Increase Your Chances At Passing The Bar Exam: Use Law Decks!

My recommendation for a great bar exam study aid that won't break the bank is Law Decks. It is a set of flash cards color coded to the six MBE subjects: con law, contracts, criminal, property, evidence, and torts. They are very easy to carry around, unlike the hefty bar review books. so you can study anywhere anytime. I put a handful in my purse everyday and found a quiet place to go through a few at a time. I was amazed at how much I learned. I felt it was easier to retain the law from the cards than the BarBri or PMBR questions. If you want a quick and dirty review, or to cement the legal principles in your head, I would suggest Law Decks. It worked for me!

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I Have Been Better At Maintaining Checking Account

Me, the non sufficient funds princess, has been on a roll of having a positive balance and not overdrawing my checking account. That is pretty special, considering how often I have done that in the past. I guess since I have passed the bar exam, I now actually have time to keep up with how much money I have in checking account, how many checks I have written, and making those two amounts reconcile. This makes me very happy and has saved me much money. (holds breath hoping I don't overdraw tonight. I don't see how I can, but my balance is cutting it close. Sometimes those forgotten charges pop up and cause disaster. A forgotten about renewable match.com charge almost did that to me a couple of weeks ago.)

Getting Better Mystery Shops Now

I have been mystery shopping for almost a year, and I am pleased with my progress. For the last couple of weeks, I have been getting some really good paying shops. By good pay, I mean $35-$60 apiece. That is really good. This includes a bank shop, four apartment shops, and a new housing shop. I have another new housing shop coming up this Friday. Most of the shops I have been taking in the past have paid between $10-$20. They have been interesting, but by the time you enter the form, the pay rate is very low. Even at $35-$60, the pay rate still may be low, but it is much better. I need to supplement my income by at least several hundred dollars a month, and this has been a real solution for me. Plus the assignment are often fun.

Eavesdropping On Compliance Test Prep

I am sitting in a coffeehouse, reading the paper and playing on the internet, and I am overhearing someone prep someone for a server compliance test. A server who serves alcohol to someone underage gets into huge trouble.

This is interesting to me, because as a mystery shopper, I see compliance shop opportunities all the time. I have actually done one myself. Sitting at the bar, and ordering a drink and dinner, I had to observe whether the bartenders asked everyone for their IDs. Some shops, which I can't do, require you to be young enough that they ask you for your ID, and if they don't, you put that in your report. Some restaurants fire servers right away for not complying. Apparently, servers have to take some kind of test about this. Not sure why you have to take a test--seems like it would suffice just to tell them they have to ask for ID, but I guess the training and passing the test in helpful in some way.

Taking The Mystery Out Of Mystery Shopping

I have got to stop doing the fitness center shops. The mystery shopping company allows you to do the same fitness shop every 90 days, and they must have a shortage of people to do them in my area, because they are always asking me if I can help them out. These shops are easy to do, but they also don't pay much.

The bugaboo is that two times in the recent past, I got the same employee I had the previous time. I am not sure if the woman at one center recognized me, but I recognized her. And the man at another center definitely recognized me. He didn't know that I was a mystery shopper, but he knew and acknowledged that he thought he knew me and that I had come in there before. I said I hadn't been there before, but it was uncomfortable. I think I need to let this one company go. But other than that, I am still enjoying doing mystery shopping. It is nice supplemental income, and together with some online income I am making, it will help me meet my financial goals.

Bar Exam Anxiety And Other (Financial) Important Matters

I took the bar exam in February and am now playing the waiting game. I find out if I passed in two weeks. I feel like I passed, which is nice, but also scary, because I may be setting myself up for a fall. But I feel totally different than I did last time, when I failed, and I knew I was on shaky ground. I am optimtistic, because I feel better, but is that because I really passed this time, or I am just an idiot? Guess I'll find out in two weeks.

But during this interim period, I have taken stock of myself and tried to really take care of myself. This includes

--trying to catch up on my sleep, but I still stay up too late. Case in point, I am writing this post at midnight.

--trying to eat better. I have replaced my law school/bar exam fast food diet with better eating, at least most of the time.

--trying to get exercise. Getting more exercise shouldn't be a problem, as I literally got no exercise all of last year.

--trying to keep my condo in better order and become a better housekeeper. It seems like I used to be a good housekeeper, but that was so long ago it is hard to remember.

--trying to have more fun. That one I have done pretty well.

--trying to be better with my money. I had my dreaded character and fitness interview with the bar examiners recently. I say dreaded because I was worried about my debt load and the fact that my credit is not the best. I had heard this was a red flag for the bar examiners. But my interviewer seemed satisfied that I had made payment arrangements and/or was up to date on my credit cards and didn't press the fact. And of course, my situation doesn't seem so bad in this climate.

--trying to live on less. Now that I am not paying tuition anymore, that gives me a nice chunk of money every month to save and to use to pay off bills. I just need to make sure to not to overdo with spending. But I think I won't this time. I am sick of being in debt and short of money. I feel my determination will stick.

I used the word "trying" on purpose for every bullet point in realization that I may fall short of my goals. But in trying, I will succeed.

I Must Be Prescient

When I wrote the previous post about property management, little did I know that today I would be in need of that knowledge. I live in a condo building and am unfortunate enough to be the president of the association. (Many of you know what I mean.) Well, our property management company is going out of business and has only given us one week notice! Worse than that, they only gave their employees one week notice. Nice group. Anyway, I have had a nervous day, researching and calling various property management companies. There is a long list of them, but many of the companies only manage apartment buildings, not condos. hmmm. I was worried that maybe I didn't forsee problems with the company somehow, but we are one of many properties affected, so I don't think I could have forseen that. I may be prescient but not that prescient.