How College Money Network Is Good for You

Just in case you missed my first announcement about the new, fantastic, exciting College Money Network, here’s another plug: are you in college? did you recently graduate? are you a 20-something, or are you the parent/friend/sibling of a 20-something?

Well, CMN is the PF site you can’t miss. All of the authors (Including yours truly, ahem) are either students or recent grads, with opinions and philosophies and tips and tricks that directly relate to how to manage money as a student.

To give you a sampling, here are some of my favorite posts among the CMN crew from this last week:

MFA or Bust gives some advice on how to ask for more, when it comes to college funding. Let’s cross our fingers that her savvy negotiating makes school more affordable for her! And why not use her advice to improve your own assistance package?

Broke Grad Student discusses a question almost every student asks, when considering grad school: Should you take a break between undergrad and grad school, or no? Have an opinion on that? Go weigh in!

Whether you’re a student or not, you’re probably feeling the sting of gas prices. Stephanie at Poorer Than You tells how she’s fighting the effects. Check out her post, Saving Money on Driving, One Way or Another.

College is often the time when kids first become independent, learning to do things, even manage money, on their own. Broke-Ass Student brings up an interesting question: Is Your Money Safe in the Bank?. What do you think?

A genuine highlight of my week’s reading was Laura’s post, The Best Job Hunt Post: Top 40 Links from the Web at Green Panda Treehouse. We all have to look for a job sometime; it’s just the way of things. And with today’s extremely competitive marketplace, it pays to do your homework.

Single-Step Personal Finance Challenge

One of my fellow College Money Network members, Laura at Green Panda Treehouse, tagged me and the other CMNs recently with the First-Step Personal-Finance Challenge.

Originally started by Mrs. Micah, this challenge is simple: Find one step you can take to make your financial system better or more organized.

I’ve been thinking about it, trying to decide which areas of my financial system need to be updated. There’s giving, which I overbudget for so I can live the principles I believe in, but which I sometimes struggle with and haven’t come to a conclusion over; there’s saving, which is mainly focused on my steady stream to the ER fund and continued investment in my down-payment fund; and, last, there’s spending, which I could always cut more on, honestly.

Of those three, the one that seems to have the most tangible goal-setting potential is spending.

I’ve tried specific spending challenges before: only spend XX on eating out this month, etc. The point of this challenge seems to be what all my other goals were lacking: it’s something small.

So my single step: I can only order out food once next week at work.

What about you? Wanna take the challenge?

Introducing… the College Money Network!

I’m thrilled to announce to you the launch of a brand-new PF network, set around the theme of money and college. There are six members (including yours truly), and we are college students, grad students or recent grads.

The College Money Network is a place where we’ll pool our information, giving you the best content we can, all about money, school and being a 20-something in the midst of it all.

Here are the other members (you’ll also notice a list on my sidebar):

• Broke-Ass Student || http://www.brokeass-student.com
• Broke Grad Student || http://www.brokegradstudent.com/
• Green Panda Treehouse || http://www.greenpandatreehouse.com/
• MFA or Bust || http://mfaorbust.blogspot.com/
• Poorer Than You || http://poorerthanyou.com/

It’s Saturday!

Ah, Saturdays. Don’t you just love the weekend?

I’m happy to say I survived the rest of my week, even after my crazy Wednesday. And, while I’m thrilled it’s Saturday and I can leave the office to fend for itself for a few days (or protect it from my insanity, depending on how you look at it), I’m still on-call, now with the family job, manning all my dad’s business calls for him while he’s on vacation.

While I work (and work, come Monday), here are some career-related blog posts that I enjoyed over the past few days. And, stayed tuned! Wednesday, I’ll be hosting the 21st Carnival for the Money Hackers Network, filled with some great articles–it’s not too late to submit your good stuff, too; go here!

How to Make Money This Summer for College Students at Broke Grad Student

Tweaking your resume? Here are some great action verbs to get you going, per Boston College

Woman to Woman: How to Get the Raise at Jezebel

I know a lot of people dream of walking out on their job. Green Panda Treehouse did just that. Read about it at I Resigned from my Job!

Image: Bonsai Butterfly

A Video Blog Round-Up

I’m always honored when people include me in blogging round-ups, but this time I’m also WOWed.

Randy over at Watch my Money Maker (who was so helpful when I moved this site to its own domain) has created a VIDEO round-up of his favorite PF blog posts this week. You seriously should go check it out. It’s very clever, and I’d say that even if it hadn’t mentioned me.

Thanks, Randy, and very cool.

SF Tips from a Real SF Girl!

Intro: Who better than a SF native to give you tips on the city? I am such a big fan of SF Money Musings. She’s a writer. She loves good food. She gives fabulous, frugal, fun tips on her city. We are so sympatico (and I’m probably tasting some of these bakeries right now, if all’s going well).

So here you go: you’re in for a real treat with these tips from SF Money Musings on visiting San Francisco.

I’ve been living in San Francisco for almost two years and found no shortage of pastry shops (sugar is my weakness) and places to explore by foot.

Here’s a short and relatively inexpensive guide to San Francisco from my experiences of walking several miles during the weekend.

Little Star Pizza – I’ve heard they make a deep dish pie comparable to Chicago’s. It’s also BYOB. The lines are long so either go early around 5 or 6pm or go for lunch (it’s cheaper too).

Golden Boy Pizza – This is one of my favorite late night post-hangover cure. Their foccacia-like pizza with garlic, clams, mushroom and pesto sauce will melt in your mouth. They’re small and sort of pricey but if you’re in the North Beach area late at night and need a quick fix, the pizza will hit the right spot.

Sugary foods:

Tartine – Looking for a slice of France in San Francisco? Head to this French-pastry shop in the Mission for soft, buttery ham and cheese croissants or sweet plum pies. The lines are long here also so it’s better to come here early in the week and mornings before the rush starts.

Dianda’s Italian American Pastry – I discovered Dianda’s by accident. Last summer I went to a potluck my then CPA was hosting. I was getting ready to leave mid-afternoon when one of the other guests told me to wait a bit longer. She said dessert was on its way and if I love sweets as much as I talked about them, I wouldn’t want to miss the surprise.

About 45 minutes later, a large rum-spiked cream puff cake glued together with maple syrup appeared. They call this the “St. Honore” cake, so rich, heavenly and perfect for any occasion. You have to order this one in advance. But the éclairs and cookies are perfectly acceptable substitutes for cake.

Along the same line of Italian pastries, Victoria Bakery and Stella’s Pastry in North Beach are just as stellar and a closer walk from downtown San Francisco. Victoria carries delicious lemon meringue cookies and cranberry croissants. Victoria bought Stella Pastry last year so they carry roughly the same items. The interior of Stella is so warm, friendly and a cozy place to hang out with friends and share a cup of coffee and cookies.

Good Mong Kok – This Chinese dim sum hole-in-the wall on Stockton Street makes the best plain steamed buns. And the ladies who work here are so nice and sweet. They greet you in Chinese with the highest honors, well for a young girl, at least. The steamed buns and dim sum are their specialty. They also carry other standard Chinese pastries such as pineapple red bean buns and the Chinese custard bun.

Golden Gate Bakery – I think their egg tarts are overrated. And they’re expensive at $1 each for a tiny little egg tart. Try if you must but you can get comparable ones from other bakeries in Chinatown for way less.

Tacqueria Cancun – This tacqueria is such a wonderful gem in the Tenderloin especially their cheap burritos. The plates are pricey at $7.75 so I’d stick to the burritos, most are under $5 ($5.41 with tax, technically) for a regular size one which can easily be split among two people. I love the chorizo or carne asada, tender and lightly grilled burrito, which comes with homemade chips and salsa.

Acme Bakery in the Ferry Building – No other sourdough bread in San Francisco compares except Boudin which comes close. It’s best purchased when they open at 6am – fresh off the oven. It’s best consumed plain with the exception of Cowgirl Creamery cheese such as a Humboldt fog goat cheese (another Northern California specialty). They also make sandwiches using only local ingredients at Acme including the Mt. Tam cheese.

Cowgirl Creamery – This place is like the Wal-Mart of cheese. They have what seems like a million varieties to serve your pleasure including the Rogue Blue cheese which combined with macaroni makes for a light dinner.

Ferry Building Farmer’s Market - On Saturday, the Ferry Building turns into a gigantic (several parking lot sizes) farmers market. You will find generous samples to feed your hungry bellies from large plump red strawberries to unique varieties of fruits that sound strange. The market is good for sampling and browsing. Unfortunately it is severely overpriced, expensive and caters to tourists.

So by now you’ve probably had too many samples at the market and need to walk off those excess pounds. San Francisco has the luxury of being a small but urban city. Walking will allow you to see, hear and experience more of San Francisco. Don’t ride the MUNI unless you enjoy watching the bus driver make every single stop on every block in the neighborhood. Walking will get you there much faster and you’ll discover all kinds of interesting places.

A walk to Coit Tower climbing massive amount of stairs is a fun exercise with a group of friends. Start at Montgomery Street BART station and walk straight for about 10 blocks. You’ll see nothing but big empty buildings and some restaurants. You’re on the right track. Once you walk up the hill, you’ll pass the Scientology Church but stay on path and continue until you reach Broadway Street. At Broadway Street make a left past strip clubs and walk one block to find the set of stairs to Coit Tower. The signs will point you there and once you reach the top, you’ll find gorgeous views of The City. It’s also a nice lunch stop to stop and take in the sights. (Note from GG: We are SO doing this!)

City Lights Bookstore – This is a fun place to stop on your way back from Coit Tower. It is THE spot if you’re into poetry, the BEAT generation and literary adventures such as chap books or obscure magazines.

Popscene 330 Ritch Street – On Thursday nights, this little club/dive in SOMA lets you relive the 80s with other 18 and older club goers. It’s a scenester and hipster hangout. You’ll find boys dressed in Fred Perry polo shirts with the collars popped up and in skin-tight jeans. The girls wear their Nicole Richie big shade sunglasses and big billowy dresses with fake pearls. You can hear and check out the latest up and coming bands here before they become mainstream. And the cover is usually less than $10 which is a bargain for a bit of true indie treasure. After the bands leave, the DJ’s spin 80s, Brit pop, new wave, shoegaze and all sorts of random tunes suitable for dancing. The cover charge is $5 if you’re over 21 after the bands leave so if you only want to dance and skip checking out the bands, that’s another option.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art – This museum features a collection of modern and contemporary art. Their exhibitions and collections are interesting and thought-provoking depending on how you view art. Frida Kalho is on display including a collection of her life history with husband Diego Rivera.

DeYoung Museum – This is one of my favorite museums in San Francisco. Chihuly, whose collection of stained art is massive and colorful. There are videos throughout the museum that demonstrate the entire process and his studio in Tacoma. His creativity and passion for stained glass shows clearly in the displays.

Spend less time in Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. There’s not much to see or do except buy overpriced souvenirs. There’s an In-N-Out burger in Fisherman’s Wharf, home of the infamous criss-cut fries and animal-style burgers.

SF Tips from Kim!

Intro: I’m a big fan of Kim’s Kitchen Sink. Kim’s awesome. She works at Google, she likes lists and she makes me laugh. And as a Cali native, Kim was quick to help me out with San Francisco tips for my upcoming trip. PLUS: even though she’s on her big NY trip, she was also quick to help me out with a guest post. (Thanks, Kim!)

So here you go: tips from Kim on visiting San Francisco:

Grad Girl asked me to write a little guest post while she is on vacation, so here it is: a list of my favorite touristy and non-touristy, pricey and frugal-friendly places to visit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ok, so I don’t know TOO much about SF, because I live in Berkeley, which is across the bay, and I don’t venture into the city all that often. However, here’s some of my advice…

Restaurants:

It’s very touristy, but you should visit the Boudin Bakery at Fisherman’s Wharf. Honest to goodness San Francisco sourdough, and I think there are factory tours and such. Even just checking out the store is cool — they have the bread in baskets circling around the ceiling on a track.
Of course, Ghirardelli square (which is very close to Fisherman’s Wharf) if you like chocolate…again, touristy, but omg their ice cream sundaes…
The Carnelian Room - at the top of the Bank Of America building, it’s the highest public viewing point in SF. There’s a bar, where drinks around all in the $8-$10 range (I recommend the “Girl Scout Cookie,” and The Boy says they also make a very good “Perfect Manhattan”), but the view is spectacular on a clear night.
• If you like seafood, and want to splurge on a very expensive meal, I’d go for Farralon. You can easily spend $80-$100 per person (entrees in the $20-$30 range), but the food and the atmosphere are spectacular.

Cool attractions/things to do:

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Exploratorium (a lot of it is geared towards kids, but it’s in an absolutely stunning area, and the exhibits are really fun)
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (the de Young and the Legion of Honor)
Theatre Bay Area has discounts and information for all kinds of theatre in the bay - you might want to check out a show or two, and this is a good way to find cheaper tickets.
You’ll probably want to check out Haight/Ashbury, if you’re interested in the whole hippie side of San Francisco.
It might be fun to do a walking tour, or even a bus tour, just to get acquainted with it all. There are a ton of options for tours, depending on what your interests are.
• Golden Gate Park - museums, gardens, and it’s also just generally a lovely park.

And of course, if you want to venture across the Bay to Berkeley/Oakland (it’s only about a 25-35 minute BART ride, depending on your start-stop points), I would recommend Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Zachary’s Pizza (deep dish deliciousness), The Albatross (a bar with board games, $0.25 popcorn, and pub trivia on Sunday nights), Fenton’s Creamery and Top Dog.

Enjoy your trip to the Bay Area!!

I’m leaving for Cali tomorrow!

I can’t believe it’s been three months since I posted about my upcoming Cali trip. Tomorrow is the day I take off, and I’m so excited!

Having saved my full goal of $1000, I am financially prepared to take in all this long weekend has to offer. San Fransisco, here I come!

Here’s the breakdown of costs, so far:
*Flights, $54 taxes (My dad gave us his credit card points again, meaning free flights! I didn’t factor this into my $1000 budget because I paid for it a while ago.)
*Hotels, $330 for my share of four nights in a four-star hotel (purchased through a TravelZoo promotion.)

More to come! And while I’m gone, I thought you might enjoy hearing advice from Cali natives in the know. Kim of Kim’s Kitchen Sink will be guest-posting with her SF tips on Friday, and SF Money Matters will be giving her stellar advice on Monday. Enjoy, and see ya back here next week!

New Site: PF Buzz

Go see what the buzz is about at PF Buzz (wow, lame, I know. just couldn’t resist!) It’s a new social media site intended to showcase the best personal-finance and money-related articles. Created by a PF blogger for PF bloggers, it seems like a great new place to find quality info.

I’ve submitted some of my favorite articles; why don’t you, too?

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.”