The Ding Letter

I will admit, I got this letter a lot faster then I expected.

And while I would love to believe that they have me on a black list or some such nonsenses, I find myself hoping that I just didn't meet with what they had been looking for. It doesn't mean I like it but such is life.

I let my friend know that I got it so they wouldn't keep hoping. I think we will be meeting up to chat soon so it's just as well. But still...

At least they sent the damn letter this time.

Re-applying for a Job

Once again I got word that an opening at a company I love is back. So I sent my res and updated my cover letter... But since a former co-worker tried to burn my bridges for me I have a feeling that they will just toss my information the moment they see my name.

Fortunately another former co-worker really wants me to return. They always keep me up to date with any potential openings and always puts in a good word for me. So much so that I have warned them not to get into trouble trying to get me back.

I keep telling myself that I won't try again with this company, but every time I'm told there is an opening for this one position I crumble. It is so close to were I live, competitive pay and I really loved the people there. I could save almost $60 a month just on gas if I was hired back.

The down side would be that they have seen me leave before when the going got tough. The Floor Manager apparently has doubts about me and I have no idea if it was because of something that was told to him or because he didn't get my two week notice letter. Unfortunately I do believe that the person that was the reason I left would be petty enough to make sure my letter was never received.

Here is hoping I can at least get an interview.

Saving Money

Back to the saving money bit.

If, like me, you are looking into getting a job in another city/state you will need at least $10,000 - $15,000. Why? Because some leasing companies will not rent to you unless you have that much saved up. They want to make sure that should you loose your job that you will be able to pay them. It also shows that you can pay them.

Makes sense? I didn't think so.

To them you are an investment. If they have to evict you that will cost them a good deal of money and they do not like loosing money. (I heard locally there is about 3 months of non-payment prior to eviction.) So they want to make sure that they won't have to evict you. They will possibly also run a credit check and background check. So don't be surprise if they present you with these forms.

If in 6 years I end up getting a better job locally(fat chance but a possibility) I might use my saved money for a down payment on a house. The housing market here is not all that good right now. But in a few years? who knows. It's a possibility I have to keep in mind.

Et too Second Job?

So that didn't last very long.

The place is wonderful and the people are wonderful. I love the owner to bits but I just do not want to be a barista. :-( I really do Love the owner, she is so sweet and understanding, I just can't do it.

I did find out that I don't mind washing dishes or busing tables. I guess that's a plus?

Back to the old drawing table.

Second Job

So, I took the plunge and have possibly gotten myself a second job. We are going to see how well I take to it tonight then we will be going from there. :3 With luck I will be working Saturday and Sundays with possible nights if needed. Provided traffic and travel time isn't a problem.

I am terrified of jinxing myself.

I also forgot, in all my giddy happiness, to ask what the uniform was. Even with minimum wage this is going to help a lot. Saturday is almost 14hrs so that will be interesting. I should be fine as long as there isn't the lull of doom. I might be a little too happy/bouncy for this but who knows? The owner is very nice and understanding.

And I really don't know why my mom said "Don't try and take over the coffee shop. At least wait until your more secure." I'm really not like that. I will admit that if she offered me full time at my current rate I would jump at it.

High Cost of Living

So, I mentioned my last post to my mom & aunt over the weekend and they thought that $2,000 was far too much for a studio. They then commandeered my laptop and proceeded to show me what they were talking about. There was in fact a studio apartment for $1,250. They also said I would need about $500 for food because they insist that I would be eating out a lot. I was about to tell them 'maybe after I found friends' when they said my cousins would probably kidnap me all the time.

But! I can't really trust their numbers because not only are they, my mom and aunt, not living in the city right now. But they also are basing spending money on my sis and cousin. both of which have very active social lives. It crazy just how many people my sister knows.

Regardless I still need to save up $10,000 - $15,000 before I can consider moving. :-(

Apartments in New York City

Every once in a while I will poke around to look at floor plans for New York City apartments. It's like an addiction. Fortunately it's an addiction I don't have to pay for yet.

Tribeca Green  My favorite so far.

The Brodskyorg Organization This one seems to have a lot to choose from.
The Avalon Communities Interesting floor plans.

Yeah, I dream big. And yes these are primarily managed apartments

What to do?

While looking at placement adds for New York City (the main city I would like to live in) it occored to me that I would have to pay rent while I'm out there. I thought 'ok, no big deal. How much could it be?' so I wasn't all that worried. I know people out there and they have said they would put me up for a month or so.

So I did a little math.

A studio, just you, in a decent area would run about $2000 a month.
Assume:
$200 for food
$300 utilities + cable + cell/blackberry
$350 current car payment
$350 parking garage
$100 car insurance
$100 fun money
$90 gas

That's $3,190 a Month or $38,280 a Year. So I would have to make at least $40k a year after taxes to survive and have something saved up incase of an emergancy. Even knowing my numbers are higher because I'm not sure what the utilities would be, this is still a good punch to the gut.

Rehashing the numbers I took out the parking ($34,080yr). Then the cars payments ($29,880yr). This is assuming that I can park on the street and don't have to get my car  Which gave me a much better number. Until I looked at the average pay for someone like me ($20,000 - $45,000yr).

As of right now I don't have very much saved up. I defiantly do not have enough to attempt to move to the city. Maybe if my family put me up for half a year I could make ends meet but do not want to do that to them. To successful I think I would need at least $10,000 - $15,000 in the bank. Unfortunatly right now there is no way I can save up that kind of money at my current job and with my car payments. My job is the harder part to fix, no one is hiring right now for my job position. My car payments will be done in three years, so that's right out.

Right now, assuming I stay at my current job, it will probably take 6 years to save up what I need. That is a long time and I will be 34 years old. This is not a happy thought. Perhaps if I skip out on family trips I could shave a year off that total... maybe if I got a second job I could save more faster. I'll have to look into it more.

Getting a Responce

If I could make a company send me a ding letter if they didn't like me then I would.

Personally I find it only fair. we spend the time to write the cover letter and set up our resumes, the least they could do is pop out an automatic ding letter. Or e-mail even. Considering that most companies get resumes e-mailed to them they have no reason not to do a mass ding letter send out.

I had an interview with Geico and I never heard from them. It's a little discerning to see how much companies care. And unfortunately this seems to be the norm for this day and age.

Stress at Work

I can never tell how stressed I am until something mundane from work pops into a dream. At which point in the dream that mundane job duty I can never seem to finish and bosses & co-workers are freaking out at me. It's even worse when I can't remember that it was a dream. then I'm all paranoid at work and it's just not fun.

It's usually running late to work to the point that work is closed and it's late at night. Once it was falling alseep at my desk only to wake up and find myself locked in. This past time was about filing the same file because i kept finding it while trying to do something else and then being fired because i didn't get the other things done.

If I could find a away to never have these kinds of dreams I would be all to happy.

Job stress I can deal with. Stress about my job in my sleep? Jury says no.