Frugal Students- Starting a New Life

W-2s, 1099, 1098Ts and taxes...What does it all mean?

2012-01-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

Any income you earn, you must give a portion to the government in taxes but how do you determine how much? By January 31th, your boss must send you a W-2 which includes how much you earned working for them, how much was taken out and sent to the federal government, the state government, social security and medicare. Then by February 15th any bank or brokerage firm must send you a 1099, which is any interest or capital gains you receive over the year. Be careful because some companies will only send out a 1099 if you make more than $10 but you still have to report the income to the IRS even if you do not receive a W-2 or 1099. So once you have your W-2 and 1099 (if any) what do you do?

If you go to the free file section on the irs website (http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html), you can find companies that allow you to use their programs for free if you earn under $57,000. My favorite is turbo tax. It will walk you through your taxes and allows you to file online. You do have to pay for the state but you can print out your federal and use it to do your state taxes and avoid paying for anything.

Remember if you are a independent student wait for your 1098-T Tuition Statement which says how much you spent in tuition and fees before you file. You can either get a tax deduction (see http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2011/07/higher-education-deductions.html for more information about the deduction) or tax credit (see http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2011/06/tax-credits-for-education.html for more information about the credit) for your tuition and fees. Turbo tax or most other tax programs will help you determine which will save you the most money but normally, the credit is best.

Feel free to leave any questions about taxes in the comments. I can answer tax questions for federal, California and New York taxes but I am not a CPA or EA.

Cheap Dating

2012-01-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

As a college student or recent graduate often we do not have much money for fun yet who wants to stay home all weekend? There are many free and cheap fun activities if you know where and how to look for them. For example during the winter in buffalo there is a free ice skating rink (it cost $3 if you need to rent skates) which we discovered because the rink is near our credit union and we checked the prices out. Yes, sometimes the hours are not the best but it is still a fun afternoon event. Also, you can sign up for groupon (www.groupon.com/) or living social (subscribe.livingsocial.com/) to get discounted meals or events. Remember to sign up for upromise and get cash back if you buy anything from groupon. Also, check http://www.restaurant.com/ to see if any restaurants you like are on there. Then google restaurant.com/ and coupon code to get it for even cheaper.

Keep in mind, though, you don't have to go out for fun. Invite people over for a small party, a barbeque in the summer or a potluck in winter. It might cost a bit but not as much as going out the bar and others might like the idea and start having parties at their places. One of the best ways to meet people is through your friends. And cooking with a boyfriend or girlfriend can be fun as well. You can teach other how to make new meals and show off a bit at the same time.

Also, check out if your city or nearby cities has free concerts. I saw smashmouth in concert for free at the San Jose Concert in Park Series. It is a great way to hear new bands and maybe listen to some old favorites. Check with the universities in the area, they often have events that can be fun to go to as well. Some cost money, but often they are subsidized if you are a student. At the State University at Buffalo my husband and I saw the former prime minister of England, Tony Blair, speak for free as students of the university.

Does anyone have any other ideas for cheap dating or other frugal fun?

Update on the millionaire goal-2011

2012-01-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

I now have $10,520 towards my millionaire goal, which is great since that mean I am back over my $10,000 minigoal and can start focusing on the $25,000 minigoal. However, I have no money to be putting into retirement because we do not have any tenants and have not since October 2011. This is the second time we have looked for tenants and I don't know why we are getting less interested perspectives tenants. I have changed the ad many time, updated the apartment and repost the ad often. Hopefully we will get a tenant soon and we can start putting money towards retirement again.

Car Insurance

2011-12-17T20:46:00.000-05:00

When I got my first car my mom added me to her car insurance and I paid the difference. I tried once to see what it would cost me on my own, but since I was under 21 at the time, it was outrageous. But as I got older, I moved on to my own plan and then the confusion set in. I had the state minimums for liability with my mom but should I have a higher amount? Should I add in comprehensive and collision as well? The only thing I knew was I did not need glass coverage. Compared to what they wanted me to pay, replacing the glass out of pocket was better.

At that point I had a car worth about $500-$1000 so I decided I did not need comprehensive and/or collision. If something went wrong I could replace the car with another beater or, at worst, take the bus until I could afford a new car. However, I did decide that I would increase the coverage I had for liability. If I got into a car accident, at the state minimums, I would be able to cover, at most, one basic car. If I hit a nice car, I was pretty much screwed. However, I did not have much money so, I slowly increased the coverage over time. Every six months, I looked into the cost of increasing the coverage and I looked into new insurance to see if I could get it for cheaper. And it worked.

At 19 for just state minimum liability coverage, I paid $700 every six months, now at 27 I pay $450 per year for $100,000/$200,000 plus comprehensive and collision. At 26, I replaced my old beater with a newer car and given that it is worth about $8000, I now have comprehensive and collision. I do have a $1000 deductible though, to keep the price down. I plan to drop the comprehensive and collision once the worth of the car is at least under $5000, though I am not sure exactly what point I will drop it. Anyone have an idea on when I should, and if you would not mind, why you think that point is best?

I would like to increase my liability coverage up to $100,000/$300,000 but for now, I think $200,000, is ok. I now only check every year to see if I can find a better deal because after two times of not finding a better deal, I think I am at a great spot. If anything changes, like moving, adding a car or removing comprehensive/collision, I would go back to checking every six month.

Budget, How to Make One?

2011-09-26T12:34:00.000-04:00

There are so many ways to make a budget and no one way is wrong. Making a budget is, like anything in personal finance, personal. Some people just put away a percentage of their income and spend the rest. Others make maximum percentages per category, for example 25% of net income towards housing.

But when you are starting off the best way to start is to figure out where the money is currently going. Start by taking a month and writing down everything you spend and by the end, you have the beginnings of a budget. But you won't be done there. There are many annual or semi-annual expenses people forget about, like Christmas or car insurance or even car repairs. Start with the monthly expenses and divide what annual or semi-annual expense by 12 or 6 months and put that in your budget as well.

Now, the big question is after all your expense do you have any money left over? And if so, how much? If it is 10-20% of your income, great! If not, you are normal and it is ok. But you do need to work in retirement and emergency savings into your budget. That means looking at your other expenses in your budget and finding ways to cut them down.

It took me about two years to get my budget and my spending the way I wanted them and I still have some improvements to make. Making a budget is not something you do once and forget about, it is a tool for most of financial life.

Do you have a budget? Do you think it is helpful or not? How did you make yours?

Credit Cards

2011-09-13T18:28:00.000-04:00

Some people would tell you that credit cards are evil (example Dave Ramsey) and if you have no self-control that very well may be true but it does not have to be. The problem is people see the amount of credit on a credit card as money. It is not. Your credit limit has no relation to the amount you can spend. Between my husband and I, we have more in credit than we make in a year, that does not mean we can spend that amount.

You should, however, never spend more than ten percent of your credit limit, even if you do have the money to pay it back. The credit bureaus will ding your credit score if you charge more than ten percent and ding it even more if you spend more than thirty percent.

The best way to get used to using a credit card, is as a debit card. When you purchase something, either put the money aside or pay the credit card online THAT day. Do not wait till the end of the month or you will end up screwing yourself up.
If you do screw up and max out your card, stop. Shred it and start paying it down. Do not get another card until you have gotten used to using, and paying in full every month, one card.

Once you get used to using one card, you likely will have a credit score that will allow you to get a rewards card. Look at your spending and pick one to apply to. Put your first card aside and start using the reward card. Do not pick one with an annual fee, they are not worth it. It is likely that your first card won't be useful after the first year or so, but you can leave it open (use it once a year), if you would like. Closing it will have a negative affect on your credit score, until you have had the reward card for a while, unless you have had a student loan or were an authorized user on another person's card for longer then the length of time you had your first card.

I prefer to have multiple cards because they give different benefits, for example I and my hisband have a Fidelity AMEX which gives me two percent back into my 529 account, a discover card that we use when the five percent back categories work for us (groceries, gas etc.) and for our school expenses (they only take discover and visa) and a couple visas that really are not that good. We are still looking for a good visa and are currently considering the Fidelity Visa that gives one and half percent back into our IRAs.

Anyone else have an opinion on credit cards or information I missed?

Potential Deal from Sharebuilder

2011-09-08T11:10:00.000-04:00

I don't know what is up with ING Direct, they are selling to Capital One yet there have been all sorts of deals from them lately. I just received an offer from Sharebuilder (owned by ING Direct) and I am unsure if I should take it, though I am leaning towards it.

The deal is deposit $100 per month from September through December and get $50 in January. Sounds like a great deal, right? Problem is that I would have to pay $4/month to deposit the money into the S&P fund I have plus an additional $4 to remove the money. This would amount to $20 that would be coming out of the $50 bonus. The $50 is not tax free, however and I would have to pay an additional $5 in tax on the $20 fees so really for depositing $400 I would get $25 before taxes. That is a 6.25% return which is great however it is not without risk. I would depositing the money in a S&P fund which is risking and I could lose that 6.25% bonus in day.

Then again, if I did not use this deal, the $400 would be going in my Roth IRA and would be in the stock market anyway. The only differences are what fund the money is in and taxable vs tax free accounts. Are those differences worth not getting the $25? What does everyone think? What should I do?

Is student loan debt good or bad?

2011-09-07T18:55:00.000-04:00

Yes, or it depends. How is that for an answer? Student loans can be helpful in getting through school yet they can mess up your life for ten to thirty years if you borrow too much. There is a rule of thumb that students should not borrow more than they expect to earn their first year of work but the recession many graduates cannot find work, what then?

You can extend your student loans from 10 years to 30, if you have more than $30,000 worth of debt but that will increase your interest, or you could do graduated repayment but then in the future you will have to pay more per month. If you can't pay the minimum when you graduate, why do you think you can pay more in three to four years?

So how do you decide how much debt, in the form of student loans, you can afford? Of course, you do want the total amount to be less that your first year's wages but what else? Personally, I would try to keep the debt less than $15,080 which is full time at minimum wage or if you are working though school your current annual wage, whichever is more. That would allow you to have some wiggle room when you have graduated, yet is large enough to make a major difference in your finances during school.

What does everyone else think? How much student loans is too much? When does student loan debt change from good debt to bad debt?

Update on the millionaire goal-August

2011-09-05T14:45:00.000-04:00

We have dropped down below our $10,000 goal again. We only have $9955 now. Our tenants did end up staying another month so we will be putting $300 a way this month and hopefully we will get back above $10000. However, if the stock market drops another 2% this month, we will be back to where we started, under $10,000 again.

Right now investing in the stock market is depressing and it is tempting to stop and just start paying down debt, like my student loans but I have to believe that the start market will get better. I have to believe that I am buying low and in thirty years it will be worth it.

Second Guest Post!

2011-09-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

Head over to Baking the Budget to read more about my real estate adventures in my second ever guest post.
http://bakingbudget.blogspot.com/
Baking the Budget is a wonderful blog that I have learned a lot from. It is not geared towards students but still is a valuable resource.

Update on grocery savings plan September

2011-09-01T12:58:00.000-04:00

We did very badly this month. We spent $296.91 this month of groceries, however we did get a eight dollar rebate so I am only counting $288.91 for this month. This comes out to $72.23/week. Part of the reason for this, is we have just switched to doing our main shopping every other week and did two weeks worth of shopping on the twenty-eighth. Hopefully, that means September will be a low spend month. Also, we stocked up on soda, which we only do every twelve weeks, at rock bottom prices ($2.75/ twelve pack) but we bought 12 packs.

We are now at $2076.01 for 29 weeks, averaging out to $53.24/week. We are almost one hundred dollars over budget for the year and only have thirteen weeks to make it up. This means, to still make my goal I need to spend $42.50 or less every month. Given I am having trouble with keeping to $50/week I don't think that will happen especially since soon we will not have on garden produce to use as supplement. On the other hand, we are very well stocked for meat and we won't need sodas for another three months, maybe I can do it!
Anyone have ideas on how to do Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners without increasing my spending? If I want to get down to $50/week I sure can't overspend for those meals.

What Benefits Do You Have?

2011-08-26T14:15:00.000-04:00

Often people have benefits that come with their jobs that they do not take advantage of, most commonly is 401k matching but there are many others. For example many employers now have contracts with cell phone companies to give their workers discounts on personal cell line. My husband now have 19% off his main cell phone line. That saved us quite a bit of money over the year. Students can sometime take advantage of these as well. Anyone with a buffalo.edu email is allowed to get the discount of cell service. But these discounts and benefits often do not get advertized, so how do you find them?

Human Resources or their website can be the most helpful but so can coworkers or classmates. For example at our university there is a gym open to both staff and students that is paid by student fees. Since we already pay for it, why should I pay for a gym outside the school? It may not be perfect but it has most of what I want so why pay more for another gym?

Employers also often have FSA (flexible spending accounts) for daycare and/or copays. You can put up to $5000 per year tax free, but be careful if you do not use it up, you loose it. For someone with a medical condition or someone who is on medication FSAs can save you a large amount of money because no only do you save on taxes, you don't have to pay FICA. Keep in mind, you cannot buy over the counter medicines using FSA money unless you have a prescription. A way to get around this, is to ask your doctor for a prescription for the over the counter items, most will give them to you.

There are so many benefits you can get from an employer or a school, if you know where to look and you actually look for them. What deals do you get from your employer, school or other organization?

I HATE Checks

2011-08-24T12:38:00.000-04:00

This is silly but I am very spoiled with technology. I normally pay by credit card and pay those by ACH transfer so I am used to once I pay, the money comes out and I don't have to think about it again. So when I pay by check and the person does not deposit it for a while and I have to keep remembering that $X amount of money is not really there, it annoys me.

I know it is silly and really not a big complaint but still, I can't stop it from annoying me. Technology has affected how our generation does things and how we expect things to be done. My grandmother balanced her checkbook monthly and paid most things by check or cash, now I use a check on average every three month. I check my balances online and pay by credit card or ACH. I have never used a full checkbook up, in my life. I wonder how much more technology will change personal finance over our lifetimes?

School is Starting!

2011-08-21T17:31:00.000-04:00

What does this mean? It means getting all you need for classes and if you are moving (into dorms or an apartment), buying stuff for your new home. How can you do both of these cheap?

Well it starts of simple, make list. Make two lists if you are moving. Write down everything you need, or think you will need. Then go through the house and see what you can find on your list or will work as well. If you are moving into a dorm or apartment check craigslist, though make sure you know what the allowed items are in the dorms. For example most dorms do not allow pocket knives or candles. Don't waste your time or money by bring things you can't keep.

One thing I would recommend, if you have a lap top is a lap top lock. Lap tops are one of the most stolen pieces of property at a university. Lock it when ever you are away from it, even in your own dorm (others do have the key).

Once you have your list and have seen what you have, start pulling up the websites for staples, office depot and office max (depending on what is in your area), then pull up iheartcvs.com and iheartwags.com. Check the sales and match up what you have on your list with the sales. In a few weeks you will have most of what you need for cheap, at least for school supplies.
If you are moving, make sure to go on bedbathandbeyond.com and sign up for their 20% off coupons, then check out kohls.com and use their sales to buy most of what you need. If you cannot find a good deal at kohls, then use the 20% you will get for signing up to buy a few things from bed bath and beyond. It may take you a few weeks but by the time school is in full swing you should be fine.

Say Goodbye to Subsidized Student Loans for Grad Students

2011-08-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

The federal government is cutting their expenses and one of the things that is being cut, is subsidized student loans for graduate students. Unsubsidized student loans will still be around (unless they get cut too), as will subsidized student loans for undergraduates (again, unless they get cut).

This is going to have a major affect on many graduate students and is to have to going to change how people decide about graduate school. I am not sure if this means all $20,500 of available money will be unsubsidized or if now graduate student will only have access to $12,000 for the year. My husband and I are discussing taking out the full subsidized amount this year just in case but we already have pulled out one full year last year ($8500) and therefore may just use that. If we do not pull more out, we will have to not save for retirement. I do not like that choice but what can I do?

Hopefully, there will be a solution found where the government will again allow subsidized student loans for graduate students but I do not expect it to be any time soon. Does anyone disagree?

Cars

2011-08-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

Sometimes students bring their car to school or if they are living at home use it to get to school. Most students, rightly, get a beater but some prefer to get a loan to get a car they like. Normally that is a very bad idea. Often students are living on a part-time job, student loans and/or scholarships. Adding another debt on top can send you over the edge. I'm twenty-six and my husband is twenty-nine and neither of us have had new cars and that has helped us financially.

This does mean we need to be careful when we get our cars and we need to have a repair fund. We put away about a $100 in a car fund every month, we have never used it all and we save the rest for large repairs/maintenance and our next car. I was lucky, my mom bought my first car from a friend of hers and my aunt let me inherit my current grandmother died and we were moving to buffalo. Both were extremely well taken care of and allowed me not to spend a lot of money on repairs/maintenance. My husband was not as lucky and went through quite a few cars and had to do quite bit of repairs over the years. Thankfully, his father taught him quite a bit about cars and he has done some of the work and that has kept his costs down.

When we moved to Buffalo we decided to just take one car. In San Jose our university gave us free bus passes and therefore I only drove to work and for going out. My husband and I did the math and we would have to rent a car for over thirty days to equal keeping a beater around. We decided it was not worth it, and over the last two years we have only needed to rented a car at home twice.

It is best to decide what works for you, renting a car, using zip car or owning a car. Nothing works best for everyone and you need to decide in your individual case. What works best will change over time so you have to always be thinking about your situation. At some point my husband and I may need a second car, or we will have enough extra money to buy a motorcycle and live in a place where they are practical, but that is not our current situation. My husband had to sell his bike to help him get out of debt and he did not like it but he did what he had to do, as we all need to do.

What choices have you made for good or bad? What has worked and not worked for you for transportation? Why did it work or not? What made you change your current situation?

Saving Money on Food

2011-08-13T13:23:00.000-04:00

I've worked hard on keeping our expenses down this year. We have so many places where we could be spending money it is sometimes hard to juggle. Our weakest point in our budget is our grocery spending and our spending for eating out. Over this last year my husband and I have worked hard on getting both under control and I think we have done pretty well.

We use our crockpot often to avoid the want to go out eat, because we "don't have anything to eat", we also keep a frozen pizza in the freezer for an easy night. My husband and I switch off cooking and that helps a lot. When we do go out we use often groupon or living social to find a good deal. We do have favorite restaurants that we do pay full price but it is rare. Honestly, the hardest part about not eating out was getting used to it. Now, I rarely really want to go out but it took over six months to get over the want to go out every week.

Grocery shopping and staying under budget took some time too. At first we were staying under budget but running out of food by the end of the week and not eating well. We started eating better and started spending more but we could not afford it in the long term. We found a great store for cheap meat, started finding the stores with the cheapest prices and the store that was best for cherry picking. Cherry picking means that most items were more expensive at this store but certain deal would be very cheap and worth it to stop by. We started using coupon match up blogs and planning our meals around what we had in the freezer, cabinets and what was on sale. We also planted a small garden, we are in our second year of it. Over time we got our spending down about $20 and we are eating extremely well. It does take some planning and some time but it is so worth it to me.

Refinancing

2011-08-10T17:36:00.000-04:00

Our credit union just lowered their APR for mortgages to 4.261% and our current APR is 4.75%. I would love to refinance and lower our payments by $20/month but the closing costs are huge. They expect $1,450 for the origination charge and even though I know we paid that to close it bugs me when many companies are giving out lender comps. The other thing that bothers me, is the title search, they want $1,185 for a service they did less than two years ago. I have heard that some companies will do a mini-search and charge less if they have previously done the search. I am going to ask about that. I understand the appraisal fee and the taxes, though, even if they cost about $1000. My credit union has no control over those so I am not going to bother complaining about it.

At this point, as much as I would like to refinance the closing costs are too high even with the great rate.
If anyone has a bank they know with a rate close to this one, with better closing costs let me know in the comments.

Update on grocery savings plan July

2011-08-09T17:43:00.000-04:00

I've reposting this post, it got deleted accidentally. I missed posting this at the beginning of last month (July). I spent $148.20 for the month of June which averaged out to $37.05 per week. That was an amazingly low amount and I'm still not sure how I achieved it. I bought using sales and coupon and ate out our garden but still, it is much lower than I expected. I still ate well, with vegetables and whole grains and even had some treats. I am very happy with this month. This has helped get my grocery spending down to under $50/week as an average over the last 30 weeks.

Let us so how low we can go together. Anyone else have great ideas on keeping grocery expenses low while still eating well?

Great Deal With Swagbucks

2011-08-09T11:29:00.000-04:00

If you do not belong to swagbucks, now is the time to join! Swagbucks is a search engine that uses ask.com, and google to search and randomly, as you search, you get swagbucks. Swagbucks can be turned in for gift cards, the most popular being $5 Amazon gift card for 450 swagbucks. I normally get about $50-$70/year for doing nothing but normal searching. You can get more by doing their surveys or answering the daily poll. You get an extra swagbuck daily for keeping their toolbar on your web browser.

But why is now a great time to join? Swagbucks is offering a bonus 50 swagbucks from now thru Friday August 12th at 8:59pm pst when you use the promo code: AUGUSTBONUS. http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Gin1984 Just clink the link and add the promo code and you will sign up with 80 swagbucks (50 from the promo and 30 for signing up through my link). You will be almost 20% of the way to a free gift card.

Update on grocery savings plan August

2011-08-07T22:21:00.001-04:00

This update is sad. Last month I was so good, I actually got my spending below $50/week for the year and this month I spent $292.35 which added up to $58.47/week. That sadly has brought me back over my goal of $50 per week, up to $51.06/week for the 35 weeks we have so far this year. I only have 17 weeks left in this year and it would take me spending less than $47.82/week to get back under my goal. I'm not sure if I will be able to do this, honestly.

I guess I am going to have to continue to try and find out where I will be by the end of the year. If I average $50/week for the next 17 weeks I will be $36.95 over budget.

7 Links project

2011-08-06T21:51:00.003-04:00

I was tagged by both Sandy from First Gen American and SB at One Cent at a Time to participate in a meme called My 7 Links Project. According to Young and Thrifty, “this project got started by Katie from Trip Base. The purpose of it is to get the blogger to reflect upon some posts (aka dig up posts from the past) so they can see the light of day again. Then the blogger is to nominate 5 other bloggers to participate." I was surprised that I got nominated, especially twice over, but here it goes....

Your Most Beautiful Post
I do not see any of my posts as beautiful. They are all financial and facts. This post had made me think about writing more emotional posts, I mean this is personal finance.

Your Most Controversial Post
Sadly, I also do not have a controversial post. I kinda wonder what I'd have to write about to get everyone up in arms. I'm silly like that, I like causing reactions.

The Most Popular Post
By the numbers my most popular post was The Million Dollar Club http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2010/09/million-dollar-club.html but that is mostly because it is linked to J. Money's site. However, if you take in to account responses and people just coming on to read the post, because they liked it it would have to be Tax Credits for Education http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2011/06/tax-credits-for-education.html That does makes sense, because it is one of the most important thing for a student to learn about.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me
Hot Days, Chillin' for Cheap has so many comments and views and I honestly would not have written it without being push to. http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2011/07/hot-days-chillin-for-cheap.html We had had some of the hottest day in Buffalo that we had ever had and my husband and I have no air conditioners because we are used to hotter temperatures from California. The heat and humidity that week though, I also went out and bought an air conditioner. That post is a compilation of ways we kept cool.

The Post I Am Most Proud Of
How to decide if you should buy or rent as a student allowed me to combine my love of real estate and being frugal as a student. http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-decide-if-you-should-buy-or-rent.html Honestly it is unlikely that many students could use this advice, it mostly works for richer families or graduate students but it is a viable option for some.

Your Most Helpful Post
I did a series in the beginning of this blog about student loans. Almost all students at some point end up using student loans and I think they are very important to know about and to know about what your options are. The article on federal loans was the most useful of the series. http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2010/01/federal-student-loans-overview-and.html

A Post You Feel Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved
Frugal Fun was an article that was suppose to be the beginning of a series of different was to have fun on the cheap but no one seemed to like it. http://frugalstudents.blogspot.com/2010/05/students-especially-if-they-work-dont.html I am thinking about doing another frugal fun post in future and see if it is better received.

I'd like to see this post on....
1. http://buylikebuffett.com
2. http://queercents.com (though I do not know if this wish will be seen by queercents)
3. http://4hatsandfrugal.blogspot.com- Great writer and she is the one who got me into blogging.
4. http://bakingbudget.blogspot.com
5. http://thesavedquarter.com

Frustrations in Real Estate

2011-08-04T10:41:00.000-04:00

Our tenant gave us a little over a month's notice that they would be moving out when their lease expired. I thought that was nice, and even though I did not like having to find new tenants and lose rent for a month or more, everything was ok. I posted on craigslist with a $50 increase in rent and got some immediate responses, one that looked very good. My husband went up to see about showing the apartment on saturday and we were informed that they were not planning to move till October, they still have not put the bid in on their new house.

I understand finding a place, buying it and moving in can take awhile but I am very annoyed that she did not let us know. The more into winter we are, the harder it will be for us to find good tenants. I feel like telling them that since they are going month-to-month the rent will be raised. I probably would not have done so, however, if she had talked to me. Am I wrong in doing so?

Update on the millionaire goal-July

2011-08-02T12:22:00.002-04:00

We have finally crossed the $10,000 goal. We deposited $1000 in a Roth in ING Direct to get a $76 bonus. However, again the stock market was not nice to us and therefore we have $10,810. My next minigoal is $25,000 but it will take a long time for me to get there.

We deposited $1000 this month, yet only have $420.90 normally to deposit per month. I took the extra out of the EF and I did this because of the bonus. I will have to pay back the extra money. I took all the extra money from the 2% FICA deduction from my job as well as this months deposit. I still have $100.40 to pay back before I can start deposited money into our retirement accounts again.

Normally a hundred dollars would be paid back quickly but our current tenants have given their one month notice and it may be a few months before we get tenants again. Until then all I have is ten dollars per month from the FICA deduction from my DH's job and any extra from my job as well.

It is possible that we will still owe our EF by the end of the year, if we do not get tenants. I am not sure if I will remove the money from the Roth to give it back to the EF or not. Does anyone have an idea what I should do and why?

How to Create a Emergency Fund and Why YOU need one

2011-07-26T13:38:00.000-04:00

A emergency fund is a hard thing to build in general, but for students it is harder then the average. Many students are living on student loans, some that charge interest and financial aid penalizes you for any assets, beside money in retirement accounts, a car and a house.
Students often have very little time between school, studying, extra-curricular and work needed to survive and pay for school. But often students need an emergency fund, just like anyone else. Unless mom and dad are paying for everyone of your expenses you need an emergency fund. But how much you need depends on where the income is coming from and what your expenses are.
Do you have a car? Then you need money to fix it, if it breaks and that money comes from your emergency fund.
Often the best way for students to create a EF is work like crazy during the summer. But you might be saying, the summer is almost over, what now? You still have a month and there is so many different things you can do. If you have not signed up for mypoints or swagbucks you are loosing money every month. They are the easiest ways I know to get giftcards and it is not like students are never on the computer. You can sign up for swagbucks at the bottom of this blog and start with extra points. Remember the little things add it, a dollar or two here or there will add up to hundreds. Are any friend's parents or parent's friends going out of town and need someone to pet sit? That is money in your pocket and you get some time away from your parents, too. Are there any older people in the neighborhood that need their lawns mowed? Find side hustles and put that income into your saving. That is the most important thing to do.

While you are doing that, are you working at your main job as much as you can, if you have one? Remember you want to best the employee you can, so when you come back for summer and winter break they want to hire you again.

While you are doing all of this, you need to look at your financial aid. Is it grants and scholarships or is student loans? If the aid is student loans, what kind of student loans, subsidized or unsubsidized? Can you get work study? Work study is the best way to work while you are in college. Your employer understands you are in school and that you need time off to study for midterms and finals and the income does not count against financial aid for your next year.

Wow, so much to do and only a month to do it. Does it feel impossible? It is not, just do as much as you can, that is the important part. As you earn the money put as much as you can aside, try for half but every penny you can save matters. Now it is time to open a high yield savings account. If you have $250 and get referred ING Direct will give you $25. Contact me if you need a referral.

If you have support from parents, you probably only need about $1000 as your emergency fund. Once you have that, if you have unsubsidized student loans pay them down. If you do not, open a Roth IRA at ING Direct and leave your extra money there (up to the amount you earned this year or $5000 whichever is lower). You can pull it out, if you need it without a penalty, just don't pull out the interest. That will keep most of your savings from being counted against you for financial aid.