Full attack on The List

I have been fully attacking the list of things I must do before leaving for Europe. Last weekend I used my 10% off card at Target to get a bunch of Rubbermaid and Sterilite plastic bins. I need to put a lot of my stuff that is in my basement room into these plastic bins so that it stays nice while I am away. Right now I don't have a lot of storage down in my room and a lot of stuff just sits out. I think that the bins will be really nice to get it all organized.

I have also been bringing in to work some of my notebooks and folders from Civil Engineering classes I took at the U of M. After work I organize the papers and then make pdfs of them. This way I will be able to bring electronic copies of my notes with me to Europe in case I need them to review or reference.

I have been checking off all of my yearly doctor's and dentist's appointments. I just made one for the eye doctor for July. Taking Skye (the dog) to the vet is also on my list of appointments and that will also get done in July. The cats were on the list but when I called in to make the appointment for Skye they told me that the cats didn't need one until October. One less thing to do.

I still have more checking to do but I think I might have to pay some taxes on the Scholarship that I will be getting. I want to make sure I save enough of the money to pay the taxes because unlike my work now, they wont be taking it out of what I get automatically. Apparently, scholarship money that goes to tuition, fees, books, and other required supplies is tax free but scholarship money that goes to living expenses such as accommodation, transportation, and food is taxable. What I still have to figure out is if I will have to pay both foreign taxes on it and US taxes on it. There are special forms for US taxes for foreign income and having a foreign account. I do know that I will have a foreign account that the scholarship will be deposited into but I'm not sure exactly how that works.

I think that I finally figured out the loan deferment forms. I called one of the providers and they told me that I have to sign, scan, and send to the University of Padova. They told me that the University of Padova is indeed an eligible school to receive funds from the US government so they can sign the form. Once an official has signed the forms they can send them to the lenders. If all works out I wont have to pay my loans (other than interest) while I am studying in Europe. This would be a very nice financial relief!