Have I ever said that I detest spending money on school??? Well I do!!! Over the last three years, we have spent over $15,000 of our own money. (Not to mention the student loans that will come due six months after I graduate) Do you know what I could have bought with that money??? How about a new car, a horse (a couple of horses, really!!), new appliances, new furniture, or a totally awesome family vacation to somewhere exotic and fun, like Antigua. Or I could have put it all in savings, and actually have one...lol!!!
All whining aside, I know that my education will pay off in the long run, but I just forked out $458 for four text books...two of which were used. When the girl rang me up, my mouth literally fell open at the total amount. I was like "Are you kidding me???" Apparently she was not, and she informed me that a guy who is a physics major, just dropped over $900 for his. Guess I should just shut up and quit complaining, eh???
Then, to rub salt in my bank account's wounds, my husband and I got our taxes done on Sunday (which was a good thing!!!) and we had to pay for it up front. Know how much that cost??? Over $220 at H&R Block, and we were informed that the rates are down this year. Says who???I am pathetic, I know, but I just got slapped for over $600 that I don't really have. I will have it in about one month when the check comes from the IRS, but until then, we are pinching pennies.
Ahhhhhhhhh....the joys of our crumbling economy!!! I will just have to focus on the positive, right??? Things could always be worse, right????
Anywho...sorry to vent and whine. I know my problems are small compared to what thousands of people are dealing with.
Thanks for listening!! :)
18 comments:
Oh whoaaaa! I hear you Mellie, I have a wanna be Nurse in the house, and books OMWG!!! They are absurdly priced!
If he were not in the Army Reserve Band at Fort Vancouver....don't know how we'd pay for school!
It is scary hard these days...I can't even watch the news!
I am having a little "real time" wine here now and being silent myself these days...just posting pics mainly..too down in the mouth for more!
Love ya..hang on!
KK
Everyone is entitled to a little rant! Especially with the way the economy is going right now. It is kinda scary! Actually, not kinda..it is!
Some say love makes the world go round lol... sure, sure...love shmuv!....I say money does! LOL JK
...sing it with me now! ....
"The best things in life are free...but you can give them to the birds and bees 'cause I want money! (Thats what I want!)" lol...
Pretty soon you will be able to put all that new gray matter to work and pull in some $$..and you know what that means! Horses! Tack! Trailers! Yay!!!
Keep your chin up!
Hole Guacomole! That is a lot of books for $500 big ones!
I think we are all on budgets, but I am denial and keep spending (small amounts) like there is no tomorrow. I am needing to do my taxes, it might help to get a little refund!
I love Charlie Brown, by the way!
Oops- I meant to say, that is NOT a lot of books for $500 big ones! :)
Aw Mel I hear ya! You read my post from yesterday.... OI is all I can say! When your done school just imagine how much further it will get you, and you and your family can be living comfortably again. I only work the crazy hours I do because financially I have to. We all have to do things we don't really want to do sometimes in order to acheive our ultimate goal. (I keep telling my City Boy that but he hasn't got up off his butt yet to so something about it....) I feel your pain and hope for better for both of us soon! But I do realize that compared to others, we have it pretty darn good. So I guess I just need to be thankful for what I have. *hugs* cheer up! And get on out for a ride! It'll make ya feel loads better :)
Me again!
Well my light and sleep depravation is making anything wierd in my life OVERLY SO, and I am just too out of it to try harder at anything right now...I will bounce back when it gets sunny and light.
My barn woes continue and having a horse blog that the barn reads...well, I am not very honest right now there...just making it look nice and all.
I really want to cut loose and call some names Mel..you know, like somewhere safe. But, not for now times.
Thanks for begin friendly and asking.
I weil go for a ride and that day will be redeemed!
KK
I'll join your pity party:-( Matt and I aren't hurtly "ourselves", but my parents are broke and in their 60's:-( My dad lost all his retirement plans/money in a company that was supposed to be his windfall and saving grace... the company went under and my dad still had to pay $22k+ in f*ing taxes of stock that was worthless:-( now he's just looking for a job to pay for health insurance for him and my mom...
what is wrong with this f*ed up country, this is so backwards.
OKay Mel, I leave for one week and I come back to a different blog and a heavy blog content. I'm calling you tonight!
Yeah text books suck - and then you know you can sell them back when your classes are over - BUT they buy them off you for like a whole $40 here and $20 dollar there. And you KNOW they are going to turn around and resell them to someone else for $120!
That's one thing I really don't miss about school.
This year we really sucked it up for our taxes - we are getting like maybe $600 back - we usually get like $2000 back so I don't know what happened. This year might suck alot worse than we first suspected.
Kacy-Sorry to hear that you are having barn woes. That's why you are being so selective on your posts!!!
Chesli-LOL!!! Who says money can't buy you happiness??? It doesn't?? I am pretty sure that it makes life a whole heck of a lot easier, right???
Pony Girl-I know!!! The most expensive one was $154, and the least expensive one was $68. Go figure??!!! I love Charlie Brown too! :)
Natarojo-Yes, I think I need a good, long, ride...or a nice, stiff, drink...lol!!! Just kidding!! Thanks for your support! :)
Denise-I am so sorry about your parents. Our economy is really scary right now. This is definitely not your everyday, run of the mill recession!
Mom-I am fine!! Honest!! :) Talk at you tonight. :)
Steph-I don't even bother with book buy backs anymore. You stand in line for three hours, with $500 worth of textbooks in your hands, and they give you $50 total back...if you are lucky!!! Sorry about your taxes. :(
Why? Why are books that expensive. You know they only cost like 20 bucks a book to make. And in high school books didn't cost that much, so why in college are they ridculously over priced? I am with ya.
And we haven't done our taxes yet, but we need to. We are pinching pennies too. I want to send my four year old gelding to a trainer, and I have to wait until taxes get here. UHG!!
Mel, I have a picture I'll leave on my blog for you in a bit. It goes with this one!
I remember paying what felt like a gazillion dollars for my text books 5 years ago. The kicker was that I didn't even crack open half of them because they were just supplemental reading, if we were interested. Ugh!
We haven't done our taxes yet, but will this weekend. As CP hasn't worked a full year at this job, we should get a tidy sum back. Next year, we'll have to see though. That might hurt!
Kacy, if you happen to read the comments again, you are welcome to rent my blog and vent to your little heart's desire! Anonymously too, if you'd feel better about that!
I'm thinking there must be something in the water! There are an awful lot of discontented bloggers who are unhappy for one reason or another. Me included!!
So...me thinks we are in need of"
1) Sunshine
2) Cocktails
3) Girlfriends
4) Cash
5) Our horses
Did I leave anything out??
And yes, this economy is truly sucking big time - but we'd better get used to it and brace ourselves for it to continue and probably get worse...don't really see it doing otherwise for quite some time.
That used to drive me NUTS in college. A new book would be $120 and a used book would be $110, but when you went to return it...they gave you like $20 for it. I revolted and kept all mine!!! So nanner-nanner boo-boo to that college...and ten years later I still have them. You just cannot imagine how many states I lugged those heavy b*st*rds through. But to my credit...I did re-read a lot of the material in my macro and micro economics books a few years back-LOL.
The economic devastation is starting to hit people around here too. People are maxed out on credit and the price of everyone's calves took a big hit last fall. Scary stuff for a lot of ranching families.
Yikes! That's a major hit! My son graduated last June and he told me that one thing he wouldnt miss about college is the buying of books. He was able to get his used books and a couple of times he and a friend would share books, but it was still spendy. I hate to disagree with our friend, Andrea, here, but i was on the "buying end" of purchasing high school books for many years and they are not cheap! Some literature and history books cost nearly $60. each! and that's at publisher prices.
It's a steep price to pay for education, but look how much smarter you will be when you finish studying all of those books!
Ugh. Me, too. Mellie. I'm just in a rotten mood, too. Pass the wine...forget it, pass the margaritas and an entire bowl of your homemade salsa and some chips. I could so use a girlfriend's night out. It's been ages!
I don't see why colleges have to sell books. All colleges have a library. Why can't the required books be available to borrow in the library? They already charge a ton just to attend and pay the professors...they need to make more money for the books, too??
That stinks.
You mentioned Antigua...and I smiled. That's where me and my hubby honeymooned 19 years ago. Beautiful little hotel in a cove called Pineapple Beach Club. You took me back for a little while. Thanks!
ps....Now I know why I lost you and didn't leave you in comments. You changed your name and I didn't see your blog anymore in my followers list with new updates.
Sorry Mellie!
I missed you, too.
Your blog looks great, too :D
~Lisa
Andrea-LOL!!! Taxes and text books?? Who needs them anyway???
Oregon Sunshine-I already got you at your blog!! You crack me up!!! :)
Cingspots-Oooohhh...I like your list!!! All of those would equal a good time. :)
BEC-At least you re-used them! :)
Similar to your ranchers, the timber industry over here is going down the drain. Scary times!
SMR-See??? That's what I love about you...you put everything into perspective!! :)
Lisa-I understand ya' girl!! I think we all got served "rotten moods" all around...lol!!! ANd you have been to Antigua??? How fun!!
huh...it is still wierd when i read for your feedbackto me and suddenly see someone has addressed me in YOUR comment box!! ((hahaha)) another way to arrive to true bloggerdom!
Kac
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