Move out/sell car, stay home/pay for car

Corey Bit Spank · 04-21-07, 04:59

So I had an incident yesterday where for the first time, my car didn't start. It was a dead battery, but none the less I missed an exam.

The syllabus said no make-ups unless there's a valid medical excuse. Evidently he meant it.

"You should have maintained your car."

Well, yeah, that's true. These things happen. I had to have the professor whom I do UG research for call and plead my case, stating I'm a good student. It worked, but it's a big hassle and I can't always rely on my resources to help me. I got lucky.

I can get a room near south campus for $180-200 a month. My school has three campuses. I go to school on North, but south is in the city and where there is cheap housing. Shuttles run every 15 minutes during peak hours, and it's a 10 minute shuttle ride.

I make $450 a month. I pay $119 a month for insurance and $86 for gas. Basically commuting has become a PITA. Finding parking has become horrendous. The people that live on North still drive their cars from their housing to the parking spots on the spine. Sometimes because of Buffalo's harsh weather, and sometimes because they want to show the world that they have a car. pffft.

What would you do, given your experiences?

themightytimmah · 04-21-07, 05:08

Keep the car, stay at home. That 180-200 for a room will probably turn out to be pricier when you figure in the true cost of living - food, utilities, etc.

Bus rides suck too - parking might be a hassle but riding the bus has never worked out well for me. If it was a subway from South to North on the other hand I'd be more inclined.

Accumulator · 04-22-07, 09:28

A few sorta-randome thoughts:

Don't let an isolated incident (the battery failure) take on more significance that it should.

Consider what themightytimmah said about the "hidden" expenses of living on your own, including the non-monetary ones (if you're living with others I bet they help you out in all kinds of little ways that're transparent to you until you think it).

OTOH, I sure wouldn't let a car mess up your education...think long-term.

Consider building in a time buffer for those "oh-[shoot]" moments...car won't start before an exam: call a taxi or something, whatever it takes to get there *do it* and accept the expense/hassle as part of life.

Heh heh, just a FWIW from the other side of the lecturn: the unyielding prof sorta reminds me of how I was with my students...and yeah I too would've probably let the intercession of a colleague change my mind and, if it came right down to the wire, that missed exam wouldn't have determined your final grade. Virtually every faculty member I ever knew (can't actually remember any exceptions) let stuff slide a lot more than their students woulda ever expected...it's a judgement call based more on how they feel about *you* than anything else, whether they'd admit it or not

Tasty · 04-22-07, 06:20

Any professor who can't understand the little things in life that come up like that is a real A-hole. Like HE'S never been late due to car trouble. How lame...

paradigm · 04-23-07, 04:48

Quote:

Any professor who can't understand the little things in life that come up like that is a real A-hole. Like HE'S never been late due to car trouble. How lame...

while i'm not all about super strict rules...the prof does that because if he didn't it would be chaos. if you give people a way out they will take it...at least the slackers...and in college there are plenty of them (not the OP, of course).

i had a prof "force" me to take an exam when i was super super super super sick (did i mention i was REALLY ill?). i called a few days before and asked for an extension since i'd been out ill for nearly a week already. "be there or fail". nice. so, off i went.

bosses aren't much better in the real world.

Spilchy · 04-23-07, 05:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tasty

Any professor who can't understand the little things in life that come up like that is a real A-hole. Like HE'S never been late due to car trouble. How lame...

Find me a professor whose even worked a real job one day in his life especially with the drivel they're passing off as scholarly and then pumping into impressionable youths' minds

As far as the living situation; I'd save the money and stay at home. But if I stayed at home while I was in school, I'd totally miss out on the whole "college experience;" an experience I wouldn't have missed for the world

It all depends on your lifestyle.

pair of Blazers · 04-23-07, 05:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradigm

while i'm not all about super strict rules...the prof does that because if he didn't it would be chaos. if you give people a way out they will take it...at least the slackers...and in college there are plenty of them (not the OP, of course).

i had a prof "force" me to take an exam when i was super super super super sick (did i mention i was REALLY ill?). i called a few days before and asked for an extension since i'd been out ill for nearly a week already. "be there or fail". nice. so, off i went.

bosses aren't much better in the real world.

there are two things in life that come before my job, my health and my family. I have had arguments and taken lost time for those thing in the past. if your sick you take care of it or you could end up in a hospital(have seen it happen), you only get one set of parents in this life take care of them as well as your spouse and kids. there is always another job, if the boss doesn't see it that way maybe its time to move on.
anyway keep car and like Accumulator said have a back up plan.

paradigm · 04-23-07, 06:35

well, pair of blazers...you're right in the honorable sense...and then there is real life where you do what you have to do to be successful AND be with family, job, etc. obviously there is a happy medium with all of it...it is not cut and dry. you pick and choose where to take a stand. failing a semester of class wasn't on my list to delay graduation and/or get kicked out of the professional program i was in, etc at the time...so i sucked it up and went. was it right of him to do it? no. did i want to deal with the aftermath if i challenged the prof? nope. no time to waste on that.

anyway, it's all about choosing what you want. it's not life and death in most cases...nothing that dramatic.

back to the OP's question...i would not let a car rule my life by taking up 50%+ of my income. BUT, if it costs MORE to live away from home (hidden costs as other people have said)...i would stay at home, save, and get done w/ school in less debt...you'll be ahead of the game at that point.

Tasty · 04-23-07, 08:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by pair of Blazers

there are two things in life that come before my job, my health and my family. I have had arguments and taken lost time for those thing in the past. if your sick you take care of it or you could end up in a hospital(have seen it happen), you only get one set of parents in this life take care of them as well as your spouse and kids. there is always another job, if the boss doesn't see it that way maybe its time to move on.
anyway keep car and like Accumulator said have a back up plan.

Couldn't agree more. I have had the good fortune to work for bosses that understand that work is not the most important thing in life. The day I run across someone that doesn't get that is the day I go on to the next job. I had some jerk professors like the ones described above in college as well. What do I remember about them now? That they were good teachers? Imparted volumes of knowledge? No, they were just a-holes.

Accumulator · 04-24-07, 08:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spilchy

Find me a professor whose even worked a real job one day in his life...

I was gonna

you on that one but then it's been a *long* time since Accumulatorette and I were on faculty and I suppose things are getting worse instead of better...

My wife saw me entering this and said that in her opinion the faculty members who actually had real-world jobs are usually a lot more reasonable (and better in every other respect too

) than the ones who went straight from undergrad to grad school to teaching.

Corey Bit Spank · 04-24-07, 07:48

He's just got a big, bad old 'tude. Today I said hello as I passed him in the hall and he refused to respond. Ridic.

Thank goodness he's not going to be at my school next semester. I think they are showing him the door.

Accumulator · 04-25-07, 10:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corey Bit Spank

He's just got a big, bad old 'tude. Today I said hello as I passed him in the hall and he refused to respond..

Well, *THAT* is total BS. Not like the rules of civility don't apply to him. If he thinks that [crap] doesn't adversely affect his effectiveness as a teacher then he's an idiot, and if he knows it and doesn't care then he's worse than that. Too many "teachers" forget what the job is all about.