I can't sleep, so I might as well type this up now while it's fresh on my mind. This might get a little long, but I need to catch everyone up on the main reason I'm posting this news.

It's not very well known because I don't update often, but I work Part Time as an Ophthalmic Tech and have been one since August of 2011. While my monthly income is just enough to cover my bills, there's not much left over to put in to savings.

Sometime last year, my co-worker no longer desired to clean both the office and optical shop on our floor. I took over cleaning that shop two nights a week for extra money. In February 2012, that same co-worker was scheduled to have major surgery and was going to be physically restricted from cleaning, so I took over cleaning the entire office, as well as the optical store. In total, I was cleaning five nights a week. February was a very financially stable month for me because I also received my tax return.

In 2010, after moving out of my ex's place in NY, my goal was to find stable employment. I have that and moved on to the next goal of paying off my longest held debt, my college loan. The remaining balance is now under $600. I was aiming to have that wiped out in a little more than 3 payments.

In 2011, I financed my first car on my own with no co-signer. My monthly payment is $250 a month and I am going to have this debt for a while. After the college loan was done, I was intending on putting the "freed up money" towards the car loan.

I then needed to have multiple cavities taken care of through Aspen Dental in 2012 after a filling from a different dentist disintegrated while I was at work. I was approved for Care Credit and picked the 48 month repayment option because if something were to happen* and I couldn't pay the $1,500 off in 18 months, the daily back interest they'd slap me with would ruin me. I put $800 of my tax return on this debt in February and have under $250 left to pay back.

I gave my ex $375 towards half of the neutering bill for Yoshi, the cat we adopted from a friend of his when we were dating. (Yoshi lives with his cat daddy in Brooklyn.) The procedure was costly due to his age (6) and also because his testicles never matured properly, so they had to be more invasive to find his kitty nuggets.

I needed tires during our winter season this year and my mother used her credit card to pay for them under the condition I pay her back monthly. I've been doing so at $100 per month.

In summary: My money is going out as quickly as it comes in, but it's all towards bills and very rarely for pleasure - like dining out, movies, buying work clothes or toys.

*The bad news - My mom wants my boyfriend and I to move out in 30 days.
In January 2012, he moved in after driving all the way from El Paso, Texas. He had finally saved enough to afford a car, then packed up all he could and drove over 1,000 miles in under 2 days. My mother lives elsewhere, but this is her house and we share it with my grandma, who has been living here since I was very small. When my grandma has errands to run, like going to the bank or for groceries, I take her. She doesn't drive, but is still mentally sharp for age 85. She needs help here and there, but for the most part she requires little supervision.

My mom was engaged to a man she is still living with, but things didn't work out and she has been making preparations to move back in to her house.

The good news - We have 30 days to find an apartment, which is better than 7 days and far better than NO days. Very recently, my boyfriend changed jobs from Part Time to Full Time with weekly paychecks. He has been able to save up some money since the contract his employer is working on required overtime as soon as he was hired.


Things are going to become very crazy, to put it lightly. I don't really know what is in store for us at the end of the 30 days, but there is a high likelihood I won't have access to the Internet, except for at work. I knew this situation was coming because my relationship with my mom has been deteriorating over the past few years. There are a few places I'm hoping we can snag within our budget. As long as there's enough space to keep warm and dry (that my mother won't be anywhere near), then that's all that matters to me.

I have to sit on my commissions this month until I know things are taken care of. I was picking at them during the weekends, but progress had been slow until recently. And then this giant shit storm came barreling through. I have two badges that I promised to finish before Anthrocon and two that don't have an official deadline, but need to be addressed. I still intend on keeping the deadline for the AC badges.

This also means any plans I had of attending Anthrocon, even just for one day (since I'm sort of local to the con) have to be cancelled.

Good news -  One of the techs accepted a job offer and will be leaving soon. I have the opportunity of becoming certified, working directly with the doctor in the exam room (instead of starting patients only) and hopefully getting a raise as well.

Bad news - Studying for an Ophthalmology Medical Assisting Test while apartment hunting, packing up your life and throwing away clutter all within 30 days has me stressed quite a bit.

Lastly, my remaining cat passed away on the morning of March 6th, 2013. She was no spring chicken (born in 1998), but her health declined quite rapidly over a week, which made her passing even more difficult to deal with. It seemed like she was her same old self at the end of February and then I noticed her behavior changing in March. My grandma was really attached to her as well because Booger would lay by her feet all day long while I was working.
I uploaded a memorial I put together for her in my scraps:  [link]

So, things will continue to get interesting. I'll try to update as soon as things look up. For now, I'm going to try to fall asleep again because I have to be up for work in 3 hours. Today is my "long day"when I'll be cleaning both the optical store and the office. There's a lot on my mind and I'm going to have to gather up some boxes. I'm not alone in this though and thankful I have the support of my partner to keep me from breaking. I'm also thankful for the online folks who are there for me as well.