Beachgirl's Budget Blog

Spring 2012 – Week 1

beachgirl — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:52:20 +0000

The first week of the Spring semester is over. It went pretty fast, in part because it was only 4 days long. I’m really happy with all of my classes so far. I ended up getting off the waitlist for Mediation, so I dropped Professional Responsibility. I haven’t had Mediation yet cause it’s only on Mondays, but I’ve had all my other classes at least once. Hopefully I stay enjoying the classes the rest of the semester.

I spoke with my editor about the article for Law Review. He said that my idea for the organization sounds find. I’m going to work on re-organizing it this weekend. It’ll probably trim some length, but will make it less redundant (there were several places that talked about the same things). I did some research this week for a particular part of the paper that I haven’t written yet. I need to do a little more research and then I should be mostly done with the research part.

I started my Independent Study work at Legal Aid this week. It was so nice to be back and to see everyone. They were all excited to see me. I did some research and wrote a few documents. I’m looking forward to working on that the rest of the semester.

Filed under: Law School

Break from Law School almost over

beachgirl — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Classes start on Tuesday. Where did the break go? It flew by. While I wish I had another week or two of break, I’m excited for the next semester to start. I’ll be starting my 2nd semester of my 2L year, meaning I’m half way through law school. It’s hard to believe. I feel like I just started law school not too long ago.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that my boyfriend and I spent Christmas in California with his family. We had a lot of fun. We flew home on the 29th, and then relaxed for about a week. Then, on the 7th, we drove down to Florida to visit his grandparents. We then drove to Savannah on the 10th to relax and enjoy a few days checking it out. We walked around quite a bit in spite of the rain on one of the days we were there. We drove back on the 12th, and I’ve been mostly relaxing ever since. Thursday evening and Friday, I basically did a whole lot of nothing (other than catching up on some t.v.). Today, I worked on my law review article for a bit. I’m currently on the 23rd page. Very excited about the progress I’ve made in the last few weeks. I’ve still got some stuff I need to add, as well as some stuff I need to research (and then add). Then, I’ll start working on revising it. Thankfully it’s not due until early March, so I’ve got several weeks to work on it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Filed under: Misc

Snowflaking: December 2011

beachgirl — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:30:58 +0000

$12.00 Pinecone earnings
$16.76 left over after paying for car insurance
$27.34 Interest earned

Total: $56.10

Filed under: Snowflake

December 2011 Net Worth

beachgirl — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:00:59 +0000

My Net Worth for December was $72,012.22, a decrease from the previous month of $1,661.53. I know my Net Worth is going to keep decreasing as I continue to pay for my living expenses while in school, but it just sucks seeing it go down each month. I love being in school, but I do miss having a paycheck each month.

Filed under: My Net Worth

Goals for January 2012

beachgirl — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:24:04 +0000

In previous years, I’ve done goals for the whole year. But this year, I’m going to do goals for each month. I know many bloggers out there do the same thing, and I always enjoy seeing the goals they come up with each month and see how they do each month. So, here are my goals for January:

Transfer any remaining files from old computers to new computer. I’ve had my new computer since February or March 2011, and I’ve mostly transferred everything over. But I want to make sure I have everything. Then, I plan to recycle them.
Buy books for Spring classes. I am taking Legislative and Administrative Law (3 credits, required), Constitutional Law II (2 credits, required), Professional Responsibility (2 credits, required), Criminal Procedure: Investigations (3 credits), Bio-Ethics (2 credits), Law Review (2 credits), and Independent Study (1 credit). I don’t need to buy a book for ConLaw because we use the same book we used for ConLaw I. The only book I need to buy for Bio-Ethics is Michael Crighton’s Next, which I already ordered from Amazon. And I don’t need any books for Law Review or Independent Study. So, that just leaves me with books for LegAd, Professional Responsibility, and Criminal Procedure: Investigations. I’m hoping to buy them used, if possible, to save some money (casebooks are expensive; most run over $130 brand new).
Sell old law school books. I have some books from both Spring and Fall semesters that I want to sell. I already sold one right before Christmas. I have one listed online, and the others I”m hoping to sell to people at my school.
Finish reading current book & read one other book. My aunt gave me a bunch of paperbacks a few months ago. I’ve read a few, and am currently reading one now. I want to finish this one and read one more.
Read Next by Michael Crighton for my Bio-Ethics class. We will be discussing it in class in February, but I want to read it when I have more time.
Finish 1st draft of my article for Law Review. The final version is due in March. I’m currently on the 8th page, and it needs to be at least 25 pages. I have some cases and other material that I need to summarize and add, so that is what I want to get done this month (at the very least). I hope to have between 18-20 pages written by the end of January.
Brainstorm ideas for Bio-Ethics paper. The class runs through the end of February, but the paper isn’t due until the end of April. However, I want to at least start coming up with topic ideas.
Write weekly reflection for Independent Study paper. I am working at Legal Aid a few hours a week for a 1-credit Pass/Fail Independent Study. I have to write a 12-15 page reflection paper for it, so I want to write down my thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc. each week to help me when I’m writing the reflection paper.
Check Experian credit report.
Snowflake at least $100. I have a little over $80 coming in from two books I sold near the end of December. So, I just need to earn or save a little less than $20 in addition to that.

Filed under: Monthly Goals

Happy New Year!

beachgirl — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:51:24 +0000

Hey everybody. A new year is upon us and I’m going to try to start blogging again. I’m not sure how often I’ll post, but I’ll try to do so at least once a week. I need to think about what I want to do with this blog and where I want it to go. I’ll let you know once I decide.

The holidays were good. My boyfriend and I spent a week with his family over Christmas in California. It was my first time in California, so we did a lot of touristy things, such as going to Hollywood and Disneyland. It was a lot of fun, and it was great to meet his family. I ended up with a cold for New Year’s Eve, so the boyfriend and I stayed home, watched movies, and went to bed shortly after midnight. While I wish I wasn’t sick, it was a good start to the new year.

Filed under: Misc

Hiatus

beachgirl — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:00:18 +0000

Hi all. As you probably noticed, I haven’t written on here for just over a month. Things have been so busy, and I just haven’t had much to write about. I’m going to stay on hiatus for now. If I feel motivated to write again, I’ll be back. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog for so long. I really do appreciate it!

Filed under: Misc

Fall 2011 – Week 9

beachgirl — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:48:58 +0000

This week, I didn’t have classes on Thursday or Friday because it was our fall break. It was so nice. It was my boyfriend’s birthday on Friday, so we hung out and celebrated. I turned in my brief for Appellate Advocacy on Wednesday, so that is all done. I just have my oral argument this week, and then that class will be completely over. We register for Spring classes in a couple weeks, so I’m trying to figure out which classes I want to take. I’m also putting together cover letters and my resume to start applying for jobs for next summer. Hopefully I am able to get something.

The other big thing this week was that I went and got my eyes checked. I had LASIK 7 years ago, but my distance vision is getting a little fuzzy. They said my prescription isn’t too bad, but I ordered glasses to wear for long-distance stuff. She told me not to wear them for anything up close so that it doesn’t cause my vision to get worse faster. I will get the glasses in about a week or so.

Filed under: Law School

Fall 2011 – Week 8

beachgirl — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:19:27 +0000

This week was still busy, but not as bad as most of the other weeks. It helped that two of my classes were cancelled this week. And I didn’t have anything extra going on. For Appellate Advocacy, I met with my professor earlier in the week to talk about my brief. She only had a few minor things for me to work on. I’m pretty much ready to turn it in, but we can’t until Tuesday. I’m going to read it today to make sure everything looks good, and then I’ll read it again one last time on Tuesday and then turn it in. It’ll be so nice having that over with.

Friday, my boyfriend and I hung out with some friends. Yesterday, we went to the Wake game. We ended up losing to Virginia Tech, but it was a good game. After breakfast, I’m heading home, doing laundry, and getting the rest of my work done.

Next week, we don’t have classes on Thursday or Friday. It’ll be nice having a short week. I still have a bunch of stuff I want to get done over the break, so it won’t be all relaxation. My boyfriend’s birthday is next week, so I’ll get to have some fun though.

Filed under: Law School

Fall 2011 – Week 7

beachgirl — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:14:42 +0000

This last week was ridiculously busy. But at least I got to enjoy my birthday. This week I had conferences with the students in the class I TA for. They have their first graded memo due today, so they had to turn in a draft last weekend and the TAs met with a few each to help them out. I also ran a cell phone drive at school with a group I belong to, to collect cell phones to give to domestic violence victims so they can 911 if they need to. We collected about 20 or so. I wish it could’ve been more, but every little bit helps. I also worked a lot on my brief for Appellate Advocacy. I’m really happy with my argument section, and I continue to refine everything. I only have one section left to write, which is the summary of my argument. The brief itself isn’t due until next Weds., so I still have about 1.5 weeks to finish it. I’m meeting with the professor on Tuesday to go over some things.

For my actual birthday this week, my boyfriend made me dinner. He made Tex-Mex Lasagna, and brownies from scratch. It turned out really well. Friday night, we went to the local fair. Yesterday, we went to the Wake game and watched Wake beat Florida State. It was a great game because no one expected Wake to win. Today, I have a meeting. The rest of the day, I have some stuff I want to work on. I’m looking forward to next week when we have a couple days off for Fall Break. I could use a long weekend.

Filed under: Law School