**UPDATE: Boomertowne is dead. They did not cash in any gift cards since the early part of May 2008, and stopped communicating with their users. Please see this post for more information. Boomertowne.com is one of the few legitimate sites that I have found that really gives an opportunity to make money (in the form of gift cards). Here’s a breakdown of the site: You earn points for participating in the Boomertowne community. You can participate via chat rooms, forums, making a profile, playing games, and rating quotes or jokes (just to name a few). You can earn up...
Monthly Archives: January 2008
Woohoo!
I am finally finished! It took 9 years (including my maternity leave and leave of absence), but was well worth it. I guess that I should begin contemplating how to use this Ph.D. to my advantage while still being a stay-at-home mom… Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I will definitely have some more time on my hands now, and intend to add some more quality content in the near future (as soon as I get over my second head cold). I have been visiting sites and receiving traffic via Entrecard, and plan on writing more about this soon....
Thesis printed! Talk done, but not rehearsed…
I am so sick (again)! I could barely talk today, and have to give my talk at 9:30 in the morning. The talk is done, but I have yet to rehearse, which kind of sucks – looks like I’ll be flying by the seat of my pants. I did get my thesis printed, however. I am so glad that I can check this off my list. I am very lucky that my mom is in town – she came in to see my talk, but she is going to stay at home with the kid instead. I guess I...
Thesis almost done, talk is another story…
I’m really amazed – I got my second reader’s comments back today for my thesis, and there are almost no changes to make. I plan on printing it off this weekend (all 8 copies…what a waste of paper!), and then give my talk on Monday. I need to finish my talk tomorrow, so things may be a little sparse here over the next couple of days. Wish me luck!
Our financial story – student loans – part 2
Today, it’s time to focus on my student loans. I was very fortunate to not have to take out any loans for my graduate studies – a small but sufficient graduate stipend combined with my husband’s income helped us out. However, I spent 5 years completing my undergraduate studies (I am a geek who did a triple major) and my last year was expensive. In total, my federal undergraduate student loans totaled roughly $15000, which included an unsubsidized loan for $1450. I also had to take out a private loan in my last year for $6000. Even while in...
Our financial story – student loans – part 1
I thought that student loans would be a good place to start documenting our financial journey – as I am bringing my graduate school career to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at what our education cost us. Today, I will start with my husband’s student loans. Starting off, he had federal undergraduate student loans totaling roughly $18400 (these days, that’s not bad for 4 years at a private college!) which he began paying in September of 2000. In September of 2002, he went to an accredited school for massage...
One doctoral thesis, coming right up…
Alright, it’s been a couple of days since posting. I am overflowing with ideas, but things are a little busy right now. I have until the end of the month to finish all of the requirements for my Ph.D. in biochemistry from well-known prestigious university. After maxing out maternity leave and leave-of-absence time, it’s time to buck up and get things done. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is really refreshing, and I can’t wait to finish. At the same time, I want to make sure all my ducks are in a row and I finish...
Head Huggers – knitting hats for cancer patients
Although the focus of this site is money, it is also important to give back to others. All the money in the world doesn’t matter if you don’t fulfill your personal goals. I mentioned in a previous post that one of my goals was to have a job with a purpose that helps other people directly. After giving it some thought, I think that another one of my goals would be to also increase giving back to others, even if it does not directly involve money (ie. a job). I do not have the time to begin a nonprofit...
Life lesson – it is up to you!
The most important thing that I have learned about life is that I am in control of it. When I was in high school, I played soccer, and our coach always used to say, “How bad do you want it?” when we were losing. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I always used to go out and play harder after he asked us this question. Looking back, it’s kind of ridiculous – why did a coach have to remind me of the purpose of playing the game in order for me to try harder? I...
