If you aren’t aware of it, there’s a site out there called “Post Rank” that is crazy easy to use for bloggers everywhere.

First of all, it looks like this:

You can set it up to show 5 – 30 of your best posts, as they are “ranked” by PostRank.

(You won’t even need to sign up or anything, you can get the widget without having to)

You want to click on something called a Top Posts Widget near the bottom of the page.

Now you mouse over it, and you choose your blogger platform.

Type in your website URL (it found mine RIGHT away!)

Preview the widget to see what are the most popular posts

And choose a colour theme as well as how many top posts you want to showcase.

Then you can use this code in a third party HTML widget in Blogger (copy and paste).

And that’s it. You get something super easy and cool for your blogging website.

Biography

im 21, turning 22 in january 09, im in school full time going for a bachelors in psychology, then to graduate school for a master’s in occupational therapy specializing in early intervention. i went to college for a semester and a half when i was 18, but dropped out after trying to work and go to school FT without knowing what i wanted to do with my life.

i work part time as an office manager at a design firm, i dont enjoy the job because im not helping people, i just do it for the money (i make $20/hr) which enables me to work less. honestly, my future career is what gets me out of bed in the morning, and i can’t wait to graduate in spring 2015! sometimes life is hard, not having any support from your family especially financially.

my parents are too wrapped up in their divorce and their own lives, so i am paying for my education and my life myself. i dont have a relationship with my father anymore so i just speak to my mom and 18 year old sister who is also in school. she’s pretty smart and talented so her school is paid for with grants and scholarships. she won’t have to worry about loans, unlike me. in the end,

i definitely prefer supporting myself and paying my way, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment but there are sometimes that it gets to be very overwhelming. i find that sitting down (sometimes 3-4x a week) and working out a financial spreadsheet calms me down. fb has inspired me to start my own pf blog, so look for it in the near future!

FB: Aww…thanks!

day one-monday

mondays i have school from 9:00am-12:50pm, then work from 3:00-6:00pm. today i ended up staying until 7:30pm because i had to wait for our bookkeeper to come in to do sales tax.

6:50am- get up, shower, and out the door by 7:40am.
I take the bus to school everyday, fare is $2.00/ride but I buy an 30-day unlimited metrocard for $81.00.

8:15am-
At school i purchase a lipton citrus green tea from the vending machine for $1.50, and a bagel with cream cheese for $1.43 from my school’s cafeteria.

1:00pm-
I have to take a bus and 2 trains to work, I have an unlimited metrocard but the ride would be $2.00 and free transfer for both subway rides.

2:30pm-
i stop at cvs on the way to get lunch and pick up a bottle of lactaid pills for $7.99
i walk to the subway by my office, and spend $3.45 on a 6 inch sandwich, i skip the chips and drink cause im not that hungry.

7:30pm-
out of work, time to catch the subway home and find something in the cabinet to eat for dinner. most likely it will be pasta or something cheap or filling.

pay my at&t bill for $109.66, i have a voice, data, and unlimited texting plan for my iphone.

day two-tuesday

tuesdays i have school from 11:00am-12:50pm and work from 3-6:0pm.

8:00am-
tuesdays i can sleep in until 8:40am, it’s my one day of the week i have the ability to do that but my body is still accustomed to getting up early. i wander into the kitchen and make my new favorite food, egg whites with muenster cheese and ketchup on a roll, mmm.

9:40am-
im out the door and off to catch the bus to school.

2:30pm-
the lady at subway practically knows my order by heart now since she sees me practically every day (i fixate on a certain food for a numebr of weeks then grow bored of it)
sandwich $3.45

6:00pm-
home to eat pasta for dinner

day three-wednesday

wednesdays i have class from 9:00am-12:50pm, then a train ride out east for my therapy appointment with my psychologist.

7:20am-
just enough time to throw together an egg white sandwich to bring with me on the bus ride to school.

1:00pm-
out of class, catch two buses to the local train station.
the train ride to therapy costs me $4.00 each way but sometimes i get lucky and i get off the train before the conductor comes to punch my ticket. my ride is only 6 minutes each way.

today i get lucky and only pay for my ride back, $4.00.

1:30pm-
i stop at the 7-eleven by the train station to pick up something to eat for lunch, i usually grab a pb&j but they’ve run out so i pick up a cereal bar and seltzer water, costing $4.27

i go to therapy once a week for 45 minutes, i saw this psychologist a few years ago back when i had health insurance, so my father paid $100/session and got back $50.00 from the insurance company. since then she has moved into a larger office, and her fee has increased to $175/session. because she is such a kind woman and recognized that i was in dire need of help, she offered to continue at her old rate of $100/session which i gladly accepted. i cant afford health insurance so i pay the entire amount, which is $400/month. its a HUGE expense for me, behind rent–but worth every penny.

4:30pm-
earlier today i decided to sell my iphone, which was really hard for me to do since i love technology and i am a huge mac nerd. i used my iphone constantly but my bill of $110/month is just getting to be too much for me.

i pick up a samsung propel at a local at&t store and pay full retail price+tax $280.68. at&t allows you to return the phoen within 30days so im going to buy a sony walkman w810i off of ebay for around $100 and return the samsung this month. i had the w810i before i bought the original iphone last september and i loved it.

although i love technology, i have mixed feelings about being so attached to a device. (it was getting to the point where i would bring my iphone charger with me everywhere for fear my battery would die) so i decided to sell my iphone and get a simpler device, but would leave the unlimited texting. this should cut my bill down by $40/month.

7:30pm-
i listed my iphone on ebay, i hope to sell it for $400, making a profit of $200. i was able to buy it for the subsidized pricing of $199 since i had the original iphone before. I plan to use about $100 of that money to purchase the w810i and saving the rest to pay for therapy.

day four-thursday

thursday i had class from 11:00am-12:50pm then work 3-6pm.

in the morning i make another egg white sandwich for breakfast, take the bus to school, and grab a lipton green tea for $1.50 from the vending machine.

2:30pm-
subway sandwich $3.45

6:00pm-
i deposit my paycheck for two weeks of work, $547.92. i make $20.00/hr which works out to $15.00-15.75 after taxes depending on how many hours i work in a check.

9:00pm-
i pay our gas bill (i live with two roommates) total bill is $104.80, though my share is $34.93. we need to start being more conservative with our gas usage during the winter because our bill is triple what it was last month.

day five-friday

normally on fridays i work a full day since i dont have class, but the economy is horrible here in the us, and my hours have been getting cut.

6:00pm- order a pizza for myself and one of my roommates, medium pie with a liter of sprite, $18.49 including tip.

day six-saturday

i stay in all day watching house with my roommate, and didn’t spend any money.

day seven-sunday

in the afternoon i finally gather up the courage to go out and do laundry, $4.50 for wash/dry.
while my laundry is drying i run out to the atm and get cash for the week, $60.00 and a sandwich, chips and drink from subway, $8.59.

monthly income, plus extras:

job income-$900.00-$1,110.00

my mom receives canada pension plan benefits, and I do as well until im 25.
this works out to about $190/month in us dollars.

i received a loan from school in the fall for $2,470, most of that money will be gone by the end of december. I use this money to supplement my income as you can see my expenses are much more than my income from working.

I should be receiving the same loan amount at the end of march, though i dont know why they disburse the money so late in the semester, and i do not know what i will do from january-march. I really do not want to stop going to therapy but i don’t know what else i can do.

overview of debt and monthly expenses:

rent-$550.00

utilities- around $60.00/month, gas, electric and internet.

credit card payments- $40/month

pmt to debt collector for past ambulance bill $25/month

food-try to keep it around $400-450/month

metrocard- $81/month

therapy- $400/month (!)

train tickets for therapy- $32/month, though some rides are free!

cell phone- should be around $65/month now, was $110 previously

laundry-$16/month

misc $100/month- apt expenses, toiletries etc

debt

cc#1- $500
cc#2- $750
student loan $338 (from when i went to school previously, deferred until i finish school, in may 2015!!)
old ambulance bill- around $475 left?