When I Need A Pick Me Up, by my friend Ryan King

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Recoup

So yesterday I had 3 clients in a row, which is my least favorite thing to look forward to. Because that means 3 more hours of work on top of a full-time stint in the day.

But they were the fastest 3 hours of the day. I love doing therapy. I love winding through folks' lives. It's like reading blogs, and being able to comment during the writing of it. It's a beautiful experience to be invited into folks' lives and being trusted to have influence in them. Isn't it? You guys know, because you guys are my therapists.

I'd really put forward the attempt to do therapy full time if the economy wasn't so bad and if I didn't need the security and health benefits. (My meds ain't cheap without insurance!)

To add to the forward momentum and improving mood, on the 15th of this month I will have amassed 4K in my savings. I only give the amount here because it isn't the goal, it's just a means to an end. The goal is to drop a load of money on a prospective landlord to pay for a full year's lease at one time instead of applying for a month by month lease and failing the credit check and being denied the chance to live independently again. So having 4K is nothing compared to what I actually need. Say I find a place for $1000 a month--then I'm only 1/3 of the way there. But it's way better than nothing at all! But and however, with the economy being the way it is, I might also just approach perspective landlords with the offer to drop 4K on them as a prepayment to offset my bad credit. Maybe in this economy, a landlord would jump at the chance.

See? Despite my interpersonal hangups, I've still got some cool goodness going on!

AIAFOMA. So that's alright then.

6 comments:

GrizzBabe said...

What a blessing, Alan, to have a job (or jobs) where you can save up a years worth of rent!

Scott said...

You're thinking like a winner. A landlord faced with the prospect of no tenant at all may indeed allow you the use of his or her place for a short time. Just so you know, I just heard that first time home owners get an 8K tax credit (I'm only going from what I heard and know nothing more than that). Of course credit is still a major issue, but if you can at all swing it, that's a healthy amount o'money to be applying to your taxes, and that's not including before the interest deduction, which is substantial. Almost every bit of what you pay early on in mortgage payments is interest and 100% deductible. Year end is always a boon for us. This year I would have gotten a shitload of money back, but I was contracting then and didn't pay any estimated tax. You'd probably have to move outside of the city to afford anything, but it might be worth looking into financially, instead of paying the mortgage for some landlord. Easier said than done I know. Do you have any family that can co-sign a loan?

Me said...

I've good and bad news. Bad news is that I've already been a first-time hone owner--in Missouri. Good news is that none of my debt problems is attributed to owning that house. I bought it, paid my mortgage on time for about three years, then sold it for no profit because I wanted to come back to the northeast.

Even so, I've no family to co-sign anything for me.

But yeah, I can think positively when I try. Can't we all? :-D

GrizzBabe said...

Usually the term "first-time homeowner" has a definition like "hasn't owned a home in 3 years" or something like that. Don't rule yourself out yet.

Coaster Punchman said...

Congrats on your savings. Lotsa people have a hard time doing that, even when they're gainfully employed.

Shades of Scorpio said...

4K is nothing to sniff at! That's awesome! MY savings has $150!!! But I do have a 401K going on which thankfully has some weight in it since I opened it in 1999.

Word verification - misar...terribly close to Miser....