Me at Quarterlife (Financial Snapshot)

Times have changed!

I said goodbye to my beloved Cov a month ago and a few days later, left my dear New York City.  Even this morning, listening to some classic Lauryn Hill, I miss the place and the people and the Body and the work and the feel when I see that place in her music video.

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I'm in Atlanta now, a couple months after the difficult decision to say goodbye and start a new adventure.  Since undergrad I've felt a strong pull toward healthcare, working with women's health in particular.  I've written about it before (example).  And now, five years after I made a quick 180 into the path of medicine, I just started an accelerated BSN/MSN program that will take me 3 years to obtain both my RN license and my Family Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse Midwife (FNP/CNM) certifications.  Getting here was hard as I weighed the merits of an accelerated program among other people of privilege versus an associate program with people making it by will, determination, and grit in spit of the challenges; whether it was worth leaving behind so much and so many I loved; what it meant to be brought to a place and then to be uprooted to go to another.  But I am now where I am and nowhere else.

I have been living at an absolutely amazing, providential place called Villa International.  Here I've found a community like no other and been very supported as I've started school.  This morning over breakfast a friend from India was asking me about retirement accounts, which happens to be one of my favorite topics to learn about and discuss, so I was inspired to also give a small snapshot of my financial vision for the next few years.

I've put a lot of effort into living with financial wisdom, and it pains me more than a little to be making the plunge of going into debt for this program.  The most hardcore personal finance writers I've read would balk at this, and it makes me uncomfortable in some ways too (thinking along the lines of Proverbs 22:7b).  But I hope that the opportunity cost of going now versus later will make it worthwhile.  I've also applied for (very competitive) scholarships through NHSC and NURSE Corps, which I will hear back from in early fall.  Were I to receive either scholarship, my net monthly stipend would end up being about $1000.  So even though there's a good chance I won't be awarded either scholarship, I plan to try living within the $1000/month parameter for this first year.  We'll see how it goes.

Beginning in August, I'll be paying $450 for rent and about $100 for utilities, totaling roughly $550/month (my housing goal was under $600 total for the month).  My place will be within walking distance from school, saving me a $600/semester parking pass(!) plus excess gas.  I've budgeted $220/month for groceries but hope that this is a category in which I can save, particularly with some good meal planning and Aldi shopping.  I've budgeted only $40 for gas for the month, which might be wildly optimistic, but I hope to keep this cost down by absolutely minimizing my driving and taking free shuttles or carpools when possible. My budget for all things entertainment (including eating out and buying gifts) is $50 for the month, and the rest is rounded out by giving and miscellaneous expenses (toiletries, random school expenses, household items, and any medical costs/copays).

A few other notes for this budget:

1) It's lacking any savings.  I'm not worried about this for now because I maxed out my Roth IRA for the year while I was still working and I saved up a healthy emergency fund over the past couple years.  I will need to find money somewhere for furniture come August, though, so pondering where that will come from.

2) There are a few expenses excluded because of the incredible generosity of my parents.  I do not take it for granted that while I am back in school, they are supporting me by paying my portion of our family's cell phone bill and allowing me to be on their car insurance.  Additionally, I am still eligible for a little while longer to remain on their health insurance, so I am taking advantage of that.  All of these are additional expenses that I do not worry about at the moment because of their help--an incredible privilege.  Thank you!

3) This summer I have not been working, but I have two prospects for part-time side gigs lined up for the fall, both of which are very promising.  These won't adjust the substance of my budget very much (i.e. I don't intend to inflate my cost of living), but I hope they will give me a little cushion if I've grossly underestimated and will also allow me to resume saving.  If I do not get either of the HRSA scholarships mentioned above I will re-evaluate my savings goals, but if possible would like to keep contributing the max to my Roth IRA because there are no catch-up contributions allowed until age 50.

Why write all this?  Self-aggrandizement?  An uncontrollable urge to post somewhat personal financial information where it is accessible to anyone?  A friend from my church in New York (sidenote: they're working to raise money to support their ministry in my neighborhood, as we're still a small church but with big dreams--donate here by the end of May!) once told me about an exercise she did with her fellow counselors at a Christian camp where they were working one summer.  Each of their shared their sexual story.  To most Christian sensibilities this sounds like a theoretically good thing (we're support to confess our sins and failures to each other so that we can be healed and be held accountable) but also a terrifying one that we've never actually done because we risk admitting some things that damage others' perceptions of us as "good" Christians if we've ever slipped up in this taboo area.  Basically, it's safer to confess sins like impatience and jealousy.  But she said that it was the most powerful way to open up true vulnerability (and thereby real accountability and healing) that she'd ever experienced.  I would love to find (or maybe at some point create) this sort of environment to be that open and to really get down to honesty about sex and sexuality, an area I feel we're too shy about in the Church.  But I don't think sexuality is the only area in which we need radical honesty; I think money and finances, which were so important to Jesus, are another such area.

So I share this blog post as a personal check in and as an invitation: Let's let other brothers and sisters into our lives in real ways, whether that means sharing with them about money or sex or other secret things, so that we can spur each other on to godliness in every way, not just the safe ones.  Along those lines, I welcome feedback, constructive criticism, rebuke, and encouragement as needed.

Love,
JH