Syracuse Chat thread (Rome, Cortland, Madison: loans, law school, community college) - Page 45 - City-Data Forum

Becca8377 · 10-22-2011, 10:24 AM

I drove out to Natur-Tyme today and was REALLY disappointed with their food selection. Wegmans definitely has way more. So then I went to stop by Earth's Own (in the Seneca strip mall) and discovered that it is now closed permanently!

I looked up their Facebook and apparently they closed for good last week. The last time I had been in there, the owner did tell me that business wasn't booming. Sucks

Sean® · 10-22-2011, 10:41 AM

As the depression gathers steam little places are dropping like flies. When things are good we all say how much we hate Walmart and support the little guy. But with most of us wondering how long we will have a job and gas going up and up most of us been talking with our feet and Walmart is packed.

I also feel your pain, I have a car until 3 today and was gonna hit a couple woodworking stores in Buffalo this morning. Sumpin' told me I better check and sure enough one of them is gone so I just went gadding about Syracuse.

Becca8377 · 10-22-2011, 04:39 PM

Yeah I hear ya. I try to support the little guys whenever I can. Looks like I'll have to check out the Mother Earth store in North Syracuse. I'm also obsessed with the Regional Market - get all my fresh foods there. Although next year, I'm planning on starting my own garden.

Speaking of little guys, a juice and smoothie cafe just opened up in the Village of Liverpool! I took a long walk today and scoped it out (it was closed today though). Definitely going to check them out soon!

http://www.omboysjuice.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Om-Bo...30715397025701

Sean® · 10-22-2011, 05:51 PM

Do you ever feel alittle nervous?? I've never seen NY as bad as its been these past afew years. I just looked and NY's worst year ever was 1976 and I lived in Florida then so this really is the worst for me.

But personally I'm doing great. Prolly gonna be my best year ever. Of coarse everything costs more so I still don't have any money but I'm above water. I almost feel guilty.

And this is weird, and until recently I called these people wacko's myself, I been stocking up on water and canned food and such. And ammo of coarse. I feel stooopit doing it but worst case I can use it to flush the toliet when I feel even sillier.

Becca8377 · 10-22-2011, 07:13 PM

Nah, I'm not nervous. My job is extremely secure. I have enough experience now that if for some reason I ever got let go, I'd be scooped up by another company pretty quickly. I was actually contacted by a headhunter last week, so that made me feel good

But of course, I'm very happy with where I'm at now, so I declined to get more info on the position.

What bothers me is the student loan debt crisis. Even though my dad makes alot of money, I had to put myself through college. My monthly payments for my loans are more than my apartment rent. It's a shame in this day and age because I'll be making payments for probably the next 20 years. This is the #1 reason why I can't buy a house. I would love to own a house as a single person, but it's just not a reality. So unless I win the lottery or get married, I'm stuck in apartments.

ToeJam · 10-22-2011, 08:40 PM

I looked into taking a class here at OCC and I was shocked at what even a single class cost out here. Even the community classes are expensive. I had to pay my way through school and with the current cost, there is no way kids can go to school without going into serious debt.
I was looking at a class that would just be something fun to do. Is there a cheaper alternative out there that I am not aware of?

Sean® · 10-23-2011, 03:33 AM

I been yelling at my kid for 10 years that unless you wanna look at EBT scum all day running checkout or have your hair smell like french fries you better plan on at least 2 extra years of school and maybe 4.

But this past year when I seen how much it costs now the reality hit. She's at MVCC now and its costing double what my Dad says he paid for SUNY Potsdam 20 years ago (for my Sister, certainly not me).

And they have tons of stupid classes that sound fun or "culturally sensitive" to a teenage kid but run up debt and don't help pay the bills. And staff walks around with a fist full of student loan papers begging these kids to take on even more debt. My kid is under orders to sign nothing, NOTHING, NOTHING without talking to me first. The school makes it sound so tempting, low interest, easy payments and many years to pay.

Schools and medicine I think are the next two things that are going to collapse. I'm not in either thank gawd but its gonna hit this area hard. When I see "Eds and Meds" I wanna go start digging a bunker. When I look at other areas those are two of the things I look at first, no way.

Becca I posted a link to a house in Oneida Castle last week. It was a cute little house in a very nice area. That area has semi-good Thruway access to Syracuse (only afew miles to the exit but it does add 10 miles on the Thruway itself). On those two good roads, 365 and the Thruway you could be anywhere in Syracuse in an hour or so. With no money down the payment was 299 a month. If you like the area I think your crazy to rent when you can own for under 300. In afew years you could turn it into a rental.

phaelon56 · 10-23-2011, 06:42 AM

Becca - check out Green Planet on West Genesee Street in Fairmount - they opened last year and I think it's decent sized for a natural foods store. If you have not been to the Real Food Coop then go there too. It's quite small but actually has a decent selection. I buy all my spices and dried herbs there because they sell them by weight, most are organic and the prices are way cheap compared to spices in the regular grocery store. I get all my brown rice, dried fruit and nuts there also. And I shop as a non-member but even with that 5% or so added on for that - their prices aren't bad.

Becca8377 · 10-23-2011, 06:48 AM

ToeJam - if you wanted to just take a class for poops and giggles, your best bet would be to look at some sort of community center that does adult education - those tend to be things like cooking, painting, art, etc etc. I took a cooking class a few weeks ago and it was only $30.

Alot of kids now are doing 2 years at community college to get the basics out of the way and then transfering to university for the final 2 years to get all the core requirements. That is definitely something I wish I had done but I was so fed up with my parents at the time that I just wanted to get out. It irritates the heck out of me all the pointless classes you're forced to take. Accounting? Caclulus? History? Honestly, when have I ever used these in my career? I never have and never will. College would be alot cheaper if they cut out all the junk.

For some perspective - I will be 27 in a few weeks and I still have over $100,000 in student loan debt. I have a small loan and then the biggy - the small one isn't bad at all. The big one though is through a private company that doesn't give a crap about you. I cannot consolidate. I cannot decrease payment amounts. The only way I could do anything about it is if I got ANOTHER loan to pay off this one and then pay the new loan. But my APR is only around 3% - I've shopped around before and no new loans could beat that APR, so I'd be paying more in the long run.

Sean - I know I definitely want to buy in the Village of Liverpool. So to me there's no sense in compromising and just buying a house to buy. I'm going to wait till I'm ready - if that will ever happen. I actually love the apartment I'm in now - I just renewed my lease for 2 years. What kills it is my landlord is the biggest slumlord I've ever had to deal with. I actually had to threaten to call the codes department to get him to fix something that he had been ignoring for a month.

Becca8377 · 10-23-2011, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaelon56

Becca - check out Green Planet on West Genesee Street in Fairmount - they opened last year and I think it's decent sized for a natural foods store. If you have not been to the Real Food Coop then go there too. It's quite small but actually has a decent selection. I buy all my spices and dried herbs there because they sell them by weight, most are organic and the prices are way cheap compared to spices in the regular grocery store. I get all my brown rice, dried fruit and nuts there also. And I shop as a non-member but even with that 5% or so added on for that - their prices aren't bad.

Thanks, I'll add those to my list!