[zzz]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We want to stick to the West, west of Denver, so Texas is out and I’ve lived there before and no real desire to head back.

Brian, yep I agree on the middle of nowhere, not where we want to head. Job availability and a broad spectrum of industries doesn’t hurt.

We don’t want to leave SD necessarily, or even CA. Love SD and also the Bay Area which we almost moved to. However there have been some family circumstances in both of our families that has forced us to consider going somewhere with a lower cost base and more land.

[zzz]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We want to stick to the West, west of Denver, so Texas is out and I’ve lived there before and no real desire to head back.

Brian, yep I agree on the middle of nowhere, not where we want to head. Job availability and a broad spectrum of industries doesn’t hurt.

We don’t want to leave SD necessarily, or even CA. Love SD and also the Bay Area which we almost moved to. However there have been some family circumstances in both of our families that has forced us to consider going somewhere with a lower cost base and more land.

[zzz]

[quote=meadandale]So, she has basically no practical experience in her chosen field; having worked in minimum wage jobs that high school students could do throughout college (hostess, sales associate, etc) and she finds that she is having trouble finding work?

Clearly she wasn’t carrying her $200k degree on the back of here hostess position. Perhaps she should have been doing an internship or volunteer work in her field rather than spinning her wheels in a minimum wage throwaway job?

Just saying…[/quote]

I completely agree with meandale on practical experience. Perhaps part of her inability to find a job might have to do with lack of practical experience and she should have been spending her free time exploring what she wanted to do, or trying a job out during summers, etc. Schooling really only get you so far. The other part is common sense, creativity, people skills and curiosity. You can’t be afraid to call upon alumni, strangers, attend networking functions, etc. 60 job applications is nothing in the digital age where you can send out 100 in one day online. What cities was she looking in, did she consider going to a larger market for her desired field?

Not a bad idea that she’s looking at traveling the world and figuring out what she wants out of life, more people should take pause to think about that versus doing what society expects of you. As long as her parents aren’t footing the bill and she’s going to work it out herself.

I have never thought much about traditional educations for most professions in terms of their usefulness. Yes it teaches you discipline, fundamentals, and hopefully some complex analytical thinking skills, but what does it really teach you to prepare you for a job? We need more vocational schools for kids starting at a much younger age. NYC has these type of high schools for fine arts, math & science, business, etc.

I had this conversation with a friend who is doing her vascular surgery residency. She got a liberal arts degree in undergrad and argues that her 4 years of studies there relate in no way shape or form to what she is doing now. She probably matured during that time, but it would have been a lot more relevant if she had gone and worked four years in a hospital, research facility, etc than going to undergrad. She thinks she could have gone directly to med school given the length of time doctors must study/ practice between schooling and internship/residency.

Moral of the story, I think kids these days, regardless of socioeconomic status should work, start em in high school. You have to be aggressive to get what you want. You have to have people skills and a lot of common sense. You can’t expect jobs will line up and fall into your lap or that you will even be recruited. Many undergrad programs require their students to intern for a minimum of 1 semester in their field of study. Surprised GW didn’t inbed this in their programs. Interning is a fantastic way to try on different things, with very little judgement about how many different things you try. Career hopping across industries post graduation is judged more so than when you’re still in college.

I paid for my 4 years in university. I got into several private universities that had better rankings, better brands, but ultimately I looked at the costs, and didn’t want to graduate with a load of debt. So I went to a public school that was top 20 ranked in business. Did she weigh the pros and cons at all, or did she just do what she wanted because someone else was footing the bill? How can you expect kids to grow up with any sense of work ethic if the choices they’ve made thus far have not had real life impact to them? If all kids had to pay for some of their education or living expenses, they would learn to appreciate hard work much earlier on and rationalizing choices.

[zzz]

[quote=meadandale]So, she has basically no practical experience in her chosen field; having worked in minimum wage jobs that high school students could do throughout college (hostess, sales associate, etc) and she finds that she is having trouble finding work?

Clearly she wasn’t carrying her $200k degree on the back of here hostess position. Perhaps she should have been doing an internship or volunteer work in her field rather than spinning her wheels in a minimum wage throwaway job?

Just saying…[/quote]

I completely agree with meandale on practical experience. Perhaps part of her inability to find a job might have to do with lack of practical experience and she should have been spending her free time exploring what she wanted to do, or trying a job out during summers, etc. Schooling really only get you so far. The other part is common sense, creativity, people skills and curiosity. You can’t be afraid to call upon alumni, strangers, attend networking functions, etc. 60 job applications is nothing in the digital age where you can send out 100 in one day online. What cities was she looking in, did she consider going to a larger market for her desired field?

Not a bad idea that she’s looking at traveling the world and figuring out what she wants out of life, more people should take pause to think about that versus doing what society expects of you. As long as her parents aren’t footing the bill and she’s going to work it out herself.

I have never thought much about traditional educations for most professions in terms of their usefulness. Yes it teaches you discipline, fundamentals, and hopefully some complex analytical thinking skills, but what does it really teach you to prepare you for a job? We need more vocational schools for kids starting at a much younger age. NYC has these type of high schools for fine arts, math & science, business, etc.

I had this conversation with a friend who is doing her vascular surgery residency. She got a liberal arts degree in undergrad and argues that her 4 years of studies there relate in no way shape or form to what she is doing now. She probably matured during that time, but it would have been a lot more relevant if she had gone and worked four years in a hospital, research facility, etc than going to undergrad. She thinks she could have gone directly to med school given the length of time doctors must study/ practice between schooling and internship/residency.

Moral of the story, I think kids these days, regardless of socioeconomic status should work, start em in high school. You have to be aggressive to get what you want. You have to have people skills and a lot of common sense. You can’t expect jobs will line up and fall into your lap or that you will even be recruited. Many undergrad programs require their students to intern for a minimum of 1 semester in their field of study. Surprised GW didn’t inbed this in their programs. Interning is a fantastic way to try on different things, with very little judgement about how many different things you try. Career hopping across industries post graduation is judged more so than when you’re still in college.

I paid for my 4 years in university. I got into several private universities that had better rankings, better brands, but ultimately I looked at the costs, and didn’t want to graduate with a load of debt. So I went to a public school that was top 20 ranked in business. Did she weigh the pros and cons at all, or did she just do what she wanted because someone else was footing the bill? How can you expect kids to grow up with any sense of work ethic if the choices they’ve made thus far have not had real life impact to them? If all kids had to pay for some of their education or living expenses, they would learn to appreciate hard work much earlier on and rationalizing choices.

[zzz]

[quote=meadandale]So, she has basically no practical experience in her chosen field; having worked in minimum wage jobs that high school students could do throughout college (hostess, sales associate, etc) and she finds that she is having trouble finding work?

Clearly she wasn’t carrying her $200k degree on the back of here hostess position. Perhaps she should have been doing an internship or volunteer work in her field rather than spinning her wheels in a minimum wage throwaway job?

Just saying…[/quote]

I completely agree with meandale on practical experience. Perhaps part of her inability to find a job might have to do with lack of practical experience and she should have been spending her free time exploring what she wanted to do, or trying a job out during summers, etc. Schooling really only get you so far. The other part is common sense, creativity, people skills and curiosity. You can’t be afraid to call upon alumni, strangers, attend networking functions, etc. 60 job applications is nothing in the digital age where you can send out 100 in one day online. What cities was she looking in, did she consider going to a larger market for her desired field?

Not a bad idea that she’s looking at traveling the world and figuring out what she wants out of life, more people should take pause to think about that versus doing what society expects of you. As long as her parents aren’t footing the bill and she’s going to work it out herself.

I have never thought much about traditional educations for most professions in terms of their usefulness. Yes it teaches you discipline, fundamentals, and hopefully some complex analytical thinking skills, but what does it really teach you to prepare you for a job? We need more vocational schools for kids starting at a much younger age. NYC has these type of high schools for fine arts, math & science, business, etc.

I had this conversation with a friend who is doing her vascular surgery residency. She got a liberal arts degree in undergrad and argues that her 4 years of studies there relate in no way shape or form to what she is doing now. She probably matured during that time, but it would have been a lot more relevant if she had gone and worked four years in a hospital, research facility, etc than going to undergrad. She thinks she could have gone directly to med school given the length of time doctors must study/ practice between schooling and internship/residency.

Moral of the story, I think kids these days, regardless of socioeconomic status should work, start em in high school. You have to be aggressive to get what you want. You have to have people skills and a lot of common sense. You can’t expect jobs will line up and fall into your lap or that you will even be recruited. Many undergrad programs require their students to intern for a minimum of 1 semester in their field of study. Surprised GW didn’t inbed this in their programs. Interning is a fantastic way to try on different things, with very little judgement about how many different things you try. Career hopping across industries post graduation is judged more so than when you’re still in college.

I paid for my 4 years in university. I got into several private universities that had better rankings, better brands, but ultimately I looked at the costs, and didn’t want to graduate with a load of debt. So I went to a public school that was top 20 ranked in business. Did she weigh the pros and cons at all, or did she just do what she wanted because someone else was footing the bill? How can you expect kids to grow up with any sense of work ethic if the choices they’ve made thus far have not had real life impact to them? If all kids had to pay for some of their education or living expenses, they would learn to appreciate hard work much earlier on and rationalizing choices.

[zzz]

[quote=meadandale]So, she has basically no practical experience in her chosen field; having worked in minimum wage jobs that high school students could do throughout college (hostess, sales associate, etc) and she finds that she is having trouble finding work?

Clearly she wasn’t carrying her $200k degree on the back of here hostess position. Perhaps she should have been doing an internship or volunteer work in her field rather than spinning her wheels in a minimum wage throwaway job?

Just saying…[/quote]

I completely agree with meandale on practical experience. Perhaps part of her inability to find a job might have to do with lack of practical experience and she should have been spending her free time exploring what she wanted to do, or trying a job out during summers, etc. Schooling really only get you so far. The other part is common sense, creativity, people skills and curiosity. You can’t be afraid to call upon alumni, strangers, attend networking functions, etc. 60 job applications is nothing in the digital age where you can send out 100 in one day online. What cities was she looking in, did she consider going to a larger market for her desired field?

Not a bad idea that she’s looking at traveling the world and figuring out what she wants out of life, more people should take pause to think about that versus doing what society expects of you. As long as her parents aren’t footing the bill and she’s going to work it out herself.

I have never thought much about traditional educations for most professions in terms of their usefulness. Yes it teaches you discipline, fundamentals, and hopefully some complex analytical thinking skills, but what does it really teach you to prepare you for a job? We need more vocational schools for kids starting at a much younger age. NYC has these type of high schools for fine arts, math & science, business, etc.

I had this conversation with a friend who is doing her vascular surgery residency. She got a liberal arts degree in undergrad and argues that her 4 years of studies there relate in no way shape or form to what she is doing now. She probably matured during that time, but it would have been a lot more relevant if she had gone and worked four years in a hospital, research facility, etc than going to undergrad. She thinks she could have gone directly to med school given the length of time doctors must study/ practice between schooling and internship/residency.

Moral of the story, I think kids these days, regardless of socioeconomic status should work, start em in high school. You have to be aggressive to get what you want. You have to have people skills and a lot of common sense. You can’t expect jobs will line up and fall into your lap or that you will even be recruited. Many undergrad programs require their students to intern for a minimum of 1 semester in their field of study. Surprised GW didn’t inbed this in their programs. Interning is a fantastic way to try on different things, with very little judgement about how many different things you try. Career hopping across industries post graduation is judged more so than when you’re still in college.

I paid for my 4 years in university. I got into several private universities that had better rankings, better brands, but ultimately I looked at the costs, and didn’t want to graduate with a load of debt. So I went to a public school that was top 20 ranked in business. Did she weigh the pros and cons at all, or did she just do what she wanted because someone else was footing the bill? How can you expect kids to grow up with any sense of work ethic if the choices they’ve made thus far have not had real life impact to them? If all kids had to pay for some of their education or living expenses, they would learn to appreciate hard work much earlier on and rationalizing choices.

[zzz]

[quote=meadandale]So, she has basically no practical experience in her chosen field; having worked in minimum wage jobs that high school students could do throughout college (hostess, sales associate, etc) and she finds that she is having trouble finding work?

Clearly she wasn’t carrying her $200k degree on the back of here hostess position. Perhaps she should have been doing an internship or volunteer work in her field rather than spinning her wheels in a minimum wage throwaway job?

Just saying…[/quote]

I completely agree with meandale on practical experience. Perhaps part of her inability to find a job might have to do with lack of practical experience and she should have been spending her free time exploring what she wanted to do, or trying a job out during summers, etc. Schooling really only get you so far. The other part is common sense, creativity, people skills and curiosity. You can’t be afraid to call upon alumni, strangers, attend networking functions, etc. 60 job applications is nothing in the digital age where you can send out 100 in one day online. What cities was she looking in, did she consider going to a larger market for her desired field?

Not a bad idea that she’s looking at traveling the world and figuring out what she wants out of life, more people should take pause to think about that versus doing what society expects of you. As long as her parents aren’t footing the bill and she’s going to work it out herself.

I have never thought much about traditional educations for most professions in terms of their usefulness. Yes it teaches you discipline, fundamentals, and hopefully some complex analytical thinking skills, but what does it really teach you to prepare you for a job? We need more vocational schools for kids starting at a much younger age. NYC has these type of high schools for fine arts, math & science, business, etc.

I had this conversation with a friend who is doing her vascular surgery residency. She got a liberal arts degree in undergrad and argues that her 4 years of studies there relate in no way shape or form to what she is doing now. She probably matured during that time, but it would have been a lot more relevant if she had gone and worked four years in a hospital, research facility, etc than going to undergrad. She thinks she could have gone directly to med school given the length of time doctors must study/ practice between schooling and internship/residency.

Moral of the story, I think kids these days, regardless of socioeconomic status should work, start em in high school. You have to be aggressive to get what you want. You have to have people skills and a lot of common sense. You can’t expect jobs will line up and fall into your lap or that you will even be recruited. Many undergrad programs require their students to intern for a minimum of 1 semester in their field of study. Surprised GW didn’t inbed this in their programs. Interning is a fantastic way to try on different things, with very little judgement about how many different things you try. Career hopping across industries post graduation is judged more so than when you’re still in college.

I paid for my 4 years in university. I got into several private universities that had better rankings, better brands, but ultimately I looked at the costs, and didn’t want to graduate with a load of debt. So I went to a public school that was top 20 ranked in business. Did she weigh the pros and cons at all, or did she just do what she wanted because someone else was footing the bill? How can you expect kids to grow up with any sense of work ethic if the choices they’ve made thus far have not had real life impact to them? If all kids had to pay for some of their education or living expenses, they would learn to appreciate hard work much earlier on and rationalizing choices.

[zzz]

My philosophy on insurance is its necessary and ultimately it comes down to peace of mind. What would you pay to know that your insurance company will pay without hassles, that you are adequately protecting your assets? For me, having good customer service and hassle free claims is worth a premium. I have State Farm, they are certainly not the cheapest but I’ve been with them for a long time and they are excellent in their service. However, if you have multiple policies with them, they do give credits, and if State Farm had a year where lower than expected claims were made, thereby increasing their profits, they mail you a check at the end of the year rebating some of your policy money.

If you have any assets- which I assume since you will soon own a home, I’d highly suggest you get an umbrella policy. I believe CA homestead exemption is ridiculously low. Most people are underinsured– in the case of the fires and total loss, many people found they were far from adequately insured. And lets not get into lawsuit happy America.

If you do get an umbrella, make sure you buy all your policies from the same insurer.

[zzz]

My philosophy on insurance is its necessary and ultimately it comes down to peace of mind. What would you pay to know that your insurance company will pay without hassles, that you are adequately protecting your assets? For me, having good customer service and hassle free claims is worth a premium. I have State Farm, they are certainly not the cheapest but I’ve been with them for a long time and they are excellent in their service. However, if you have multiple policies with them, they do give credits, and if State Farm had a year where lower than expected claims were made, thereby increasing their profits, they mail you a check at the end of the year rebating some of your policy money.

If you have any assets- which I assume since you will soon own a home, I’d highly suggest you get an umbrella policy. I believe CA homestead exemption is ridiculously low. Most people are underinsured– in the case of the fires and total loss, many people found they were far from adequately insured. And lets not get into lawsuit happy America.

If you do get an umbrella, make sure you buy all your policies from the same insurer.

[zzz]

My philosophy on insurance is its necessary and ultimately it comes down to peace of mind. What would you pay to know that your insurance company will pay without hassles, that you are adequately protecting your assets? For me, having good customer service and hassle free claims is worth a premium. I have State Farm, they are certainly not the cheapest but I’ve been with them for a long time and they are excellent in their service. However, if you have multiple policies with them, they do give credits, and if State Farm had a year where lower than expected claims were made, thereby increasing their profits, they mail you a check at the end of the year rebating some of your policy money.

If you have any assets- which I assume since you will soon own a home, I’d highly suggest you get an umbrella policy. I believe CA homestead exemption is ridiculously low. Most people are underinsured– in the case of the fires and total loss, many people found they were far from adequately insured. And lets not get into lawsuit happy America.

If you do get an umbrella, make sure you buy all your policies from the same insurer.

[zzz]

My philosophy on insurance is its necessary and ultimately it comes down to peace of mind. What would you pay to know that your insurance company will pay without hassles, that you are adequately protecting your assets? For me, having good customer service and hassle free claims is worth a premium. I have State Farm, they are certainly not the cheapest but I’ve been with them for a long time and they are excellent in their service. However, if you have multiple policies with them, they do give credits, and if State Farm had a year where lower than expected claims were made, thereby increasing their profits, they mail you a check at the end of the year rebating some of your policy money.

If you have any assets- which I assume since you will soon own a home, I’d highly suggest you get an umbrella policy. I believe CA homestead exemption is ridiculously low. Most people are underinsured– in the case of the fires and total loss, many people found they were far from adequately insured. And lets not get into lawsuit happy America.

If you do get an umbrella, make sure you buy all your policies from the same insurer.

[zzz]

My philosophy on insurance is its necessary and ultimately it comes down to peace of mind. What would you pay to know that your insurance company will pay without hassles, that you are adequately protecting your assets? For me, having good customer service and hassle free claims is worth a premium. I have State Farm, they are certainly not the cheapest but I’ve been with them for a long time and they are excellent in their service. However, if you have multiple policies with them, they do give credits, and if State Farm had a year where lower than expected claims were made, thereby increasing their profits, they mail you a check at the end of the year rebating some of your policy money.

If you have any assets- which I assume since you will soon own a home, I’d highly suggest you get an umbrella policy. I believe CA homestead exemption is ridiculously low. Most people are underinsured– in the case of the fires and total loss, many people found they were far from adequately insured. And lets not get into lawsuit happy America.

If you do get an umbrella, make sure you buy all your policies from the same insurer.

[zzz]

I have the LG W/D (gas on the dryer) which are great. They clean clothes, towels, pillows, you name it very well, use very little water and I thought were a good price. I negotiated $450 off the set, 25% off all the accessories ( hoses, mounting kit, etc) and picked them up for less than the Sears scratch and ding.

I bought the model that is one down from the top of the line with steam. I really don’t see the need for steam or reason to pay extra for it.

Make sure you buy a washer with a stainless steel drum to last longer

[zzz]

I have the LG W/D (gas on the dryer) which are great. They clean clothes, towels, pillows, you name it very well, use very little water and I thought were a good price. I negotiated $450 off the set, 25% off all the accessories ( hoses, mounting kit, etc) and picked them up for less than the Sears scratch and ding.

I bought the model that is one down from the top of the line with steam. I really don’t see the need for steam or reason to pay extra for it.

Make sure you buy a washer with a stainless steel drum to last longer

[zzz]

I have the LG W/D (gas on the dryer) which are great. They clean clothes, towels, pillows, you name it very well, use very little water and I thought were a good price. I negotiated $450 off the set, 25% off all the accessories ( hoses, mounting kit, etc) and picked them up for less than the Sears scratch and ding.

I bought the model that is one down from the top of the line with steam. I really don’t see the need for steam or reason to pay extra for it.

Make sure you buy a washer with a stainless steel drum to last longer

[Author]

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