Note to Self:

Good Ideas, I'm full of them

But not flush with the money needed to accomplish much of anything. The job hunt is always ongoing, not because I'm unhappy where I'm at... (hello co-workers reading my blog)... but because if something amazing comes along, I don't want to miss it. There are a couple of communities that I really would like to move to. But there is a big problem, a total lack of social services. I started thinking, rather than waiting for the job, why not go out there and create the program? I did a half assed attempt today to try and talk the uppitty-ups into expanding our services there. Not much luck.

It's kind of frustrating. I am sort of thinking that I should just write a proposal and see what happens. I have done my homework. The community had a 10.6% growth rate from 2001-2006 (judging by the number of new homes in the last few years, this rate has continued). It is serviced by 2 social service agencies, one who focuses on youth and another that focuses on homeless people. There are no services specifically for women except one small house for women fleeing abuse. What I want to propose is a women's drop-in centre for street women (providing basic needs) and a second stage housing/BC housing complex for women and children. You'd think I'd be able to talk my feminist social service agency into this....right? Anyone out there have secret skills in writing proposals? If so contact me.

you can do it!

My co-worker is also applying to a social work program (although at a different school). We were discussing my funding problem, and we both agree that if it's important to me, I will find a way to pay for school. I have contemplated moving to a less expensive apartment (unlikely), moving in with my dad (really unlikely) and putting a posting on sugardaddy.com (no freak'n way). But I am the sort of person that likes to fix my own problems and I don't like asking for help. So I have been doing internet researching on penny pinching tips.

It all started with a food budget. I stumbled along a series of blogs written by mom's with A LOT of kids. Like I-have-15-kids-and-want-more-if-it's-God's-Will kind of mom's. Interesting blogs to say the least. One blog that blew my socks was by a stay-at-home mom of 4 whose husband worked at Walmart, they survived on under $1000 a month. Because they wanted to live poor like Jesus did. INSANITY.

It seems the secret for these families for making their money go farther was to buy in bulk and not want too much stuff. Mom seemed to make everything from scratch and sew everyone clothes. I'm not too sure these are tips I can use. The only good tip I got was to meal plan, stick to a grocery shopping list, and only buy things on sale. I generally decide what I'm going to eat based on what I want to eat, not what was on sale.

The other tip that I will be forcing myself to follow is to eat the contents of my pantry. I'm not sure if it's genetic or not but I have a fully stocked pantry at all times. My Dad's has always been the same. I remember canning all summer and hoarding away food in preparation for the winter, just like a squirrel. I'm not sure why I am always expecting the end of civilization to strike. But rest assured that when it does, I will have tons of food on hand. I have even contemplated putting all of my canned goods in a tote in the cupboard with a can opener so that in the event that I need to grab food and run, I've got everything I need. Clearly I'm a total freak. But I think this is because of Hollywood. One of my favorite genres are "end of the world" dramas.

So what's this picture all about? Getting back to the idea of making things work if it's important to you....

The above picture is from a blog. picture 10 kids, 2 adults living in a 2 bedroom house. This was their solution, 2 industrial shelving units in a room with custom cut foam padding mattresses. They squished two of these racks into one bedroom and were able to house 9 kids. The 10th kid in case you were wondering is an infant and sleeps with mom and dad.

Frustrated!

Yup that pretty much sums it up.

In December I will be applying for the social work program. I have been planning everything (way in advance because that's how I tick). I'm more than a little worried that I can't afford to go back to school. Of course the whole point of going back to school is so I can get a better job. What a real kick in the pants it is to realize that I need to get the better paying job first.

The program is through distance education, which is good because it allows me to study while still working 2 jobs. I just realized that this means I will be repaying student loans and paying tuition at the same time! I SO cannot afford to do that!

How am I going to swing this? I have decided that my vacation/big purchase fund will be re-purposed. If I sacrifice a vacation next summer [no Hong Kong :( ] and don't buy anything out of the ordinary (like snow tires or a couch) I think I should have almost enough for tuition. My other plan of attack is to have a food budget. I don't know how much I currently spend on food/Starbucks, but I think it's probably too much. Because I have to eat gluten-free, I allowed myself to buy $7 loafs of bread. Not anymore. I have set a new limit $50 per week. Is this manageable? $200 per month sounds like a lot....

Having read online, I might be able to drop the budget lower, but I'm not willing to eat garbage just because it's cheap. People living on Food Stamps get $21 per week. Having read the blog experiments trying to survive on that, I know that's too extreme.