Quick blog post - GOOD NEWS!
1) SIGH OF RELIEF news came through that all my student loans and grants were approved as well as dispersed! Smooth sailing $ wise until I graduate in May!
I remember a few weeks ago (before school started) I was terrified - I could've dropped some classes to make it affordable, but then wouldn't have been a full time student which would have rendered me ineligible for a grant - If I stayed registered for the full time and the loans/grants didn't go through I would have had to drop classes but it would have been late and I would have still been responsible for paying for classes I wasn't taking. If I had taken only 2 classes and paid out of pocket the financial hit would have been a complete disaster to this household and would have extended my graduation by another year. I prayed, I cried, I walked through that and did all I could - Faith felt like a gamble, but I got the news that on the 7th it all went through, all approved, $ dispersed education paid for! (and the spring semester is safe as well!)
2) THE MOTHER LOAD. I have been working on the mortgage modification for about a year (most likely more than a year) I did not have the $ to hire an attorney so I relied on everything I had learned during my realtor days. My goal was to get the payment down so that when the kids turn 18 (which William will in March) and the child support no longer comes in, some of the financial burden of a house that is no longer valued at what I purchased it for will be alleviated. I also wanted to put this to bed and time it so that when the $ for the kids is lowered I will hopefully have graduated (which I will in May) and be earning more of a livable wage in a career vs. job. After 4 months of $ going back and forth ($ being rejected & sent back) via wire payments in Walmart (read at the courtesy counter in front of the whole world) while they count out 4k in $20's (kill me) then it goes through only to have it rejected 3 days later where you have to go retrieve it IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WORLD only to return a couple of weeks later to do it again X4 with more $ each time (Well the desire to make it work trumped the shame of doing that, pride swallowed and digested whole, I kept on going). The phone rang this morning for yet another appointment with my 'loan relationship manager' who had the wonderful news that the timing was perfect and it all went through on the 7th I asked her to repeat this...twice. The payment was lowered by $500. FINAL.
These were goals years in the making. Thank you God and Amen.
***Incidentally the 7th of October was the day I raised my hand in class and was handed a brochure for the Masters Program at University. .. No coincidences.
Namaste
