We are in our 30s, in NYC, with two kids: a four year old (our's) and a 20 year old (her's from a previous relationship). We both have many years of healthcare experience.
1) Wife has no degree, just HS diploma. She used to be a nurse aide for a hospital, making good money, but she lost that job a couple years back and is now a medical receptionist making minimum wage ($15/hr). Her company doesn't give raises no matter how long you've been there. She's been there for almost 2 years now, I've been struggling to help her find a similar but higher paying job for the past few months and no luck. I've also applied her to work at home phone/customer service jobs. Still heard nothing back yet.
She hates her job, it's very stressful, sometimes she says she feels like walking out but doesn't. This makes me feel bad because nobody elsewhere wants to give her a chance. Had some interviews, some hopeful/close calls but that's it.
2) Our 20 year old has no job and is working on her GED. Please understand, she's been thru a lot, she had a lot of problems at the high school she was attending and, it's a long complicated story that I don't want to get into, but we weren't able to transfer her to another school, she wasn't going to graduate on time, so at 18 she decided to withdraw. She's passed everything except the math and science portions of the GED so far, she has retake math/science.
Nonetheless, I've attempted to put in applications for her at places like Dollar stores, McDonalds, and Footlocker, places I think MIGHT take you if you don't have a diploma/GED yet but are working on it(?). Nothing yet.
It sucks because she's a older teen/young adult, she wants to have money and go out, enjoy life, but that is putting a financial strain on us. Don't get me wrong, we don't give her whatever she wants, but my wife gives her a reasonable allowance (about $60 every 2 weeks). If she were to get a job, that would be a huge load off in terms of finances and a step closer to having my wife stay at home.
3) Right now, I have 2 jobs at 2 different hospitals. I do EKG/phlebotomy at one full time and patient registration at another per diem. My job pays for school tuition, I was initially working on nursing prereqs but messed up, got discouraged and switched to accounting instead hoping I can get into the business/finance side of healthcare. What a waste of time because I'm 2 semesters from graduating and haven't gotten any entry-level roles or internships. I should’ve known better.
Good thing it's not coming out of my pocket. Fortunately, I decided to finish my 2 semesters and do either: a) Ultrasound tech (1 year certificate), B) Nursing/LPN (1 year certificate) or C) Go for an accelerated online 6 month B.S. in Health Info Mgmt aka Health IT (which I would have done if I knew about it sooner).
My combined net income from both jobs is $3520/month. By end of next year, when I do either LPN or Ultrasound program, I will have to get a new job working day shift to accommodate the schooling, who knows how much that will pay.
For savings/other finances, I have $3000 checking account buffer, $7000 emergency fund (aiming to hit $10,000), and $3000 in a traditional IRA. For debt, small student loan of $2500. I’m expecting some inheritance money sometime next year (supposedly in the $150k-$200k range) but its 98% guaranteed at the moment and I’m not really thinking about it right now.
Current expenses include:
Rent: $1400 (utilities included)
Internet: $68
Cable (we cut cord and have Youtube TV): $50
Cell Phone: $104
Public Transit: $127
That leaves $1771 per month (or 885 every 2 weeks). NOT including food and allowance money.
Because the problem here is food for all of us and allowance for our 20 year old. Food is not really straight forward, sometimes we order take out because it’s not always possible to cook due to timing or being too tired from work, etc.
Any suggestions?
Submitted August 18, 2019 at 09:20PM by madmax79818515 https://ift.tt/31Mw4vr
