Article Tip

I just read a fantastic post at Forest on Finance, “Should I Be in Sweden or, Thoughts on Travel.” Here’s a clip, and you can go here to read the rest.

“All that to say, as savers, aren’t we a bit of risk-takers? Are we denying some instant gratification now to hopefully be gratified in the future? That’s the point, I suppose. But we’re not guaranteed that future - does that bother anyone else? It’s a risk, but a calculated one, I guess. Yes, the odds are with us that we will survive to retirement or whenever and then we will have the last laugh. They say youth is wasted on the young; are they right? Will I have the vitality to travel the world when I’m retired? How hard is it to even think about retirement when you’re in your twenties? Do you ever feel weird because you just got into the workforce and you’re already considering your exit plan while your friends are out spending their paychecks like there’s no tomorrow?

And further: if we’re savers now, won’t we always be? How will we know when we’ve saved enough? When will we start our spending? For me personally, I have no idea. That bothers me. I don’t like not knowing.”

New Grad: 5 Things I Wish I’d Known

I finished grad school just a year ago, so I remember really well what it was like to search for The Job that would correspond with your major. I also remember that it was a little scary.

So Grads, this is for you. Here are five things I wish I’d known then that I know now. (And, congratulations!)

1) It’s OK if you don’t have your job lined up in March.
There are always those people who land their future jobs months ahead of graduation. If that happens for you, great. If it doesn’t, don’t stress. A lot of smaller, good companies will hire when they need people, not ahead of time. You aren’t out of options. Finish school strong and focus on growing your skills/accomplishments.

2) Your situation will be unique.
No matter what anyone, including I, tell you, know that your situation will be unique in a lot of ways. I remember thinking that my job-hunting process should go a certain way. Here’s a secret: yours will be its own, from timing to interactions to your own perceived success rate.

3) Use every resource, and trust the process.
Think creatively about what resources are available to you, and use all of them. Does your school have a career center? Do you have friends/contacts in either HR (advice, resume tips) or your industry (networking)? What/how many job-hunting resources are you using? Have you made an online portfolio? Whatever you’re doing, look for additional ideas.

4) It helps to have an outlet.
Personally, I got into PF blogging during the whole job-hunting phase of my life. It was nice to have an anonymous outlet to write about interviews, job offers, decisions, etc. I also talked with my family frequently (but I’m pretty sure they got sick of it after all while!). So have you thought about PF blogging? It’s a great distraction.

5) When The Job comes (and it will), don’t forget the people who helped you.
The professors, your friends, the contacts/professionals who did something (however small or large) to help… thank them. Even if their particular advice didn’t get you your job, thank them. Connections are invaluable.

$4.19

More than the cost of a medium-sized cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee.

More than four candy bars from the vending machine at work.

More than a round-trip ride on Chicago’s El.

More than a milkshake.

More than a bottle of nail polish or a new chapstick.

= The cost, right now and climbing, of ONE gallon of gasoline in my neighborhood.

What are prices like by you?

On Fixing my Car and, Loving my Dad

Tonight, while driving home from work, my windows down and my radio playing, I realized my car was putting out a strong burning smell: the kind an older car has when its converters or mechanisms aren’t up to the latest environmentally friendly standards. Scorching chemicals, that’s what it smelled like, assaulting the air around me.

Thing is, my car is a 2001 Volkswagon Jetta TDI (diesel), not a 1974 beater. And it’s been in the shop three times in the past month, for this same burning smell, for a check engine light, for revving too fast when driving low speeds. Each time, the mechanics told us the same thing: we tested everything, and nothing’s wrong.

When I got home, my dad called the dealership where we take my car, and they agreed to look at it ASAP. Any plans I had for the evening were out–coffee with a friend, catching up on some e-mails, leisurely relaxing at home. Dad drove Jetta; I drove a family car. Dealership said they’ll keep it for a few days, and hopefully they’ll figure it out.

Possibilities? The catalytic converter ($1200 expense). This is what I hope it is, because VW is actually replacing these at no charge because of some faulty manufacturing. Something else (unknown cost). This concerns me because it could be anything (or “nothing”).

Dad hard-balled with the customer service lady, telling her we’re (he’s) not paying them to fix what they should’ve found in the very beginning. This is a waste of time, of energy, etc. She seemed unsympathetic, but I know Dad.

As cliche as this all is, is times like these I think how thankful I am for my dad. He’s given up three full days of his time already, taking my car in and waiting for them to fix it. And no matter how many times I’ve asked him to give me the bills (!), he won’t let me pay for it.

On top of everything else he’s given me, from braces to college education to 25 years of love, he sacrifices his time and energy to help me when I need him. I know a lot of people say parents spoil their children by giving them so much, and maybe that’s true. But, speaking as the one who’s received again and again, I am nothing but thankful.

Freelancing 101 or, How to Tick off Your Editor

GET YOUR WORK IN ON TIME.

Simple enough. So why did my new writer, when I called her 12 minutes after her assignment deadline had passed, tell me “It’s almost done”? Why, after my e-mailing her, calling her, repeating over and over again 5 PM, 5 PM, 5 PM, It has to be in by 5 PM! did her work come in at 5:28 PM?

And why, when I asked her about this, did she say: Well, it was almost in on time?

Almost = Not Good Enough.

To the 508 Number Calling my Phone:

Let me save you the time and trouble of calling my cell phone yet again. No, I do not want a better interest rate on my credit card—the credit card you don’t know the name of. No, I’m not going to call by the deadline you’ve given me. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

If you knew me at all, you’d know that I pay off my cards, in full, every time I get a bill. I use them to get bonus points and to track my spending, not to defer payments. Low interest rate, high interest rate: they’re all the same to me, because they never get used.

OK? Got it? So tell the other companies—the pyramid schemes, especially—that I’m not worth calling. I’m not going to give you anything, listen to anything, tell you anything. Oh, and seriously: I’m on the do-not-call list.

WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME?

Giving Words

I was given two thank-you notes this past week, one personal and one professional. The personal one was handwritten by my best friend, after her family visited, and the other, by the professor who invited me to speak in his class. Totally different people, totally different relationships with me, but one thing in common: kind and encouraging.

What do you think: Why is it that a well-thought-out thank-you note can make someone feel so good? And, why is it, even when we know this about the power of kind words (giving words), we are so slow to take time to write them?

I signed up with PayPerPost!

Inspired by Krystal, I have signed up with payperpost, a company that links bloggers with sponsors. From what I understand, there are offers based on Google PR and RealRank, and I can accept published, applicable opportunities. Then I write a post and get paid, via PayPal.

So I’m going to try it, just once in a while, and see what I, and you, readers, think. (Let me know if it’s annoying/interesting/something else.) I don’t want this site to become boring or uninteresting, and I don’t want it to seem overridden with advertising. I’m only going to try this.

When I originally started my blog, I never dreamed I’d use it for money-making purposes, both because I didn’t want to and because I didn’t think sponsors would be interested. Now that I have my own domain and have been blogging for more than a year, I think this is worth testing.

Also, it aligns with my financial goals, which I really should post about sometime soon:

1. It will bring in (small) additional income.
2. It will supplement my savings since I’ve decided, for now, that any PPP money will go directly to one form of savings or another.

Since this is, after all, a personal-finance blog, I feel I kind of have to say yes to an opportunity that does those two things.

5 Things to Be Happy about Right Now

1. Fabulous food blogs like Orangette
2. Beautiful photography like at 3191, a very, very cool site with daily photos from two different places
3. Long daylight hours
4. Things that make me laugh like cookie Popsicles
5. Thursday night TV–did you see The Office or LOST?

On Lunches

OK. So I had a good, long run of always making my lunches and brown-bagging my way through the first several months at my job. Then something happened–something for which I blame the complete change in my habit: Takeout-Taxi.

One day, we thought we’d try it, based on the coupons we kept getting. And we liked it.

My department has developed this horrible, wonderful habit of ordering food. Sometimes we have it delivered. Sometimes we take turns picking it up. Sometimes we spend our whole half-hour lunch break driving there and back together. Potluck Thursdays have been awesome, but the ring leader is leaving (so sad! this salary freeze stinks). So we’re back where we started, wanting to order out.

Every day is like another decision: should I order out, or should I eat what I packed? The nearby restaurants are endless, and it’s fun. The thing is that I often feel guilty because it’s not something I’m planning for ahead of time. OK, here’s what I know:

1) Making my lunch saves me money, takes time and tastes good (usually).
2) Ordering out costs money, saves time and tastes good (basically always).

I don’t know.

In trying to decide what I should do about this, I looked through my Mint records. And this is a great example of why it pays to track my spending: I’ve only spent $473 on eating out since January, which, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t so bad. I don’t count treating someone else to food/meal/coffee as eating out, but as a gift. So having only spent $78ish* dollars a month on average (when $85 is my budget), I think this is OK.

(*Wow, I can’t do math. Why was I thinking we were in the sixth month of the year? I actually have spent about $94/month, which is still fairly close to my budget, but I need to be careful about going over. May’s not even over yet!)