I saw that through your help, previously about-to-be homeless and unemployed people have turned their lives around! I run a journal in the journal section and would love a wider range of input.
I have 4 "Jobs," a paid-off car (my parents are generously covering insurance and cell phone,) and no outstanding debts. I have a checking account with $800 in it, and an emergency savings account with $3,500 in it. I have a BA in Psychology.
1. I teach Sunday school and make roughly $200/month- only during the school year. 5 hours/week
2. I tutor math and make $45/week from this. 5 hours/week including driving
3. I intern on a farm. Starting in February, this will be roughly 15 hours a week and $400/month + veggies (ending in the winter). Currently, it is just veggies and only 5 hours/week
4. I start a part-time marketing internship in January that will pay $500 for 3 months of work, roughly 5 hours/week with an opportunity for bonuses based on performance.
The teaching and tutoring stops as of 4 PM today and does not pick up again until January 4th (parents choice, not mine for the tutoring clients!)
Here are my average spendings (this is before paying rent, which is $200/month and starting this December.) Over the past 5 months, my average income has been $408.
$96.40/month on groceries
$57.60/month on gas
$25.06/month on entertainment
$21.20/month on charity (I have since reduced this category to $10/month because I volunteer 3 hours a week doing data entry at a local food bank)
Part of my problem is that because I have social difficulties (social workers have hinted that I likely have Aspergers but were not licensed to diagnose,) I tend to flub interviews no matter how much I research, and because I am very slow to pick up social cues, I do not learn quickly, which has caused people in the past to cut my hours. This is one reason I have always wanted a farm- I would like a job that involved a slower pace of constant work, working alone, and I enjoy repetitive tasks like weeding once I learn how.
My grandmother passed away and through my parents, left me roughly $10,000 with the stipulation that it be used for my wedding. I was hoping to use the money, if I am legally allowed to, to go back to school or to go to a certificate program. If anyone can recommend any unconventional job ideas or certificate programs costing this much or less that would allow me to get a job, I would be happy to hear them.
Ultimately, I will be a career farmer, and through extensive studying and my internship, I know I can make it work and it will be low risk, but only if I buy my land up front, which will require working as something other than a farmer.
1. What should I do in December when I am not working to maximize skills? Ideally it should be free to learn and something I could leverage into a job.
2. Any ideas of what programs I should go to that would cost less than $10,000 that could lead to a job?
3. Should I put the $3,500 of emergency fund into something other than a savings account now that my checkings has $800? Should I open a Vanguard account? I don't want to lose 2% of my meager life savings every month because of inflation. If I'm only spending $400 a month with rent, then I have a 2-month emergency fund in my checking account.
Thank you so much for your help!