Freedom 45

4 Ways I Bring in Side Income

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:01:00 +0000

I know there are a ton of websites that advertise or list a million different things that you can do (most of them, online) to bring in a substantial side income. While those lists may be useful as a starting point for brainstorming, if you're looking for tried and tested methods of making a good income on the side, here are some methods I've tried:

1. Babysitting: I've done this since I was 15, and while I only made $5 per hour when I started, I now charge $15 per hour. Not only do I consider myself more experienced with kids, but I now have more knowledge about how to actually care for kids, having completed an undergraduate degree in health. If you're in a similar boat, with valuable caretaking skills, this can be a good way to make a side income or when in between jobs.

2. Tutoring: This is particularly lucrative if you have knowledge in a specialized or difficult to teach area, and if you can do it well. I tutor calculus on the side, and have charged upwards of $30 per hour, particularly when the subject matter was university level calculus.

3. CV creation services: If you have impeccable writing skills, and are good at marketing, consider marketing others' skills. Not only can you make a decent income, depending on your clientele and the amount of money they stand to make from a polished resume, but it's satisfying to know you're helping someone else obtain a new/better job. It's also a great way to make contacts, contacts who in the future, can vouch for your skills as a writer, editor, and marketer.

4. Ether: If you haven't heard of this website, you've been missing out. If the service you're offering does not require face-to-face contact (i.e. counselling, tutoring, life coaching), you can sign up on this site and be assigned an anonymous 1-800 number that you can use for your potential clients to contact you. Of course ether takes a small cut (about 15%), but ultimately, it's a great way to acquire new clients.

Weekly Spending Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:08:00 +0000

This past week wasn't too bad, spending-wise:

- I got paid ($1287)
- I transferred some money ($97) to my ING savings account for use towards my annual life insurance premium. I now have the full amount I need saved (just over $200).
-I transferred about $1200 to my brokerage account to be invested (since the markets are down again, I figure it's a good time to park it in something other than cash!)
- I spent some money eating out, but it was a hectic week - I ended up working over 60 hours.
- I also spent some money on gas, but I still have a half-tank left for use this week.

I'll be off work this coming week and am planning a "staycation". I've given myself $40 per day for discretionary spending, obviously not including gas. With that money, I anticipate spending about $14 per day on yoga, about $10 per day on food on average, with the rest ($16) being spent on activities and miscellaneous. I now this seems restrictive being that it's my one week off this year, but the whole point of staycationing is to save money. If I wanted to spend a thousand bucks, I would have booked myself on the first flight to Cuba and called it what it is.

Your Weekly Summary

For Friday, February 10, 2012

Where My Money Went

You spent $214.79 over the past 7 days.

Your top spending categories:


	$97.48 Transfer to savings
	$70.00 Gas & Fuel
	$32.57 Fast Food
	$14.74 Alcohol & Bars

Compare to previous spending

Weekly Spending Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:10:00 +0000

This week was another frugal week for me. I actually only spent $71.90, because the $1.00 I spent "shopping" was the temporary (refunded) authorization charge that Amazon.ca charged my credit card to list some of my old textbooks for sale on their website. And of the $40.00 withdrew for food this week, I still have $20 left in cash for this upcoming week.

The $47.90 I spent on "Financial" comprised mainly the $23.95 I spent on my credit report and score from Equifax, which I still think as well worth it. I found out by checking out my report that I'm only 1 point from shifting myself out of the "good" score category to the "very good" score category. I also found out that CIBC has erroneously reported my $10,000 student line of credit (LOC) as two separate lines of credit, notwithstanding the fact that I paid off and closed the LOC I had with them during undergrad and opened a brand new one when I started law school. Apparently, they never reported the old one as having been closed, so it appears as though I have twice as much debt with them as I actually do. I'll be filing a dispute with Equifax this week.

I wish I had known sooner so that I could have corrected the error before I applied for a mortgage through TD. I wonder if anyone else has had issues with banks not correcting financial data when accounts are closed.

Where Your Money Went

You spent $92.90 over the past 7 days.

Your top spending categories:


	$47.90 Financial
	$40.00 Food & Dining
	$4.00 Fast Food
	$1.00 Shopping

Compare to previous spending

Weekly Spending Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

This was another good week in the spending department.

I got paid which meant being able to pay off both of my credit cards (both personal and business), and I made a large transfer to savings.

In total so far this month, I've contributed $2,156 to savings, which represents 74% of my monthly net income. The $127 I spent on legal is a business expense, which my employer will be reimbursing me for next week.

Credit Score - 723

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +0000

At the behest of Krystal's post over at Give Me Back My Five Bucks, I decided it was worth the $23.95 to check my credit score. Notwithstanding the fact that my credit score is unlikely to have much of an impact on me qualifying for a mortgage (because it's a secured loan), I was still pretty curious to know how lenders view me between my four credit cards, my two student lines of credit, and a range of other credit products.

This was what I got:

Granted, it's not the worse score ever, it's actually just on the cusp of a "very good" credit score. But I was still appalled that missing 1 payment in 12 months over a range of 8 credit products (that's 1 missed payment out of a possible 96 missed payments), made a significant impact on my credit score.

How to Check your own Equifax Report and Score

If you'd like to check your credit score online, head over here. The cost is $23.95.

If you just want your credit report to check for inaccuracies, and don't really care to see your score, go here. The cost is $15.50.

Equifax Free Trial

You can also take a look at your credit report and score for free by going here. But note that this trial is only for 30 days, after which time Equifax will start charging you the regular monthly rate, which at the time of writing this post, is $14.95 per month.

TurboTax - free, but painful

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:45:00 +0000

It's tax time again! And that means it's time to gather all our receipts and file our returns. Fortunately for me, I'm meticulous when it comes to my money, so I've been stashing away all of my receipts into a large manila envelope since the beginning of the year.

So I logged into my TurboTax account today and started filling in some information. Lucky for me, despite the fact that I'm working now, I spent part of 2011 in full-time studies so I qualified to use the free student edition of the Turbo Tax software. This version is particularly useful for me because I do some online securities trading and have some longer term investments, scholarships, etc. so my tax situation is not so straightforward. The free student version provides great support for this type of situation. There is one downside I've noticed however, and it's that getting support from the TurboTax folks is painful. Not only does their online chat support rep "Tina" not respond to questions (it's been two hours and counting since I submitted the question through the online chat system), but their customer service/support phone number is a 780 area code (long distance from Canada). Which as an aside, begs the question: since expenses incurred in preparing and filing your tax return are deductible, would the long distance charges be tax deductible too?

I'm a little bit peeved. It's my humble opinion that filing our taxes should not be painful, and should not cost more than the amount of your return. Since my return will only result in a credit to me of about $89 or so, it hardly seems worth the hours of torture I have already gone through and no doubt will continue to be subjected to until my return is complete.

Weekly Spending Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:40:00 +0000

I got my health insurance card today, so I won't be paying full price for my meds anymore. Things are starting to look up!

This was another good week for spending. As you can see, the bulk of my spending went to necessities, like student loans (OSAP), cell phone, gas and food. The $54.62 that Mint says I spent on restaurants is actually money I spent on gas, because Mint mislabeled the transaction. There were no shopping trips or impulse buys.

Where My Money Went

You spent $403.80 over the past 7 days.

Your top spending categories:


	$220.00 OSAP Payment
	$56.49 Mobile Phone
	$54.62 Restaurants
	$36.23 Gas & Fuel
	$36.46 Other

The 6 Best Money Saving iPhone apps

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:44:00 +0000

I've been thinking this week about how helpful my iPhone has been lately in helping me save money, and I realized just how many useful apps I've downloaded and tried. What follows is a list of my 5 favourite money and time saving apps. After all, time is money, isn't it? And best of all, all of these apps can be downloaded for FREE!

1. Mint (9/10). By far, my favourite app. It makes budgeting easy and accessible on my iPhone. If you're not familiar with this app, what it does is it basically lets you link all of your accounts (including mortgages and student loans) to your mint account, feeds all of the data in, so you can view all of your transactions and balances in one spot. It also sends you reminders when bills are due, and lets you track changes in your net worth from month to month (by the way, the cool pie charts in my last post about my weekly spending are e-mailed to me on a weekly basis by Mint!). I would give this app an 8.5 out of 10, only because its downside is a fairly big one. It has the most horrendous customer service on the planet - not only does it take super long for a response, but most of the reps I've dealt with are illiterate or just plain stupid.

2. Waze (8.5/10). This app lets you map out a route - say, from your house to your office - and tells you what the ETA is on your arrival. It does it pretty accurately too, using traffic patterns calculated based on the speed of other (moving) Waze users. I use this app while I'm still in bed in the morning to figure out what traffic is like and whether I can afford (time-wise) the extra 10 or 15 minutes of sleep. My only complaint about this app is that it appears that as soon as you log into the app, the app uses your speed and factors it into its traffic calculations, so if you're using it before you start driving, it would likely throw off the ETA calculations of others in your area.

3. Reminders (8.5/10). This comes standard on all iPhones with iOS 5 now, but it's well worth mentioning. Set any reminder (e.g. "cancel Amex card to avoid $90 annual fee") and set a date for a reminder. When that date comes, the iPhone will send you a pop reminder, so you'll never forget. The really great thing about this app is you can set a reminder that's contingent on a location as well. Instead of entering a date, set a location reminder (like "call Dr. G" reminder set for when you reach your office [ you would enter your office address, of course]), and when the GPS on your phone senses you've reached that location, it will send you the reminder.

4. Skype (8/10). For anyone making long distance calls, this app renders your long distance calling plan/card/overage charges completely void. Using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, you can use your skype account to make calls using any wireless network or a 3G network. This app let me cut out the $15 long distance calling feature I had with my carrier.

5. Groupon (7.5/10). For anyone that likes to shop once in a while, this is the perfect app for scoring discounts. You purchase a "groupon" to a retailer for typically at 50-90% off the typical value of the items. For example, a few weeks ago, I bought a $25 groupon to a local bakery for $12. Before that, I had bought a $45 groupon to the Body Shop Canada for only $20. With all the sales that were on at the Body Shop when I arrived, I actually scored about $110 worth of stuff with the $20 I had spent. Ridiculous, ridiculous savings. The functionality of the app is more limited than on the groupon website, and could definitely use some fine tuning.

6. Red Laser (7.5). I only recently discovered this app, but it essentially allows you to scan an item in a store using the bar code and (1) instantly pulls up a list of nearby retailers that offer the item for a lower price, and (2) if it's a food item, it pulls up all of the ingredients the food item contains. While I personally don't have any allergies and can't comment on its usefulness, for those with food allergies, it seems like a good starting point for determining what food items to examine more closely and consider purchasing.

And now you can see how my iPhone paid for itself through these very useful, FREE apps.

Weekly Spending Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:20:00 +0000

I got paid on Thursday, and since I only spent $55 on gas and $4.85 on a McDonalds breakfast the week prior, this week's spending is nearly everything I've spent so far this month. Here is a breakdown of my spending:

Where My Money Went This Week

You spent $1,200.68 over the past 7 days.

Your top spending categories:


	$1,000.00 Transfer to savings
	$86.19 Pharmacy
	$50.50 Gas & Fuel
	$38.07 Finance Charge
	$25.92 Other

$86.19 on Pharmacy The $86.19 I spent in the pharmacy category was for this month's supply of Accutane (which is a drug I use for clearing up my *sigh... adult* acne). The problem really isn't so bad, but being that I work directly with clients, other lawyers and judges, I find it hard not to justify the expense. The boost in confidence alone is well worth the price.

Plus, my health insurance kicks in in about a week, so I'll get reimbursed for about 75% of the cost of this prescription back to when I started working for my employer.

$38.07 on Finance Charges This is the monthly payment on one of my two student lines of credits. I can't justify paying down this line of credit too aggressively given that the interest rate (4%) is much lower than the return of 6-7% I'm currently getting on my investments.

Buying Lunch is really hurting my budget

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:09:00 +0000

I had a major trial going on this past week and so I spent more than one night working past 10 p.m. By the time I'd get home, shower and get ready for the next day, packing a lunch was the last thing on my mind.

It sounds like an excuse but it's really not. I just had no time. Every precious second I spent awake I was working and preparing for court. I ate out more than my fair share, and as a result, I've really put a dent in my wallet.

The worse part is, that my work environment makes it difficult to restrict my spending on those occasions when I do have to eat out. The building I work in is a high-rise, yet the only place to eat is this one teeny tiny mom and pop eatery down on the first floor. A small soup and (very small) salad costs nearly $10, which is about twice what I would pay at a larger chain restaurant like Subway. I felt seriously ticked off each time I bought the combo, but really, who can blame the business owner for trying to turn a profit?

Needless to say, if these late nights become more frequent, I'll have to tighten my belt the rest of the month to make sure that I'm not stressing about my spending when I'm forced to dish out for an overpriced grilled cheese sandwich or macaroni soup.

Law Practice

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

I'm free! (from the clutches of law school, at least).

Last month, I started working at a small firm in my hometown. I've now been there for long enough to know that the kind of law I've been immersed in is the type of work I'd like to continue doing for a long time to come.

It's stressful and the days are long, and I often bring work home. Both on nights and on weekends. I suppose it's a good thing I'm single and have no one to answer to, no diapers to change, and no one to worry about but myself. I don't know how some other young lawyers do it, but I for one, am thankful that my lifestyle is conducive to this type of work.

I have been trying to balance my dedication to my new (real life!) work with some of my more selfish goals, like trying to pay down my student debt, saving up for a condo, and planning for my eventual transition into opening up my own private practice.

It's all very daunting. I'm young, and I want to do all of the things that others are doing. I want to travel the world, experience new people and things. And I want to be unrestricted and careless with my time and money. But I can't afford either.

So, for now, I've resolved to spend my energy working at building a life that will eventually allow me to do the things I want to do, without the financial worries most people face. I estimate it will only be about 5-7 years before I can take a break and act my age. And that's a sacrifice I have accepted.

Is it Possible to be Frugal to a Fault?

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Is it possible to take frugality too far?

I was watching Rich Bride, Poor Bride today on Slice, and the bride-to-be was a real frugal bridezilla, turning every conversation about every aspect of wedding planning into a conversation about how to save money, even going as far as... fighting over a few pennies.

Now, I'll admit, I try to cut as many corners as possible when shopping. I use coupons, try to earn air miles or other types of rewards on purchases as much as possible, and try to find ways of using old products for new purposes in order to save cash. But I wonder... do I take it too far? Do I ever annoy those around me, particularly my boyfriend H, with whom I talk about personal finance on a regular basis?

Here are three signs that I think indicate you're obsessed with personal finance:

1. You are heard uttering personal finance related words in your sleep (i.e. "lower my interest", "we need to rebudget", "i can't afford it", etc.).
2. You have so many coupons in your purse or wallet, that you can no longer close it.
3. You've thought about how much money you could potentially save by reusing unsanitary items (e.g. toilet paper, old toothbrushes, etc.)

If you think your financial behaviours may be bordering on obsessive, seek professional help. And email me your story - I may feature it on my blog!

Changes to Swagbucks

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:04:00 +0000

Today is Swagbucks's 2nd birthday! Apparently, this has sparked a website makeover, including changes to their rewards system, so now, instead of earning 1 or 2 swagbucks per search, you will now be earning 10x that amount. Of course, that means the prizes (gift cards, t-shirts, etc.) are now more expensive in terms of the number of swagbucks required to redeem them, but the frequency of wins is increased, as is the number and variety of prizes available.

If you're new to Swagbucks and are wondering what it is exactly, it's an online website and utility that lets you earn points (i.e. swagbucks) for doing things like searching, blogging, submitting polls, participating in free trial offers, and even shopping or playing games.

You can then redeem your swagbucks for such things as gift cards (Starbucks, amazon.com and amazon.ca, Sephora, restaurant.com, Paypal, itunes, wii, and many more!).

If you're looking for a referral to join swagbucks, click here.

Budget Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:27:00 +0000

How does a person construct a functional budget from scratch?

Many people only learn to budget out of necessity, after having raked up a significant amount of debt and deciding that this way of operating their finances is simply not sustainable. For many, this is an epiphany, but does not answer the question of HOW; as in "how do I make a budget"?

The following steps will aid you along your path to building a functional basic budget.

1. Calculate your actual net pay. There are two basic ways to do this:

Take your gross pay, and use a "net paycheck" calculator to work out your net pay (that is your pay after you've paid your income taxes).
Figure out how often you're paid and how much, and work out a monthly figure.
(e.g. if you get paid $1200 biweekly, that's $1200 x 26 weeks / 12 months = $2600).

Now, you have how much you can spend.

2. Make a table with a list running down the left column side of expenses you might incur in any given month. The trick to this is not to make it too specific (e.g. "underwear", "accessories", "makeup", etc.) and not too broad (e.g. "stuff", "bills").

The following is a list of common budget categories, sorted into "fixed" and "variable" categories (you can eliminate the ones that don't apply to you).

Fixed Expenses
Note: these are the ones that you have to pay every month, the amount is more or less the same, and you have no room to play around with the amount.

Rent or Mortgage
Car Payment
Property Tax
Child Support or Other Family Support
Insurance (house)
Insurance (car)
Insurance (life)
Property, strata, or condo fees
Electricity and Water
Child care

Variable Expenses
Note: these are the expenses you can play around with to cut extra weight out of your expense budget, in order to put more money aside or pay down debt.

Clothing
Entertainment
Food (groceries)
Furniture and Home Decor
Donations & Gifts
Transportation costs (public transportation, oil change, repairs, etc.)
Pets
Health and Dental costs
Prescription costs
Phone, cable, internet
Jewellery
Sports or memberships
subscriptions
Personal care
Vacation
Bank Fees

Finally, Make a category for:
Note: these are the ones you want to maximize so you don't have the debt weighing on your shoulder, and so that you have enough saved to have peace of mind.
Debt Repayment
Emergency savings (for when your car breaks down, you get sick, etc.)
Retirement Savings
Savings for Children

Remember, that the quicker you pay off your debt, the less you pay in interest costs.

3. Go through your credit card statements and bank statements, to figure out how much you have actually been spending on these categories to date. Input these figures into the table you have just constructed (in pencil). The actual numbers may shock you.

4. Make another column next to your "actual spending column" to reflect your new designated amounts for each spending category. This is the part that will require thinking - honest, critical thinking. Depending on how much you've been spending, you may find you need to trim a little, or a lot, of your spending. Where can you pare back your spending? Maybe you're spending $80 every friday night with your friends at the local pub, costing you a whopping $320 per month to entertain yourself on friday nights alone. On the other hand, maybe your fixed costs are too high.

Here is a simple rule of thumb for figuring out where you're spending too much money:

Housing should cost - 35% of your net income

Life (entertainment, vacation, fun, buying stuff) should cost - 25% of your net income
Transportation should cost - 15% of your net income
Savings should take up - 10% of your net income
Debt Repayment should cost - 15% in order to be at a manageable level (of course, if you're carrying a crazy amount of debt, you may need to up this amount, and trim in the other areas).

While these are widely accepted numbers in the personal finance community, depending on special life circumstances, the percentage figures can be difficult to follow strictly.

For example, when I graduate from law school, I will likely be spending 50% or more of my net income on debt repayment, for at least the first year - because otherwise, it will take me a good portion of my life to pay the school debt off.

What problems do you have with these guidelines?

Giveaway: Quicken Cash Manager!

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:51:00 +0000

Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks is having another contest/giveaway! Head over to her post here to find out how you can enter to win a copy of Quicken Cash Manager 2010.

You can post on your blog for one entry, comment on her post for another entry, and tweet about her post for yet another entry! Hurry though, because the contest ends on March 2, 2010.

February Challenge Update

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:48:00 +0000

Because I've been back in my hometown doing interviews at law firms for the past week, I haven't really had to splurge on any groceries. As it stands, I've only spent money on that first grocery shop of the month, so I am still way under budget, at only $34.74 for the month. Of course, that doesn't include my eating out budget, of which I've spent $21.74 altogether this month, still leaving me with $3.26 or so (perhaps for a cup of hot chocolate or something)!

I'm really happy with my underspending, however, I realize that it's because of the special circumstances surrounding this month (interview this past week, and a week off from school starting tomorrow).

It looks like I won't be spending much more on groceries this month.

On the other hand, I bought a nice black suit at Banana Republic, a black blazer, and a black leather briefcase, all of which added up to $625, which is a whole $625 above and beyond what I had budgeted for clothes this month :$

I guess I'll have to make up for that somehow, although... they were definitely necessary items given the nature of the field I'm going into.

No dinner, no job

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:11:00 +0000

So, the big law firm I had my eye on, decided not to offer me a second interview, which would have been a reception dinner and a chance to further sell myself to the firm partners and associates. I have to say that I am very disappointed. I actually got the voicemail message, blinked, and then cried. It was of no consolation that they thought "I was very well qualified, and would like to flag my application for review in the future for an articling position" - I suspect they've uttered these words to nearly every applicant they've turned down.

Why did I want to work at this particular big law firm? In addition to the "soft" factors, like the wonderful people who I met, and the various and diverse practice areas, the pay and benefits would have been nice. Here is a small comparison of Big law firm and the two smaller firms I am still in the running for:

	Big Firm	Small Firm
Summer Salary	$850-880/wk	$700-750/wk
Articling Salary	$880-910/wk	$750-800/wk
YR1 Associate	$67,000/yr	$45,000-55,000/yr
YR2 Associate	$75,000/yr	$55,000-65,000/yr
YR3 Associate	$90,000/yr	$65,000-80,000/yr

However, just as I told my housemate yesterday when she found out she didn't get the country she wanted for her 3rd year exchange, everything happens for a reason, even if you can't see or understand the reason right this moment.

8 of the 15 firms I applied to never even responded to my application. In fact, I just found out this is typical of smaller law firms, who get hundreds of applicants, yet don't have the resources to screen, evaluate, and actually respond to unsuccessful lawyers-to-be.

I have 2 more interviews tomorrow, so I can't really let myself get caught up in the past. What's done is done. There is still more to power through.

Law Firm Interview Do's and Don't's

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:58:00 +0000

I'm heading into my first job interview at a law firm tomorrow morning, and then having my most important job interview at my favourite firm in the afternoon. You can rest assured that I have spent the day researching and preparing for these two interviews. I thought I'd share some of the most salient features and points I've picked up throughout my preparatory endeavours. It is for this reason that I call this article "Law Firm Interview Do's and Don't's".

Before the Interview, Do...
1. Shower, wear deodorant and pop a breath mint before hand. This cannot be stressed enough. If you radiate body or breath odor, the interviewer(s) will likely not be able to focus on much else.
2. Practice your "firm" handshake. Firm as in strong, not firm as in "law firm". Limp handshakes are not only physically disappointing, but some firm recruiters actually believe that they are an indication of the type of personality (strong or weak) that a candidate brings to the firm.
3. Pump yourself up. Remember that the very fact that you got the interview indicates that the firm believes you to have the intellectual capability to do their work, now they just want to see that (1) you can persuade them of this in person, and that (2) you are as sociable/socially capable as you are attractive on paper.
4. Pack emergency supplies: toothbrush and toothpaste, mints, pantyhose, a pair of "outdoor shoes" if it's winter, some cash (for parking, food etc.), tissues and hand-sanitizer (especially if you're sick).
5. Look like a million bucks. I'm not saying spend a tone of cash, but keep in mind that your hands and your face may make or break a deal. Dirty or callous hands and/or fingernails are really off-putting to a potential employer, so make sure your nails are trimmed and filed, your hands are moisturized, not scaly, and make sure your face is groomed and clean.

During the Interview, Do...
1. Make eye contact, but don't stare or be creepy about it.
2. Be a Better Version of Yourself. You've already managed to land the interview, so just smile, be polite, and turn every question which potentially prompts a negative response into a positive (i.e. if the interviewer asks what your weaknesses are, point out some "positive weaknesses" such as perfectionism, overanalytical, and detail oriented to a fault).
3. Smile, and be positive about your experiences. Avoid making negative comments about colleagues, past employers or any experiences you've had. Like a person complaining about an ex-lover, these types of comments will only leave the listener or interviewer in this case, wondering whether they will be the subject of future complaints.
4. Thank your interviewers for meeting with you to discuss your candidacy.

After The Interview, Do...
1. Send a thank you note to your interviewers. Thank them for their time and tell them you look forward to hearing from them.
2. Send a thank you email to any articling students, support staff or other individuals who gave you a tour, spent time discussing their own experiences with you, or otherwise made the interview more comfortable. Often, these individuals are consulted about their impressions of potential candidates.
3. Keep a journal of your interviewing experiences to help you prepare for future interviews. Think of it as your own personal resource manual. Possible categories to include might be: "jokes or comments that received positive feedback", "problems to avoid next time", "questions that were asked that caught you off-guard", "what people were wearing around the law firm", "qualities or achievements that the firm mentioned or was impressed with".

Don't!
1. Self-deprecate. DO NOT minimize your experiences or achievements in an effort to appear modest. You will only end up appearing to lack confidence in your own abilities.
2. Interrupt. Resist interrupting your interviewers at all costs. You will appear impatient and/or nervous.
3. Fill the Silence with filler words. Umm, like "ummm" and "uhh" and "like". You're not 14 anymore, and it's no longer cute.
4. Wear open-toe shoes if you're a woman, or anything but dress-shoes if you're a man. I know some of you will think this goes without saying, but it needs to be emphasized.
5. Memorize your answers to interview questions verbatim. Instead opt for a more natural approach to answering interview questions, say, by memorize your speaking points (i.e. Why do you want to work at this firm? Memorize "location, diverse practice areas, friendly colleagues, reputation"). You can work out the exact wording at the interview, which will translate into a less robotic, less rehearsed answer.

Are there important preparation and presentation tips I've missed? If so, drop me a line and let me know! :)

Giveaway: FREE copy of QuickTax 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:06:00 +0000

This is just a quick post to announce that Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks is giving away a copy of QuickTax 2009, and there are 3 ways of entering the contest! Head over to her blog to check out the details of this fantastic giveaway!

Note that the contest is only open to Canadian Residents.

Summering Interviews are at Hand!

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Sorry for my late post! It's been a hectic week, full of assignments, deadlines, and interview scheduling and preparations, which is all very exciting but also extremely time consuming.

So far, I've got 4 interviews for PT school-year and/or FT summer positions, all are law-related at a minimum.

I have:
-2 interviews at medium size firms in my hometown
-1 interview at a MEGA law firm in my hometown (200+ lawyers at this one firm)
-1 interview for a job in the government (this is the one I recently wrote an exam for - with a 10% pass rate!)

Well, I had the government interview this morning, and it went well, but they only gave me 10 minutes to prepare to answer 6 questions, which were convoluted and required long, detailed explanations. I did my best though, so we'll see how that turns out! :)

As for the other interviews, there are still 8 firms I haven't heard from at all, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed :$

I can't wait for all of this to be over, provided of course that I end up with a job! :)

Swagbucks Rewards!

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:46:00 +0000

I know I already posted today, but I just redeemed my swagbucks for $20 worth of Amazon.com gift certificates using my Swagbucks points, and I've been signed up with swagbucks for only a few months.

All I do is conduct some of my internet searching through the swagbucks search toolbar each day (which you can sign up for and download here). I rake in 1 or 2 swagbucks each day on average. So far, I've redeemed 180 swagbucks, or $20 in gift certificates!! And this is all without referrals or taking on a lot of promotion activity.

This is pretty crucial to achieving my money saving objectives, since this means I can order stuff (personal items, books, music, etc on the amazon.com website) all using these e-gift certificates I've earned, and then put the money I would have used to buy those away for a rainy day!

You can check out Swagbucks and sign up for it by clicking on the banner below:

Enjoy! :)

Beginning my journey into investing

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:32:00 +0000

For a few years now, I've been following and learning from other PF bloggers who emphasize the importance of learning basic investment principles, and the difference that investing your own money can make (i.e. purchasing your own stocks) vs. letting someone else invest it for you (i.e. buying mutual funds).

The major difference I perceive is that, when I contribute to my MF account and the unit price for that MF rises, I don't have the ability to pick and choose which of the stocks that forms that MF I'm going to keep and/or sell, as they all come in a neat little (indivisible) package.

I've also experimented with stock market simulation websites such as Stocksquest, and barring any emotional attachment/overpowerment, the simulation indicates I would be able to obtain a much larger return on my investments than if I bought Mutual funds.

So, Yesterday morning, I went to Scotiabank to open a trading account. The representative advised me to open a TFSA account from which to purchase stocks, saying that any capital gains would be exempt from taxes, as long as I didn't exceed the $5,000 contribution limit for the year. Little did I know, however, that the contributions I've already made this year to my Tax-free mutual fund account with ING direct actually counts towards the TFSA contribution limit.

Overall, this means, I have $3,247 left that I can contribute (or invest) through my Scotia TFSA.

I also decided on a few books I'm going to be buying in order to prepare to begin investing my own money. They are:

Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham
Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons by Seymour Schulich
Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements by Mary Buffett and David Clark.

The total for these three books at Chapters.Indigo.ca comes to $51.85, but because I'll be redeeming some of my airmiles for a $50 Chapters Indigo gift card and shipping on orders of $39 is free, I will only be paying $1.85. The money I had originally allotted to buying these books ($25 out of my budget) is now going to be redirected to savings.

I'm looking forward to reading these books and gleaning the little nuggets of information that, in my mind, will turn this $1.85 investment into much more in the long term :)

First Grocery Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:28:00 +0000

So, this morning I had a cup of Hazelnut coffee I had left over from last month (with chocolate soy milk for foam), two pieces of whole wheat bread with peanut butter (still using my $0.99 jar!) and a few scoops of Activia yogurt.

Then I went shopping to replenish food supplies...

Items I bought today:
-sweet onion
-3 golden delicious apples
-flax bread
-caramel dip
-2L skim milk
-2 x 650 g Activia Strawberry yogurt
-egg whites
-1 box of Dare chocolate chip cookies
-3 packs of Mr.Noodles
-Grillem's cheesy sausages
-medium container (450 g) of Chili with bun
-medium container (450 g) of penne with meat sauce

Total for this grocery shop = $34.74

Total for this month = $34.72/$80

Giveaway: Ninja Hook Coat Hangers by Spinning Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:48:00 +0000

While I was originally going to post today about the progress made on my February challenge, there is as of today, nothing to report. I have not gone grocery shopping yet; instead, I am subsisting solely on food already in the fridge and pantry (including that $0.99 jar of peanut butter I mentioned in an earlier post). Mmmm peanut butter...

But I digress...

I am posting tonight only to announce these cool ninja hook coat hangers being given away by Spinning Hat, and hosted by Fabulously Broke here. So make sure to visit and get as many entries in as possible!

As for my February 2010 anti-resolution challenge, I'll be posting again tomorrow night about the $80 I've allocated towards groceries for this month, but have yet to dip into!

Month-End Recap: January

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:51:00 +0000

So, I thought it would be useful to do a recap of my current academic, employment, and financial situation at the end of each month, so I can track my progress over time.

This month, I opened the door to many employment opportunities and more or less stayed on top of all of my academic responsibilities. As for my progress on the financial front, I'll let you be the judge!

This month, I:

applied for summering positions at 15 law firms in my hometown;
budgeted a year-end surplus of $3,680, which means that I will only owe $3,420 for my second year of law school (which cost a total of $25,000+);
applied for a PT law student position with the federal gov., and successfully wrote the exam (it turns out that the time commitment is actually only 15 hours/week instead of the 25 hours/week initially advertised); and
came up with a solution to my make-it-and-break-it New Year's resolutions pitfall: I will be challenging myself to reach one major objective each month, instead of one ginormous one all year.

So... Starting tomorrow, I am on the hunt to live on $80 of groceries all month. I'm a little frightened at what exactly this means I will have to eat... It will take some planning on my part, but it will be well worth it. Plus, a challenge is always fun! I am, after all, a student and would rather invest the money and watch it grow than to spend it away and watch my balance on my line of credit grow.

Also, if I end up being offered the PT job (following the interview, of course), I could potentially end up being completely debt free for the current year of law school with a little extra padding in my savings account, which is unheard of among my peers, as most are scraping approx. $10,000-15,000 in debt each and every year - even those from wealthy, financially supportive families.