College grad, newlywed chasing the American Dr

I’ve decided on a career shift. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and professional writing, but have quickly learned that the job market in my hometown for a writer is slim and definitely not lucrative.

So while my wife is working at a local university, I’m taking the opportunity to go back to college and receive a certificate in accounting. I’d like to eventually move into financial planning, but realize the risks in that job market are much greater. So I want to stay with something a little more stable.

I’m only slightly acquainted with accounting and financing, but am eager to dive into my studies and learn the field. I’ve spent the last five years on the other side of the fence with the longhaired hippie poets talking about love and questioning reality, so this shift is a large one in many aspects. I doubt I’ll lose my hippie monikers, but I’m determined to thrive in the business world.

My short-term goal is to find a steady, lucrative job. If I can find a job in which I merge my writing with finance, that would be ideal. But the reality, I believe, is I’ll have to start from the ground up and crunch numbers for a year or two just to earn my stripes. Then I can branch out.

I’m looking for advice from any angle I can get it. I want to read some books over the summer to help break me into the economics world and to help me focus my studies on what I specifically want to specialize in.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

In our early 20s, the biggest sacrifice my wife and I made marrying at our age is entertainment. I spend every weekend working as a server and my wife generally uses that time to catch up with her grandparents or wash the dishes that have piled in our sink. Most of our friends spend weekends in bars and nightclubs cramped like anchovies, kneecap to kneecap, or at parties coffeehouses pontificating pomposity. For us, it wasn’t much of a sacrifice. But we do miss the freedom to go to the occasional movie on a weekend, stop by the downtown Bistro for Chicken Marsala on Saturday nights or buy tickets to an over-priced concert.

Instead blowing our rent on killing a few hours, we’ve opted for these alternatives, and found that they’re actually more enjoyable.

Borrowing movies has turned out to be more entertaining and less taxing on our wallet. We keep an eye out for previews and make a list of movies we’d like to see and wait for them to become available on DVD. Then we go visit my Dad, who loves to buy movies. More often than not he has what we’re looking for. Most people know a movie buff, or at least a person who collects DVDs. Consider borrowing. It’s cheaper than renting from Blockbuster or subscribing to some movie-in-the-mail deal.

Granted this can be risky if you suck at borrowing and can’t be trusted not to let the cat use the DVD as a scratching post. If you are one of those people, splurge and visit Blockbuster. For new new releases, (at least this is the case for our local Blockbuster) they offer a dollar credit if you return the movie early. So whip your procrastination into shape, rent the movie, watch it that night and return it in the morning. Or wait until it’s bumped from the new release wall to the old shelf and rent it for a buck or two.

Learning to cook at home was easy for me since I’ve always been drawn to the culinary arts. After working at several restaurants as a cook and an attentive server, I’ve learned some tasty recipes that easily compete against some of our favorites. If you have a favorite dish at a restaurant, search for it on the Internet or befriend one of the cooks at the place and see if he can tell you how it’s done. Most restaurant dishes are common enough to be found on the infinitesimal collection of recipes on the Web. So try some out and modify it until it tastes just right.

Ask your mom or friends cooking tips and take it one step at a time. This way, rather than dropping $17.95 on one meal, you can spend about the same (depending on what you’re cooking) and have the ingredients to make the dish several times.

Local concerts are not always the best, but if you’re just in the mood for live music, they work. My town for instance only has one non-bar venue that hosts concerts every weekend. And sadly it’s been invaded by the Emo posse; every weekend it’s infested with 200 kids with the same swooshy hair do, girls jeans and black striped socks on their arms.

Although this place may not be as awesome as watching Mike Patton pound away on his chaotic keyboards, it’s highly entertaining watching the pipsqueaks attempt to mosh and not disturb their bangs or smudge their eyeliner.

At the end of the work week, I’m more content sitting with a book in a silent room, but when a get the itch go out, there’s always a way to enjoy the evening money-free.

If all else fails, just have sex. It’s free and good for you, too.