Financial Trajectory

Moving In With Mom?

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 15:00:00 +0000

My fiance, Chris, and I had an exploratory discussion about what we want to do in the near future regarding our housing situation. We currently rent a 750 square-foot apartment for $1000 per month. It's a second floor walk-up with easy access to the highways and centrally located near the center of town and shopping centers in two directions. We have a huge living room and bedroom. The kitchen and bathroom are on the small end, but it's okay for the two of us and our dogs. It's lacking a fenced in yard and we share the driveway with two neighboring houses. So it wouldn't be a home we settle down with a few kids.

We had brought up the subject many times in the past, but with our wedding coming up soon, it's more than a passing thought. It's the beginnings of our future home plan.

I had mentioned in the past that my mom rents her home from our family friend. Our family friend mentioned to me a long time ago that one day he would be willing to sell us the house if I wanted it. The house was originally a foreclosed home that was in need of major TLC. (I wish I had some of the before pictures.) It was bought relatively cheap for $85,500 in 1998.

It's a two floor, three bedroom, two and a half baths with a two car garage. It also has a living room, dining room, kitchen, den (which can be converted into a bedroom), and a big yard - the house sits on almost a half acre corner lot. My mom and our family friend put in a decent amount of money and time to make it what it is now. My mom and her boyfriend are currently renovating the kitchen to remove that 80's dated kitchen look and make it more contemporary. I would love for us to add another room to the house and add a patio/deck.

Chris revisited the idea of living with my mom, primarily to be around family and secondarily, to help save money - my mom would help raise our children and we would help pay the rent. We then took it one step farther and thought, why don't we buy the house from our family friend? Our family friend is getting older and he doesn't have any children of his own. My sister and I are pretty much his adopted daughters. The home is currently valued at $260,000 according to Zillow.com. If we can negotiate a good deal, then we can save money (and sanity) in many ways.

My one concern would be looking for a job on Long Island. Right now I'm at a comfortable, corporate job making a respectable engineering salary. Mechanical engineering jobs on Long Island are almost non-existent. Computer, software, and electrical engineering jobs are more prevalent there. It would be easier for Chris to find work since he's a personal trainer/gym manager, but he's looking to do something different. If we can secure jobs on Long Island close to home, then I wouldn't mind moving back home.

We would both love to live with my mom and help her out. She can also retire early and enjoy her free time. We still need to think this through, but it's an option we'll approach my mom and our family friend about in the near future and see how they feel about our living arrangements.

Have you ever considered living in a multi-generational home with your parents/grandparents?

Some Advice for Paying Off Student Loans

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I posted yesterday about my burden - student loan debt - and how we're not alone in this. I came across an article, How to Pay Off Student Loans Now, that gives some advice on tackling student loan debt and why we should do so now rather than later. I am currently doing two out of the four strategies. I live with my fiance, prior to that, I lived in a house with 3 other roommates. My current living situation is cheaper that living with my roommates, which is surprising to me, but not unexpected.

Chris and I try to be energy conscious. We turn off lights when we're not in the room, turn off computers when we're not using them (I usually use the computer during the weekend), keep the thermostat set at 68 degrees in the winter, opt not to use an air conditioner unless it gets extremely hot inside the apartment (so far it's been actually okay), and we don't buy food we will not eat during the week. Small things, but they add up. When I was living with 3 roommates, I couldn't control all their money-wasting habits.

The other strategy that I try to follow is to not get into more debt. I pay off my credit card in full every month.

The other two strategies - get a second job and drive a beater - I didn't quite make it there. I'm still going back and forth about a second job, which I mentioned in my last post. I gave my 2001 Chevy Malibu to my mom since her 1996 Dodge Caravan was on it's way out. I decided to get a new car, a 2012 Mazda 3 hatchback, since I knew I was going to keep it until it dies. I also drive 40 miles a day to work and back, so I wanted a reliable car that wasn't a maintenance nightmare. I knew I could have bought a used car, but after going back and forth, I decided to buy new. I worked out all the numbers and with the payments, I was still able to contribute to my savings, Roth IRA, and still have money left over for extra student loan payments. All in all, I'm doing okay, but I will be stepping up my student loan payments more aggressively in 2013.

The Burden of Student Loan Debt

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:00:00 +0000

I know I'm not alone. I have student loan debt, more than the average, but I have it. According to the Project on Student Debt, the Massachusetts state average for 2010 grads was $25,541. I wish that was the amount I owe. Multiply that by 3 and that's closer to what I still have left to pay - I started repayment in December 2009. I went to a private university and it wasn't cheap. It could have been more affordable, but I wasn't as smart as I am now about my finances. See my post One Year After Graduation.

I came across an article about a Harvard Business School graduate who got rid of his $90,000 student loan debt in 7 months. That's amazing. His story is the extreme of what one person will do to be done with the payments. At times I feel like I should do something drastic. I'm caught in a current state of analysis paralysis.

I've thought about getting a second job working at the local retail stores. After driving two hours a day, working in Corporate America all day, then coming home to take care of the dogs, I'm pretty much done for the night. It will also take away time I could spend with my fiance. He works a lot of hours already (50+ per week) and for us to never be home at the same time, I feel it will cause our relationship to suffer. I'm currently working on some crafty side projects that I hope to sell in my own Etsy store one day. It's always some day with no realistic timeline and that's where I feel a bit lacking.

I contribute an extra $500+ to my student loan payments every month when I can spare it, bringing the total payments up to $1276/month. I have this plan mapped out in Excel with an estimated date of completion - . But as most of us know, life can get in the way. The best laid plans are blown apart to smithereens (I like that word... smithereens). I feel like my life can't really start until I pay off most of my debt. I don't want to bring a child into our lives until our combined debts are lower than $20,000 and ideally when we are debt-free. At the rate I'm going, my debt should be paid off at the end of 2015. Yes, I know that's faster than the 10 years for federal loan and 15 years for private loan repayment period. To me, it's a burden I don't want lingering in my life.

All that money... my payment plan for the next 3 years.

My fiance, Chris, always tells me to be present and live in the now. I try, but my mind is usually thinking about my debt and things I have to do involving money. I save for retirement, save for emergencies, follow my budget as closely as I can, but I feel like I should be doing more. Is that crazy talk or being a obsessive, overachiever?

Every day is a new chance to make it right. To make the right choices and to overcome the consumerism's siren song to buy, buy, buy. I'm still learning...

Do you feel like your life is on hold because of debt?

Marriage and Finances

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:13:00 +0000

The current count down is 52 days until our wedding. Actually, that's until the wedding reception. My fiance, Chris, and I decided to get married in June. I wanted to do it on the first day of summer, June 21. We're still trying to plan that bit out.

I came across an interesting article in the NY Times a while back (mid-May). I finally got around to sharing it. In Marriage, the Unseen Bottom Line - it's interesting to me how many women do not want to be involved with the household finances or don't want to share their spending information with their spouses. Growing up, my mom and stepdad seemed to have that relationship. He makes the money, she spends it. I never heard them take about money or finances in front of us. I can tell you that my mom is still a mess with her personal finances and my family end up giving her money to make ends meet.

I find that extremely stressful. Not only am I trying to start my own family, but I have to take care of my mom financially because she can't or won't make the spending cuts necessary to keep within a budget. On my last trip to my mom's house in April, I opened my mom's fridge and it was packed to the brim with food. Mind you that until my sister came home from gallivanting around London and Bangkok, my mom was living by herself. Yet here was her fridge, full of food enough for a family of 10. I'm not kidding. Most of the stuff goes bad before she eats it. I've experienced this weird food hoarding with other families, so she's not the only one. I just want to help her cut back on her food spending, but I don't know how.

Back to our soon-to-be family. Chris and I are open about our spending. For the most part, I take care of paying the utility bills and rent and Chris reimburses me at the end of the month. We both go grocery shopping, usually together. All of our joint spending is catalogued on Splitwise.com. This includes grocery, utility bills, rent, laundry, household goods - pretty much anything that's bought that will be used by both of us. If anything, it keeps our spending balanced.

We still maintain our own personal checking and savings account, but we also opened a joint savings account. When I first met Chris, he didn't have a savings account with a balance. Over the past 6 months he has been able to save $2000. I was his cheerleader and financial support system. I had suggested to him to have at least $1000 in savings before tackling his credit card debt with extra payments. We also have a money jar that we put in our $5 bills. The last time the jar was full we bought our dining room table with the money. It's great when we both participate and contribute to the same goals.

I like to think we are helping each other. I'm helping him to be more aware of his personal finance and he's helping me live in the moment and be more in tune with myself. So far, so good.

How I Got My Financial Life In Order

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

It wasn't always easy for me to deal with my finances. I used to be happy spending money every weekend on things I didn't need. It wasn't until my student loan payments were due that I realized that I needed to change my ways or I'll end up in a bad financial situation.

Here's how I got my financial life in order:

Step 1 - I figured out my expenses per month. Mint.com was very helpful with this task since I can see all my spending in one place and it was done mostly on my debit or credit card. This was an eye opening experience. I thought I was good about my money. I estimated that I spent under $2,000 a month for all my expenses including student loan payments. I was really off - it was closer to $2,600 to $2,800 per month. At the time, I wasn't making that much more than my expenses.

While figuring out my expenses, I also used this time to gather all the information for my student loans - lenders, principle amounts, total owed, monthly payments, and interest rates and created a spreadsheet. It also helped that most of my lenders were online except for my Federal Perkins loans. I was able to find the information quickly and put all the information in one place.

Step 2 - I created a budget. I use the 50-30-20 rule with my post-tax income. I allot 50% to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings. This number tends to shift from month to month, but not by much. Some months I save more and spend less on wants. To this very day I'm still struggling with this. My budgets are still fluid enough from month to month, but I still have a hard time sticking to it. Maybe I'm being too stringent. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I don't have money set aside as "fun" money. I find myself overspending the month after a super savings month.

Step 3 - I categorized my expenses by wants and needs. This was a bit harder to do. I knew that rent and loan payments are needs. Groceries was a need, but it varies week by week. Dog food was a need and so were the vet visits once a year for a yearly check-up and shots. After sorting through all of this I was able to figure out where to cut the fat.

Step 4 - I made the cuts. I reduced the amount of money that I was spending on groceries and dining out. I was spending enough for two people. I stopped visiting the malls on the weekend for mindless shopping. I was more conscious of the amount of time I spent driving from place to place. I try to do my errands in one trip instead of multiple trips throughout the week. I cancelled my Blockbuster Online subscription since I wasn't using it enough. All these little changes helped me to cuts unnecessary cost from my expenses.

Step 5 - I automated all my student loan payments and savings deposits. It's amazing what this will do for your peace of mind and your bank accounts. I also created a savings account for my dog, Kujo. I started it off with $300 and deposit $25 every month. The goal is to have $3000 in the account by the time he's 10 years old. It will help offset any medical emergency he might have in old age. If he's healthy, then the money will go to the next dog, and so on. I call it my own pet insurance policy.

I've been keeping tracking of all my savings since May 2009. There was a bit of a bump in the road last October when my fiance and I first moved in together. I used my some of my savings to put down the deposit. C has since repaid me for his half. In December, I used my savings again to put down a 20% deposit on my new car. I'm slowly rebuilding my savings, it's not at such a rushed pace as before.

Step 6 - I always pay my credit cards off in full each month and send extra payments for student loans. It's important for me to not carry a balance on my card since I don't want to pay the high interest rates. I also send extra payments when I can to my student loans and have them apply it to my principle. I have Sallie Mae loans and I separate the loan with the highest interest rate into it's own billing group. Once I'm done with that loan, I'll do the same with the next highest interest rate.

It's been a long journey, but it's not over yet. The tough part was the feeling that I was doing this all by myself. I know that's not the case, but it feels like it most days. I have to admit I feel envy sometimes for friends that don't have student loan debt. They were lucky that their parents paid it off. Some of my friends are probably in the same situation, but we don't usually talk about it.

Discussion: Has something in your life caused you to re-evaluate your personal finances? How did it affect you?

Financial Wake Up Call

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

To be honest, I don't recall the exact date that I became this personal-finance-obsessed person. It most likely happened in the fall of 2009, probably in September after I joined Mint.com. The grace period for my student loans was almost up and the thought of shelling out $800 per month scared me. I was a big spender back then and I knew I couldn't keep up with the payments if I didn't change my ways.

I remember looking at the MintLife blog and reading some interesting articles. After reading through most of the posts there I decided to search the rest of the internet. I came across a lot of PF blogs and websites like Wise Bread. There's definitely a lot of information out there. It can almost be overwhelming for a novice like me.

I started slow. Baby steps. Breathe. It's not the end of the world, but it felt like it. At the time I was still sending money home to my mom on a monthly basis. I felt like the Bank of Patti. I also felt like I wouldn't be able to pass the stress test should something big come up in the future. I didn't have a lot of money saved up and I was surely spending too much. That thought ate into me day after day. What to do? Where to start?

I knew I had to do something...

Where Have I Been? Where Am I Now?

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I last wrote on this blog – almost a year and a half. A lot has happened. Here’s a bit of a run down by year.

2010

In June I moved into a new apartment and gained 3 new roommates. We were all engineers, two guys and one other girl. Fun times there, good stories that I hope to revisit in the future.
My college boyfriend and I broke up a few hours after my last post on August 28. I was a bit heartbroken, but knew we weren’t meant to be together for the long run. It was good while it lasted and I was grateful to have him in my life. Moving on…
I started seeing someone I used to date back in college. There’s probably a reason why we stopped dating the first time but it took me 6 months to remember it all again.

2011

It was good for the short time we were together, but I think I choked a bit. It’s funny that in December 2010 I wasn’t ready to get married or at least get married to that boyfriend, but in December 2011, I was singing a different tune. Post-college boyfriend and I didn’t work out for the reasons it didn’t work out the first time we dated and our relationship ended in March.
I was living the single life-style with my guy friends and it was very expensive. I don’t regret any of it, but boy, all that eating out at restaurants killed my wallet and my slim figure.
I started going to a knitting group in May. I love the ladies and everything they talk about. I get to learn from their wisdom on child rearing and get a glimpse of their life and adventures. One of the ladies lives in the UK a few months out of the year since her husband’s family is there and he travels there for work every now and then.
I met my current fiancé, C, in July. We hit it off right away and I just knew. He was someone I can see myself settling down with in the future. He had a terrier, I had a terrier. We both come from families with money problems. There were more similarities and I might get into that at a later date.
We moved in together on Halloween. It was snowing!
He proposed to me in December and I said yes! Some would say that we’re moving too fast, but I think it’s the right thing for us. Besides, he’s 30 and I’m 25. I can hear the clock ticking.
I bought a new car! I gave my 2001 Chevy Malibu back to my mom and bought a 2012 Mazda 3 5-door (aka Hatchback). I love the car, not loving the finance manager at the dealership. That’s another story.

2012

C and I are preparing for our upcoming wedding.
I'm still at my first job after college.
I'm thinking about going to grad school (paid for by my company).
I'm just trying to be in the moment and live life one day at a time.

I added another section to My Money History - Where Am I Now. It's a bit more in depth about my life so far in 2012. I plan to update it every now and then. I might edit it and make it shorter or move some things around. So much to do on my first day back on this blog. I hope you join me as I try to capture my life in this blog.

The College Years

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:16:00 +0000

First I want to wish my lovely little sister, Joy, a very happy birthday!

It's been a very long time since I last wrote. I've been on a hiatus due to work reasons. After sitting in front of the computer all day at work, I just wanted to come home and not jump back in front of another screen. So I apologize for the long silence.

I wrote a new section to My Money History. It's called The College Years. I hope you enjoy reading about it. I plan on writing at least 3 times a week on this site. I've had a lot of inspiration over the past months and I'm bubbling up with stories and achievements. So come back soon!

Lessons Learned: Traveling After Graduation

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:58:00 +0000

I believe everyone should travel after graduation if they have the time and money. I was lucky. I managed to negotiate with my job to have me start working a month and a half after graduation. This gave me time to travel back to Thailand to visit my extended family there. I had saved a bit of money, enough for airfare and that's all I needed since my family took care of the rest.

It was nice to be in Thailand. I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing or I have a very giving extended family. My dad gave me money, his wife (my stepmom) gave me money, and my "uncle" gave me some, too. My aunt took me sightseeing and my other aunt had arranged for us to stay with her friend in Hua Hin (their house was amazing and my boyfriend aspires to have an even better one than the place we stayed). Below are pictures from Hua Hin. It helps to stay with friends and relatives when traveling to cut down on hotel costs.

Front of the house with this awesome restore revolving wooden door.

Back view of the house and the guest house.

The upper floor of the guest house is an office and

the lower floor contains two guest rooms and a bathroom.

I love the layout and design of the whole place.

Is it a coincidence that the man who owns the place is Swedish? (Think IKEA.)

A good portion of their house was outdoors.

So back to my reality since being in Thailand was almost surreal.

Little Mom vs. Big Credit Card Company

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:02:00 +0000

Being a dutiful daughter I am helping my mom pay off her credit card debt. For the past 11 months I've been sending my mom $300 per month. What I should have done was asked to see the credit card statement. Had I taken a peek early on I could have help reduce some of our payments, our headaches, and most of our heartaches.
Here's what I found out.

High interest rate - My mom was paying a 24% annual percentage rate. WOW. No wonder I wasn't getting anywhere with the payment. It used to be 19% but back in October 2009 they raised it to 23.9% without my mom noticing. My mom didn't pay attention since I was paying the bill since July 2009 and she just put my check into the envelope. I had no clue.
Initial balance - I had no clue where I was starting. As an engineer, I like working with data and I like being able to track my progress. I assumed I was paying off $3,000 worth of CC (credit card) debt, but in reality I started with a $4,000 balance but she also add another $1000 over the next 4 months after I started paying her debt. My mom didn't stop using the card until November 2009.
Additional purchases - My mom was still using her credit card for another 4 months when I started paying her CC debt. I had asked her about it, but she either forgot or just didn't want to tell me. I like to believe that she forgot she used it while in England on vacation. There was a charge for a $41 international call... twice! That was one expensive phone call from Paris. (Her tour group left her behind at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. That's not fun. She had to call their company headquarters in England via a credit card pay phone to express her severe displeasure.)
Reward points - My mom accumulated 15,200 reward points in the past few years. I decided that it was high time to trade most of it in for a $100 statement credit. Nice.

Well, after getting her to bring her CC statement when she came to visit I was finally able to learn the truth. I got angry on her behalf. My mom had always paid her bills on time and usually more than the minimum amount. I had no clue why her interest rate was so high. It's unbelievable. I decided to monitor my progress online via her CC's website. The only problem was that I didn't have her security word. Really? I thought I knew the answer, but after talking to the customer service rep, it turns out they probably entered it wrong way back when. My mom never calls them so she never corrected their error.

After verifying her account and a half an hour of talking to them, my mom managed to straighten out the error via getting irritated and threatening to move the balance to another card. They ended up changing her security word AND lowering her APR to 13.99%. That's more like it. But too little, too late. I decided to pay off her whole balance ($2,000 after the $100 statement credit and $300 monthly payment) over the next two months. I had enough of paying the high interest amounts. I'm done. After that's paid off I can finally divert that money into my emergency fund.

Question: Do you spend time every month going over the bill or do you just pay part of the debt and hope it goes away real soon?

I believe we should all spend a bit of time getting to know the true cost of credit. I wish I did. I would have paid it off in full last summer or when I had a chance last year.

Decision: High-Yield Savings Account

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:25:00 +0000

It's been a while since I last post. I had a few good topics to write about, but finding the time to write them is getting a bit harder. I might have mentioned that I'm moving to a new apartment at the end of the month. That's one step in the right financial direction - I'll be saving $237/month in rent. Yay! I've been packing some of my possessions and trying to assess what I should throw out. It's a very hard decision to make. Seems like I'm having a hard time making decisions this month.

I want to open up a high-yield savings account. After doing a lot of research over the past two weeks, I decide go with the Personal Savings from American Express High-Yield Savings account. I like that they have no minimum balance requirements and no fees. They're interest rate is currently 1.30% which is good, but not great. I think it's more for the piece of mind. It's definitely a high rate than the 0.1% I was getting at Bank of America (BoA) for my regular savings account. I hope this will be a good online banking experience without any hassles. I might put some of my emergency fund money in a CD through American Express in a year. We'll have to see about that.

Now that I made that decision I feel better. Okay, I'm off to make dinner.

Big Yarn Stash, Little Closet Space

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:36:00 +0000

Yes, you read this right and didn't stumble upon my other blog. My hobbies can be stressful. To be more specific it's the supplies I acquire for my hobbies that really stress me out. I started crocheting about a year and a half ago in 2008. Two things I needed were crochet hooks and yarn. Lots of yarn.

Every week A.C. Moore, Joann's Fabric, and Michael's Arts & Crafts would send out e-mails about their latest coupons and sales. I'm a sucker for them. Yes! I can save 40% on one item! 25% on my entire regular purchase! I would go into the stores and buy $30-40 worth of yarn with the good intentions of making this or that project. The end result? I have over 200 balls of yarn and about $600-$800 in yarn debt. Not only did I spend a lot of money buying yarn but my closet is overtaken by them, too.

As I sit here and write this I would look into my closet every now and then. The yarn was on sale, but was it really worth it to buy it and not use it for a year or more? The answer is no. I haven't bought yarn since October 2009 and I started working on knitting and crocheting projects again. If I can't use all this yarn by winter 2012, I'm donating the lot to Project Linus or maybe help start a program to teach people how to knit and crochet in my community. That way my yarn won't go to waste.

The photo on the left is the yarn stash under my bed and that's just the top layer you're looking at. This only represents about 10% of my stash. I kid you not.

Any suggestions on how to make use of all this yarn? Do you have a hobby that makes a dent in your wallet?

One Year After Graduation: Advice for College Students

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Today is May 1, 2010. It's been exactly one year since I graduated from college. Where did the time go? It's been an interesting year to say the least. Going to college was great and all, but the one thing I wish they taught me about was personal finance. There should be a mandatory freshman year course on personal finance. If not during freshman year of college then during senior year of high school. So many college student graduate with huge credit card debts and even bigger student loans.

Here is some of my advice for college students (incoming freshmen or upperclassmen) based on my time at Northeastern University on how to spend less and save more. It doesn't represent all private institutions, but it's probably comparable and the main lesson is pertinent to all college students.

Skip the alcohol: Well, it's illegal for you to buy and consume alcohol if you're under 21. Not only that, but that's a lot of money that you're wasting every week and for what? Puking up your guts in the nearest toilet (if you're lucky) and having a hangover the next day? Even going to the bars excessively when you're 21 and over will eat into your wallet even more since everything is more expensive and you have to tip for each drink. By skipping the alcohol consumption your wallet and your body will thank you for it.

Find cheaper apartments: I lived on-campus all 5 years of school. It's usually mandatory that incoming freshmen (not transfer student) have to live in on-campus dorms. Though it's not a hardship for those that get to live in cool dorms/suites such as the one pictured here at Northeastern University's new building, International Village. Lucky Honors students. Living on campus cost me approximately $5,400 a semester (4 months) or $1350/month with utilities included for an "enhanced," meaning pretty much new or recently renovated, apartment. I could have been living off-campus for maybe $500/month. Then again I lived in Boston and I had a view of Fenway Park from one of my apartments on-campus. If you wanted to live cheaply in that area you had to live on Mission Hill aka The Hill and the commute by foot can be 10-20 minutes. It really comes down to what you want in a living situation and don't forget to factor in distance to campus, security, and transportation costs when you live off-campus. Most of the time it's worth the walk.

Another option would be to see if your school provides alternatives to living in inexpensive school leased buildings. My sister lived in one of the school leased buildings and saved significantly on housing. She even lucked out this year since the building she was going to move into was involved with a construction accident and everyone has to be reassigned to a new building. She got to live in an "enhanced" apartment and still paid the reduced housing cost of the old assignment. ($5400 - $3055 = $2345 savings/semester). Based on housing costs here.

Find cheaper textbooks: At NU, the co-op system divided the students in your year into two divisions (this is true in the College of Engineering). You were either in Division A or Division B (applied to the Class of 2009 - I think they switched it to Div A and Div N). Div A was in school while Div B was on co-op and vice versa. I was lucky since I have a friend who was in the same major in the opposite division and they usually took classes a semester before we did. I borrowed some of her books. To return the karma, I lent my books to someone a year below me. If you don't have friends who are in the same major but a year ahead, then you can try the school library. They usually have a set that they keep in the building. You can't take it out, but it's there if you want to use it.

Don't forget to buy books online - you can save a lot of money that way and there are a selection of sites online. You can even work out a deal to buy books for a class while your friends buy books for other classes and share them with each other. I would also recommend to wait a week to see what books are really necessary for the class. I ended up buying a few books that I never even opened. Waste of money. Period.

Reduce your meal plans: NU gave us the options as freshmen to reduce our meal plans. You can choose from 10, 15, or 19 meals per week. It's probably best for freshman year to opt for the 15 meals per week (this is also the default meal plan). The plans don't roll over week to week so it's use it or lose it. You can always find your own meals on the weekends. As upperclassmen we were allowed to get Profiler Plans in addition to the meal plans. You buy a specific amount of meals for the year with options of 25, 50, 86, and 110 meal quantities. This is more flexible since most upperclassmen live in apartments with kitchens and this allows you to use the cafeteria on-campus at your leisure. It's usually cheaper to make your own food since the meals cost $13 per Profiler Plan meal or if you know you'll always use up your meal plan allotment every week then it's cheaper to get the meal plans for the cost of approximately $6 per meal.

Ride your bicycle: This might be a good opportunity for you to get a bicycle if you don't own one already. You can cut down on transportation costs and get some exercise in the process. Just remember to invest in a sturdy bike lock and never leave it in sketchy areas for extended periods of time without moving it. My boyfriend can tell you a few stories about that. Maybe I'll even get him to write a story about his bike theft issues. You can probably find decent bikes in your area on Craigslist for cheap.

Understand your expenses: The biggest eye opener for me was seeing how much I spend on material goods every month. There's a lot of different personal finance softwares on the internet these days and everyone has different needs. I highly suggest that you choose one that you're comfortable with and begin to understand your income and expenditures. My personal favorite is Mint.com. It has changed the way I view money and my own financial state. I like the easy to use features and the colorful visuals. Budgets are made easy and I feel great knowing my financial status quo. Probably not so great when I look at how much student loan debts I accumulated in 5 years. So start early and start now.

Resist credit card sign-up tables: I not sure what the policy is now in regards to credit card companies promoting on-campus. They used to hand out t-shirts and backpacks when you signed up for a card. A lot of my friends signed up for one just to get those "free" COLLEGE t-shirts. I believe they were banned from our campus during my junior or senior year. Marketing ploys that gets students who are uneducated about credit card and credit card debts. Do your research about credit cards before haphazardly signing up for one. Your credit score will thank you for being a responsible card user. See this article about Campus Credit Card Trap via TruthAboutCredit.org.

What I listed above are the biggest savers of money while going to school and especially one in a major city. There's other ways to save money, but I'll have to make that another post for another time.

Discussion: What did you do to save money while in college?

Lessons Learned: The First Paycheck

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:32:00 +0000

Ah, the first paycheck. That paycheck was my green flag to spending. That paycheck supported my materialism. That paycheck never had a chance to make it to my savings account. Why? Because I made the classical mistake of spending it all before I paid myself.

I spent a lot of money at IKEA two weeks prior to receiving my first paycheck. That paycheck was handed over to my mom as a repayment of her generous loan. It wasn't the last paycheck that I gave away to someone as a loan repayment. I ended up giving two of my paychecks to my boyfriend. That first month and a half of working in the real world and all I had was some shiny new furniture, a new huge flat screen TV, and a new super fast computer. Was it worth it? Probably not.

I have to defend myself just a bit. My purchases at IKEA were for the most part cheap based on per piece price. Put them together, well, that's just a different story. I bought my bed frame on-sale for $89! It was marked down from the original $279. I bought my bookshelf for $10 when it was originally $49. So I made sure I got a deal on the big items, but I sure failed when it came to the little stuff. I had to have it all. I'm not even going to tell you how much I spent at Target. Let's just say I was shocked when I saw the old receipts.

That huge Samsung 40" TV? I barely used it. My roommate used it more than I did. It was probably used for only 10 hours a week, maybe less. We're not always glued to it. I'm about to move to a new place at the end of May. I'm selling the TV and the stand to my roommate for the going rate on Craigslist. So I ended up paying rent on the TV, which wasn't bad. What I should have done was not buy one and wait for my roommate to do so. I knew my watching habits and I knew I didn't really need a huge TV.

The computer is a sad story. Sad because the only reason I really bought a fast computer was so I can play The Sims 3. I've been a Sims fanatic since they came out with the original The Sims back in 2000. If I didn't need a good computer for the game, I would have bought something cheaper in the $300-$500 range.

What I should have done was save part of my paycheck, pass on the TV, and buy my furniture a bit at a time. Without my enablers (my mom and boyfriend) I wouldn't be able to purchase all these goodies. My credit card limit wasn't that high and I'm glad it isn't. I would be paying off student loans AND credit card debt. Consider this a lesson learned.

Discussion: What did you do with your first paycheck from your first job in the real world? Would you have done something different?

Growing Up with Mommy

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:56:00 +0000

My childhood. Growing up almost poor but not knowing it...

When I was 4-years-old my mom remarried and moved my family (I have a younger sister) to the United States. My stepdad was an engineer working in Manhattan. We lived in a one bedroom apartment in Jackson Heights, NY. It small, but cozy in it's familiar way. It was a normal childhood really. Nothing changed until the day my stepdad had a heart attack. That's where this story really starts.

My mom never really had to work for a living. She was a stay-at-home mother who dabbled in a little bit of everything. She started off as an English teacher in Thailand. After she married my father she went to a culinary and beauty school to make life a bit interesting for herself. She started a home business in our front parlor and ran it for a few years quite successfully. After my sister was born my parents amicably divorced and went their separate ways. When she remarried she continued to be a nail art designer in the U.S. But she never made a career out of it. All she really knew was how to spend money, but maybe not too wisely.

After the death of my stepdad at an early age of 36, my mom, who was 44 at the time, had to provide for our little family. My parents had made a down payment on a fixer upper out on Long Island in a town called Shirley. That dream was squashed but through the help of a friend, my mom was able to get the money back. She used that money to move us out to where we are now on Long Island and to purchased a brand new 1996 Dodge Caravan which she still uses today.

To be honest, I don't think my mom ever heard of the word budget nor did she ever showed signs of implementing one. I just remember that if I wanted something, my mom rarely said no. We lived off cash and credit cards and the savings account barely made it past $2000 most years since my mom would take money out of it to pay our bills.

All I knew growing up is that 1) we didn't have a lot of money 2) we were never hungry 3) I need a good paying job in the future.

From 4th grade onward I made sure to get good grades. My goal was to get a good education so I can get a good job so I can help my mom. In Thai and most Asian cultures, we are taught from birth to respect our elders and to help our parents. It meant that when they needed money, you gave it to them. We're a family and we help each other out. When I was 15 I couldn't wait to be 16 so I can start working. I think most girls dreamed about their Sweet 16 while I was planning ways to get a job.

Naming Financial Trajectory

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:55:00 +0000

Okay, I'm somewhat of an engineering geek. When I was thinking of blog names I wanted it to be interesting but reflecting my inner geek. I was thinking along the lines of financial path or journey. At one point I was thinking of calling it an Odyssey. Yes, it was an epic decision.

While using DomainsBot with the variations setting selected, the word trajectory came up. It was like BAM! I called my boyfriend and asked for his opinion and he liked it. He's also a mechanical engineer but likes to be known as an entrepreneur. He has an inner nerd in him. I love it.

So that's how this personal finance blog got it's name. I'll be writing about my personal financial trajectory as I navigate the internet and all the other PF blogs out there looking for a clue on how to make me financially smarter. Hope you'll join and keep up with me.

Good night. =)

[via Mashables]

First Post!

noreply@blogger.com (Patti Veeraplin) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:13:00 +0000

Welcome to my personal finance blog! I hope you check out my About and My Money History pages to get to know more about me. If you like what you see, please add me to your feeds and spread the word. See you around on some of the other finance blogs and websites.

Thanks!

Patti