We've wined, we've waited, now it's time to celebrate 2016

[Cat_Robutt]

1 hour ago, sjoh197 said:

We hid the cash deep inside one of our tarantula cages and figured 1. no criminal would look there and 2. if they did they would get bit. 

That is genius! To enter the backpack convo, I've heard Timbuk2 makes good bags, and they have some weatherproof ones for things like snow and rain as well as ones designed for bicycling. It all depends on what you'll be doing with it! 

@janetjanejune I'd never heard of Totally Spies! before but looked it up and, well, guess that's what I'll be doing along with finishing season 2 of Gilmore Girls this month.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

1 hour ago, sjoh197 said:

When we sold our last car, we had thousands of dollars in cash, and we were literally throwing it around like they do in movies. Then we became extremely paranoid because it was a holiday weekend and the bank wouldn't be open for 2 days. So we had thousands of dollars just sitting in our apartment. 

We hid the cash deep inside one of our tarantula cages and figured 1. no criminal would look there and 2. if they did they would get bit. 

LOL, I do suppose that would work. It was a nice couple of hours between when I got my paychecks and when rent was automatically deducted from my account . Apparently the way that Cornell disperses the NSF fellowship is they give it all to you in one lump sum per semester. It's going to be a real test of my self-discipline.

[hippyscientist]

28 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

LOL, I do suppose that would work. It was a nice couple of hours between when I got my paychecks and when rent was automatically deducted from my account . Apparently the way that Cornell disperses the NSF fellowship is they give it all to you in one lump sum per semester. It's going to be a real test of my self-discipline.

BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET! (Sorry). There's so many apps and things to help you these days there really is no excuse. I have an app on my phone where I take a photo of my receipt and it categorises my spending so I can see where all my money goes - normally gym kit and coffee. If you don't want an app, Excel is fantastic too. Just a basic spreadsheet: this is what I have coming in each month, this is how much is being deducted for rent/utilities/car payments/debt, etc... and this is how much I have left over for food & groceries, and whatever is left is fun spending. I also throw in a $50 per month savings expense - it comes out of my non-negotiables and forces me to save something each month. If that means I forfeit a cinema trip or a takeout meal so be it. 

Track what you spend for a month - how much goes on grocery shops? How much goes on random coffee? How much do you spend on junk food/alcohol/random shopping? (most common ones anyway). Once you identify where you might be over-spending you can put measures in place to restrict it..

If self-discipline is a challenge, reward yourself in non-monetary ways. Made it through the week without going over your budget? Treat yourself to some me-time. Made it through the month? How about going for an awesome scenic hike with some friends and their dog? You keep this up? Congratulations, think of how happy you'll be at the end of 6 months! 

Sorry...might have gone off on a savings/budget rant there. It never ceases to amaze me how many people don't do this!!!

[janetjanejune]

@Cat_Robutt It's an awesome show! Watched it all the time growing up.

I second @hippyscientist. In general, there is no excuse not to budget. When you're in grad school, it's a lifesaver. I've already told myself I'm forgoing any leisure clothes shopping (my weakness) and putting something in my savings per month.

In related news, my summer job begins tomorrow. Chillaxing with friends before I start training. Also found out I receive my first paycheck the end of September. But it's only for two weeks instead of the full month. :|

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

Oh yes, I've been using Mint to budget, but a real frustration is a lack of being able to budget annual expenses. I pay something like $2k a year on things that don't come up every month (especially now that I have to factor in travel money!). I've tried exhaustively to find something that is better but with no luck.

[hippyscientist]

1 minute ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Oh yes, I've been using Mint to budget, but a real frustration is a lack of being able to budget annual expenses. I pay something like $2k a year on things that don't come up every month (especially now that I have to factor in travel money!). I've tried exhaustively to find something that is better but with no luck.

For this sorta stuff I have a "extraneous" category that I then expand out the details as an when I need it. For example all my visa fees have gone under extraneous, rent deposits etc. Travel has its own category - actually multiple! There's public transport, car expenses and holiday subsections. Basically my entire life is categorised...

[Neist]

1 hour ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Oh yes, I've been using Mint to budget, but a real frustration is a lack of being able to budget annual expenses. I pay something like $2k a year on things that don't come up every month (especially now that I have to factor in travel money!). I've tried exhaustively to find something that is better but with no luck.

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly how vague my budget is going to be. For example, I can only guess how much money I'm going to need on books per semester. Given that I'm studying history, it could be substantial. But it could also not be. A lot of older texts can be bought fairly cheaply. I've been told to expect to spend about $300 in books per class. I'm using that as a baseline, but who knows?

The only thing I will absolutely still manage to afford is books, be them for academic study or pleasure. The two categories overlap greatly, so I'm not overly concerned if I take out a thousand dollars in student loans per year for books, assuming they contribute to my interests.

Edited June 1, 2016 by Neist

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

I'm only three weeks into "graduate school" and not doing so well... I feel I'm wasting my fellow grad students' time. Every time they turn around I'm either there watching them, or breaking something, or asking a dumbass question ("Are these sheets of copper the same thickness?" "Look at the label."). I just... agh! And I'm getting paid so well and I'm in a top-notch research group - literally the PI is a leading expert (and literally wrote the book) on nanostructures, yet I can't even put a tube into a furnace without breaking it. I know I came from a theory background so not knowing how to do experiments is sort of expected but at the same time, frustrating.

 

[hippyscientist]

2 hours ago, Neist said:

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly how vague my budget is going to be. For example, I can only guess how much money I'm going to need on books per semester. Given that I'm studying history, it could be substantial. But it could also not be. A lot of older texts can be bought fairly cheaply. I've been told to expect to spend about $300 in books per class. I'm using that as a baseline, but who knows?

The only thing I will absolutely still manage to afford is books, be them for academic study or pleasure. The two categories overlap greatly, so I'm not overly concerned if I take out a thousand dollars in student loans per year for books, assuming they contribute to my interests.

Jeepers - $300 per class?! I was budgeting $300 for the year for textbooks! Maybe that'll be what bankrupts me...

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny breathe girl! You got it. Grad school is daunting and it's going to take longer than a month to settle into the groove of it. Just keep learning, write down the answers in a lab book once you've asked the question so you don't have to keep asking the same ones. Do your lab mates know you come from a theoretical background? It might be worth reminding them once but if you're struggling with the experimental side of things, ask if there's something you can practice on, or come into the lab & work on something that doesn't matter if you eff it up. You got this

[Neist]

45 minutes ago, hippyscientist said:

Jeepers - $300 per class?! I was budgeting $300 for the year for textbooks! Maybe that'll be what bankrupts me...

Well, they are history classes.  

It's not unusual to average a book a week in graduate-level history courses, plus supplementary readings. That's ~15 books per class per semester, at least. I'm sure I'll be able to get some of them rather cheap, but I'm also sure that some of them will be painfully expensive, academic press books.

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny, remember, when you're feeling discouraged, I'm sure that a lot of people feel the same. And besides, if you need a cheering up, just pop in here because we're on your side!  

Edited June 1, 2016 by Neist
Typos.

[hippyscientist]

8 minutes ago, Neist said:

Well, they are history classes.  

It's not unusually to average a book a week in graduate-level history courses, plus supplementary readings. That's ~15 books per class per semester, at least. I'm sure I'll be able to get some of them rather cheap, but I'm also sure that some of them will be painfully expensive, academic press books.

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny, remember, when you're feeling discouraged, I'm sure that a lot of people feel the same. And besides, if you need a cheering up, just pop in here and we're on your side!  

That's a lot of books! Now I remember why I study what I do.

Y'all ready for story time? You're getting story time. I was at the physiotherapist today getting some rehab done and he was asking me about my research, so I go off on a long, convoluted description of the ankle injuries I'm studying. I look up and this professional - who works with sports injuries daily - was looking blankly at me. Maybe I need to work on my 3-minute thesis pitch! But I was also reminded today just how much I love what I'm doing. I was chatting with another guy on my course and he's been having some issues with participant recruitment for his research, and he started asking about mine and somehow made me find the spark of love for it again. It's definitely been the impetus to really make this excellent this time. I mean it's still mind-numbing, but at least I can watch movies while I work! Not many jobs will let you say that.

[sjoh197]

32 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

I'm only three weeks into "graduate school" and not doing so well... I feel I'm wasting my fellow grad students' time. Every time they turn around I'm either there watching them, or breaking something, or asking a dumbass question ("Are these sheets of copper the same thickness?" "Look at the label."). I just... agh! And I'm getting paid so well and I'm in a top-notch research group - literally the PI is a leading expert (and literally wrote the book) on nanostructures, yet I can't even put a tube into a furnace without breaking it. I know I came from a theory background so not knowing how to do experiments is sort of expected but at the same time, frustrating.

 

Our research group had a PhD student in the middle of a project, and my advisor brought back all of these rocks from Australia. Cost thousands of dollars to go collect them and ship them back. He told the PhD student to run some geochemical tests on the rocks... which requires the rocks to be crushed into a fine powder. 

In the middle of a large research meeting, it came out that he had crushed the entire rock. Now anyone im science knows that you don't use the entirety of your sample to run one test, when you have lots more tests to run. (lol) He didn't do this for one rock... he did this for all of the rocks. Every single one. Gone. Forever. Thousands upon thousands of dollars ground up into dusty powder... No billets, no thin sections, no nothing. So it became a running joke throughout our research group that you couldn't really be doing too bad so long as you hadn't crushed all the rocks.

So Fuzzy, just try not to crush all the rocks. 

Edited June 1, 2016 by sjoh197

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

9 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

Our research group had a PhD student in the middle of project, and my advisor brought back all of these rocks from Australia. Cost thousands of dollars to go collect them and ship them back. He told the PhD student to run some geochemical tests on the rocks... which requires the rocks to be crushed into a fine powder. 

In the middle of a large research meeting, it came out that he had crushed the entire rock. Now anyone im science knows that you don't use the entirety of your sample to run one test, when you have lots more tests to run. (lol) He didn't do this for one rock... he did this for all of the rocks. Every single one. Gone. Forever. Thousands upon thousands of dollars ground up into dusty powder... No billets, no thin sections, no nothing. So it became a running joke throughout our research group that you couldn't really be doing too bad so long as you hadn't crushed all the rocks.

So Fuzzy, just try not to crush all the rocks. 

I laughed so hard at this, and that's exactly what I needed to hear  Thank you guys for the encouragement... and on the bright side, when you guys start doing research in August and have these moments, I'll be hopefully on the other side to encourage you as well

[sjoh197]

So apparently I have an extra bone in my foot lol.

[MarineBluePsy]

On 5/31/2016 at 6:14 AM, Neist said:

As per movies, I used to go see far more, but a visit to the theater is rare nowadays. I don't think I've gone in a year or so. I don't even subscribe to Netflix. Even when I subscribe to it, all I really used it for was documentaries, and I burned through everything I wanted to watch.

You don't even watch independent or foreign films?  That seems right up a librarians alley.  It is seriously my dream to go to the Sundance Film Festival and see everything!

On 5/31/2016 at 10:23 AM, Cat_Robutt said:

Also, with Gilmore Girls––have any of y'all watched Jane the Virgin? I feel like there are some parallels between the two.

I seriously can not get past the absurd premise of a girl being impregnated like that.  The reviews are good, but I can't let it go lol.

12 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

If self-discipline is a challenge, reward yourself in non-monetary ways. Made it through the week without going over your budget? Treat yourself to some me-time. Made it through the month? How about going for an awesome scenic hike with some friends and their dog? You keep this up? Congratulations, think of how happy you'll be at the end of 6 months! 

Sorry...might have gone off on a savings/budget rant there. It never ceases to amaze me how many people don't do this!!!

I always marvel at people who consider non-monetary things rewards.  Does paying for a spa day with someone elses money count?  I feel like it should.  I have never been able to budget and I finally realized why.  Assigning a task for every penny literally depresses me and it leaves no room for spur of the moment opportunities like discounted theater tickets or a weekend away.  Instead I just track my expenses and this has gone pretty well.  After awhile there were adjustments made, but at no point did I feel like I was missing something because it wasn't in the budget. 

8 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

I'm only three weeks into "graduate school" and not doing so well... I feel I'm wasting my fellow grad students' time. Every time they turn around I'm either there watching them, or breaking something, or asking a dumbass question ("Are these sheets of copper the same thickness?" "Look at the label."). I just... agh! And I'm getting paid so well and I'm in a top-notch research group - literally the PI is a leading expert (and literally wrote the book) on nanostructures, yet I can't even put a tube into a furnace without breaking it. I know I came from a theory background so not knowing how to do experiments is sort of expected but at the same time, frustrating.

 

{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}

1 hour ago, sjoh197 said:

So apparently I have an extra bone in my foot lol.

And is that a good thing?  Or is it a weird thing that you have to remove?

[Neist]

Just now, MarineBluePsy said:

You don't even watch independent or foreign films?  That seems right up a librarians alley.  It is seriously my dream to go to the Sundance Film Festival and see everything!

Nope!  I'd like to, but I rarely have the time. I spend a lot of time either in podcasts, reading, or audio books, so it's uncommon that I have much screen time. I also walk a fair bit. I probably walk over an hour a day, and I expect to ramp it up to at least 2-3 when I start grad school; I listen to a lot of audio books while walking.

[MarineBluePsy]

2 minutes ago, Neist said:

Nope!  I'd like to, but I rarely have the time. I spend a lot of time either in podcasts, reading, or audio books, so it's uncommon that I have much screen time. I also walk a fair bit. I probably walk over an hour a day, and I expect to ramp it up to at least 2-3 when I start grad school; I listen to a lot of audio books while walking.

Well if you walked on a treadmill you could watch movies!  Who needs that pesky fresh air anyway?
 

Edited June 2, 2016 by MarineBluePsy

[hippyscientist]

2 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

I always marvel at people who consider non-monetary things rewards.  Does paying for a spa day with someone elses money count?  I feel like it should.  I have never been able to budget and I finally realized why.  Assigning a task for every penny literally depresses me and it leaves no room for spur of the moment opportunities like discounted theater tickets or a weekend away.  Instead I just track my expenses and this has gone pretty well.  After awhile there were adjustments made, but at no point did I feel like I was missing something because it wasn't in the budget. 

That's why you have a fun fund! So you have budgeted for the fun surprises that you're not sure about. My budget is a rough guide - I make sure all the necessary things get paid and then the leftover is for fun that month, and if I have leftover after fun that goes into savings too.

@Neist I'm pretty envious of little screentime - it feels like I'm glued to a screen all the time. My research is on the computer, and then when I get home I watch TV on my computer. The only time I'm away from it is in the gym - yet another reason why I like it so much I think.

@sjoh197 yay for extra bone! You're special  What does this mean for you? I'm assuming "just cutting it out" isn't going to work or would be a major ordeal. I'd probably boot you so you rest your foot and give it a chance to calm down before giving you some physical therapy and maybe orthotics before considering surgery. Sorry! I get excited about feet, ankles and knees. 

[Neist]

9 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Well if you walked on a treadmill you could watch movies!  Who needs that pesky fresh air anyway?

Yeah, but then I couldn't listen to audio books or podcasts while doing so. I'm only so multi-talented.  

7 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

That's why you have a fun fund! So you have budgeted for the fun surprises that you're not sure about. My budget is a rough guide - I make sure all the necessary things get paid and then the leftover is for fun that month, and if I have leftover after fun that goes into savings too.

@Neist I'm pretty envious of little screentime - it feels like I'm glued to a screen all the time. My research is on the computer, and then when I get home I watch TV on my computer. The only time I'm away from it is in the gym - yet another reason why I like it so much I think.

Over the years I've more or less just adopted giving myself an 'allowance', and I don't spend anything outside of it. Everything else goes into a pile that I know is sufficient thanks to careful budgeting.

What has helped me a lot with reducing screen time is that a lot of the shows that I've enjoyed have either been cancelled or are off season. I think my DVR records 2 shows a week at this point. To be honest, I'd probably watch a lot more if anything looked good, but nothing does, at least now or over the summer and into the fall. Also, sometimes doing quantitative work would be nice, as far as academic endeavors go. True, most of what I need to do is read, but it's a mountain of reading. I'm a little bit afraid that I'm going to burn out a few years in!  

[marycaryne]

Hey everyone! I've been completely MIA. Had a few trips within a little over a month. First traveled to Florida for a half marathon. Then went to New Hampshire for my graduation. Drove from there to Boston to fly out to Paris. From Paris we went to Chicago to visit some family and just got back yesterday. And now I'm sick and pretty sure I have vertigo. Yay!!

Awesome thing is that on the day we arrived in Paris, I received an email stating I received a teaching assistantship that is giving me a stipend an in state tuition waiver for up to 10 hours for the fall semester. Since I am coming from out of state, I assume this means I will have to make up the difference. Not completely sure as the letter didn't make it very clear, so I'm waiting to hear back after asking. At the end of the fall semester, everything will be evaluated again. I had actually forgotten I had applied for the assistantship, so it was pretty cool to see the email.

Edited June 2, 2016 by marycaryne

[sjoh197]

@MarineBluePsy @hippyscientist I don't know what they are going to do. I just saw the mri report. I've been bracing my ankle for quite some time, along with ice and tylenol. I have such bad genes, that if anyone is going to have an extra bone, it's going to be me lol. 

[MarineBluePsy]

18 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

That's why you have a fun fund! So you have budgeted for the fun surprises that you're not sure about. My budget is a rough guide - I make sure all the necessary things get paid and then the leftover is for fun that month, and if I have leftover after fun that goes into savings too.

I tried that and never stuck to it because I often wanted to do more things than the fun budget covered.  Not assigning a dollar amount has been easier because I don't miss out on things I want to do and I've naturally just starting skipping a few little adventures when I know I want to have a bigger adventure or reduced other costs to free up funds to entertain myself.  It's something about the rigid financial limit that my mind just rejects.

5 hours ago, sjoh197 said:

@MarineBluePsy @hippyscientist I don't know what they are going to do. I just saw the mri report. I've been bracing my ankle for quite some time, along with ice and tylenol. I have such bad genes, that if anyone is going to have an extra bone, it's going to be me lol. 

Maybe they'll make you the subject of some research study while they explore options.  Ice and tylenol doesn't sound like a great long term solution.

[pterosaur]

Aaaaaaand I'm the genius who just got into a relationship less than three months before switching continents.

[Effloresce]

slightly freaking out about housing and i still have like two months before i move in!

also it's weird thinkign about having to drive everywhere when i've been in the NE around public transportation for relatively all my life.

[knp]

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny

I bought these for myself in preparation for the fall.