The More I Work The Faster My Money Goes

With winter break coming soon students on Planet College are looking forward to - working more. Either more hours at their regular jobs or seasonal jobs or both. Which ever it is most students will once again realize truth of the line from the original rock and roll classic Shake, Rattle and Roll, "The more I work the faster my money goes." Working all week for a paycheck which disappears in one weekend night is a common frustration. The obligations toward friends and family during the holidays does nothing to ease this frustration.

This post is about one more frustration, taxes.

Earnings are taxed just like everything else. Some time next year you will probably owe money on the money you are earning this year. Some of this obligation may be relieved by withholding, the money taken out of your paycheck for your future income tax obligation. When you fill out the paperwork after being hired you fill out among other things a form called a W-4. This authorizes your employer to take out a set amount of your earnings each pay period. This money, a deduction from your paycheck, is intended to pay for your federal and in some cases state tax obligation.

Next year you will receive a W-2, a form from your employers which will detail how much you earned and how much was withheld from your earnings. That is in part an explanation of the frustration you feel when you work more and seem to have less.

Right now as the busyness of the end of the term and the winter break mounts there is little time to stop and examine your financial situation. More work simply means at least some more money right now.

Next year, when you get those w-2s and start doing your tax return for 2010 look carefully at the amount which has been withheld and the amount you will actually owe in taxes. Too much withholding could mean a refund check from the government. Not enough withholding will probably mean you will be sending a check to the government. Either way then would be a good time to look at your w-4 amounts. If it seems wise to adjust them one way or another it will probably be possible to submit a new W-4 to your employer. Check on it.

What's for dinner? IKEA again.

Dining hall food seems intended to drive students to dine anywhere but the dining hall. For countless eons the numbing sameness and general overall lack of appeal has been the stuff of complaining conversations across Planet College. However, dining anywhere else cost more money of course. It is this additional cost which keeps most poverty stricken students chained to their meal plan.

Now, IKEA, yes that IKEA, has developed simple, easy to follow videos displaying food preparation. These videos are based on a brilliantly simple cookbook which they have recently issued. The book is free, written in Swedish and available in - Sweden. But the videos which lay out food preparation in the style of an illustrated technical manual, are available now on line. The ingredients and the basic utensils needed are clearly presented in the video as well as the procedure of preparing the food (its called cooking, ask your mom).

The requirements are so basic and the food so simple it is possible that you could start preparing your own meals right there in your room. And you don't even need one of those little metal wrenches like you did to put your desk together.

Bon Appetit!

Sleep late and still get to class on time.

This weekend the semi annual ritual of time confusion occurs once again. The shift is from daylight savings to standard which is scheduled for Saturday night. This means re- setting your time keeping devices, clocks, watches and even some computer. Moving the big hand back on hour will add an extra sixty minutes to your morning schedule, if you have a morning schedule. This means that you can sleep late Monday, ( of course, you're sleeping late Sunday) and possibly, for once, get to your eight o'clock class on time. Enjoy.

Beer Bongs and Buddah

If you hadn't dropped that Intro to Philosophy class you might have gotten to the part where the Instructor covered Eastern Philosophy. The wisdom of Buddha, the sage pronouncements of Confucius, or the ever timeless Lao T'sze. They, each in their own way, describe living creation as an Eternal Now, a timeless Cosmic Void in which change is a seductive illusion.

Good thing you dropped.

While time on Planet College often seems like a continuous wheel of get-up-late, sleep-through-class, get-wasted, pass-out, get-up-later, this might more correctly be defined as avoidance rather than illumination. Despite what the Buddhah may have said about the illusory nature of reality you are on Planet College to progress, achieve, remain productively active and acquire something real, a degree. Although the day-to-day can often seem timeless and unreal there is a “real” purpose. This purpose, your graduation, can seem distant and unreal among distractions even more seductive than Eastern Philosophy, beer bongs, hotties, substances legal and otherwise, distractions Buddah never dreamed of.

Maintaining your focus and following through on your intention, your original intention, a diploma, is very, very difficult. And finally very, very necessary. It is the reason you are on Planet College.

Stay focused, Dude.

Other Schools

Higher Education Institutions tend to develop in clusters. It's probable that there are a few other colleges or universities close by where you are attending. Students on Planet College often become somewhat insular about their particular school. This may be particularly true where community colleges are concerned. At times students at four year institutions my avoid association with their community college neighbors due to let's say "issues". These attitudes can be unnecessarily restricting.

Community colleges currently enroll the largest percentage of college students in the USA. These schools are often well equipped and staffed. As a resource for the "community" that is the area generally around where they are located they function very effectively. Unless you are a student there you may not know that these schools have professionally staffed libraries, well maintained facilities and knowledgeable instructors in every area. They are also, relatively speaking, less costly than traditional four year universities and colleges.

What this can mean for you is another resource for your needs, interests and abilities. Is your library crowded, probably yes. The local community college may be able to help. Are the work out facilities on your campus aging, under-staffed or closed for remodeling? A nearby school may have what you need for now. More practically local schools also have job offices or career centers. These schools often are more responsive to the needs of local employers. This means for you that while your schools job center emphasis may be necessarily on career another local school may be more immediately helpful finding you work.

Finally, it is common for neighboring schools to have courtesy agreements with other schools. This means that your ASB card may be all you need to take advantage of the other school's facilities. Check it out.

The Job Fair.

You're slouching through the student center tastefully slobbed out in the same jeans and hoodie you've been wearing for the last three years. There, before your eyes, are rows of folding tables with company literature carefully displayed and the dressed-for-success company representatives on the cheap folding chairs that go with the tables. There, also before your eyes, are students at least some what neatly dressed, distributing carefully composed resumes and conversing earnestly. Whoa. The Job Fair. On your campus is it coming or has it gone? Or do you know? Campus job fairs are another staple on Planet College as the term grinds on. They are usually arranged by The ASU or sometimes Student Services to facilitate students getting to the point of their education. Work. Full time work.

If you like thousands of others, OK, hundreds of thousands of others on Planet College have, up until now, taken a totally casual approach to your future back on Earth it is quite possibly time to kick your career planning up a notch.

Here's a few ideas. First, if you do happen to accidentally wander through The Job Fair go ahead. Stop and talk to a few of the company representatives. Pick up business cards and send them an e-mail, "Thanks, I enjoyed talking with you."

Also, look around for a campus organization which even generally relates to careers you may be interested in. Some of these groups may be volunteer. Some of them may even have their own Career Fair or what ever they want to call their job deal. Even if you are not a member of their respective society you are probably still welcome to attend the fair. These experiences are basically informational right now but they can be inspirational in the sense that you may come across a field in which you are actually interested.

Also these events function as that time honored approach to job getting, networking. The more people you know the more likely you are to get work.

How's it goin'? No really.

At this point in a typical term on Planet College things have usually distilled down to a daily grind. Amidst this daily grind mid-terms, tests, projects, presentations have come and probably gone. Mid-term is a good time to pause and review your progress. So. How's it goin'? Ok? No, really, this time "How's it goin'", doesn't call for they typical, "OK, Same ol' same ol' " response of a glancing social interchange. Mid-Terms and actually the resultant grades can be a useful measurement of how the now day-to-day grind really is going. Or what your efforts are actually producing.

This simple procedure can provide a beacon in the daily fog that Planet College often produces. Ask your self which has been your most difficult class. Are you doing better than you excepted in some class you were dreading? Are you doing worse? Right now the results of you effort are available. They are the grade on you mid-terms. What grades have you actually received? A? F? Incomplete? C? If you have a class or classes which are proving more challenging it is time to get some help. There still can be tutors available at the tutoring center. Make use of them, they are probably free.

And one other thing. Talk to your instructor. If you haven't spoken with her before you may have to introduce your self. Tell her which course and which of her sections you are enrolled in. Track her down somewhere, before class, after class, her office if she has one. Find her and tell her, " I want to do as well as I can in your class. And I'm finding the class more difficult than I thought." She may have some suggestions. She may not. The important thing is you have made contact and she can see you are at least interested. If she does have a few pointers take care to look like you are listening while she's speaking. This simple step, making contact with the instructor, can be really helpful around final grade time. You now have some guidelines for the rest of the term. Be sure and follow through as best as you can on these tips. Also, as noted, the instructor has seen that you are really interested in passing her course. This too can work in your favor.

Remember you want to graduate someday and until then you are entitled to all the help you can get. A lot of that help you can provide for yourself.