately, Craig's List is available even in places where they have weather :)Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-86866221152786136752010-06-26T16:38:52.886-07:002010-06-26T16:38:52.886-07:00Oh yeah, that first year or two after graduation t...Oh yeah, that first year or two after graduation tends to be brutal on the finances. (In my case, it didn't help that I wrecked a rental car when I went to VAP City to scout for apartments, to the tune of $4,000 in expenses that weren't covered by insurance. Ouch.)<br /><br />Good luck with everything!Fretful Porpentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.com