Good-bye NYC, Hello CO!

In a couple of weeks I’ll be making a temporary move to Boulder for training at the Rolf Institute. It has taken me 6 years to find a way to do this – and I still think it’s the most insensible schedule ever. It really should not take 16 months to complete 5 actual months of training. I’m sure they think they’re attracting ultra-dedicated types (they’d be correct in my case), but I’m sure there will be a fair share of those who don’t have to save and work to manage it. I hope my pre-conceptions are wrong…I really do.

So how can I afford this? In the past year I’ve saved $9K towards the $18K tuition. I also landed a secondary job that is totally flexible 24/7/365, is done from home and is totally mobile within the US & Canada. Will I be able to make enough $$ in my drastically reduced hours of availability? I should be able to make enough to live on without dipping into that $9K, and my customers at this job buy me presents from time to time. The most pertinent and useful for Rolf attendance are the pair of Boggs all-weather boots and a $250 Frontier Airlines gift card.

I am applying for financial aid but I don’t hold out any real hope. I don’t really feel I deserve any since I got plenty for my bachelor’s and then did my master’s in the UK at domestic tuition rates (read: peanuts). But what the heck – a grant is always welcome, and just having access to a relatively cheap loan would be nice as a back-up. None of this will be necessary until Part 3 which could be this fall (hoping to be accelerated because I’m awesome) but will most likely be about a year from now.

I will not be giving up my apartment this go-round. I’ve had a friend couch-surfing for months while his place finishes up its sublet, and his sublettor wants to extend thru March. He accepted so that he could hold my place for me. Yes that’s awesome of him…but remember – he’s had a free place to sleep 3-5 nights a week for 3 months already. I wanted to give my place up and go at first – until I saw that it would be OVER 5 FREAKING MONTHS before the next segment of the course. The math says that I need to earn $350/week from massage to make up for the difference between what I’d pay in Colorado rent v. what I’d pay in NYC. I can totally do that.

What happens if my p/t job income takes a nosedive? I have back-up plans that included shaking my brother down for the $4200 he owes me from 2003 (his company didn’t get sold so he didn’t get a fat fat bonus after all – but he did just get a big fat promotion this week!), liquidating my sad-ass non-Roth IRA portfolio ($8K), retrieving money from my UK account – $5K at today’s exchange rate, and depleting my $12K “emergency” savings. It makes me feel good typing all that…not much for a 40-year-old but enough to get me to a healthy 6-figure income by age 43 (would be 42 if it weren’t for the impractical scheduling). And no, I haven’t forgotten that painful $9K whole life premium due in August. I hate that. I was just doing sooo well when I signed on for it and thought that basing it on a 10-15% lower income than I had was very smart of me…didn’t anticipate having it halved.

So, bring on 2011 and all the upside-downness that will no doubt come with it. I love change (and not just the kind that you find in your couch cushions)!