Late...again.

I'M SORRY.

To be fair, I spent most of the day grocery shopping and watching Sherlock. It was super important and I couldn't be bothered to blog during all that. You understand, right?

Also...btw...the Sherlock Season 2 finale:

 *flail*

Also this blog entry will be a bit short because I'm skyping Tyler and he is distracting.

 

 He won't even realize he's on this blog because HE DOESN'T READ IT. 

Today's topic is my debt. Because everybody wants to hear about that. 

So basically I finally found out how much I get in direct (unsubsidized) federal loans for the year (about $38,000). It's meant for 9 months (which is the length of MS1); however, after about an hour of stressful budgeting with my father (the most frugal and stressful man I know), I figured out how to stretch it out over 11 months. This will make it last until MS2 starts in July 2014. 

I also figured out that my parents will have to loan me about $3500-$4000 so that I can furnish my apartment and survive in Galveston before funding starts in July. I will hopefully be able to find somewhere to work briefly while I'm there, but that won't cover much more than food.

I am not one who enjoys owing people money. If you happen to recall an incident where I owed you money and didn't pay you back, it's definitely because I forgot. I make a point to be a lender, but not a borrower.  So the fact that I will owe somebody (parents, the federal government, etc.) money routinely for the next 30 years makes me cringe.

And the concept of interest just terrifies me.

So I guess for me that's the hardest part about "the real world". I'm used to being on my own, feeding myself (although I've never had a kitchen...so that'll be fun), getting used to a new place, and even budgeting my money (I've never overdrafted or had to ask for emergency money). But loans and debt are new. I realize that I am incredibly lucky to be in my current financial situation,  where my parents paid for any college expenses that weren't covered by scholarships and left me debt-free as a graduate. However, it's still intimidating to have to need to rely on loans for four years, defer them for residency, then start paying them off slowly with terrible interest. 

Nevertheless, I feel a bit better now that I have a plan and budget set in place. I'm still not sure how the funds will be disbursed or if I will have enough to live on (expecting a packet from UTMB any day now explaining the process...), but it's better.

Like I've said before, baby steps. 

Today's YouTube video is Charlieissocoollike. It is honestly one of my favorite videos of his, even though it's not meant to be entertaining, because it's so relatable.

Until tomorrow!