QueenMeredith

He looks great! I love he's more active on twitter.

Maité

He doesn't age! But I still don't like his hats

QueenMeredith

You don't? I like them

Maité

No, I've never liked them but he seems to really love them

QueenMeredith

He sure has a thing for them.

xsweetgirlx91

I feel like none of us Justin fans do I know someone who would actually get angry whenever there was a new photo of him with that hat. He has great hair though, I wish he wouldn't hide it all the time.

begonia

Yes, he ignored the loan payment papers, but that doesn't mean that he could not afford to pay the loan. He was still a fellow in 10X18 and if the loan didn't come up until 10X18, he should have start paying them when he would have become an attending. Which with the salary increase from the fellow position shouldn't have been a burden. I don't consider that his student loans payments were the biggest reason why he considered the PP. I saw his interest in the PP as a try to see how it is to really have a really serious amount of money - I linked it more with Jackson's ability to pay $25k for a private plane in a matter of seconds.

The financials and the timeline for the PP practice were also poorly covered indeed. If he indeed payed the joining fee, didn't that mean he was some kind of partner? If he was a partner, could he have been just fired from the PP like a regular employee? To me it would make the most sense if Alex was working at the PP for a few weeks(not much time have passed between when he joined the PP and when he was fired) and didn't get to pay the joining fee.

Alex should still own the shares Cristina gave him, he didn't lost them .

xsweetgirlx91

It just felt like that to me since Jo also said in 10x21 "why am I scrubbing those nasty things when now you can afford to buy me new ones?"and I mean those were only a pair of sneakers. I guess it was more of a joke anyway but all in all it felt like Alex's financial situation wasn't ideal at that time. I mean others have student loans too right? At least April should since Meredith and Jackson are rather rich. And it never came up for her. So I assumed she was paying hers and so was Jo probably since she's even just a resident but not complaining about her own student loans. Like Jo mentioned there, Alex was probably shoving stuff out of side out of mind there again.

I'm to this day wondering what the purpose of the Private Practice storyline was. Did they want to be able to write Justin out if he hadn't renewed his contract after season 10? That's what it felt like back then to me but that doesn't change the fact that he was still living in Seattle in the frat house out of all places, and there was still Jo and Meredith and it would've been weird to never show them interact with Alex anymore. Did they maybe want to give Alex a good career opportunity once and let him make more money? Didn't work that well either since like you mentioned he only worked in the PP for a few weeks and didn't really gain that much out of it if you ask me. At least it was nice to see someone like Lebackes show interest in him but I can't find much good in that storyline otherwise. They ended it abruptly by firing him and then he didn't even get the board seat. I will never be over that probably.

I'm wondering if he supports his sister and mom financially. He's probably still sending them meds and maybe paying for Aaron now too? I can't imagine Alex not sending them money though. I also wonder if he still speaks to them.. All these questions.. Wish they'd show his mom and Amber once. They didn't even come up when Jimmy died. Most characters don't even invite their parents to their weddings but maybe when Jo and he get married he could call them. Aaron was so mad at him for not telling them about his first marriage. I wish the writers would think about stuff like that but they never seem to do that.

Rainha♕Primavera

Maité

As always, I'm a bit jealous

Rainha♕Primavera

begonia

I definitely took Jo's remark as a joke. If that would have happened in the first seasons, sure, but as I said that I find it hard to believe for end of S10.

We know for sure Alex has student loans, because of Izzie's mention: that she payed her tuition with the money she earned modeling, but he still has the 200k debt. And he didn't argue with that, so it must be true. Jackson surely had money to pay his studies, same for Ellis Grey to pay for Mer's medical school, but I don't remember any mention about April: maybe she got scholarships, maybe she worked while studying, etc... About Jo: they said she was exceptionally bright, no family and no money, so she could have had scholarships based on income and/or merit to pay for her studies (or most of them). Unfortunately for Jo's character, she is written inconsistent, her brightness was only mentioned and not shown, while Stephanie is now shown as the kick ass surgeon of their group.

I think the purpose of the PP Sl was to show that Alex can think of what he wants too and make choices accordingly. In the past he stayed SGMH because Arizona's accident and her inability to take proper care of the department, even his marriage with Izzie was to make her happy at that time: he loved her and he would have married Izzie for sure, but if it wouldn't have been for her cancer, I think he would have waited for a little bit longer. Unfortunately leaving the PP wasn't his choice and it bugs me a lot. The board seat doesn't bug nearly as much, because even if Mer and Arizona would have voted for him, Bailey would have still won the seat.
I think he still helps his family with money and meds: he is a very caring guy and if he did it in earlier seasons when he had less money, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't now. I wish too to see his mom and sister, I would love to see his sister for more than an episode appearance.

Spirit of the Radio

Alex's finances have always been a bit of a mystery. My understanding is that he went to undergrad college on a wrestling scholarship and then got loans for medical school. So during his residency he was poor because he was paying those off and sending money home.

Then, when he got into Hopkins, part of the deal was that they would pay his loans off, and SGH matched that deal when Alex confronted Owen about the discretionary fund. I assumed that when he accepted the Hopkins offer, the SGH offer was taken off the table. But then he didn't go to Hopkins, so he didn't get either deal. (The reason I think this is because of the fact that in season 10 he was apparently getting notices about his loans.) So if this is the case, he once again got screwed for putting his interests second.

Anyway, then he became an attending and clearly got enough of a raise to buy a house (though Meredith probably gave him a good deal), but wasn't really rolling in the money until he went into the private practice. So now he is probably pretty comfortable, but still paying off some loans and sending money home. I am curious to see how they deal with the loft situation. Its expensive to renovate, but I hope that they don't end up filling it with all Goodwill and junky stuff.

begonia

Aren't residency(and fellowship) years considered still studies? And therefore the student loans would have had to be paid only when the studies are done, which for Alex would mean an attending job - like S11?

Yes, they didn't mention what happened with the loan/mortgage/ assistance program offered by Hopkins and matched by SGMH, but the option you mention could have easily happened.

Alex became an attending in S11, but he bought the house in S9, so he could still afford to buy the house with the fellow salary. And he didn't seem to have any financial issues in S9 since he didn't want anybody else to come live in the house: if he would have had financial problems, he would have had roommates- Jackson asked if he could move in. Cristina moved in in the end, but wasn't for financial reasons .

I also didn't have the feeling Meredith offered him a great deal financially: Alex mentioned once that they are friends, but that's business and Meredith said he could buy any other house in the city. It was the only house that we saw him living in, and could have probably been the closest thing that he ever had as a normal home.

Rainha♕Primavera