Always the Planner

What They Don't Tell You About Your Career In College

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Not surprisingly, I have been thinking about jobs and careers a lot lately. I have recently switched careers, only to realize that I would like to switch back. I have also been involved with two open positions at my new company, allowing me to see a variety of resumes and interview a variety of people.

This September is my 10 year college reunion. As of May 12, 2012 I have officially been out of college for 10 years. Still a little hard to believe.

There are many things you don’t learn in college about the real world. One of the big ones is that careers are not always linear. In fact, they are often nonlinear. At my college graduation I wanted to be a lawyer. I was so sure that this was the right move, and the only thing that kept me from applying directly to law school was studying abroad my senior year. That and a little bit of laziness. After a year working in a law firm I decided it was not the right move. A year later and I was in graduate school studying higher education administration. I loved my job when I first started working full-time in higher ed. However, eventually I started to realize that without a doctorate my growth potential was limited. I think started to get frustrated by some of the ways higher ed works. So just a few months ago I found myself taking a job outside higher education. Stepping outside, has made me realize that those frustrations were minor and worth it. I’ve also realized that higher education is a diverse field and a doctorate may not be necessary depending on the institution and/or area.

Another thing I have realized is that titles mean nothing. They vary so completely from field to field and company to company. You may be a Vice President and I may be a Manager, but that doesn’t mean you are doing better than me and vice versa.

At the end of the day it is all about finding something challenging and enjoyable. We are at our jobs for 40+ hours a week and so I believe you have to at least like what you are doing or the field you are in not to be miserable.

Careers are not linear and titles don’t tell the whole story. They take side-steps, and back-steps and leaps forward. That is normal. That is okay.

picture by 96dpi

Thoughts on Budgeting

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:10:00 +0000

I consider myself to be really good at budgeting. My budgeting style allows me to meet my goals and gives me a lot of flexibility. At the beginning of each month I calculate all my fixed expenses, including savings. Then, I take the reminder and try to stay within that amount for all non-fixed expenses. I don’t like to budget within categories (such as $200 for food, etc.) because each month is different. I also don’t need any added stress in my life, so worrying about staying under a $200 food budget doesn’t work well for me.

What I haven’t been as good about is planning for those bigger non-fixed expenses. For example, next month I’m going to a wedding in Cleveland. While the flight is taken care of I have to pay for the gift and the hotel. I also want to continue practicing yoga on a regular basis, which means that every two to three months I’ll be purchasing a class card. This isn’t a fixed expense, and yet I need to plan for it. I haven’t been planning for them and what often happens with these larger expenses is that I reach into savings to pay for them. With my new focus on mortgage savings this has to stop.

So I’m trying something new. At the beginning of each month I’m going to calculate what I expect these larger non-fixed expenses to be, put that money to the side, and use the remainder for the rest of my non-fixed expenses that month. Hopefully, if I start the month with a lower amount in my head it will then be easier to stay within that amount.

So next month I have a wedding gift, hotel and yoga class card.

picture by Tony George

Life Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Something about moving to the suburbs has made me feel like more of an adult. I know, I'm 31, I've been an adult for a long time. Still, with a little bit of extra money in my pocket I've been looking at my future in a more serious way. I mentioned our new focus on saving for mortgage yesterday. Next step - life insurance.

Honestly, the husband and I have been thinking about purchasing life insurance for a while. However, thinking about it and doing it are two different things. A couple of months ago we sat down with my father-in-law (who knows a lot about insurance) to talk about our options. We left understanding the differences between whole and term insurance and a little more determined to go forward.

Of course, then life happened. Even though he provided us with someone to follow-up with, we never followed-up. My one big goal for June - get life insurance. We are still young and healthy enough for it to be inexpensive, but if we keep putting it off that could change.

picture by Werkmens

Next Big Savings Goal

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:51:00 +0000

As you know if you have been reading my blog the joint account I have with the husband took a big hit in April. After taxes, moving expenses, and some furniture purchases the account is looking a little sad. While the husband and I can not say for certain where we are going to be in two years, there is a high likelihood that we will be looking to buy a house. And even if in two years we decide we are not ready, it would be great to have the money available just in case.

The husband and I live in an expensive area. While we may decide not to live in our current city, the chance of us living in the area is high. So we need to plan to save a good chunk of change if we want to put down 20 percent.

I own a studio apartment in NYC. The hope was that it could have been on the market buy now. However, with the shape of the market, we have decided to hold on to it for a little longer. This actually works well with our two year plan. After low balling the amount we expect to make when we sell the studio, our assumption is that we need another $30,000 saved. $20,000 to add to the amount we get back after selling the studio for a down payment, and $10,000 for any work we may have to put into the house or furniture we may need to buy.

I refuse to use any of our emergency fund money towards purchasing a house. If anything were to happen we will need that money for other expenses.

Therefore, the husband and I have decided to dedicate our joint fund to saving for a mortgage. Looking at the numbers, if all goes well, we could have the money by December 2013. I know I complain about my unhappiness in my current work situation a lot. The biggest benefit has been that it increased my salary and allows us to save a lot. This is a huge benefit. Hopefully, when I find something new is to make either the same or slightly less. In the meantime, I am enjoying those paychecks.

So what does this mean for my other savings goals? In particular, my goal of paying down my student loans. I have decided that this is no longer a priority. My interest rate is incredibly low - around 3%. There really is no rush. I've been focusing on them because I hate having them, not because of a high interest rate or a high payment.

Personal finance is personal and life's priorities change. I still hate my student loans, but my desire to have the cash to buy a house is much bigger than my hatred of my student loans.

Quality of Life

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:01:00 +0000

It has been an interesting 2 1/2 months. I started a new job full of hope and promise. It did not take long for me to realize that this job was not the direction I want my career to go, so once again I'm not the job market. Thankfully, with better focus than before.

I left New York City and moved to a smaller city that is also considered a suburb of NYC. Part of me will always miss the city, but this move allows the husband and I to save a lot of money. There are other benefits as well. We are both much closer to work. We are closer to our families. We have been cooking more and eating out less. I was able to start practicing yoga again and this past weekend the husband bought me a bike. We have more space in our apartment, which means we have room for a real kitchen table and we have a small balcony. Moving out of the city has definitely allowed our quality of life to go up.

I'm in a strange place in my life right now. I'm very happy with everything except for my job. The problem is that I'm at my job for 45+ hours a week and it makes me miserable. I live for 5pm and my weekends.

I would easily give up my short commute for a job I like. In a way, I think it would increase my quality of life.

Millennials and the Economy

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000

With college graduation quickly approaching there is a lot of news about the economy and job prospects for millennial. This morning I heard that almost half of millennial with college degrees are either unemployed or underemployed. Those that are employed are making less than in their first jobs than those who came before. You add this to the fact that on average millennial are leaving college $20,000 in debt, things look grim. These are crazy statistics that are being thrown around.

It is hard not to be depressed after hearing statistics like these. This is more than just a temporary hardship. If this continues this generation will take longer to buy a house. And, while in certain sectors you can make up the lower wages, in others people will make less throughout their entire careers.

After reading this article in U.S. News the other day, Millennials struggle with financial literacy, I am worried. Being financial literate is always important, but even more so when you are burdened with debt and jobs are scare.

I am not an expert on economic policy and I don't know what the answer to our economic woes are. But I do know personal finance. Personal finance needs to taught in high schools and colleges. By letting students graduate college without a basic foundation in personal finance we do them a disservice. I understand that colleges may not want to give credit for personal finance. But there are options. I was required to take a 1 point course on adjusting to college life. Couldn't there be something similar for personal finance?

Proud of My President

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:46:00 +0000

I try to keep politics out of my blog. I can't seem to do that today. President Obama came out saying he supports same-sex marriage today. I am incredibly proud of my President today. After North Carolina's setback yesterday, let this be the a step forward towards equal rights.

Competing Priorities

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:32:00 +0000

The hardest part about saving money and planning for the future are making the decisions about your priorities. I struggle with this all of the time. The issue for me isn’t knowing what my priorities are: retirement, travel, savings and currently getting out of student loan debt. The issue is deciding how to prioritize or balance them.

Retirement is a huge priority. The scariest thing for me is to reach retirement age and not be able to retire because I can’t afford it. I plan on living for 15-20 years after I retire. That means I need to save a really good cushion to make sure I have enough money.

But I don’t want to wait until I retire to travel. There is nothing I love more than the excitement of planning a trip. I enjoy every moment of the travel itself - exploring and learning about different cultures (even when I don’t feel well and I always seem to have a day of not feeling well when I travel).

And, I love coming home after a good trip. I have two savings goals right now - my emergency fund and rebuilding our joint savings (or down payment/big expense fund).

I’m also focused on getting on paying down my student loan. I’m really only focused on this because I’m tired of making this payment. I’m about to celebrate my 10 year college reunion, and I’ve been out of graduate school (where my debt is from) for 6 years. I just want it gone! This is also totally mental.

So what is the problem? I can’t possibly do all these things at once at the rate that I want. I have to prioritize within my priorities. Retirement is easy as it is done pre-tax. Since I am better at saving towards it if I don’t see the money, I like to put more into my 403b/401k rather than fund my Roth IRA. I understand the benefits of a Roth over a 401k and my decision is mental and I’m okay with it. Travel is harder. Right now I’m not saving towards traveling. Instead I’m focusing on completing our emergency fund (which should be done by the end of the year). We are also focusing on rebuilding our joint fund. I’m not comfortable stopping or reducing these two these things. And I know that eventually I will be able to stop paying to the emergency fund which will give me extra money to put towards travel.

Yet, I want to take another big trip this December, and that is going to take savings. Since I’m not willing to change the amounts I’m putting towards our joint and emergency fund that leaves my student loans. I hate having a student loan and I’m so ready to have it paid off. Yet, my interest rate is super low, so what is the rush? I’m putting extra towards this loan every month. If I stopped putting extra money I would have an extra $80 to put towards travel savings. Sure it isn’t a ton of money, but it is something. What would you do?

A New Home

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:52:00 +0000

As sad as I was to move out of NYC, I am really happy with my new home. Having more space is amazing. I’ve never been someone who wants a huge house or who needs a lot of space. But an extra 300 square feet goes a long way. I look at our 1 bedroom apartment and I can easily see how the same amount of space could be squished into a 3 bedroom in NYC. It feels enormous!

We have enough closet space that even though we have a lot to store the closets do not feel overly full. In our last two apartments we had a place for everything in our closets, and things had to be carefully rearranged every time you needed something.

We are able to actually use and have places store the majority of our wedding gifts (previously stored at my parents house). I can finally use my pizza stone and slow cooker! We even forgot some of the awesome gifts we got, including a wine rack and a cheese cutting board set.

In NYC we would have people over for drinks and then go out to dinner. The only places we had to eat were the coffee table and a narrow kitchen counter. Now we have a 6 person table and had our first friends over for dinner that we actually made on Saturday night!

Our apartment has a small balcony which looks over the pool and the harbor. While we had an awesome roof deck in NYC, since it was not right off our apartment, we rarely took advantage of it. In fact, I would guess that we have already used our small balcony more times in 3 weeks than we ever used the roof deck.

I love running in the city and I will miss that most of all. However, it has been fun to map out new routes and explore the area through running.

I still find it off-putting that we have to drive everywhere, but it has kept us from eating out/ordering in. I think we have only gone out to dinner once since we moved. And while we are no longer living in THE city, we still live in a small city.

I do miss just walking NYC streets. I love the energy of New York City and I miss not experiencing it every day. Yet overall I am happy with our move and even happier with the amount of money we were able to save this month.

Personally and financially, this was the right time to leave New York.

The Higher Education Bubble

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

There is a lot of rumblings about the so-called higher education bubble. I’m sure you have heard it: student loan debt is at an all time high, recent graduates can’t find work in this economy, and tuition keeps going up. These are all seriously issues that the sector faces. We can’t keep expecting students to graduate with crazy high debt-loads. In a tight economy, higher education has to do more to prepare and help students find employment. And finally, tuition can not keep rising the way it has over the past 10 years. I do beleive that most (not all) colleges and universities are highly concerned about this rapid increase in costs and know it has to be dealt with. If it isn’t, we risk creating even more of a gap between the rich and poor.

Yet, I don’t believe that higher education is the next big bubble. As a highly complex, very diverse sector it is very different than mortgages. First, we are still a population where the majority of us do not have college degrees. It is an international sector, and international students still find value in the American higher education system. Most importantly, a college degree can’t be transferred. You can’t take it back. Yes, student loans can’t be forgiven (and maybe that should be changed), but you can never lose your education the same way you can lose a house.

I do worry about the proliferation of for-profit colleges and whether they alone are a bubble that is being created by governmental student loans. I’m not convinced that they care as much about the student as they do about the money they gain from student loans. For-profits have filled a growing need as people who want to return to school, but need flexibility, flock to them. I think more traditional colleges need to take a look at their model and improve on it. The sector needs to start giving students options similar to what for-profits can provide, from institutions who care deeply about students.

There is no doubt higher education has to change. But is it a bubble? I think not.

The Purpose of Education

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Many of you know I work in education - well worked in education. I used to work at a higher education institution, now I work at a company that interacts with education. In many ways I find myself unhappy in my current position, but in other ways it has been/is an invaluable experience for me. I now know for certain that I want to work at a college or university. I know that I’m willing to make less money to be in a career I’m passionate about. And yes, I’ve realized I am passionate about education. I’m getting off-topic. What I really want to say it this job has taken me out of my education bubble. While I have always known that many people believe that education is only a consumer good where the end result is a good job, it is eye-opening to be at a place that's ultimate goal is to make education completely customer focused.

I do agree that students and what they want to learn play a major role in education. I also know and acknowledge that we go to college so that we can set ourselves up to have rewarding careers. However, I do not believe that education should be considered a consumer good.

Education about so much more than educating students so they can find a job. It is vital to strong democracy. Education teaches us how to think critically, how to write, how to communicate, and most importantly how to learn. It teaches us to not take everything at face value. To invest the time and thought to creating our own way. It teaches us to be good democratic citizens. A democracy needs an educated populace to make decisions about its leaders and the policy it supports. A democracy thrives on disagreement and more importantly how to work through disagreement and come to compromise. A country with educated citizens innovates and explores, creating new opportunities. For me, this is the goal of college. As an individual I went to school to get a degree so I could get a job. As a citizen, however, college teaches me how to be thoughtful, critical, and supportive of my community and country.

Education is about so much more than just getting a job. It is a social good with consumer benefits, not the other way around.

April Showers Bring May Flowers - Hopefully

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:21:00 +0000

I am so happy that April has come to an end. It was a month of constant spending. It felt as if the husband and I were writing big checks every other day. It breaks down like this:

We had to pay the taxes we owed

We took ownership of our new apartment on April 17th, which meant we had to pay for ½ a months rent on top of rent at our NYC apartment

We had to pay for movers

We bought some furniture, some from discount stores and some from Ikea (and I did end up taking a dresser from my parents)

We had yet another unexpected expense

It was an expensive month. All of the expenses I mentioned above were paid for out of the joint account my husband and I share. We also pulled money from this account towards the car we purchased in March. This means that our account is at a much lower point than either one of us would like it to be.

While we still need a couple things for the apartment: a broom, two chairs for our balcony, hooks to hang pictures, and a phone (our cell phones have terrible service so we are forced to get a landline), we should have no more major expenses. Thank goodness.

Our goal is to focus on rebuilding our joint savings as quickly as possible. Last night we sat down and did our budget. I’m still not able to put money towards my 401K at work, so after putting extra into my Roth IRA, we used some of that extra money to increase the amount we each put in our joint savings account.

I’m looking forward to May being a very normal spending month.

My Very Bad Habit

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:37:00 +0000

I have a very bad habit. It drives me crazy that I do this, but I can’t seem to help myself. As much as I want to stop, I always fall back into it. What is this habit you ask? I am always comparing myself to others. In particular, others who are my age.

Comparing yourself to others may not seem like the worst thing in the world, but take note. I only compare myself to others who will make me feel bad about where I am and what I can do in life.

For example, I have always wanted to move abroad, a good friend just got the opportunity. I’m so happy for her, but sad that it hasn’t happened for me yet. It even happens for things I don’t want. My friends have bought houses and have had babies. I find myself upset that I’m not at the point financially where I could do both of these things. Remember how I said I just wanted to move abroad? Exactly, I feel bad about things that don’t even match up with my goals. It makes no sense. I read about someone in their early 30s who has done amazing things, and I feel like I should have done more. Yet I am an accomplished person, maybe I haven’t started a business, but I’ve accomplished a lot in the 10 years that I have been out of college.

Another example is that the majority of my friends make more money than I do. I’m generally happy with my choices, and yet I’m jealous I don’t make more. And yet, I’m finally in a job where I make a ton more money and hate the job. I’m happy that I’ve realized that I’m okay making less to work in a field I care deeply about. Yet I still have the nagging thoughts about how I am behind everyone else.

And I think that is the reason. We live our lives from ages 5-21 very structured. Our friends move through life in a similar fashion and we experience things at the same time. Then we are thrust out into the real world and everyone begins to create their own paths. Sometimes I feel like I should be on the same path as my friends. It is not a rational thought. I don’t want my friends lives, I want my life - a life less ordinary. Yet, I think it comes from so many years of being on the same path as everyone else. Even after 10 years, I fall back into that routine where I compare myself.

It has to stop. I have to create a habit of not comparing myself and just live my life the way I want to live it. It is not good for me personally and it is not good for me financially.

A Bigger Place

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:07:00 +0000

The husband and I recently moved to a bigger apartment. While it is still probably small compared to suburb sizes, it feels enormous to us. It is amazing how much space we have left over after moving our furniture. It is also fantastic to have closest that aren't stuffed to the brim.

We have room for a kitchen/dining table, another couch and we can both get dressers. Luckily I have a couch that has been living at my parents house that we can just pick up. We sucked it up and bought a kitchen table. It is beautiful and a piece that we plan to hold onto for a long time. We haven't yet decided what to do about dressers. We are debating between shopping at my parents house or going to Ikea.

My parents may or may not have something we can take. The good thing is that this would be free! The drawback is that it may mean waiting and may mean taking something that isn't ideal for our space needs. If we go to Ikea we get exactly what we want, but it costs money.

I guess at the end it really depends on what my parents have to offer. We are not decorating a house that we plan on living in for the rest of our lives, so while we want nice furniture it doesn't have to be the highest quality.

Decisions, decisions...

April Showers

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:45:00 +0000

This month has been a little rough on the budget. With moving, a long weekend in Chicago and some unexpected expenses I’m already $200 over budget and it is only April 23rd. Not good.

The main reason I’m over budget already is completely my fault. Knowing we were about to leave the city the husband and I spent a lot of money the first two weeks of this month, eating at our favorite places and meeting friends for drinks and dinner. I’m completely annoyed to be $200 over budget, but I also don’t regret anything.

I should also be able to limit the amount of money I need to spend to get through the rest of the month. We stocked up on groceries last night and I have enough to do with organizing and setting up the new apartment.

Our joint account has also gone down a little bit. We had moving expenses, taxes to pay and we bought some furniture to fill our now much bigger apartment. That is right, we now own a kitchen table!

It has been a rough month all around, and so I won’t be purchasing that iPad just yet. Thank goodness May is around the corner.

iPad Decision

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:19:00 +0000

Okay I’ve made a decision. I’m going to purchase the iPad. Long term readers will know that I have been debating buying one since the original came out. Because it really is a toy I keep talking myself out of buying one, but I’ve come to the point where I’ve talked myself into it. Here is my rationale:

The husband and I share one laptop, this will make it easier for both of us to be online at the same time.
It is fantastic for traveling. We love to travel and do it as often as possible.
I know I will use it, having had the opportunity to use one during my last job.
I’m making a lot more money, and while the goal is to save more, I can afford to buy this toy.
I’ve thought about it for a long time and still want one, this isn’t an impulse purchase.
I really want an iPad.

So maybe not the best rationale in the world, but it works for me.

I am definitely going to get a wifi only one, the only question is whether to get 16GB or 32GB. The 16GB with case would cost $538 + tax and the 32GB is $638 + tax.

While I don’t imagine that I will put tons of music (I have my phone for that) I will most likely load in some pictures. But how many I’m not sure?

What would you do, get the 16GB or 32GB?

Letter to New York City

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Today I leave New York City. This city has been a part of my life for the past 10 years. My first real full-time job, fresh out of college, was in this city. I may have lived outside the city those first two years, but I spent Monday to Friday among the bustling madhouse that is midtown. I then left the area for graduate school, but soon after graduation I found the city calling me back.

After finding a job I moved into my first Manhattan apartment in January 2007. With the help of my parents, I purchased 325 square feet of studio. It was the first time I lived by myself, the first time I owned property, and the first time living in the city. I loved every moment of being in that apartment.

And then I met my husband-to-be and we decided to move in together. Knowing that our schedules were so different that we wouldn’t survive in a studio we decided to rent and I moved to another Manhattan neighborhood. Two years later we moved again, this time just down the street. And now we are leaving for the suburbs.

Part of me always thought that when I finally moved out of this city I would still be working there. New York City would still be a part of my daily life. And now I find myself with both a job and a new home in the suburbs. While I am thankful for the shorter commute, my heart is heavy as I say goodbye to the big apple.

I won’t miss the higher rents, the more expensive groceries, being jammed into a subway or a bus, or the amount of time it can take to travel a short distance. But, I will miss a lot.

I will miss never having to drive. I love being able to read or veg out while I travel. I will miss never having to worry about having one two many glasses of wine. I love the convenience of public transportation. I will miss exploring new neighborhoods. Especially how a neighborhood can change so much within a few blocks, or how it can change in a few years. I will miss how living in small spaces keeps you from accumulating junk. I don’t feel like I have a lot of “stuff” and I’m happy about that. I’m a little afraid that with more space the “stuff” will start to pile up. I will miss running downstairs for a slice of pizza. Or a bagel, or groceries, or lotion. I will just miss how quickly I can get so many things without jumping on a subway or in a car.

I will miss the grittiness of the city, including spotting the rats on the subway tracks. I will miss those moments of kindness from strangers. They happen more often than you would expect. I will miss running in central park, on the city streets, and by the rivers. I will miss the endless choice of restaurants. I will miss the random sightings of celebrities. I will miss randomly running into people you know in a city of millions. I will miss walking the streets with headphones surrounded by people, yet feeling totally on my own.

I will miss New York City.

Boredom

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

There is nothing worse than being bored. I don’t often find myself being bored during my personal life. I can always read a book, watch a movie, go for a run/walk, pick up a hobby. It is easy to combat boredom at home. I’m rarely bored when I’m in a waiting room or in a line or on public transportation because I almost always have my kindle with me. I have many ways to combat boredom in my personal life, but lately, boredom has taken over my work life.

At my previous job I was not bored in the sense that I had nothing to do, but I was bored because the job was no longer intellectually challenging. But my day to day was engaging and busy, which I love. At my current job I’m bored because I don’t have any work. At first I thought it was just the process of getting started, but it has been over a month and I still have very little work. There are only so many times you can ask for projects before you have to stop asking. And, without a manager I am relying on my colleagues to help guide me in this position, not the best option.

Everyday I hope I have enough meetings scattered throughout to make the day go by fast. If I have some work I’ll spread it out. Something I could have done in a few hours I make last a few days. I am incredibly well read in the news and I’ve read every training document that I could get my hands on. Without work I’m not learning, and without learning I am never going to get better at my job. I know that I will never love this job, but if I could only get a little bit busier I also no I will no longer hate it.

Nothing is worse than being bored.

Cheapest Isn’t Always Best

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

As a personal finance blogger I bet you would expect me to always advocate the cheapest route. Stay at the cheapest hotel when traveling, never hire movers, always buy store brand products.

Yet I don’t agree with the most frugal route for every decision. I would rather stay at a hotel that is a little bit more expensive but centrally located. We always hire movers. There are some items where I buy store brand and others where I buy brand names.

Personal finance is all about making decisions that are right for you. The husband and I decided a while to go to always hire movers. Yes we could do it for cheaper ourselves, but it would take a lot more time and frustration. I’m sure we would break something, end up in a fight and be so sore we wouldn’t be able to unpack if we did it ourselves. Not worth it. We can afford movers and so we are hiring movers. Going the cheapest route is not always the best decision. It all depends on what matters to you.

For Love or Money

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

You may have noticed that I have been going through a little bit of a rough time with this career change. Part of the problem is that I did not realize that it would be a career change. While technically my new job still deals with education, I feel incredibly removed from the field that I love dearly.

My current job pays significantly higher than my previous position, but as you can tell I’m not exactly enjoying it. Even though I was frustrated with the growth opportunities at my previous position, there was a period when I loved it and I do still love the field. Which leads me to a would you rather question.

Would you rather work in a field that you don’t love knowing that you could make a ton of money or work in a field you love knowing your earnings won’t be as high? My one caveat is that your earnings are enough to live comfortably and still save some money.

I really did think that I could do the first. That work in itself was satisfying, no matter what I was doing. I’ve learned that this is not true. I am unhappy, and unfortunately I can’t leave work at work. The unhappiness seeps into the rest of my life. I miss working in my previous field, even with all the frustrations it brings.

I would rather work in a field that I love, even if it means less money.

What about you?

Extra Money

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

My paycheck ended up being huge! Well huge for me anyway. So I know you are dying to know what I did with all that extra money. I did have so many plans.

We had a few unexpected expenses in March which added up to about the cost of an iPad. So rather than buy an iPad we paid off those expenses. Luckily there was still more money left over than we are used to having.

Since I'm not able to contribute to my 401k yet the first priority was to put extra into my Roth IRA. Second, I put a little bit extra towards paying down my student loan. Finally, the husband and I both upped the amount we are putting into our joint savings account.

It is a start to saving more money!

April

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:37:00 +0000

This is going to be a bit of a hectic month. We are moving in the middle of the month. Trying to get our apartment rented out for May 1st. And we are going away for a long weekend right after we move.

And come April 6th I'm going to be without internet for two weeks. We decided to cancel our internet and cable a little early so that we finish with at the end of a full cycle.

Why am I tell you all of this? Posting is going to be very light this month. I apologize ahead of time!

Budget Update

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:22:00 +0000

This has been an awful month for my budget and I’m looking forward to April when I can start fresh. There are two main culprits to my budget failings this month.

One of the ways I like to save money is by bringing my lunch. I also prefer to bring my lunch because I eat healthier than when I eat out. However, I just started a new job. So, I decided to buy lunch a handful of times (or even just a drink) as I got to know my new coworkers. I’m back to bringing my lunch every day, but I spent more than expected those first two weeks.

The second and probably the main reason that I’ve overspent my budget are that I’m now paying for gas and filling up the occasional metro card. I had a transportation benefit at my pervious employers where my monthly metro card came out of my paycheck pretax. The cost never even factored into my budget. While I no longer need a monthly metro card I’ve spent about $30 on refilling my card not a lot, but it is a new expense. Finally, I’m driving quite a bit and I’m paying for gas. I’ve spent over $200 on transportation (mostly gas) this month and I’m most likely going to have to get gas one more time before the month is over. This will go down next month as we move and my commute gets shorter, but it has killed my budget this month.

It is a good thing I’m getting my first paycheck at the end of the week!

One Week to a Paycheck

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

In one week I'll be getting my first paycheck at my new job. As you may recall this job pays 25% more than my previous one. On top of that I'm not yet eligible for any benefits so my first paycheck will probably be my largest this year. I'm not quite sure what that paycheck will look like or how I'm going to spend the extra money. I could put more money towards my student loans. I could use it to buffer my savings account - which never quite recovered from this past summer. I could use it to buy an iPad. I could also use it for our upcoming moving expenses or towards our tax bill.

Whatever decisions I make it will be a joint one with my husband.

When I started blogging I was all about keeping money separate. And honestly, I still think it is incredibly important to keep our money separate (while also having joint accounts). However, I do believe in making joint decisions about our money. Of course, I'm totally fine with that joint decision being use the extra money this month for whatever you want! I prefer big picture discussions over knowing every detail.

I think my views have partly changed because the husband and I are starting to make bigger financial decisions - like buying a car. Also, we budget in such a way that we fairly handle the ups and downs of each others financial life. I've been meaning to write a post about how we budget and will hopefully do so soon. Simply put - we each pay the same amount for fixed expenses, towards savings, and end up with the same amount left over for the month for everything else. This way neither one of us every feels cheated. We've found a way to share money while still having a lot of freedom.

One week until I know how much this paycheck will actually be (I have some idea, but you can't be sure until you get it)!

It is Important to Fail Sometimes

noreply@blogger.com (asgreen) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I recently read "Want Students to Succeed? Let Them Fail' at Good. The piece basically reports on research that suggests that kids might do better in school if we let them know that failing in a normal part of learning.

I couldn't agree more. I have never believed in the 'failure is not an option' mantra. Failure happens, we learn from it and hopefully we do better the next time.

I have been posting a lot about my new job (mainly because I haven't gotten a paycheck yet so I don't have a lot to say about money). I think part of me is afraid that taking this job was a mistake and that I will never end up liking it. However, there is another part of me that is afraid I will fail. I am a humanities person at heart who just happens to enjoy some technical things. I'm now working with engineers and software developers and I feel out of my element and overwhelmed. As a result, I feel like I need to prove myself and I've become afraid to fail.

I know that I am an intelligent person and that I do learn from my mistakes. I know that it is impossible to start a new job (or be in any job) and not make mistakes. Yet, I've become afraid to make make mistakes. What I know and how I feel does not seem to be matching up lately. Reading that article helped remind me that it is okay to fail. If I end up never figuring out what to do at this job and leave that is okay. And, if I end up finding my stride and loving the job that is okay as well. I just have to take each day as it comes and not be afraid of failure.

photo by hans.gerwitz