One Big Mortar Board

April Net Worth (+33.5%) and Trip Spending Roundup

2008-05-08T23:44:00.006-04:00

Better late than never, I suppose. This would have come out earlier had work not sent me on a SUPERSPECIAL assignment...that turned out to be completely pointless. For an additional commute of 2 hours, I did testing that required 1 hour. Oh well, at least they covered my cab fare.

Anyway...

Net Worth

Cash and Cash Equivalent

My savings accounts continue to increase despite ever-lower interest payments. Steady saving means a lot.

The slightly higher checking balance was due to one fewer calendar day more than anything else. Of course, much of my spending went to...the trip.

For the record:

$104 on toiletries and accessories. Yes, I already had a dress, but the bra I wanted to wear didn't go with the neckline and the shoes I had have always been cut too low in the vamp. If I was going to be standing on a ship, even in port, I wanted comfy shoes. Add in some shopping for TSA-approved health and beauty products and there you are.
$12 on food. The rehearsal dinner and wedding were covered for all guests, and my aunts and uncles picked up the tab for some of the other meals. I really only needed to cover dinner at the airport.
$140 on lodging. This was less than half the cost of the room, even with the wedding crowd price break, but my aunt wouldn't accept more, because we'd been booked into a suite and I took the pullout while she got the king-size bed. Of course, by doing that, I got to be in another room and away from her amazingly loud snoring, so I think I made out pretty well.
$58 on transportation. My uncle only had me pay for the gas and tolls for the rental van; I was chaffeuring people all weekend and was able to return it to the airport for my aunt and uncle (who were going on the week-long cruise). I also needed a cab ride when I got back into Dulles.
$22 on gifts. I picked up some souvenirs for some friends who will get a nice surprise come Christmas. And I got my aunt a giant mug for her shipboard beverage needs.
$27 on incidentals. My aunt asked me to run some last minute errands for her as we were leaving, and I also covered her baggage fee and tip at the airport since she had not yet gotten cash. This is part of the reason that she covered some of my meals on the trip.

This came up to a grand total of: $363. In my trip account, I had a balance of: $456. So that's pretty good. I ended up realizing that I could cash flow $63 of it and just pulled out $300 for my expenses.

Investments

Finally a month of good returns! I'm quite pleased by this. And I'm glad I didn't lock in by withdrawing my mutual fund at the lower value. Whether I'll still feel that way in two months is an open question.

Loan Balances

Just two months to go and my credit union loan (tier 1) is all PAID OFF. Whee.

Other Debt

This looks like a big jump, but that's entirely accounted for by the fact that I bought a plane ticket to visit my dad for my birthday in a few months. I need a real vacation (Christmas was spent taking care of my dying grandfather, and my last proper break before that was a long weekend visiting my grandparents LAST MARCH). So I looked around, saw where gas prices were going, and realized that locking in a lower fare now is almost guaranteed to be cheaper than paying for gas and lodging there and back. I'm pulling $150 out of my trip fund, and $180 from the overdraft fund to cover it. I'll just contribute the amount I'd normally put in the trip fund back to the overdraft fund until I'm back at my usual threshold. It won't take more than two or three pay periods, and it is SO, SO needed.

The Month Ahead

I already had an outing to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, which mapgirl described better than I could. Yay for local lamb and local honey, and yay for spending time with good friends without spending too much money.

Next week, however, will be different. I just found out that my aunt made reservations at a highly regarded (and expensive) restaurant. I'm meant to take this as an advance birthday present, but I'm still going to pull out a fair bit of cash to cover the tip.

On the more frugal side, free Shakespeare is coming up! I'm looking forward to it.

And I'll be working so damn much this month I probably won't get out much more than that.

Then come June, my expenses shift. Rent goes up, loan payments go down. I'll still have more wiggle room after all is said and done, but it will be a good time to evaluate how far I've come.

March Net Worth (+7.9%) and 2008 Financial Goals Update

2008-04-08T10:27:00.002-04:00

Net Worth

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Between a few more days of expenditures and a delightful winery tour, I spent a little more than in February.

Investments

Eh. I'm buying on sale. I have many years left. I refuse to worry about minor downticks.

I am trying to decide if I'm going to take my mutual fund out earlier than planned (I haven't contributed anything to it for years, and was going to send it to the condo fund when ready to buy; I'm trying to decide if I'd be worse off risking further downturns in the market or paying capital gains without the mortgage interest deduction to offset it).

Loan Balances

I didn't make the same progress as in February, but I'm spending much less on interest payments. So yay.

Other Debt

Still paying every two weeks. Still keeping my balances low. That said, Chase finally increased my credit limit, so I'll have room to put a few more recurring bills on my card and still stay under my personal "10 percent of limit" threshold. Hopefully this will mean faster rewards.

The Month Ahead

My cousin's wedding is near the end of the month, but I should be able to cover everything out of my trip fund. (I already paid for my dress and plane ticket.) Since I exclude my trip fund from my net worth (if I tell myself those funds aren't fungible, then I have to use them for fun), this should pass by with nothing but good memories.

2008 Goals Update

My goals were as follows:

1. Reach a positive net worth. Since I'm 48% of the way there already, I think I can safely say that I'm on track. Windfalls are helpful.

2. Continue to pursue homeownership. I've talked to a realtor and we agree that early winter 2009 seems like a reasonable time to start looking. With that in mind, I set up a 10-month lease (for the same monthly rate as a 12!) to end next April 1. If I feel confident next February, then I can give notice or go month-to-month. If I feel less confident, I can renew at a longer term.

I do still need to call my friend's fiance back, as he's a mortgage broker and can give me a sense of my options. I will do that next week. So I'll rate this a pass.

3. Push my emergency fund up to 3 months' worth of expenses. I've recalculated my base expenses given my rent increase and my lower insurance premiums. At my current contribution levels, I should definitely manage this by December, and possibly by November.

On track for three out of three. Not too shabby.

I stayed home sick today.

2008-03-25T19:43:00.003-04:00

Since I went back to bed and slept until nearly noon, I think that was the right call.

On the brighter side, here are some good financial things that have happened to me lately.

1) I convinced my leasing office to give me a ten-month lease at the same monthly rate as the year-long one (still a bump from my current rate, but not out of line). This will give me more flexibility next year if I decide I'm ready to condo-shop.

2) I had some gift cards and gifts from Christmas that I STILL hadn't used or returned, so I went out the other weekend, merrily spending OPM, and came home with a cute aqua twinset and a desperately needed filing cabinet.

3) I found out that I AM actually eligible for USAA, and switched my car insurance. I'll be saving about $120 over six months! I also switched my renter's insurance (even though the rates were pretty much a wash) because I like bundling bills as much as possible. I'm not sure if I'll use their banking, as I am very fond of my credit union, but it's nice to have the option.

There are a few minor annoyances I'm facing, but these things helped take away much of the sting.

And staying home and getting some rest (and baking some TJ's banana bread) make things seem better for tomorrow.

February Net Worth (+38.2%)

2008-03-03T22:19:00.001-05:00

(Before I get to the explanation, I should explain that I have been Websensed at work. I can't visit any Blogger or Typepad blogs, including my own, and even some independently hosted sites are blocked as "personal sites." And I've been so busy that coming home after work and blogging has just not been my priority. I had to get caught up on The Wire before Sunday's finale, after all. Hee. At any rate, I can read RSS feeds, but by and large I cannot comment on their related entries. So I'm not ignoring anyone.)

It's fairly easy to get a double digit kick to one's net worth if one can throw five grand at one's debt. I still managed to make improvements outside of that, however.

Personal Property

KBB dropped the value of my car again. And it was also time for my "forced adjustment" to my computer's valuation. Still, my personal property becomes an ever smaller piece of my net worth picture.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

After having three pay periods in January, I expected my checking balance to be smaller. I shifted a lot of money from my overdraft account to my efund, as well as making regular contributions. And I sent a small piece of my tax refund to my condo fund.

Investments

I guess I contributed more than I lost in my retirement plan. So yay. The mutual fund could (and did, under prior management) perform much worse.

Loan Balances

As I said, $5K at my credit union loan made for a big hit, but my regular payments took a bite as well.

Other Debt

Thanks to my new "pay every two weeks" plan, I'm keeping my balances fairly low while still charging enough to earn some nice rewards. All of the charges here were accrued AFTER the statement date closed; I already paid off my balances-due-in-March in full.

The Month Ahead

Lots of family birthdays this month, but for most of them, a card will suffice. I've already bought a small gift for one of the others.

And since I'm going to be crazy busy at work, I'll have fewer opportunities to go out and spend. So things should be fairly smooth. We'll see.

Emigrant to HC: You're stuck with me, baby.

2008-02-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

So, I've had a long (and fairly fruitful) relationship with EmigrantDirect, the bank holding my condo fund. While never the leader of the pack in rates, they remained reasonably competitive for a long time. More importantly, they covered my other needs for online savings: good beneficiary service, a clean and usable interface, the ability to use BOTH direct deposit and ACH for transactions, and prompt issuance of statements.

But in the wide-spread rate cuts of the past few months, they've slipped precipitously, down to 3.6%. So I thought I'd take a look at other options. I started, as you do, with BankDeals' weekly summary. Surely I could find something comparable?

I found 31 banks offering rates better than Emigrant. That seems like a lot.

* ~~OneUnited - 5.15% (min $1K)($50 bonus)~~
* ~~Countrywide - 4.75% (min $10K)~~
* ~~EverBank - 4.51% ($1.5K min), 3mo promo~~
* ~~Corus Bank - 4.32% MMA (min $10K)~~
* ~~Washington Mutual - 4.25% (requires checking)~~
* ~~Grand Yield Direct - 4.25% (min $2.5K)~~
* ~~WTDirect - 4.15% ($10K min)~~
* ~~Zions Bank - 4.08% MMA, outside of Utah, (min $1K)~~
* ~~UmbrellaBank - 4.02% MMA (min $1K)~~
* ~~Capital One - 4.00% (Savings) (min $10K)~~
* ~~Citibank - 4.00%, requires checking account and bill pay usage~~
* ~~BankUnited - 4.00% (min $5K)~~
* ~~Heartland Bank Direct - 3.80%, ($500 min)~~
* ~~Doral Bank Direct - 3.75% (min $1K)~~
* ~~FirstFedDirect - 3.75% (min $1K) (closed to CA residents)~~
* ~~E-LOAN - 3.75% ($5K min), account review~~
* ~~CapitalOne/Costco - 3.70% MMA (min $5K, Costco members only, $50 deal for exec. members)~~

But as you can see, a lot of these offers were eliminated on their face because I refuse to accept more than $200 as a minimum threshold (I'm going to take most of this money OUT eventually), and because I refuse to set up another checking account.

I was left with:

* Century Bank Direct - 4.54% (min $100)--No ACH transfer system.
* Provident Direct - 4.50%--No ACH transfer system.
* GCF Bank - 4.47% (min $100), 3-mo promo--Only a promo rate, and no ACH transfer system.
* ETrade Bank - 4.40%, post ($25 bonus)--Great, but I already hold an account with them. I believe in Murphy's Law, so I don't like having all of my savings in one place.
* Alliant Credit Union - 4.35% (min $100)--I don't appear to meet eligibility requirements.
* Flagstar - 4.25% MMA--Hard credit pull and rapid rate drops.
* Savings Square - 4.25%--No direct deposit, just ACH.
* iGobanking - 4.20%--Reportedly a very slow opening process.
* ShoreBank - 4.15% ($25 bonus)--Potential hard credit pull, and NO beneficiary designation (a total dealbreaker).
* AmTrustDirect - 4.10% (e-Savings)--Hard credit pull.
* M&T Bank - 4.05%--No ACH transfer system and a hard credit pull.
* AmboyDirect - 4.00% post ($25 bonus)--No information on direct deposit.
* UFB Direct - 4.00%--No free ACH transfers, potential hard credit pull.
* FNBO Direct - 3.85%--For that differential, is it even worth it?

I'd consider iGobanking if the opening were better, AmTrustDirect if it didn't have a hard credit pull (why should you ding my credit score if I'm loaning YOU money?!?), and AmboyDirect if I could do direct deposit. But none of these seem like a perfect substitute that would merit risking three or four days of lost interest.

If you have experience with any of the three, or have an account somewhere that I should consider, let me know. Otherwise, I guess I'm staying with ED.

When $5,000 shows up in your mailbox.

2008-02-08T09:51:00.000-05:00

It was a bit of a surprise when I opened the envelope last night, although it would be impossible to pretend that I didn't know a check was coming. Before my grandfather passed away, he explicitly expressed an intention for his four grandchildren to receive the funds left in his checking account. (That and all other assets were included in his trust, so my uncle and my father could perform transactions on his behalf.) Still, I knew some of the money had to go to funeral expenses, and I was expecting less than this.

And of course, it's all somewhat fraught, because it reminds me how readily he donated money during his lifetime.

I still want to do something worthwhile with the money. So I'm sending all of it towards the first tier of my credit union loan, which should allow me to eliminate that debt by the end of June, 15 months ahead of schedule. Why?

It will make the biggest impact on my cash flow. This loan is the single largest fixed expense I have after rent. Even though I'll be paying more on the second tier of the loan when the first one is paid off, I'll still free up about $150 a month for savings or other loan payments. (Or, given that I'll probably sign another lease to start in June, increased rent.)

It will eliminate my highest-rate debt. The loan was made at a quite reasonable 5.9% APR, but there's a gap between that and 5% on my Perkins loan, and a still greater gap between that and my 2.75% rate for my Direct loan. And of course, tier 2 of the credit union loan is at zero percent. (Long story.)

It will improve my debt-to-income ratio for when I purchase a condo. As I said, $150 a month will no longer be earmarked toward paying off debt, which will make the lenders (not to mention ME) more confident about my ability to manage a mortgage and the other attendant costs. Eliminating my Perkins loan entirely would lower my monthly obligations by less than $50 a month, which is far less impactful.

I could contribute this to the condo fund directly, of course. Boosting my downpayment would be nice, and I'll be saving still more to that end after paying off this loan. But lowering my monthly debt payments is probably more important as a first-time buyer.

And finally, it will give me more "outs" in an emergency. My emergency fund is based on continuing to make all my loan payments at present levels. However, should said emergency last longer than a few months, I have fewer options for this loan than I do with others. Borrowers can request that federal student loans be granted a deferral or forbearance. My tier 2 loan could presumably be dropped back to present payment levels in a real emergency. With this one, however, it's "make your payment every month."

Now, in a worst-case scenario, I could initiate a balance transfer from my credit card for the much smaller outstanding loan and give myself more time to get back on my feet. I have no intention of actually doing this, mind you. But it gives me comfort to know that I now have the option.

I think my grandfather would be glad to know that I used this money for something meaningful. And I think it will take a lot of worries away from me.

January Net Worth (+8.6%)

2008-02-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

So basically the story is: Less liquid assets, BOO! More liquid assets, YAY!

Personal Property

KBB dropped the value of my car a tiny bit.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I benefited from three pay periods and getting my locality pay adjustment in the last pay period of the month.

My online savings accounts benefited from shifting over the excess in my overdraft fund and from the extra $200 contribution I made to my condo fund (apportioned from the "extra" pay period).

I decided to wait to boost my savings allotment (I shoot to have my overall short-term savings be 10% of my gross or higher) until the first pay period in February to give me some breathing room, but I still think this was a healthy increase.

Investments

Eh. I guess it could have been worse?

Loan Balances

Beyond the usual payments, I also made an extra $200 principal payment to my Perkins. This is at a slightly lower rate of interest than my credit union loan, but it hastens the payoff date by a significant amount.

Other Debt

This doesn't really tell the story at all. I charged a lot, paid some of it off with holiday funds, charged some more for clothes and a trip to Philly, paid almost all of it off with my extra paycheck, then charged some more for my prescription sunglasses (which will be their own entry very soon), and was left awaiting reimbursement. If not for that, my new charges would have been paid almost to zero, well before the new statement date.

I think I've decided that I'll start making a payment twice a month, once mid-statement and once after the statement closes (excluding reimbursement payments, which I'll just send over when I get them). This should help keep me on track and keep my balance below 10% of my credit limit. I'm already earning some decent cash rewards.

The Month Ahead

I've already gotten through a big birthday bash weekend (and stayed largely under my spending target). I'll be attending a play, but since I already paid for both tickets (half-price!), my dinner will largely come out of being reimbursed by my friend.

My tax refund should hit the appropriate accounts within a week or two, which will boost my savings.

With my pay raise, I finally feel like I have breathing room to deal with all my flexible expenses. I still have to plan for certain purchases (I think I should get one more pair of shoes sometime in the near future), but I'm not stressed. And that's a good thing.

Why is my refund $70 more than I expected?

2008-02-04T11:17:00.000-05:00

As I've said previously, I make an effort to get a small refund on my taxes, "small" meaning approximately $50 or less.

In order to accomplish this, I developed a withholding worksheet in Excel, which, coupled with the IRS withholding calculator, meant that I should not have expected more than $70 back. (Its final determination was that "any refund or balance due should be less than $50", and I pushed in a little extra to make sure I was on the positive side of the ledger.)

Everything appeared to be calculated correctly. So why, when I ran TaxAct, did my refund amount come out to $143?

Because the student loan interest phase-out range moved up $5,000. My AGI (thanks to retirement contributions) was solidly within the range instead of approaching the very top, so I was able to take more of the deduction than I would have otherwise.

I'm not really fussed about the lost interest, since most of the extra contributions were made in December. So I'd still have paid as much or more to make an electronic payment or to mail the return with delivery confirmation.

And I'd like to say that I will be saving this, but I'm planning on sending $100 of it to my travel fund in anticipation of my cousin's wedding. The remainder will go to my condo fund.

At any rate, if you do your taxes by hand, make sure that you account for the higher phase-out range. You may be able to deduct more than you thought!

I don't clip coupons. I chop them.

2008-01-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

As I've said before, I'm not exactly the resource for devotees of extreme frugality.

I like convenience. And I don't like paper.

All of that means that dealing with Sunday circulars for the sake of 75 cents off my pineapple-orange-banana juice is really not my thing.

But I DO approach certain retail transactions with coupons, given an appropriately low level of effort and a relatively high percentage haircut. Ergo, the coupon chop.

Chop 1: Email subscriptions

I have a junk mail account that I use for very little other than retail registrations. Currently, I'm subscribed to the lists for a major bookseller, a clothing retailer, a floral delivery service, and a few others. A lot of these offers are not worth downloading, but periodically you'll get the "25% off items already on sale" email, and then it's on. The best I've seen for floral delivery is 15% off, but given the price of flower arrangements (which I sometimes send as gifts), that's not too insignificant. Fast to read, easy to delete, and occasionally sizable discounts: What's not to like?

Chop 2: The Entertainment Book

I received my local edition as a gift last year, and it was FANTASTIC. The books don't just cover restaurants and admission tickets (although there are plenty of those). Groceries, car maintenance, and pet supplies are items that most people are almost guaranteed to purchase anyway (and those help the book pay for itself right off). Of course, being a more-than-occasional movie viewer, I snap up the discounted ticket coupons. And I'll be renting a car later this year, so getting the third day free will be a nice bonus. Since I got a discounted price on this year's book (see Chop 1), I expect that I will be able to get three times my money out of it just on groceries and car servicing. And the tidy little book means that the coupons don't get lost.

Chop 3: Google

If there is a store with a web presence, searching on "[name of store] coupon" will almost invariably turn up decent discounts for online or store purchases. I'm currently in the market for new sunglasses (using my grace period for my flex spending). I like Lenscrafters. A two-second search landed me with a "$100 off frames" coupon, which will mean that most of my spending will come from the flex account and NOT my pocket. There's also retailmenot, but I have to admit I haven't used it much.

There are obvious caveats: Don't purchase things you wouldn't normally buy just because you have a coupon, and don't let the fact that one store offers a coupon on an item keep you from comparing to another store's regular price.

But for big-ticket items, these three simple methods give me a fair amount of bang for the buck.

Goal Checkup for 2007 and New Goals for 2008

2008-01-03T14:17:00.000-05:00

So, I set up some goals for myself at the beginning of 2007. How'd I do?

1. Improve my condo fund to at least $8K. Done, if later than anticipated. I had originally planned to use some funds from my extra July paycheck to boost this, but my car needed some suspension work done. So I used part of my December bonus to push me over the top.
2. Take a homeownership class. Done. I have to call and get it renewed for next year, which is when I will at least start TALKING to lenders and realtors, even if I decide (as is increasingly more likely) that I'd like to keep saving into 2009.
3. Limit snack/cash withdrawal trips to CVS to once a week. Heh heh heh. This was a dismal failure, but I DID make fewer trips, I think.

And for 2008, my goals are:

1. Reach a positive net worth. Based on my December NW statement, I am N dollars in the red. If I continue to make regular bi-weekly contributions to my short-term savings at the levels I do now, that should give me A dollars (35.6% of the total). If I continue to make principal payments on my student loans at current levels, that will lead to B dollars by the end of the year (32.0% of the total). (It is likely that I will inherit some money from my grandfather, which could push B up. But I don't want to plan on that.) That leaves 32.4% to come from contributions and earnings from my retirement savings. Divided by 27 pay periods (there is an extra pay period this year), that is less than my current contribution and match level, so it should be quite feasible.

So, to make this SMART: I will improve my net worth by N dollars, by making bi-weekly contributions to savings at my current level or higher, by making monthly payments towards debt reduction at my current fixed payments or higher, and by taking advantage of my retirement savings plan and making bi-weekly contributions there, which will get me to my goal by the end of the year.

2. Continue to pursue homeownership. This does NOT mean that I will actually buy a place in 2008. It does mean that I will a) meet with lenders to determine what I can afford based on current salary and savings, b) check with local brokers and Redfin to develop a more refined sense of the market, and c) save at least an additional $3500 dollars in my condo fund.

SMART: I will meet with a realtor/lender by mid-April. I will review the housing market on an ongoing basis, with checkups in February, May, and if necessary, August, October, and December. Part c will be covered by the contributions I've planned in goal 1.

3) Push my emergency fund up to 3 months' worth of expenses. Given my expected rate of contributions to savings, this should be easy to do by the end of the year, even though I will be retooling my "must-haves" to accommodate fuel inflation and some other things.

SMART: So, by mid-February, I will update my estimate of monthly expenses to reflect current spending needs. With regular contributions to my emergency fund, I will add savings throughout the year. By the end of December, I will have three months' worth of expenses.

December Net Worth, +8.8% monthly, +55.9% annually

2008-01-03T10:01:00.000-05:00

Cash and Cash Equivalent

My checking account benefited from the later timing of some bills, although I did buy fewer groceries because of all the holiday family meals.

My overdraft fund is now fully funded plus a buffer, so I'll start moving the excess to my e-fund. (It is down from this time last year because I was holding some funds to be allocated elsewhere then.) I'm pleased with the growth in my e-fund and my condo fund over the year.

Investments

Another down month for the markets, but decent allocation and management (for my mutual fund) kept this moving forward. The annual growth has been respectable.

Loan Balances

Sometimes it feels like I'm just chipping away at these for eternity, but then I see how much my balances have dropped over the year and I know that I'm doing the right thing. I could pay down my debt faster, but since my interest rates are quite low, and because I really want a solid savings base, I think my progress is reasonable.

Other Debt

Hey, big spender. Now that I've finally joined the ranks of the reward cardholders, I did make more purchases with my rewards card. I also spent more on gas than I have in any month since I left grad school (driving back and forth to visit family every day will do that). And I also bought some family gifts that would be partially reimbursed. I have now paid down that card to zero, and once I get some medical expenses reimbursed, the other card will join it.

Overall

All told, I'm very fortunate. I didn't practice extreme frugality (I spent funds on LOTS of lunches out, cable, and some fairly expensive theater tickets), I didn't have much alternative income beyond some online surveys, and I didn't do much budgeting beyond my automatic, forced version. But simply setting up automatic savings and making sure I could cover all my fixed expenses helped me improve my position pretty handily in 2007. Here's hoping I do the same in 2008.

The Month Ahead

My grandfather recently passed away, so I'll have some expenses related to that. Of course, they are all well worth it.

This is my three-paycheck month, and that gives me some freedom to make an extra loan payment and savings contribution. But I also intend to put some money aside for my cousin's wedding in April. (My travel/holiday fund doesn't show up in my net worth, because I consider that pre-spent.) And I'll probably do some after-holiday shopping for some things I didn't get for Christmas.

I'm also hoping to get a jump start on my tax return, but beyond that, I hope it's a fairly quiet month.

Belated November Net Worth

2007-12-12T16:05:00.000-05:00

Despite the tremors in the market, I managed to be up overall for the month.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I ended up running an apartment sale for my family (being the only Craigslister of the bunch) and was told to "keep the cash." So I ended up using cash for what would have been a moderately expensive dinner, and a couple of other odds and ends. That boosted my checking balance.

My savings are continuing to inch up. I have met one goal for 2007; my e-fund now equals a full two month's worth of expenses, and my overdraft fund is back up to $500.

Investments

I was quite relieved that my losses were so low. In the case of my retirement plan, that was largely due to contributions, but my mutual fund managed to keep itself more-or-less afloat.

Loan Balances

Continued steady payments do their steady work.

Other Debt

I managed to pay off the full statement balance on one card, and followed with the other at the beginning of December. So I'm out of cycling mode!

The Month Ahead

I've already applied my bonus towards additional tax payments and savings boosts. It didn't leave much, but I DID get to use some towards a nice brunch with mapgirl, Debt Hater, and BK. Single Ma could not make it, but she was sorely missed. Next time, surely.

And as for the holidays: I am staying in town, which will reduce expenses. I do have some work obligations that will involve spending money, but not to a ridiculous degree. And a large part of my gift-giving has been completed (I mostly give to family members and a couple of VERY close friends) and that was covered by survey rewards and my gift fund. I'll probably still make some additional charges on the credit card to be paid off in January, but nothing too exceptional.

I will, however, possibly have to buy a new suit, and that would add some wrinkles to my plan.

Here's hoping things stay calm in the New Year.

Oh, and lest I forget, DonorsChoose sent me (and some other people) an extra $100 to contribute as I pleased. Single Ma and I pooled our fortunes and paid off one "extra" project in our challenge! I am again so thrilled with how everything came together for this project.

Hurrah for raises.

2007-11-15T13:31:00.000-05:00

I will see a raise and a small bonus in my first December paycheck. Yay!

The bonus, after netting for taxes, will be applied to: a) boosting my withholding so that I don't owe taxes for 2007*, b) paying off my credit card bill so that I get out of payment cycling (I invariably pay my balances in full, but lately it's just meant I charge them up again later), c) boosting my overdraft and condo downpayment funds, and d) taking about $50 for my own jollies. I do have holiday spending to do, but I have other funding resources for that, so I'd rather pad my savings accounts to meet my annual goals.

The raise is 5.25 percent, which is average, but that is strictly the merit pay increase. I will receive an additional locality pay (cost-of-living) adjustment for the first calendar 2008 pay period (which will pay out in February) of between 3.5 and 4.5 percent, so the overall total will be pretty respectable.

In the interim, I've upped my retirement contributions to 11%, upped my fixed dollar contributions to savings to keep that total around 10%, and intend to increase my charitable contributions. I won't see much more in my actual take-home pay, but that's all right.

Also, my student loan balance total will now be officially less than my annual salary. Point and laugh if you will, but that's a milestone to me.

*I'd rather risk a few dollars in foregone interest than owe taxes and have to pay fees (for e-file or certified mail delivery).

Well, it worked for Radiohead.

2007-11-05T10:35:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned my fondness for Paste Magazine previously. It's the monthly music magazine that includes CD samplers with every issue. I got a pretty good deal as a new subscriber, but my renewal was going to be more expensive. But then...

Paste has jumped on the PWYW (pay-what-you-will) bandwagon. For a limited time, you can choose to subscribe to the magazine for as little as $1. Personally, I paid $15.

The CDs tend to be from less well-known artists, and mostly focused on singer-songwriter material, but there are forays into straight-ahead rock, blues, traditionalist country, and a smattering of hip-hop. Not every CD is a success, but I find at least a couple of worthy tracks on each one.

The magazine itself has some pretty thorough reviews of albums (obviously), but also film, books, and games.

So, if you're a music fan, or have a friend who is, this is a pretty decent gift.

Check out the name-your-own-price subscription.

October Net Worth

2007-11-02T00:23:00.000-04:00

I'm dealing with some family health issues right now, so I won't be blogging much (not that I'm that prolific in the first place), but here's my hurrah for the month. Despite some challenges, I'm still making solid improvements in my net worth.

Personal Items

This is the month in which I arbitrarily reduce the value of my computer. Since I've had it so long, I'm now dropping the value in $25 increments, rather than $50. Based on Craigslist prices for various electronic items, I think my valuation is reasonable.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I had some extra expenses associated with the family health care situation (onsite parking, extra equipment) that I didn't expect. So I spent more than I wanted to out of my checking.

My savings, however, continued to increase.

Investments

At least in October, nobody took away the punch bowl. I'm not sure that I will be able to say the same next month.

Loan Balances

It's nice watching the portion of my payments going to interest decline.

Other Debt

If it had not been for an unfortunate car tow, this would actually have been a decrease from last month. I'm getting that expense reimbursed, but the check hasn't been deposited yet.

Even so, I did have to spend some money on gifts and other things. I'm unfortunately in that cycling mode where I pay my monthly bill in full, but then have to charge semi-extensively again to keep my cash flow steady. I'm expecting a raise at the beginning of December to help draw my balances down to zero, but it's going to be a lingering issue until then.

The Month Ahead

I may have some continued expenses due to the family situation, but that will largely be for things like gas to drive for visits, rather than parking and supplies. I am staying in town for Thanksgiving, which will help keep those costs down. And since the weather finally broke, my utility bills will be much smaller.

I'm hoping this will help me charge less and avoid dipping into my overdraft account, since it's finally on its way back up to my target.

So, Uncle Sam will pay off your student loans? Not so fast.

2007-10-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the student lender scandal, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act was intended to make student loans easier to bear for payees across the United States.

One of the chief provisions allows workers in "public service" jobs to have their remaining debt forgiven after 10 years in public service. That sounds great! And it probably is, for students who are just starting out and aren't making very much.

For those of us who have been in the work force for awhile, the deal isn't necessarily so good.

The reason is that the legislation only provides forgiveness for payors on a standard repayment plan (which has a 10-year term, and so would be repaid anyway), or an income-based repayment plan.

The income-based repayment plan isn't the simplest formula, but generally speaking, it assumes that your payments will be no more than 15 percent of your discretionary income. Discretionary income is defined as the difference between adjusted gross income and 150% of the federal poverty line. For a single person, the federal poverty line is $10,210.

When I consolidated my federal loans after grad school, I chose the extended repayment plan (30 years) because I had other loans with which to contend, and because my interest rate was (and is) extremely low (2.75%). This kept my payment low, which allowed me to rent a nice place, pay my other loans, and save extensively for retirement (and somewhat less extensively for a condo).

If I were to switch to IBR now, given prevailing interest rates, a shorter loan term, and a much higher salary, I would basically double my monthly payment. My cash flow simply can't take that kind of hit. As nice as it would be to be done years sooner (and save thousands and thousands in interest payments), I would rather concentrate on paying down my higher-interest rate loans and saving for a condo.

Depending on your circumstances, you may make a different decision.

You might want to look at these tools:

Finaid Income-Based Repayment Calculator

Department of Education Repayment Calculators

We did it!

2007-10-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

We raised over $2000 in 16 days for DonorsChoose.

Six fully funded projects. 102 students impacted in this year (and more in future years). We're in fifth place on the topical/local leaderboard and in nineteenth place overall. Given the sheer number of blogging groups out there participating in this challenge, I am ecstatic.

There are still a few unfunded proposals in the challenge, if any of you have not yet donated and would like to. (We didn't include them in our goal total because other donors have contributed to some of "our" projects, and we wanted there to be opportunities for everyone to donate.)

And don't forget, if you donated, you can email me with proof of your donation and I will enter you into the raffle for the $10 Starbucks gift card. So far, only one person has entered the raffle!

I am just floored and giddy and overcome. Y'all rock.

And now I can get back to blogging about other things.

DonorsChoose Update #2.

2007-10-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

In short, go us.

Since last week, donors have contributed an additional $330. We are now at $1930, only $70 from our goal, and less than $150 away from completing the last partially funded challenge.

First, I would like to thank the people who have publicly highlighted/donated to this project:

(If I've missed anyone, please let me know.)

And please, those of you who donated anonymously, also accept my fervent thanks.

If you have not given to this project, I understand. There are many other worthy organizations out there, and many of them start asking for more donations as we move into the winter holiday season. I would simply like for you to keep this in mind:

Just 10 bucks.

$10 is the minimum donation to all DonorsChoose projects. If seven new donors contributed that $10, we would complete our challenge. If 14 people found that $10, we could finish out Money Management 101, as I would personally contribute the remaining funds to complete the project (and send the remaining few bucks to operations).

We have twelve more days to work on this project before the challenge is over. Obviously, there is need throughout the year, but I think it would be fantastic if we could close the books on some of those goals.

Again, thank all of you for what you've done. And I hope we can push just a little bit more.

DonorsChoose Update, Or, Everyone is Awesome.

2007-10-12T09:45:00.001-04:00

And I'm going to give one of you a gift! (Keep reading.)

pfblogs.org Challenge Page

Three of our four initial projects? Completely funded. Two additional projects? ALSO completely funded.

$1600 raised in a week, blasting through our original $1500 goal. 78 students impacted (although it will actually be more, as almost all of these projects will benefit future students as well).

I am delighted and awed.

So, what now? We have raised the challenge goal to $2000. We have added some projects to give you more choices for donations. And we are asking, everywhere, for people to give this challenge some publicity.

Speaking of publicity, I'd like to highlight two of our projects.

One of the original projects, Money Management 101: Philanthropists in Training, is not only designed to teach 3rd through 5th graders about spending and saving, but also to encourage them to use their class account money for charitable donations. It's partially funded, but needs $513 to be completed. I would really like to see this one get funded.

A new project, Funny Money Auction Math, will teach children about interest rates and taxes on personal accounts, and allow them to bid on interesting items at classroom auctions. This project is halfway funded, but still needs $336 for completion, and is ending in five days. This would be another great project to push through.

So I'm sweetening the pot. Anyone who contributes to our challenge (including those who have already donated), and emails me proof of their contribution, such as a DonorsChoose email receipt, will be entered in a raffle. I'll number all emails in order of submission, and use random.org to pick the winner. The prize is a $10 Starbucks gift card, which I will mail to any address in the continental United States. The minimum donation is $10, so if you give the minimum and win the raffle, it's basically a free donation! As of right now, there are 11 donors, so your odds are pretty good.

(My email is in this image link: )

Here are some additional questions I've seen floating around:

Q. Can I donate anonymously? A. Yes. Select that option when you register to donate. I believe anonymous donations still get a receipt, but if you do not and still wish to enter the raffle, email me and I will see about finding acceptable "proof of donation."

Q. What if I don't like credit cards? A. You can try using a debit card, if that's what you prefer. Or you can send a check, and write the project ID on the memo line. This won't count toward our challenge, but I'll still accept proof of donation for the raffle if it goes to one of our projects.

Q. How long does the challenge run? A. Until October 31. The end is not far away!

Again, you people are amazing, and I'm honored to have shared this experience with you.

DonorsChoose PFBlogs.org challenge!

2007-10-06T12:31:00.000-04:00

You may have already heard about this elsewhere, but since I initiated the proposal, it's probably about time that I mentioned it.

DonorsChoose is an award-winning organization that connects generous individuals with teachers and students in need. The group is running a challenge this October to get various bloggers and groups to fund several projects across the country.

Thanks to the support of pfblogs.org, we are running a challenge to raise $1500 for some projects that deal directly with money management and financial literacy. This could help a LOT of students understand money when they are young and when the lessons can do the most good.

The great news is that, as I type this, we are already 22 percent of the way to our $1500 goal. Any amount that you can spare, even $5 or $10, can help push that thermometer up to 100%.

However, the four projects that we have targeted actually need $2400 to be completely funded. And English Major found a few more projects that we can add to the challenge if we fulfill the original four projects.

I know that sounds like moving the goal posts, but isn't that what pfbloggers are all about? We reach our original goals, and then set up new ones for ourselves.

I would be over the moon if we could raise $1500 for these kids. I would be past the stars if we needed to expand the challenge in response to everyone's generosity.

So, again, please consider donating to the pfblogs.org Financial Literacy challenge.

Thanks!

September Net Worth

2007-10-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

This was a GREAT month for me.

Personal Items

KBB said the value of my car went up again, but I was suspicious, and left it alone.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I miscounted my obligations at the end of the month, and had to use my overdraft account to cover one bill. From now on, I'll hopefully be pushing that back up to the $500 mark. I also chose to hold some more money in my checking account because my credit card payment is later than usual, so the improvement looks better than it "should".

On the objectively bright side, I am very close to another nice round number target on my online savings, and am still on track to get my e-fund to a full two months of expenses by the end of the year.

Investments

For me, as for many people, this was a great September for investments. My brokerage account (which I basically just let sit) has moved into a new digit category, which is nice.

Loan Balances

Slow and steady wins the race. Or so I tell myself.

Other Debt

I paid a laziness tax to get my hair done for the wedding. (I needed the haircut, and would have had to buy a curling iron, but that still leaves about $35 because I am a style-lacking nincompoop who can't properly curl her hair without aid.) Still, I wanted to look nice for the pictures, and I think it was worth it.

I also discovered that submitting flex spending claims for less than $15 (or possibly $20) leaves my reimbursement as "pending" until I submit further claims. Huh.

Still, by and large the increase is due to getting Avenue Q tickets. I'm going to be able to pay everything off by the statement due date (as I invariably do), but I'm trying to have a quieter October.

The Month Ahead

Apple-picking is on the agenda, and possibly the really spooky "haunted forest" across the river. But other than that, I only plan on paying for a pair of desperately needed jeans (I love my old pairs, but they fall apart in the wash too easily, so I'm trying a new brand), and some birthday flower deliveries (I have coupons for all of that). I did spend $4 at the library book sale this weekend, so I have two new-to-me books to read on my own time. (I check out MANY library books, but it's nice not to have to worry about a forcible recall because a title is on hold.)

August Net Worth

2007-09-06T00:02:00.000-04:00

So, I've been elsewhere, trying to soak up the last of my summer.

Personal Items

I knew I'd eventually have to revalue my car and computer. Did both.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I bought a plane ticket. I took most of it out of my checking, but a portion had to come out of the overdraft fund as well.

Investments

After the month we've had, moving my retirement forward and mainly holding steady on my brokerage account is A-OK with me.

Loan Balances

Since my PLUS-style loan is paid off, my progress will be slower on these loans, but it's nice to see continued drops.

Other Debt

I paid off my statement in August (including the plane ticket), but then immediately turned around and bought a dress for the wedding (although it was markedly reduced, yay!). I also visited a specialist, with the attending higher copays, and was waiting on reimbursement.

The Month Ahead

It's going to be a squeeze. I decided to throw in and go for the Avenue Q tickets, which I HAVE to buy this weekend (or they'll sell out), and that puts more charges onto my statement before the closing date. Normally, I don't have two major purchases in the same statement, which makes it easier to cashflow (I ALWAYS pay off my balances in full).

But other than the wedding and whatever I end up doing for Christmas, that play is the ONE big outgoing event for the next four months. So I'm just going to grit my teeth and draw back elsewhere. Somehow.

End of July-Net Worth

2007-08-01T14:11:00.000-04:00

I've decided to standardize my reporting to the last day of the month, since I only have one loan reporting on the first now. (And since I made an extra payment this month, I'm showing progress.)

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Having three paychecks come through buoyed my long term savings accounts nicely (even though I made a smaller "extra" contribution to my condo downpayment fund). My overdraft account took a slight dip because I used some of it to cover my car repairs, but it's still above my $500 target for now.

Investments

The correction I'd been expecting finally hit, so my contributions were pretty much the only source of forward momentum for my retirement account. I'm not sure why my brokerage account is doing better than last month, but I'm not complaining.

Loan Balances

This was a GREAT month for paying off student loan debt. As I mentioned, my PLUS-style loan has been PAID OFF. I also sent an extra contribution to my Perkins loan, although it was smaller than I would have liked. My progress will obviously not be as fast in future months, but it's really nice to see my balances come down.

Other Debt

I managed to pay off ALL my outstanding balances for July (including that $800 for car repairs). The current balance partly reflects medical expenses that will be reimbursed.

The Month Ahead

I was (mostly pleasantly) surprised to receive a wedding invitation. For complicated personal reasons, not attending isn't an option. Fortunately I'll only have to cover the plane ticket and a new outfit, as gift and housing are both covered by my dad. I do have other going out expenses, but I will try to keep them restrained in anticipation. This may require backing still more money out of the overdraft fund, but it won't be a disaster.

Poof! And it's gone.

2007-07-13T12:02:00.000-04:00

I've been complaining about my suspension for a few months now, and I finally took my car in for an inspection last weekend. My rear struts, which I replaced five years ago, needed to be replaced again.

The estimate I received was more or less in line with what I expected (including the struts and the spring assembly), but I decided to call a few more places to confirm the estimate. I'm so glad I did.

The dealership, naturally, wanted to do several additional services that would have thrown an extra $300 on the price. Gah. But then I called the Midas that had replaced the struts before:

Midas: Just so you know, if you come to us, the struts have a lifetime warranty.
HC: It's not just five years? (I'd thought I was outside my warranty coverage.)
Midas: No, lifetime.
HC: Oh! Because you did my struts five years ago.
Midas: Yes, there you are in the system. You'll still have to pay for labor, but the struts are free, and I don't think you need to replace the springs.

Excellent.

So I dropped the car off yesterday morning before work, got a mid-morning call informing me that the springs themselves were fine, but most of the rubber in the assembly had "completely disintegrated" and so they'd need to replace some additional parts. I told them to go ahead.

And so $758 later (plus the $53 inspection fee from the other place), I have a car that still has a bit more road feel than I like (I'll probably need to redo the front struts next year), but doesn't bounce like a bronco over every bump in the road.

It's a lot of money. Fortunately, by taking a big chunk out of my "extra" July paycheck (which will require dropping my extra payments from $200 each to $50 each), and scooping $100 from my overdraft fund (which will be replenished in a few months), I'll be able to cover that, pay my credit card statements and still have money with which to eat and such for the rest of the month.

I had fun spending plans for a lot of that money, but I'll live. I'm still going to be able to pay for my Philly trip out of my vacation savings, and I'm still going to enjoy some Pottermania, and I'll have time to save up for Avenue Q tickets in the fall. It could be a lot worse.

Finally!

2007-07-06T11:03:00.000-04:00

My PLUS-style loan is DONE, finished, paid off...it is a retired obligation.

Now to tackle the rest of them.

But first, I must send a very thorough thank-you note to my dad (I made a few payments, but the lion's share of the payoff was from him).

Oh, and I got some cash gifts for some reason [grin], so I will be going out to celebrate tonight at an exceptionally expensive (but by all accounts, well worth it) restaurant. The cake there is approaching legendary.

June/July Net Worth.

2007-07-04T12:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day to all those who celebrate!

Personal Items

KBB said that my car's value actually went UP. I keep my car's valuation at $100 below the KBB fair private party value.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I swept some money from my overdraft account to my emergency fund again this past month. Otherwise, it was pretty much business as usual.

Investments

As I said last month, I think the period of big market gains is pretty much at an end. But my contributions are keeping me moving ahead overall.

Loan Balances

Because of the calendar, my two loans that normally get paid on the first didn't go through. Otherwise, contributions went through normally.

Other Debt

I was very lazy this past month, and didn't submit my receipts for my medical spending on time. My reimbursement will be applied to my next statement. I've since paid off my statement balances, which will hopefully be reflected next month.

The Month Ahead

I'm having a decluttering sale tomorrow and Friday, so hopefully that will bring some cash into my pocket. I've spent enough time with my friend Craig to pique someone's interest, I think.

I need to take my car in to inspect the suspension. I technically have an extra paycheck this month, but it could easily be sucked up by paying for that. I should, however, be able to pay for my trip to Philly entirely out of my vacation fund (and the money I already spent to buy my E-Z Pass), so there should be SOME room for fun.

Fun and frugality and fuming, oh my!

2007-06-28T11:40:00.000-04:00

So, last week involved a fair amount of spending, but 'twas worth it.

* I saw the delightful Hot Fuzz at the second-run movie theater, and was able to use my free pass. Of course, I then completely undercut the advantage by getting an ice cream sundae along with my meal. I think all the Cornetto in the movie worked its magic on me. (As did Simon Pegg, but that's neither here nor there. Heh.)

* I then joined everyone for the fabulous DC Blogger meetup on Thursday. (Guess the geographic cat is out of the bag.) We shared some appetizers, and bought some Krispy Kremes, and then Nick bought everyone fresh hot doughnuts. Nick is a superhero. I was delighted to meet everyone, especially mapgirl, who is practically my neighbor (and therefore drove me home). Hopefully we'll all do this again!

* I finally broke down and bought an EZ-Pass. Since it's easiest to use a major toll road to visit my aunt, I'm going to make use of it. And I'm hoping it will save me money in the long run, since I won't be getting cash out for tolls and then frittering the rest.

* I spent much of the weekend with my visiting grandparents; they covered a lot of expenses. I did buy some very necessary bottled waters after walking around Mount Vernon.

* Oh, yes, and I bought shoes. I really needed new black loafers (as in "my heel is completely worn down and the instep has broken seams so it's not even worth trying to resole them"). I am pleased with my new pair; they broke in after a few days.

This week has been sharply truncated. I've limited my spending to groceries, gas, a car inspection, and a donation in the memory of a coworker's father. I'm actually on track to bring in my lunch every day this week (sing now, in praise of the rice bowl, delivered warm and steaming from that trader known as Joe).

And I'd be really excited about next week, because my extra paycheck is coming in. However, I think vast amounts of it could evaporate, because my car's suspension (despite passing the inspection) is not pleasing me, and has not done so for months. If I have to replace my struts, there goes much of my fun money. So I'm trying to cut back.

And into the midst of this, my friend emailed me about our trip to Philly next month (for which I've been saving for awhile). She suggested a few exhibits, which sounded interesting. But I looked up the King Tut show and discovered that the basic timed ticket is $37 with service charges. For an exhibit I might visit for an hour. In summer crowds, no less (I'm still a bit of an introvert, so that's like running a marathon).

So I wrote back and said I'd rather not pay that much if we were going to visit another museum as well, and that I'd prefer to try and get the late afternoon ticket, which rolls in an IMAX ticket for $25. I'm now dealing with the email silent treatment. Feh.

I know this is a rare exhibition, but I'm spoiled enough by the Smithsonian that I don't think spending more than $25 on any one exhibit is worthwhile. Would you do it?

Three years.

2007-06-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

That's how long I've been at my current job (as of last Thursday, although I had no time to mention it then).

Three years ago, I wasn't a complete financial wreck, but there were decided strains.

I had depleted all my savings. (The job offer I received right before getting my master's was contingent on a long security screening, and by the time they finally offered me the position, I'd already accepted another job. But it meant that my "keep me going until March" fund ended up stretching through June.) I needed to borrow over $2000 from my parents just to cover moving expenses and pay my first month's rent.

I'd pretty much only been paying interest on my unsubsidized loans, so my balances had not shrunk at all between starting grad school and finishing. My private loans were variable, and my full repayment started just as monetary policy tightened (and rates increased).

And I'd been so burned on lousy roommates that I refused to share housing even in a really expensive rental market.

But things have really improved.

I paid my parents back within two years.

My student loan balances have dropped 20% (despite a private loan consolidation that added a big origination fee in exchange for a whole two months of lower interest rates [now replaced with my credit union loan]), and every loan is fixed at below 6% (with the largest balances at 2.75%). Thanks largely to my dad, my PLUS-style loan will be paid off within the month. I'm hoping to knock out the Perkins within two years (four ahead of schedule).

Automatic and increasing contributions to my 401(k) style plan have led me to balances that now equal 35% of my gross salary.

My $500 "overdraft account" is more than fully funded, my downpayment fund is growing steadily, and my proper emergency fund should have a full two months of expenses (including money for COBRA payments) by the end of the year.

I'm still not where I need to be. I don't have a Roth for tax diversification, I have no dedicated funds for repairing/replacing my aging car, and trying to take a third trip in a year sends my forced budget into a tailspin. And I still need to scrape up lots more for a downpayment.

But I'm glad to see where I've been from the perspective of where I am.

Oh, and the other thing about getting to three years? I start getting six hours of annual leave per pay period. Whee!

Pound foolish.

2007-06-14T12:17:00.000-04:00

While I've managed to accumulate a few purses over the years, my usual modus operandi is to carry one bag all through the fall/winter, then switch to a lighter bag in the spring/summer. Since my beloved straw-and-bamboo purse gave up the ghost last summer (after three years' hard service), I needed to purchase a new bag earlier this year.

As I've mentioned, I tend not to buy much in the way of clothes and accessories, so when I bought things for my Florida trip in March, I did try to cut a few corners. And that included a relatively inexpensive bag. The larger one would have been $15 more, but I put it back.

However, the small bag I chose, while apparently the same size as my straw purse, was constructed with less depth. So my wallet, cellphone, sunglasses, and ID lanyard pretty much filled it to the brim. On a normal day, this wasn't such a problem.

But after I tried to add the book I'd bought for my cousin's graduation present (On My Own Two Feet, per Wanda's review), it was too crowded. So I tried to carry it by hand. And between slugging my purse, my umbrella, my lunch bag, and the book through public transportation, well...I found myself at the office with no book. I still sent the check I'd originally planned to send, but the lack of book sent $14 down the drain.

Next time, I'm just buying the bigger purse!

Also, while I don't think this particular story is that inspiring, the good people at Credit Card Lowdown think some of my posts are (along with those of 99 others). Thanks for the compliment!

May/June net worth

2007-06-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

This was one of my strongest improvements in months, albeit largely due to market gains.

Personal Items

I lowered my valuation on both my computer and my car. I keep my car's valuation at $100 below the KBB fair private party value.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I've had to hold a few more dollars in my overdraft fund because my rent went up for June, and I'd rather allocate from savings than simply boost my net checking deposits.

Otherwise, I continue to contribute normally to my online accounts. I'm closing on some nice round number targets for each of those.

Investments

I do not believe this party will keep going, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Loan Balances

I can taste the PLUS-style loan being paid off. Taste it.

Other Debt

I had a month in which some big annual payments came due, as well as some medical expenses on which I await reimbursement. Despite that, I still managed to pay my outstanding balances and rein in the entertainment spending a bit.

The Month Ahead

I have a number of gifts to send out (graduating cousins, father, friend's wedding) and will deal with my higher rent and car insurance premium. I'm looking forward to July, when the squeeze will ease.

I've stopped picking on Michelle Singletary.

2007-05-30T09:51:00.000-04:00

She does occasionally write a good column, even if her chats make me want to tear my hair out.

But that doesn't mean I won't hat-tip when someone else does it really well.

Well done, Stacy.

And the gyre just keeps widening.

2007-05-23T11:15:00.000-04:00

Sallie Mae Forced Out CEO.

The continuing bad press regarding improper subsidies, anti-competitive preferred lender agreements, and everything else involved with the FFEL lenders presumably has Sallie Mae and others running scared.

When I get out of this crazy work cycle, I am going to try and do a timeline of the investigation since February.

And ye shall receive.

2007-05-14T10:45:00.001-04:00

As I've mentioned a few times, I am fond of the local second-run movie theater (which also has bar and menu service).

Yesterday, I asked my friend L. if she'd be interested in catching Breach (which I found slow and deliberate, but very well done).

Since it was a Sunday afternoon, and therefore a "full price" day (which is still $4-$5 less than other theaters), the show was lightly attended. So we received fairly fast service from the staff, and they returned with our drinks a few minutes after the movie started.

This was enough for me to realize that the print was bad. Scratches down the left side of the screen made it look like every picture had been etched. So when our drinks arrived:

HC: Can you ask the projectionist about the print?
Server: It's just a bad print. We're asking for a replacement but we haven't gotten it yet.
HC: So there's nothing you can do about it?
Server: No.
HC: Well, is there anything you can do for us?
Server: I'll get the manager.
HC: That's all right. I'll just come by after the show.

I didn't expect to do anything more about it until then. However, the server shortly came back with our food. He dropped off two free passes that are good through December! I would have been satisfied if they'd just knocked a dollar off the ticket price, but I certainly wasn't going to object to a free pass.

It never hurts to ask.

Meds, Part II.

2007-05-08T13:57:00.001-04:00

In February, I avoided paying for my recurring prescription due to an error in my favor.

This past week, I certainly made up for it.

I'd started feeling some ear pain the weekend before, and paid a visit to the (freely available) nurse-practicioner at work to have her check my ears. She recommended that I get an appointment, and my own physician's team confirmed the ear infection.

A $30 copay and nearly $70 in prescriptions later, I was on my way.

With just a few days to go on the antibiotics, I'm feeling better.

But THIS is why I have a flex spending account.

April/May Net Worth

2007-05-02T11:12:00.000-04:00

Personal Items

Unchanged. As these are a steadily decreasing portion of my assets, I'm spending less and less time tinkering with them. When I get to a net worth of zero, I'll probably be more careful with their valuation.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Pretty much all my checking is allocated already, but it's nice to have the funds in hand before being paid next week.

I swept some of my overdraft savings to my "true" emergency fund this week, since I'm over my $500 threshold. I really like the same-day credit at E*Trade.

Investments

Whoosh, DJIA. Whoosh, funds.

Loan Balances

As always, I keep making my scheduled payments on these loans. My PLUS-style loan will be paid off in a few months, which is very exciting.

Other Debt

I know that looks REALLY bad, but I have the funds in checking to pay my outstanding balances for the month, and am being reimbursed for a purchase I made on my dad's behalf. The "new balance" isn't out of line either. Still, I didn't really need that $40 dinner the other week. (But mmm, crab fritters and pomegranate martinis.)

The Month Ahead

I will be holing up for work projects, which means less time for fun and therefore less spending. I think. We shall see.

On a side note, I know this makes me terribly lazy, but Trader Joe's frozen jasmine rice makes me so much more likely to do rice dishes than the 40-minute version.

I've reached a milestone of sorts.

2007-04-25T10:54:00.000-04:00

I have accrued the equivalent of 23 days of leave, when one combines my annual and sick leave accounts. This basically means that if something were to happen to me, I would have a month of income before having to tap into my emergency fund. (I would have done this much sooner but I needed three weeks of leave for family care last year.)

As much I would like to have proper disability insurance, my employer doesn't offer group plans, and all the individual quotes I've received are simply too much for my budget right now. When I've paid off some more of my loans, that will be a priority.

But for now, it means that I can use any additional annual leave hours as they were intended: for vacation. Since I can only accrue the equivalent of 30 days of annual leave before I hit the "use-or-lose" threshold, it makes no sense to hoard them. (I can accrue sick leave indefinitely.)

I'm starting by using an upcoming Federal Holiday to springboard a five-day weekend. Which includes my birthday. I'll be practicing my Lorelai Gilmore impression.

How do you handle paid leave at work?

Entertainment: Frugal and Not-So.

2007-04-16T10:52:00.000-04:00

I did my fair share of socializing this weekend. In some ways, I was fairly thrifty, in others...ah well.

Friday

Frugal: My friend C. won a pair of tickets to see [Theatre Group Sponsored by a Certain Monarch] at [Notable Performing Arts Center]. So I managed to see a rarely-mounted (and quite entertaining) production of a Shakespeare play for free.

Not Frugal: Since the performance started at 7:30, we left directly from work and ate at the cafe at the Center. My pasta and salad weren't too pricey, but adding a large bottle of water and an individual cheesecake brought the total to almost $24. It was a tasty cheesecake, but next time, I'll probably skip dessert and just get a snack at intermission if I want sugar.

Saturday

Not Frugal: I've had a gift card to use at Office Depot for awhile, with which I was planning to get a file cabinet and a replacement ink cartridge for my printer. But since I haven't done that (file cabinets are HEAVY), I had to drive over to the library and print a coupon I needed. I only spent a dime on the print job, and I doubled up the trip with a recycling run to waste less gas, but it still would have made more sense to be ready to print at home.

Frugal: While I was at the library, I attended the Book Sale downstairs, and picked up a copy of Paradise Lost and the 1999 edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street for $5 total. Whee! (I might have been able to find copies of those for less online, but I would have been charged for shipping, and I wouldn't have been supporting the institution that lets me check out books for free in the first place.)

Frugal: I used the aforementioned coupon to take advantage of 2-for-1 tickets at the already discounted second-run movie theater, so L. and I paid less than $3 each to see The Queen (which I recommend).

Not Frugal, But Worth It: I bought a pretty tasty BBQ sandwich for dinner. After tax and tip, I put in $12. Technically, I could have eaten at home and gotten a light snack while there, but I enjoy the dinner-and-a-movie thing.

Sunday

I did nothing but laze around, chat on the phone (unlimited long distance plan), and clean a bit, so that's a pretty frugal day.

How was your weekend?

PS. I'm continuing to monitor the student lender debacle, and will write up my thoughts sometime soon. If you want good commentary, check out Anya Kamenetz for details.

Festival of Under 30 Finances #20

2007-04-06T09:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the 20th edition of Festival of Under 30 finances! I recently returned from a much-needed family vacation, and so my question was:

"How has your family contributed to your current financial position and attitude? Do you plan to follow that example with your own younger relatives, or chart a different course?"

We received some very interesting responses to this question, including some full posts!

Family Lessons

Wanda at Well-Heeled says: "Mom helped me alot - in terms of paying for the bulk of my college tuition to teaching me about the importance of saving. I am probably more interested in mutual funds investing than she is, whereas she is focused more on generating cash flow from real estate - but the tenets of personal finance (spend less than you earn and save save save) I got from her."

Silicon Valley Blogger atThe Digerati Life notes: "Interestingly, I grew up without money being discussed much in our household, but we had no money problems either. So I don't believe my family had much bearing in how I turned out financially as far as my mindset was concerned, but they had a big impact on how my finances today turned out because without their help and past assistance, I doubt I would be worry-free today. My family is fairly generous with finances but did not really instill education in me, so I had to go and learn about finances myself. However, I hope to teach my children about finances as they grow up and impart in them lessons I learned on my own."

We also got long responses from the following posters:

plonkee mentions a lesson that she didn't learn from her family in Not A Money Script: Investing posted at plonkee money.

Aspeth shares the "lessons of a Depression-era grandparent" about frugal living in Whatever Happened to Frugality? at TwelveYearsOfBeingAnnoyedByChloeSevignyDotCom. This entry is one of the Best of the Festival!

Living Almost Large says that "I think I learned the most important skills from my parents about personal finance..." and that foundation helped while she learned some more lessons in Learning my financial skills at Living Almost Large.

And Big Cajun Man learns a lesson from his son in Zen, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Art of Financial Planning posted at Canadian Financial Stuff.

Family Finances

ISPF shares some guidelines on managing independent accounts toward common goals in Relationship Hack: “Independent Money Management, Common Money Pool” - How to Make it Work posted at Grad Money Matters.

Education

Silicon Valley Blogger lists the pros and cons of jumping on to the entrepreneurial track before graduation at Should You Quit School Because You’re Brilliant? posted at The Digerati Life. This is also one of the Best of the Festival!

Laws of Finance shares some frightening exchange rate figures at Studying in Europe is Getting Expensive posted at Laws of Finance.

Matthew Paulson reminds students how to manage limited school funds in Five Great Money Saving Tips for College Students posted at Getting To Graduation.

Michael Cook provides an overview of The College Loan Process posted at Suite101: Mortgages/Loans articles.

Saving

Wanda considers alternatives to traditional emergency savings in Maybe I don't need such a big emergency fund after all posted at Well-Heeled. And this is my final pick for the Best of the Festival!

Bryan C. Fleming suggests that saving for repairs lets a driver get a better car in How to Drive a Mercedes Benz instead of a Hyundai posted at Bryan C. Fleming.

Super Saver explains why young people will need to save so much for retirement in The Impact of Inflation posted at My Wealth Builder.

General Personal Finance

Larry Russell suggests ways to make the expense of a financial advisors worthwhile inFinancial advisor costs and the value of their investment strategies determine your return on investment from these investment advisor services posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog.

tc offers some basic reminders in 8 tips on How to make a million dollars posted at Investments & Loans.

He Just Laughs plans on becoming American Airlines' most valuable customer at A Million Miles Begins with the First Mile posted at Endless Gibberish.

Finally, Priya Jestin offers a long list of tips for money and life management in Starting Early: The Young Adult’s Guide To Personal Finance posted at Debt Consolidation Lowdown.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of festival of under 30 finances using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

March/April Net Worth

2007-04-04T10:20:00.000-04:00

Personal Items

I left all valuations unchanged this month. My car mileage is inching up, so I suspect I'll be retooling my car's value soon (I already keep it below the KBB market value for fair condition vehicles).

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I was reimbursed for some of my vacation expenses by my grandparents, because they are very generous. So I was able to keep from pulling out too many funds.

Investments

My accounts rebounded from February nicely. I finally hit one of my "round number" targets for my retirement fund, as well.

Loan Balances

As always, I keep making my scheduled payments on these loans.

Other Debt

My travel reimbursement meant I was able to pay off my statement balance in full (which I was already prepared to do), as well as a good portion of my next statement's charges (which I normally don't do). My charges should be more "normal" this month.

The Month Ahead

I have one concert to attend, but the ticket was purchased long ago, and I have a gift card that should help cover some of the related food expenses. I have one other play in mind, and may try to volunteer usher rather than pay for it. My auto insurance premium is going up slightly; my accident from last October was priced into the premiums for this cycle. So I expect I'll be weighing purchases carefully for the month.

In other news, today is the last day to submit to the Festival of Under 30 Finances! I've gotten a few good submissions, and six that I've had to toss out for various reasons. So if you want to send a submission in, please don't duplicate other carnivals, or go completely off-topic, and CERTAINLY don't recommend illegal activity as a personal finance strategy. Sheesh.

Okay, so I'm not completely immune to psychological effects.

2007-03-22T13:16:00.000-04:00

The leading digit on my consolidated Federal loan, by far the largest balance (and lowest rate) of all my student loans, has just dropped by one.

I know this is not as important as, say, improving the ratio of interest to principal for each succeeding payment.

But still. It's nice to see that tangible sign of progress.

Tomorrow, I am off for my much-needed long weekend with my grandparents.

When I return, I get to do that stuff I said I needed to do ten days ago.

And then I get to look at carnival submissions for the Festival of Under 30 Finances! People have until April 4 to submit, but people who send things in early will make me smile.

People who send in entries that have only a tenuous connection to the festival topic (it's "under 30" finances, not general personal finance, investing, or other consciousness-raising) will NOT make me smile. I reserve the right to ignore any submission that doesn't meet the submission guidelines.

At any rate, have a lovely weekend. I fully expect to.

U.S. Dept. of Education Sued for Overcharging Students on Student Loans

2007-03-20T12:45:00.000-04:00

A math teacher claims that her consolidated loan under the Direct Loan program had improperly capitalized interest between her June payment and June 30.

Apparently repeated requests to fix this went unresolved.

I've held my loan consolidation at the Direct Loan program since 2004, and have not noticed this personally. (I did pay more in interest in July 2005 than June 2005, but my payment cycle was longer from June to July than from May to June because of business day constraints.) I've never had any other problems, either.

I certainly hope that this situation is resolved quickly and appropriately. No student should be paying interest on interest if she is making her payments as agreed.

I am behind on everything.

2007-03-12T15:02:00.000-04:00

I owe NCN a congratulatory shoutout.

I owe Michael and Jim posts.

I owe myself about four educational finance book reviews, because I owed the library a bunch of money to hang on to them. I have notes, just not posts.

Unfortunately, I also owe my bosses an article and some historical data reports this week. And meeting my deadlines for LAST week involved pushing those back. [sigh]

So I'll probably be MIA (er, more MIA than usual) this week.

But in response to English Major and NCN, here's a short rundown of my cashflow management.

I'll just get this out of the way: I force budget. So a LOT of category funding comes out of my pay via direct deposit.

I get paid biweekly, and base my "budget" on two pay periods per month. (For those months in which I have three, I do some different things which I'll explain below.)

Gross Pay: 100%
Automatic Pension Deduction <1%
401(k) Style Plan 10%
Taxes 25%
Life Insurance, Health Insurance, and Flex Spending <3%
Charitable Deductions <1% (I REALLY need to improve this for next year.)
Savings Allotments: 9.9% (of which: 22% overdraft fund, 39% condo fund, 39% emergency fund. ETA: I've moved this to 14% overdraft, 43% condo, 43% efund, as I hit my $500 target for my overdraft fund. I'll sweep the extra from my overdraft fund to my efund periodically.)

So my net pay, the amount that actually hits my checking account, is about 51% of my gross.

On payday, I usually log in to each bank to check that everything was deposited properly. I move $15 from my overdraft fund to my vacation/holiday account (I can't get my HR system to do this automatically).

If it's the paycheck before the first of the month:

Over 90% goes to my rent. Whee. I'm left with around $100 for my renter's insurance bill and groceries for those two weeks.

If it's the paycheck in the middle of the month:

It covers EVERYTHING else. I make electronic payments either through automatic withdrawal or online billpay. My student loan payments come due at the end of the month (or the very beginning of the next month). My utility bills are due between the middle and end of the month. (My gas and cable/phone/internet bills don't vary by more than a dollar or so a month, so the only point of contention is my power bill [usually between $20 and $45].) My car insurance is due around the same time. My credit card bill is due the next month, but sometimes I'll send a partial payment early to make sure that I don't overestimate my reserve. (I always pay in full.)

This usually leaves me with $175-$225 in unemcumbered funds. From this I take care of food, gas, and entertainment. Most of this goes to food.

I manage, despite buying lunches as often as not, because:

I get a transportation subsidy from work that covers my bus and rail fare. So I only buy gas for personal trips.
I have a relative who works for a major cell phone carrier, so my cell phone bill is $10 a month.
I rarely buy alcohol. I enjoy the occasional drink, but I don't buy wine or liquor to bring home. If I'm out, I may buy ONE drink and then switch to water.
I rarely buy clothes. This is easier than it sounds because I hate everything. [grin] In all seriousness, I have fairly plain and sober taste in clothes, and most of what ends up in the stores doesn't tempt. When I do shop, I try to hit the sales or Tarjay.
I try to use coupons or visit the local second-run movie theater for my flick fixes.

I do have to restrain myself from buying tickets for a lot of concerts and club shows, however. And sometimes I'll find things a bit tight and focus a bit more on staple foods for a few days.

Finally, in those months (usually January and July) in which I have an extra pay period, a large portion usually goes to paying off travel/gift expenditures (my holiday fund doesn't cover everything), another piece goes toward savings, another piece goes toward extra debt repayment, and then I allow myself a little fun money (for clothes, shows, and such) with the rest.

It's not a perfect system. I do occasionally take money back from the overdraft fund to keep my checking balances in line (hence the name). But I keep my fingers out of my other savings pies, and my financial picture has steadily improved. So I think I'll stick with it.

February/March Net Worth

2007-03-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

I've been busy this past week. Between a major work publication approaching, and my grandfather's 90th birthday celebration, I haven't had much time for blogging. But better late than never.

As always, I update on the second of the month for the balances of the previous month, due to my loan payoff schedule.

Personal Items

February is one of the months in which I arbitrarily drop the value of my computer to account for improvements in market products. With Vista now widely available, it makes even more sense. I (and KBB) left other valuations alone.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Overall, my cash balances rose by a decent amount in February. My bank savings improved due to reimbursements from friends (I'd already paid off the credit card bill for our outing, so I'm leaving these amounts there). My online accounts improved from normal contributions; my tax refund (which went to my emergency fund) and my ING account liquidation (which went to paying off my plane ticket) basically offset each other.

Investments

Hi, China! My retirement account weathered the stock fallout well enough, but my mutual fund took a bit of a hit. I'm not particularly concerned about the blip.

Loan Balances

I continue to make my scheduled payments on my loans. My Perkins loan actually shows the impact of my scheduled payments for February and March, because I updated my last statement after January's large extra payment rather than my normal closing date.

Other Debt

Because my credit card balances are generally low, even a slight bump in expenditures looks like a big percentage change. In this case, my statement bill for my main card is lower than usual, and my second card is at a balance of zero.

The Month Ahead

March is a heavy birthday month for my family, including my aforementioned grandfather. Between that and my trip, I'll be spending a bit more than usual. During the trip, I'll be staying with my mom's parents. So lodging and meals will be covered, but I will still have incidental purchases. Despite there being a number of intriguing plays and films coming to town, I'll be ramping down my entertainment expenditures in expectation of these expenses.

One account closes, another...

2007-02-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

well, you get the idea.

I've transferred the remaining balance (almost entirely bonuses) out of my ING account. I was holding onto it for reasons that really didn't make any sense in the long run. I still think it's an easy introduction to the world of online savings, but I know I can do better. I'd like to say that I'm taking the money and immediately putting it into Emigrant, but instead, I'm using it to pay off the plane ticket for my trip next month. Since I haven't left town since Thanksgiving, I'm counting this as a worthy expense.

I'm also shifting my emergency fund to E-Trade next month. I found out about the signup bonus over at BankDeals, and that tipped me. It has beneficiary service, although not quite as smooth a signup as the CSR promised, and local branches if I really have an issue that needs personal resolution. So now all my online accounts will be earning 5.05%.

I get a much lower rate on my "overdraft fund," the credit union savings account available for immediate transfers to my checking account or credit card. I don't fret about that because I only hold $300-$500 there, and I figure the peace of mind from having instant access to extra cash is worth a few pennies in foregone interest.

Disorganization Dinged Me But Good.

2007-02-22T14:17:00.000-05:00

1) Sometime during the course of this weekend, I lost my work ID badge. It may well be in my house, but I've moved around all the papers that clutter my entryway. I still can't find it anywhere.

I was able to get a temporary replacement without a problem, but I only have until the end of the month before I need a permanent replacement. And that requires a new employment eligibility form, with the standard two pieces of ID. Again, seemingly not a problem, but one of the ID types must be a birth certificate, social security card, or passport, and all of those are locked in my safe. The key to which was lost months ago.

Did I call to replace the key before this? No.

So in order for me to get a replacement key from the safe company in time to get a new badge, I'll have to pay for expedited shipping. $25 for being disorganized.

2) I was so flustered yesterday with all my work projects that I never properly thanked Lazy Man for hosting the Festival of Frugality. I particularly noted Elizabeth's glee over cheap chocolate and David's pledge to buy used for a year. And of course, there was my own post on Saturday's $30 Oscarfest.

3) And finally, I forgot to remind people to enter my movie quote quiz. The prize is a post on the topic of your choosing (I don't have tons of publishers sending me review copies of books or free software, so I give what I can). Technically, the contest was over on Monday, but since Michael and Ellen are tied with 3 and since I didn't post any reminders, I'm giving it one more day. There are 20 quotes. Good luck!

Losing Power Is No Fun.

2007-02-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

Especially when you haven't prepared as well as you should have.

On Sunday afternoon, I was gearing up for a few errands when a sudden flurry of snow began. Then the lights started surging on and off. Finally, everything shut down. I checked outside to discover that it seemed to be a very concentrated power outage (about a block on each side of me was out, but I could see powered buildings just across the nearest major intersection).

This normally wouldn't be a big deal, but:

a) Sunday was the tail end of one of the longest cold snaps in a decade, and my heat is electric, not gas.
b) My regular phone is on a cable-VOIP system, and requires electricity.
c) My cell phone hadn't been recharged the night before.

I had enough juice in my cell phone to report the outage to the power company and leave a message with a nearby friend. During a break in the snow, I headed over to the still-lit store across the street for a few non-perishable things (mini cans of pineapple juice and [non-tainted] peanut butter). I figured with the bread, bananas, and water bottles I already had in the house, I'd get by for awhile. I also picked up some more matches and batteries.

When I got home, I used the rapidly fading light to find the candles in my kitchen. My flashlight, however, was nowhere to be found. So I read for awhile by candlelight, hoping that the snow (which had returned in force by this point) would subside so that I could head out to my car and use the car charger to replenish my cell phone. Before that happened, however, my friend showed up to rescue me. As she hadn't been able to call me back, she got worried and decided to check in on me. So I grabbed a few things, and she drove me back to her place. I spent a pretty pleasant night on her guest bed, and awoke in the morning to a message on my (now recharged) phone that said power had been restored.

All told, it was a minor inconvenience.

But for next time, I'll make sure to have:

A battery powered cell phone charger. The Energi to Go is the only model I know of that's commonly available.

A lantern flashlight. I'm thinking something like this Coleman.

More non-perishable food. My stock of water bottles is good, but it might be good to keep some individually wrapped energy bars around the house, as I keep my bread in the fridge and wouldn't want to have to open the latter to get the former.

I think my stock of matches and candles is more than adequate for now, but I'll revisit that later.

Sometimes, it's worth paying the money upfront for the peace of mind later.

George Washington University Raises Tuition to $39,000.

2007-02-15T11:24:00.001-05:00

The school already has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive college in America.

And it is about to raise tuition again for the 2007-2008 school year.

This will push the total cost of attendance to $54,000 a year, including room, board, fees, and personal allowances. GW does provide financial aid, but the average need-based package was less than $32,000 for 2006-2007. Assuming the need-based aid package increases dollar-for-dollar with the tuition increase, that's still a shortfall of $20,000 every year before merit aid is accounted for.

The school does promise to hold tuition steady for an enrolled student for five years, and the need-based package is also guaranteed not to fall. However, $80,000 out of pocket strikes me as a lot for a school that ISN'T the best-ranked by most measures.

Does anyone have any insight into the value of GW for the price? I did apply there for undergrad, and was offered a half-tuition package, but it was still far too expensive even then.

AMC Theatres Oscarfest for $30

2007-02-13T09:49:00.001-05:00

For the record, this is NOT an affiliate link. I just think this is interesting.

AMC Theatres is offering a Best Picture "showcase" on February 24, the day before the awards show. 78 theaters across the country will participate in the event. All five nominees will be shown over the course of 12 hours, including short breaks and a dinner break.

The $30 ticket includes:

Showings of Babel, The Queen, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Little Miss Sunshine, in that order. I think this makes sense, as LMS has been out on DVD for awhile and more audience members would have seen it, allowing them to head home "early".
Free large popcorn and drink, with "unlimited refills all day." I imagine that anyone trying to refill more than five times would find it's not REALLY unlimited, but still, not too shabby.
A "collectible pass." Unless it's a Wonka golden ticket, I'm unimpressed.

Assuming the average ticket price is $6.50 (and many major markets pay closer to $10), seeing just four of these films would cost $26. Getting one drink and popcorn could easily push it to $30; getting a snack at all four could end up at $42. So I think this is not that bad a deal.

Obviously, this is not an ideal solution for everyone. An audience member will need:

time to take advantage of the promotion. A lot of people can't give up an entire Saturday (or even 9 hours of one) to watch movies. For parents with small children, this is pretty much right out, unless the kids visit relatives for the weekend.
endurance. It's a long time to be sitting in a seat, even with the breaks.
extra funds for dinner. The 45-minute dinner break makes it unlikely that patrons will be eating anywhere other than the mall/retail area in which the theater is located. Plenty of people budget for dinner when going out to the movies, of course, but it is an additional expense.

For those of us out there who enjoy the Oscars and haven't had a chance to see many of the nominees, however, this might be a good chance to catch up with other film fans. Check the link above to see if this is in your area.

From business to pleasure.

2007-02-12T13:17:00.001-05:00

First off, I would like to thank mapgirl and Golbguru for highlighting my post about financing a child's college education. It actually pushed me to submit to this week's Carnival of Personal Finance, something I rarely do. 2million chose, appropriately enough, a Carnival theme. (I'm picking up my king cake in a week, so I'm all over this.)

Other than the highlighted posts, I noticed:

Ask Uncle Bill's Thinking outside the box . This is a pretty clever tactic to get around admissions requirements.

DDL from Make Your Nut's an idea to save money by patronizing crappy movie theaters . I'm not sure I could deal with this kind of disruption. I patronize my local second-run movie theater to save money instead.

And speaking of lists and bloggers, Michael has asked all bloggers to give him a list of their top 5 movies. I'm bad at doing precisely what I'm told, however. (If only because asking me to pick a top 5 is well-nigh impossible. Top 2? Okay. Top 15? Maybe. But in between those, the differentials don't mean much.) Instead, I'm going to take a similar meme I did elsewhere last year and repurpose it for this.

I'll give out twenty quotes from twenty of my favorite movies. Whichever blogger identifies the most movies by February 19 wins! I'll then write a post on a topic of his or her choice. (I reserve the right to ask for alternate topics if the initial request would require either more knowledge on the subject, or more provision of personal details, than I am able/willing to offer.) I'm putting all of you on the honor system; don't look at the comments before replying!

1) As the producer, I can fire anybody I want, and I am f****** fired!

2) Is that related to a Corolla?...Like the car?

3) Death is... whimsical, today.

4) You should be very glad I'm not 12. I was a very straightforward child. I used to spit.

5) The French have said au revoir to the franc, the Germans have said auf wiedersehen to the mark, and the Portuguese have said... whatever to their thing.

6) Some think he imagines us. Others that he sleeps, and we are his dreams...

7) F*** you, quality of mercy.

8) You know Steve, you're not very hard to figure, only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say. Most of the time. The other times... the other times, you're just a stinker.

9) The man who folded this tube of Crest is looking for someone meticulous, refined. Anal. ... What?

10) Double negative? You mean you have photographs?!

11) Am I getting worse? Am I improving? I don't know. When I was younger, I was healthier, but I was, uh, whacked with insecurity, you know? Now I'm older and my problems are deeper, but I'm more equipped to handle them.

12) I took a course in art last winter. I learnt the difference between a fine oil painting, and a mechanical thing, like a photograph. The photograph shows only the reality. The painting shows not only the reality, but the dream behind it.

13)I warn you, madam - I know the entire Geneva Convention by heart! / Oh, how nice! You must recite it for me some evening; I play the harpsichord.

14) But I don't want to believe in something or not believe in it because I might feel bad. I want to believe in it or not believe in it because I think it's true or not.

15) I could put... I could put... strychnine in the guacamole.

16) I never did like the idea of sitting on newspaper. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.

17) Everybody's sin is nobody's sin, and everybody's crime is no crime at all.

18) PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN. Coffee is for closers.

19) What do you do for exercise? / I pace.

20) With music you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it's not noise, it's a perfect harmony!

When credit union protocols go wild!

2007-02-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

I ran a bit late this morning, and didn't pack a lunch. This being a few days before my next direct deposit (DD is transmitted on Mondays), I was reluctant to swipe my debit card for a meal because I would start bumping up against my personal "buffer level" in my checking account.

But then I remembered I had a couple of survey payment checks in my wallet. So I went down to my credit union's shared branch to cash them out. I filled out the "deposit" and "returned to you" sections with $10 each, and made my way through the line.

When I got to the counter, I was greeted with a sign that said "ALL checks now being held." So I had to redo my slip.

The teller then proceeded to deposit $10 in my account, only to withdraw $10 one moment later. As I saw when I logged in this afternoon, these transactions processed immediately. However, the network COULD have held the balance for the weekend, if they'd wanted to. And then my available balance would have dropped by $10 even though the funds were right there.

I'm really not sure what purpose this serves. At amounts over $100, I'm fine with a short hold, but for $10! It's almost enough to make me go across town and deposit the checks at my own branch.

Free Meds!

2007-02-07T14:28:00.000-05:00

I called in a refill on my recurring prescription yesterday, and was told that I could pick it up that evening. So I timed my trip to the pharmacy between the lagging edge of rush hour traffic and the expected onset of snow.

Once I arrived, the pharmacy was on reduced staffing for the evening. The assistant pharmacist immediately found my prescription, but then did a double-take.

"I can't charge you for this."

"What?"

She displayed the label, which clearly stated that I owed $0.00. (I assume someone during the afternoon shift made a mistake.)

"I can't even scan it to ring up a price."

So she handed the bag to me, and I went on my merry way.

I'm planning on using any extra funds from my flex spending account for a replacement pair of sunglasses, so this means that, barring accidents, I have $20 more to spend on them. Whee.

Counterpoint: Why you SHOULD Help Pay for Your Child's Education

2007-02-05T13:16:00.000-05:00

Recently, Trent argued that parents should consider not contributing to their child's post-secondary education. While there are a couple of fair points in his argument, for the most part I feel it ignores several key issues that come with paying for one's education.

Parents can't check a box saying "I will not contribute to my child's education." Any student hoping to receive financial aid of ANY stripe, including loans, will have to fill out the FAFSA (and at certain schools, the PROFILE). Both of these forms require parents to report their assets and income to arrive at the Expected Family Contribution (unless the student has served in the military). Even if the parent doesn't plan on giving the child a dime, any aid package the student receives will assume that financially able parents will contribute some portion of their income and assets toward the education. This can leave an "independent" student on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars even at lower-cost state schools.

Students who still try to finance their own education face drawbacks. Generally speaking, outside scholarships reduce the school's own grant/scholarship provisions dollar-for-dollar, BEFORE reducing the loan part of the package. Is it possible to earn enough in outside scholarships to cover nearly all college costs? Yes. Do you know many students who have done so? That's what I thought.

Students who try to work their way through school also face difficulties. Any student eligible for need-based financial aid who works at non-work study jobs starts losing 50 cents of every after-tax dollar in aid once other income exceeds $2,490.

What this adds up to is several "independent" students on the hook for lots and lots of debt.

Some parents may argue that this is just how it is, and their children need to experience the pain of paying for all their education to value it.

Most students do not need to cover the entire cost of their education to be invested in the experience. When I went to Small Liberal Arts U. for my undergraduate education, I covered a good portion of my college costs from scholarships, work-study, and my own loan applications. However, my parents still chipped in for a PLUS-type loan that was the equivalent of nearly one year's tuition, along with covering some semester billing shortfalls. Did the fact that one-quarter of my college costs didn't come out of my own theoretical pocket reduce my investment in my education? Not at all. I don't mean to brag, but this is relevant: Having some portion of my costs covered by my parents allowed me to work fewer hours, which left me more time to study and get involved in many extracurriculars. Because of this, I ended up being listed in Who's Who Among Students. I suppose I might have still have managed to do so even with more hours at a job, but I doubt it.

In contrast, while I'm immensely proud of getting a master's degree from Big 10 U., the fact that I paid for all of it out of my own savings, work-study, and lots of loans doesn't make the accomplishment any more meaningful to me. I spent a lot more time being worried about money than being proud that I was paying my own way.

Students who graduate with a lot of debt find it hard to move ahead to the hallmarks of adulthood. If a student graduates with $20,000 in student loan debt and finds a job earning approximately the average liberal arts salary of $35,000, current Stafford loan rates and terms (6.8%, 10-year repayment) make for a monthly payment of $230.16 over a monthly salary of $2,917, which is almost exactly the 8% hallmark of "burdensome debt". That kind of payment can cut into building an emergency fund, not to mention retirement savings or home downpayment savings. This might forestall children having a firm financial footing when their parents enter retirement and might need extra assistance.

These arguments can be debated back and forth. However, it really comes down to one issue:

If parents value education, they need to conform their actions to their words. I don't think anyone advocating that parents provide assistance to their children would say that mediocre students should be pushed into college if they don't want to be there. But parents who expect solid academic performance and understanding out of their children during the primary and secondary school years tend to produce children who will achieve the same way in college. And those expectations are more effective when the parents provide at least some financial show of support, such as 529 savings.

Not every set of parents will be able to afford to send their child to college without risking their own retirement. Not every child will desire to attend college. But those families have alternatives (simplified financial aid needs tests, trade school/apprenticeship tracks). For families with suitably secure parents and suitably motivated children, however, I can't find many compelling reasons for the parents to withhold the aid that society expects them to provide.

January/February Net Worth

2007-02-05T10:05:00.000-05:00

I report on the second of every month for the transactions of the prior month (plus loan payments on the first).

Personal Items

The KBB value of my car actually rose slightly(?), but I chose to leave it at the same valuation because I'm pretty sure I need to replace my struts.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Overall, my cash balances were almost identical between the two months, but the allocations to each category were quite different. Paying off credit cards and sending funds to long-term savings drove down both my checking and bank savings, while improving my online savings account balances. (I also received a boost from using up all my ING referrals; I'll be closing that account when the balance is fully available.)

Investments

The raise I already received in December was augmented by a cost-of-living adjustment increase for my most recent pay period. The salary increase passed through to both my contribution and my employer match. My mutual fund was recently rolled from one fund to another, ostensibly better-performing one, which explains some of the bump-up.

Loan Balances

I continue to make my scheduled payments on my loans. I sent an additional $200 to my Perkins loan (which is much larger than the usual payment) via the lender's "e-check" feature. I incurred a $1 service charge, but I figured it was worth it to avoid disrupting my normal ACH transfers to that loan.

Other Debt

I managed to get both cards to a zero balance for a short time. My secondary card is currently holding the balance for some theater tickets for which I'll be partially reimbursed by my friends. I continue to pay off my statement balances in full.

I started tracking my net worth in March of last year. I don't display it because I had to refine some of my reporting, but even after "corrections" I believe that I've improved my net worth by around $20K in one year. I know that's peanuts to some people, but I'm quite pleased.

The Month Ahead

I filed my taxes yesterday, so I expect my refunds (which are smaller than last year; W-4 adjustments DO work) to hit their respective accounts before my next monthly statement. I trust that will offset the plane ticket I plan on purchasing.

It's funny because it's true.

2007-01-31T14:15:00.000-05:00

From last week's Carnival of Education:

The best summary of the college application experience EVER.

I laughed a lot.

All About Education at the Washington Post.

2007-01-29T16:47:00.000-05:00

Sunday's Business section had three separate articles regarding educational finance. While I didn't see anything particularly revelatory, they do make a solid introduction to the issues surrounding paying for a child's education.

Forget Yale--Go State serves up the usual advice to:

start saving in 529s when the children are young,
spend time figuring out exactly how much of the school bill the parents are willing to pay a few years before the children visit and apply to schools, and
remember to take advantage of all applicable tax credits when the children start attending college.

There is a very nice sidebar of Internet resources including the usual suspects (FAFSA, Finaid, Fastweb, and Savingforcollege) along with less well-known resources (NCES school profiles, College Board).

The article does mention that a student may get sufficient aid to cover the difference between a "high sticker-price" school and an ostensibly more affordable one, but it's somewhat glossed over. They do emphasize that the time to fill out the FAFSA is NOW.

Financial Futures--Save for You, Too means pretty much exactly what it says. Parents shouldn't save for college at the expense of their own retirement savings.

The article makes the point that lower-income families might not have as many costs to cover, because aid packages for lower income students may include grants. However, as Pell Grants have declined per recipient, this may be overly optimistic.

The larger point, however, stands. Families can't borrow for retirement.

Beware the Scholarship Hucksters reminds us that aid resources on the Internet are free, so there is no reason to pay for scholarships in any way. This includes scholarship searches, "recipient fees," or anything else. I wish this were simply common knowledge by now, but I guess not.

Now that Blue Monday is well behind us...

2007-01-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

(by which I mean January 22 and not the New Order single)

...let's share some cheery news.

1) Kiplinger's released its latest ranking of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges. UNC-Chapel Hill topped the list for the sixth straight time. The reporters believe that the major increases in public school tuition over the last several years is likely to moderate going forward.

2) Princeton will hold tuition steady for the first time in 40 years. Room and board fees will increase. Overall, the total cost of attendance is about $44,000 a year, while the average annual grant to a first year student on financial aid is $30,000. This could still leave many students with a large debt load, but it is a marked improvement over the past. Hopefully more Ivies and other private schools will look at how Princeton is managing its endowment and follow suit.

And on the personal front...

3) I indulged in some relatively frugal entertainment last night. The auto show was in town, so I stopped by for a visit. Thanks to a coupon, my ticket was only $6. For that $6, I saw:

A set by a local band that I'd been meaning to check out
A "magic show" to demonstrate the wonders of flex-fuel vehicles, at which I got free popcorn
the wacky Ford Airstream concept...CUV, or whatever they're calling not-minivans these days
the super-duper integrated audio system in the Volvo S80 (would I buy one? Probably never. Would I sit in one and pretend for a little while? Heck yes.)
a vendor selling off-brand accessories for all types of home and car audio. So I finally found an iPod charger for half off retail!

All told, I think it was pretty good bang for the buck.

This weekend, I'm going to use some coupons from my gifted Entertainment book and try to see another Oscar movie. I'm thinking Last King of Scotland, but it depends on which films are showing nearby.

New and Improved.

2007-01-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

1) Single Ma's recent redesign inspired me to retool my own layout. I've been tinkering with it for a few weeks (I had to figure out the difference between old style templates and new style templates the hard way). There are still a few minor things I'd like to adjust, but for the most part, I'm pleased with it. I've also finally set up my Feedburner account, which will probably give me some more headaches to start, but will also eventually improve services for any subscribers I may have (I don't track that sort of thing).

2) Speaking of feeds, I spent a very long time without a good reader (neither Bloglines nor Sage nor any standalone readers really worked for me.) Google Reader, however, seems like a good fit. Each feed displays with enough white space that I can scroll through entries easily, and folder management isn't very arduous either. I REALLY like the easy "star" system for tagging posts. I've heard complaints that it doesn't fetch entries all that quickly, but since I tend to do my reading in batches, it doesn't bother me. Plus, it's nice to have one login for reading and posting.

3) The recent edition of TaxAct has much to recommend it. I file relatively straightforward returns, so I don't need lots of customer support and advice. So I usually go with the free edition. And I'm still quite happy with the (preliminary) results. The Q&A section has a dropdown checklist feature that makes it easy to skip from section to section as different documents arrive. One caveat: If you want the system to recognize your exemptions for the standard telephone tax credit, it apparently requires completing the Q&A topics in order (although you can skip reviewing the data already entered).

I have to point out that THIS year, the Deluxe edition offers a student aid report function to assist with the FAFSA. Although I haven't used it, it seems like a good tool for figuring out one's Expected Family Contribution, since it takes the numbers from one's own return. (Still, in order to get the FAFSA filed before the February/March deadlines, it might be worth putting in estimates based on end-of-year paystubs, savings accounts, and the like, to generate the SAR. When all documents are in, then one could file the actual tax return and corrected FAFSA.)

4) I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the no-longer-so-recent redesign at VirtualBank. While I still think ING is the simplest choice for someone who has never dealt with an online account before, the VB interface is now nearly as clean and pleasing, with logically-arranged tabs for various tasks. And the "personal account representative" is a nice feature. It's decidedly not the rate leader at 4.6%, and they don't offer tax statements online, but reponsive transfers, good beneficiary service, and other features make me likely to hold onto it at least until I have solid cash for ELoan (the only other online bank besides EmigrantDirect that makes beneficiary nomination a key feature [if I'm wrong about this, please let me know]).

Anyway, I'm pretty much all out of ING referrals (thanks to Jonathan), so if you'd like a $20 VirtualBank referral, email me.

Other new plans include me finally getting off my duff and starting to review all those financial aid books that I checked out from the library, and trying to spotlight more news items about student aid. If you have any interest in seeing something in particular featured here, I'd love to read your comments.

Apparently now I even LOOK like a PF blogger.

2007-01-11T13:59:00.001-05:00

I went over to CC for my weekly tutoring engagement last night. My student for the evening, Mrs. H., had been assigned a unit on understanding charts. So I found some pie chart worksheets in the drawer. Both worksheets used a family budget to illustrate the pie chart concept.

As Mrs. H. settled in, one of the other volunteers, R., asked me if we were looking at budgets, and almost immediately asked me if I could help her get her husband involved in managing their money. I was a bit flustered, but managed to ask a few questions about how they handled their money already. "He's the spender."

I suggested that she promise him a (frugal) date night if he agreed to track all his spending in a notebook for at least a week, just to give them a jumping off point for discussion. She seemed pleased with that idea, but also wanted a longer term plan for herself, her husband, and her daughter. She also wanted to know how I felt about savings vs. debt.

"Well, are you a numbers person or a mindset person?"

"Mindset."

After we talked a bit more, I ended up suggesting that she go in a far more Ramseyan direction ($1K baby e-fund, debt repayment, etc., possibly even envelope budgeting) than I'd choose for myself. (Hey, I may not particularly like the guy, but I know he's helped a lot of people in her situation.) But since this was all pretty much off the cuff in the few minutes I had before tutoring started, I really hope that I can follow up with R. next week.

So, blog on, buckos. You never know when it will help someone out who really needs it.

House Bill to Halve U.S. Stafford Loan Rates.

2007-01-10T11:58:00.000-05:00

The bill would target subsidized Stafford loans. (Public Blog link here.)

The plan is to reduce interest rates over five years, from 6.8% to 3.2%. It remains unclear how PAYGO legislation will interact with this bill, although moving to lower-cost direct loans rather than administered loans from private companies (Sallie Mae, Nelnet, et. al) is a distinct possibility. Regardless, that $6 billion will have to come from somewhere.

I know Uncle Bill is not a fan of this plan, but I think he misinterprets how student loans are funded. Private companies administer Stafford loans on behalf of the government; they don't just start offering them out of the goodness of their hearts. They do it because it is highly profitable (which, again, leads back to expanding the cheaper direct loan program). At any rate, if the government chooses to fund lower-cost loans, then it WILL be a hit to the taxpayer, but the Department of Education estimates that every $1 of student loan assistance returns $3 in revenue over a student's lifetime. (pdf, page 7)

I'll be watching this with great interest.

My iPod is a gateway drug.

2007-01-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

Now that the holidays are over, the wrapping paper has been tossed (or, if you're me, the gift bags have been folded up and put away), and the thank you notes have been ~~written~~ started, I'm able to consider the pleasures of my family's generosity.

One of the highlights is my new iPod Nano. For obvious reasons (well, obvious to some people), I have named it Hermia. It has made my commute much more pleasant, and I'm both rediscovering older songs and spending a lot of time with new favorites. Because it's the 2GB version, I have to do a bit more space management than if I'd saved up for the 4GB, but I don't look a gift iPod in the mouth. I foresee a lot of aural goodness in my future.

That said? That little gizmo could suck me dry if I let it.

I've already had to purchase a case and supra-aural earphones (I LOATHE earbuds). Both of these were pretty obvious add-ons if I planned to spend any time listening to it at all. (I could have purchased cheaper earphones, but the PX100s were well rated and foldable. I'm very happy with them.)

But what about a dock and A/V charger? What about car audio adapters? What about an alarm clock?

Thus far, I'm just taking slow breaths and not rushing into any other accessory purchases.

But the iPod Nation is vast and full of attractions to empty my wallet.

If you have one, which accessories (if any) do you consider critical? Which could you have done without?

Head of Janus and all that. (2006 Net Worth and 2007 Financial Resolutions.)

2007-01-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

I've been away having a much-needed vacation with my family, but I didn't COMPLETELY forget about the pf world.

For starters, my net worth improved pretty mightily over the course of the month. I also offer the improvement since May (I technically started tracking it in March, but didn't have a consistent methodology until May [although there is one significant exception that I'll detail below].) I report on the second of every month for the transactions of the prior month (plus one loan payment on the first).

Personal Items

The KBB value of my car stayed the same this month, and I had no reason to adjust anything else. I have made adjustments since May to my vehicle and computer valuation.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

My rent check has yet to clear in my checking balance, but even so, I managed to keep more than I expected in my account. Part of this has to do with my family feeding me for much of my vacation. The increase in my savings account is mainly, but not entirely, due to generous gifts from family from the holidays and some reimbursement for ticket purchases. I'll be transferring most of it to my condo fund when the balance is no longer being held. My online savings account improvement reflects depositing my net bonus in my emergency fund.

Investments

I was pleasantly surprised by the continued growth in the markets in December. As you can see, equity growth and increased contributions (both from raises and higher percentages) led to strong growth in my retirement account since May. I'm comfortable with my percentage level (10 percent plus 5 percent match) so this probably won't see such vast improvement in 2007.

I did not record my mutual fund balance until August, so I don't show improvement in that category from May. However, the "zero" for that line does overstate my percentage improvement in my assets and overall net worth since May, although I estimate it's only by a few basis points.

At any rate, my asset base improved by at least 50 percent since May, and I am very pleased with that.

Loan Balances

I continue to make my scheduled payments on my loans. However, the holiday prevented both of my loans that are due on the first from posting (usually, one of them posts by the 2nd). For ease of comparison, I treat the loan that I transferred to my credit union as an "other loan" in May, although I originally recorded it as a student loan. Obviously, reducing the interest rate on that loan made a large difference.

Other Debt

One of my credit cards is now officially at a zero balance. The other card has been statement-paid (in part with my Christmas savings fund), but late December expenditures still left a higher-than-average balance on my card. I should be able to pay a good chunk of that balance off with my extra paycheck this month, well before the February due date. Since I am no longer using my one credit card as a DIY 0% financing tool for my computer, I suspect my credit balances will remain lower than they were in May.

All told, my net worth improved by at least 25 percent since May 2006. I'm still a long way off from a net worth of zero, but I am pleased with my progress.

And now for 2007.

I'm not that big on resolutions, but I do have a few specific goals this year.

Improve my condo fund to at least $8K. I think my current contribution schedule should get me there without too much difficulty, but I will need to make extra contributions during my three-paycheck months. Stretch goal: $9K.
Take a homeownership class. There are two being offered in my area this month. I doubt that I'll be ready to purchase this year, but taking the class early should help me get my ducks in a row for next year.
Limit snack/cash withdrawal trips to CVS to once a week. I have a bad habit of sugar-crashing or wanting cash and therefore stopping at CVS on the way home. I should make more use of my network ATMs and do better grocery shopping so that I don't fritter those extra dollars away.

At any rate, I hope everyone has a lovely New Year.

Gang Aft Agley.

2006-12-20T11:04:00.000-05:00

I've been more or less okay with my holiday spending thus far, and the last gift I'm going to purchase will be relatively small. So I was feeling fine with splurging and buying the pre-packaged fruit tray for our office holiday party.

Shortly after I got home from the store, my brother called. "I've been having trouble finding things for Dad. And I wanted a good birthday gift. [Dad was born on Christmas, so we make an extra effort to find him something special every year. ] So before I knew it I bought him two Billy Joel tickets. "

And so I told him to forget about giving me the $20 for another shared gift I'd ordered, and will be writing him a check to cover some more of the ticket expense. He recently had to buy a new car, so I don't want him to shoulder all of that himself.

It's a good thing I didn't have to travel this year, that's all I have to say.

Belated links and lemmingdom.

2006-12-18T13:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Penny Nickel at Money and Values for hosting the recent Festival of Under 30 Finances. I'm included, along with many other interesting posts. If you haven't already checked it out, stop by.

That "5 things you may not know about me" meme is also going around. And I don't mind an excuse to talk about myself, so I will ignore the tagging part and encourage anyone who wants to join in to do so.

1) HC does not represent my initials. If you can figure out why I use that as my nom de blog, then I'll give you a cookie if we should ever meet in person.
2) Although it has been over a decade since they were released, I can still sing nearly every word of the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen and Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville. Any correlation this may or may not have with my romantic history is left as an exercise for the reader. [grin]
3) I had the opportunity to live in Japan for two years after college as part of the JET program. I decided not to go. Some people would regret this, but I think it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
4) I've eaten a lot of good food in a lot of fine locations, but thoughts of this place still make my mouth water.
5) I have not had a proper vacation this entire year, and am looking forward to 11 days away from work like you would not believe. It starts this Friday!

Apply for your FAFSA PIN today!

2006-12-15T12:07:00.000-05:00

If you are planning on requesting financial aid for the 2007-2008 school year, you can submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as early as January 1. Most states do not have FAFSA deadlines before March 1, but financial aid officers generally recommend filing as quickly as possible. (In many cases, those officers also recommend filing with estimated 2006 tax information in January and filing a corrected application after tax returns are complete.)

To begin, visit FAFSA on the Web to download a list of necessary documents and to apply for a PIN. Parents must also apply for a PIN unless the student does not have to provide parental information (because the student is a) older than 23, b) persuing a graduate degree, c) married, d) responsible for his/her own dependents, e) serving in, or a veteran of, the armed forces).

It can take up to 10 business days to receive a PIN by mail (although only 3 via email), so it's best to get it out of the way now.

If you or your student is also planning on applying to schools that require the PROFILE, now would be a good time to register for that as well. In this case, students and parents can use the same login to complete the application.

How I Gave Myself a Learner's Permit for My Credit Cards

2006-12-11T14:09:00.000-05:00

I've never paid a finance charge on a credit card. With the exception of hiring a moving truck two and a half years ago, I've never exceeded 50 percent of my credit limit. I've never been in the position of wondering how I would pay my card off.

I'm not trying to brag. I've just noticed that there are plenty of advocates for never using a credit card and then there are those who snatch up every balance transfer opportunity in sight. And it seems to me that part of the issue is that getting a credit card is a bright-line, instant change that doesn't come with much (or any) training.

Compare that to learning to drive. Driving offers convenience and independence, much like credit cards. And it also involves a lot of risks, even MORE so than credit cards. Because of this, most states require that young drivers complete graduated licensing programs, which insure that they are supervised for months while learning how a large, heavy vehicle works.

So I set up my own "graduated credit" program. I really went full scale AFTER I graduated from college, but this is easily applicable to college students.

Step 1: Use a bank or credit union debit card for every possible transaction for one year, but remain an authorized user on another credit account. Groceries, drugstore items, bus tokens, etc. Any point-of-sale transaction should be paid for via debit. Some people are advocates of doing all spending with cash. That's admirable, but the point is to teach yourself how to keep track of your funds while using a little plastic card. I recommend that you choose a bank that lets you keep track of all your transactions online (although I'm hard pressed to think of one that DOESN'T, nowadays.) You may consider a budget tracking program for this as well.

The only exceptions are 1) cash for restaurants and bars. You'll probably be going out with other people and putting in cash is easier. And you don't have to worry about your card being skimmed. Just remember that you made these purchases. 2) Major consumer purchases and all online purchases. Despite my fondness for debit cards, they do NOT offer the same protection as credit cards, and anyone who tells you otherwise is confused or deliberately misleading. You'll need extra help while you stick to your debit-only plan. In my case, I was an authorized user on my father's credit card, and was able to use it to reserve plane tickets for trips home. (I'd then try to pay him back as he waved me off, but that's another issue.) I didn't buy any other big-ticket items that year, but if I had, I would also have wanted the consumer dispute protection of a credit card.

If you cannot find someone to authorize you on a card, get a second bank account with another debit card. Transfer funds to this account for your online purchases. Should your card information be compromised, you don't have to worry about your main checking account being hacked. You should also put all money for plane ticket and other large purchases here for the same reason. Alternatively, you may be able to convince your family to make reservations on your behalf and to pay them back later.

Step 2: Evaluate after six months.

Have you ever lost track of your spending? Did you have to dip into savings for anything other than real emergencies? Have you been hit with any overdraft charges? If the answer to any of these is "yes," you probably need to refine your budgeting and tracking skills. If you haven't used a budgeting program, or you don't like the one that you currently have, consider trying a new one. Follow step 1 again for another six months. And remember, whatever problems you have dealing with debit cards will only be exacerbated when dealing with credit cards.

Step 3: After six successful months with a debit card, get a relatively low-limit credit card from your bank or credit union.

Why would I recommend a bank credit card when the rates will probably be higher than other offers you might find? 1) If you already have a financial relationship with your bank, they'll be more willing to issue you a card. They know where your funds are. 2) You'll probably be able to keep track of your card balance on the same web page as your other accounts with the bank. If you can't, look around until you find a financial institution that has that setup. You want to see your credit transactions every time you log in, so that your spending can't get away from you.

I recommend that you avoid a huge credit limit off the bat. On the other hand, the lower the limit, the worse your utilization ratio will be for purchasing anything more than sticks of gum. I had roughly a $1500 credit limit when I first applied, which was less than 4 percent of my annual income at the time. Under $2000 is likely to keep you from getting into too much trouble if you start running up charges.

Continue to use your debit card for the majority of your purchases. Keep the credit card for small recurring purchases (a newspaper subscription or somesuch) and the aforementioned plane tickets and online purchases. If you find yourself spending more on your credit card than you did with your debit card, take a break, evaluate your budget, and rein in your spending.

Step 4: Again, evaluate after six months.

Were you able to pay off your bill in full every month? Did you usually stay below 30 percent of your credit limit? Do you trust yourself when you take out this card?

If the answer to these is "no," then put the card aside for awhile, and go back to the debit. Do not close the card, but lock it away and pay down your remaining debt. You can try using the card again AFTER you pay down your credit balance in full. Evaluate again after another six months. Continue using your debit and SINGLE credit card for a year.

Step 5: After a year of responsible credit card usage, look into rewards cards or zero percent cards.

These offers provide even more convenience than normal credit cards, which is why they are risky. However, if you know that you can pay your balance off in full by the time the statement is due (or the promotion period, in the case of zero percent cards), then you can take advantage of these with confidence. Remember that opening a lot of new cards can ping your credit score, however. I think waiting a year or two and then searching for better offers is fine, as long as you can continue to keep track of your old cards.

So, that's how I graduated from debit-only to regular use of cards without getting in over my head. I don't claim that this will work for EVERYONE, but I suspect it might help some young people who feel overwhelmed.

Help solve my dilemma!

2006-12-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

Really, it's not a bad one to have. But since I need to make a decision by January, advice would be appreciated.

I'm paid biweekly, but my budget is based on two pay periods per month. So twice a year (usually January and July), I receive an "extra" pay deposit. This allows me to pay off any charges accrued for Christmas or for my summer trip (that aren't covered by my holiday savings subaccount), and to do my semiannual wardrobe shopping. Most importantly, however, I take a big chunk and put it towards my finances.

In the past, it's been a no-brainer. I'd make an extra loan payment on my high-interest student loan. Now that I've refinanced that loan, I feel like I have more options.

Option 1: Make an extra payment on my credit union loan. It's a 5.9 % APR, and interest is not tax-deductible. If I continued to do this twice a year for the remainder of the term, I would shorten this loan by two months and reduce my interest by $180 or so.

Option 2: Make an extra payment on my Perkins loan. 5%, interest is tax-deductible (although for 2007, this won't be relevant). Continued extra payments would shorten this loan by 38 months and reduce my interest by over $250.

Option 3: Make an extra contribution to my emergency fund. 4.6% APY. I've already earmarked my net bonus to refill my fund, and expect a tax refund between $100 and $200 (despite increasing my withholding) that I also intend to deposit here. And I continue to make regular contributions to this fund. This is my least favorite choice.

Option 4: Make an extra contribution to my downpayment fund. 5.05% APY. This would certainly boost my savings toward my condo downpayment. I'm really leaning toward this option. However, since I'm not planning on meeting with a broker until January, I might be getting ahead of myself.

I do have a few other options (pay towards my lowest-interest rate student loan, set up a car fund, etc.), but these four are the ones that make the most sense to me.

What would you do?

December Net Worth

2006-12-03T23:37:00.000-05:00

While I’ve been keeping track of my net worth since March, I haven’t published anything about it. I didn’t want to publish the hard numbers. However, I realized that Excel formatting can “blank out” the balances and leave the percentages, so I give you the colorful statement here. (I use the Excel net worth calculator, and that’s the scheme that they use. [shrug]) As-of dates are the 2^nd of the month.

Personal Items

The Kelley Blue Book value of my car stayed the same this month. I take an additional 5 percent or so from the “fair condition” value, to account for accidents the car has had (albeit completely repaired every time). I should probably have a real depreciation schedule for my computer, but instead I just shave $50 of the value off every three months. My other personal items are estimated at under $500, so I rarely retool those numbers.

(For the record, I value these possessions in my net worth because I COULD presumably sell them in an emergency. I take public transportation to work, and I live in a well-served area for car sharing, so selling my car is not so far-fetched. In a real emergency, I could move in with family members in the area, and that would probably involve selling some of my personal possessions. And while I wouldn’t give it up in an emergency, I also expect that I will eventually (4-6 years) purchase a new computer, in which case I would sell or donate my current one.)

Cash or Cash Equivalent

My checking account balance looks better than it “should” because a withdrawal that normally occurs on the 1^st or 2^nd was transmitted to my bank, but didn’t clear until this morning. Even so, my balance is slightly higher than last month. Savings had a sharp withdrawal this month partly because my November number was “inflated.” I received some checks to cover my family’s tickets for [Famous Performing Troupe] and hadn’t sent them to the credit card yet. I also had to pull some additional savings money to cover my plane ticket for Thanksgiving. My online savings accounts are up some from the big drop; I adjusted my withholding last month in order to refill my emergency fund after paying for the car repairs.

Investments

This improvement is basically all due to the run-up in the stock market (rising tides, etc.) But I expect my higher retirement contributions (thanks to my raise and now-10-percent allotment) will somewhat offset any drops occurring in December.

Loan Balances

My student loans improved even more than I expected because one payment posted on the 1^st that normally posts after I finish my updates. My “other loan” is the private educational loan I transferred to my credit union. I’m still so pleased to actually see principal being retired on what used to be my biggest burden.

Other Debt

I pay my credit card statement balances in full every month. I have another gift purchase I’m being reimbursed for, which will take my balance on one card down to zero. The other is a bit higher than normal due to some Christmas shopping, but will be statement-paid this month and probably paid to zero in January.

All told, my net worth improved 4.9 percent this month. I think I can live with that.

Giving on the brain.

2006-12-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

It seems like the season is upon us, so everyone has been talking about charity. How much to give, where to give, and DEFINITELY who gives.

NCN asked about bloggers' favorite charities. I have three or four that I regularly fund, but my favorite is Americares. The disaster relief/humanitarian aid organization is well rated, efficient, and committed to providing aid "for all people around the world, irrespective of race, creed or political persuasion." It gets the majority of my continuing donations every year.

Tired But Happy asked about making donations at the office. I do the majority of my financial giving through my office campaign. We're given a very large database of charities from which to choose, covering pretty much any cause one could imagine. The database also lists each charity's allocation to program expenses, rather than administrative/fundraising ones. And since my donations are made every pay period, I don't have to worry about falling short and failing to donate. I also make lump sum donations to a few organizations througout the year, either to support a friend's fundraising effort, or in response to a disaster. But if I get an unwanted solicitation, I simply say that "I do my giving through XYZ Campaign." It's true, after all. My long-term goal is to up my giving percentage every year as my student loan debt decreases.

And finally, I do volunteer. I have a weekly commitment with Catholic Charities/Catholic Community Services as a GED/External Diploma math tutor. And I do periodic projects with my county's homeless association. Writing this post did make me realize that I've been a very bad blood donor (as a type O, I should go every time) over the past several months since I can't rely on workplace donations anymore; our "workplace" donation site is a mile away. And being sick didn't help. Now that I'm better, I signed up to go to the standing Red Cross center next week.

I guess blogging about these things really CAN change behavior!

Read your loan terms and conditions CAREFULLY.

2006-11-27T10:43:00.000-05:00

After a much-needed Thanksgiving Day trip to see my dad and brother (and some good friends), I feel much more ready to take things on. I'm still probably going to post sporadically while I'm in work deadlines, but I'm not feeling nearly as overwhelmed.

Which is good, because I had a challenge to deal with today. I decided last month to make a loan payment before the grace period was over, thus chipping away at my interest. This pushed the due date for my payment up by another month. So I assumed that my payment for this month, the first scheduled withdrawal, had been pushed up as well. I wanted to keep making the payments, so I sent one in yesterday evening.

When I checked online today (because I am obsessive and check my balances at least every two days), I discovered that I'd had TWO loan withdrawals. After a call to my member services department, I discovered that the withdrawal would start on schedule no matter when my payment was officially due. The MSR agreed to reverse the withdrawal on the second payment, and I agreed to wait for automatic withdrawals in the future. Fortunately there was no real harm done. If I'd been less vigilant, however, I could have found myself overdrawing my accounts by a lot. The moral of the story is to know how your financial institution will collect your payments, and proceed accordingly. And if you aren't sure, ask.

On a lighter note, I did NO Black Friday shopping this year. I needed to help my brother out with something that kept us away from the malls, and also visited a friend. In fact, the only money that I really spent on my trip was for cab fare to and from my local airport.

I did do a bit of shopping yesterday. My family has a tradition of giving White House ornaments to each other every year. Last year, I discovered another set of commemorative ornaments that are similarly designed and often prettier. So my aunt and I made a trip down to [Restored Historical Estate] to purchase this year's model. When I got there, however, they had a two-pack of older ornaments on sale for $8 less than the current-year single ornament. And the current year never completely sells out, so I expect to be able to pick that one up at a discount next year. So I picked up the two-packs for a couple of people, along with some foodie gifts for some family friends. My aunt, bless her heart, bought LOTS of ornaments and some books for her parents, who are big history buffs.

I love not having to stress over shopping. I'm still not quite done, but I'll easily find everything else I need in the next four weeks. And this year, I get to stay put while my family has Christmas in town. So no extra travel worries!

I have been REALLY sick.

2006-11-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

As in, I had last Friday off. I could theoretically sleep in and knock out the cold. I was STILL on the couch for most of the weekend and stayed home Monday and Tuesday as well. And then I spent the rest of the week trying to catch up, and am still only about halfway there.

Sigh.

On a brighter note, I managed to get a submission into the Carnival of Personal Finance over at A Geek's World. I'm not the most regular contributor to carnivals. I'm forgetful, but I also don't want to contribute a less-than-personal-best post just to get some link traffic. But I felt that my post on life lists as shortcuts to estate planning was sufficiently on-topic, specific, and actionable to send on in. I also really liked The Finance Buff's post on Open Enrollment (as I'm dealing with it myself), Dogberry's comparison of 529 plans for the Dogberry family's OWN tax situation, and Tired But Happy's feelings about (not) planning for inheritances.

Also, I had my full annual review a few days ago. Despite receiving a mid-year (and completely unexpected) promotion, I still received a raise and a small bonus. Two raises in a year is quite all right by me. The bonus is mainly going to be funnelled back into my emergency fund. While ideally I would replace ALL the money I took out for my car repairs, if I can get $800 from "extra sources" (bonuses, gifts, and tax returns), I'll probably let myself go back to a normal contribution schedule and focus more on my downpayment fund.

And now, to catch up on still more work.

Finding what you need when you need it.

2006-11-09T14:36:00.000-05:00

The Frugal Duchess offers up a worrisome post about upselling in the funeral business. While I've never had to deal with anyone pushing video presentations on me, my family was shocked at the prices of a lot of the services that go along with having even a relatively simple funeral.

We did figure out one way to save money, though. The suggested urns were priced in the hundreds. And I thought about how my mother loved her Delft tobacco jar that she'd purchased in Colonial Williamsburg and had given it pride of place in our front room for years. "Dad, I think she'd get a kick out of it." And with a minor fee for the seal, we had a lovely and meaningful urn.

Now that I've been reading these blogs for several months, I've decided that it's not that coincidental that I really started paying more attention to my finances at the same time that my mother declined. She had planned to draw up a will, but couldn't find an attorney that would come out to meet her and was in no state to leave the care center, nor, eventually, the hospital. The one saving grace was that most of her assets had direct beneficiaries or gave my father right of survivorship. It could have been an even more difficult time for us otherwise.

So over the past few months, I've assigned my financial assets to my father and brother. That doesn't do much good, however, unless I tell them how to track them all down. I know some people have detailed binders that keep track of every possible contact and contingency, but I wanted something simple that would fit on a single sheet of paper and allow my family to deal with my affairs if anything should ever happen to me.

And so I developed the life list.

I've generalized and redacted the presentation here, but it explains the general organization. It lists which accounts I have active, the account number, and the contact information for each account. (As a general rule, I find "contact us" URLs best because they'll also include links to common questions. For my retirement and life insurance, however, I included a link to the PDF of the form required.) Then I provide an as-of-date balance, and the beneficiary. If someone would get the account based on standard order of preference, then I refer to them as an automatic beneficiary. If I actually filled out a payable on death form or something similar, then they are listed as an applied beneficiary.

Loan accounts are similar, with the obvious exception of the beneficiary field. Again, all balances are as of a certain date. I update this along with my net worth spreadsheet.

And finally, I provide a list of my current utility accounts. Although my rent and my car are not "standing accounts," I also include them here. My state's DMV offers instructions about how to dispose of plates and titles and how to change resigstration, so I include links to that and to the county website.

This is no substitute for careful estate planning. My goal for next year is to procure an official will and better documentation of my holdings, but knowing that my family has a copy of this list will make it much easier for them to take care of eventualities.

The insanity has not abated.

2006-11-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

So I'm still going to be kind of spotty round these parts. I am still checking out posts for the upcoming roundup, so feel free to drop me an email if you think I might have missed yours.

At any rate, I was pleased about one thing. Despite pulling money out of savings for my car repair and reducing the value of my car by $100 (it's already below the KBB "fair condition" estimate and was fully repaired, but I wanted to account for the accident), my net worth IMPROVED by a few hundred dollars.

Thanks, big runup in my retirement account!

Thanks, loan payment that is no longer negligable!

Also, before my father left this weekend, I finally gave him a copy of the life list. And I dropped off my last POD form at my credit union today. Except for one account I've decided should go to my brother, he's now the named beneficiary on all my financial accounts (or the automatic beneficiary, in a few cases). I still need to do a proper will, but at least my financial assets wouldn't have to go through probate if something were to happen to me.

And if you're in the U.S., remember to vote tomorrow! If nothing else, it will be the END of those appalling ads.

Tearing my hair out.

2006-11-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

I have five different projects going on right now at work. I have family in town. I'm trying to plan for the holidays.

The long and the short of it is that I won't be doing much blogging this week. I do need to update my net worth calculator, so I'll probably do that tonight.

So I'm not completely off the bandwagon, here's a quick tip from last night.

My family, as I mentioned, got tickets to [Famous Performing Troupe]. It was located downtown very near [Mezze Restaurant], so we went there. In the midst of ordering our various dishes (yay for small plates variety!), I quickly looked at the drink menu. They offered a pomegranate cocktail that looked pretty tasty.

To get a glass? $8. To get a carafe that poured a drink and a half for all five of us? $24.

If you do choose to drink while dining out, consider carafes, bottles, and pitchers.

This time, Michelle Singletary gets it right.

2006-10-31T16:19:00.000-05:00

I've given Michelle Singletary some grief in the past over her stance on student loan debt.

But her most recent article is a clear-eyed look at the struggle students face in trying to pay for an education, particularly in the loan market.

(As Free Money Finance points out, most parents aren't saving enough for college. And outside scholarships generally reduce need-based aid dollar for dollar. So loans are probably going to be part of all but the most well-off students' aid packages.)

She makes the VERY salient point that with static Stafford loan caps (although some year-by-year limits are increasing for dependent undergraduates, the overall limit is $23K, the same as in 1992), and increasing tuition, students are frequently turning to private lenders to make up the gap. And private lending obviously doesn't have the same rates or subsidies for in-school interest that federal loans do.

The only quibble that I have is that her quote of 7 to 9 percent on private loans still sounds lower than what I've seen. With LIBOR at 5.37% and PRIME at 8.25%, plenty of private loans are going for 10 to 12 percent, or more.

Other than that, the only change I'd make to this article would involve parents of potential college students to start this conversation FAR before senior year.

Educational Finance Roundup

2006-10-30T14:34:00.000-05:00

This is a little late, but I had a lot going on over the weekend with my father's visit.

As always, this is my subjective recounting of my favorite posts relating to educational finance over the past two weeks (as of Friday). Feel free to email me if you would like your posts considered for a future roundup.

We start off with a bang as Jason shares Savvy Ways to Invest for College as part of the Bogleheads October Project. This touches seven different options for investing in a child's future education, including a look at 529 plans. Highly recommended, if only as an introduction.

100 by 30 asks if she should move some of her private student loan debt to a credit card. The responses are pretty thoughtful.

Jeremie Beaudry and Flexo are working on repaying their student loans. Suggestions: Use auto-debit to your advantage, and don't use tuition reimbursement checks for other expenses.

Susan reminds us that there are TONS of perks for students if they want to take advantage of them.

One Lucky Girl doesn't directly speak to educational finance, but her idea to give younger relatives bonds instead of toys could certainly help a student pay for college. Just remember, assets in a child's name are weighted much more heavily in financial aid calculations.

Banking at about.com tells us that the Department of Education has gotten into podcasting. Yes, podcasting. So if you've given your child an mp3 player, you should suggest that he or she listen up.

Wanda is looking into income-maintaining 529 plans for grad school in a few years. If you know of one, add a comment, because a lot of readers were interested too.

And finally, Blunt Money makes the post we all hope to make someday. The direct loan is paid off! Congratulations.

How often do you spend almost $1500 in a day?

2006-10-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

Hopefully, the answer is "not too."

I picked my car back up from the body shop this morning. I paid another $120 over my deductible because some brackets were missing from the bumper after the last repair. (I'm going to call my old insurance company and let them know that the repair shop didn't perform to standards. If you're asking why I'm not calling my current insurance company, please reread the last paragraph of the second link above.) But on the bright side, my car looks FANTASTIC. It's driving well, the headlight is bright, and you'd not know it had been in an accident unless I told you. Money well spent.

Once I got into work, I made my first full payment on my
no-longer-student loan. Technically, I was given a 90-day grace period to repay it and could have waited until next month, but I didn't want to accrue any more interest. (Last month, I was paying off my old loan, so I made a much smaller partial payment.) I still paid a decent chunk of interest on this first installment, but it was nothing like the frustration of putting an extra $20 towards the $220+ payment and still finding that your principal balance decreased by...$26.

I've taken some lumps, and I'll undoubtedly take some more, but I feel like I'm moving ahead and that's a good way to start the weekend.

The FOMC holds, but I don't have to care.

2006-10-25T14:25:00.000-04:00

The target for the federal funds rate remains at 5.25 percent.

When I consolidated my private loans in November 2004, I was offered prime + 2.9 %, for a seemingly reasonable 7.9 percent. However, the end of 2004 was the beginning of the FOMC push. Every month or two, the Fed would hold a meeting, annouce a quarter-rate point hike, which would translate through to the prime rate, and then into my loan rate. It didn't matter much at first, but by August of this year, my rate was at 11.15 percent and my loan payment had increased by $40 per month.

I looked on new meetings with dread.

But fixed rates were freedom. Switching to the fixed- (and much lower) rate loan at my credit union meant that Greenspan/Bernanke was no longer the big bag wolf, huffing and puffing and blowing my budget down.

I gladly accepted a higher monthly payment and shorter repayment term for that.

Public and Private Tuition and Fees Increase While Pell Grants Decrease

2006-10-24T15:06:00.000-04:00

The AP and Bloomberg report on The College Board's 2006 Trends in Higher Education Series.

The good news:

Tuition increases are slowing.
Two-thirds of students are receiving some form of grant aid.
College graduates continue to earn 60-70 percent more than workers with high school diplomas.

The not-so-good news:

Prices at public schools are still up 35 percent in five years.
Pell Grant aid has dropped $120 per recipient.
Colleges and universities face reductions in non-tuition revenue (from state and local appropriations) and increases in costs (for health benefits and utilities). This has helped boost tuition.
Students are increasingly turning to more expensive private loans to meet the cost of their education.

I'm definitely going to spend some more time going through this report.

To the U.S. Department of Education--"We're drowning in debt."

2006-10-23T16:24:00.000-04:00

Secretary Spellings has sent out staff across the country to discuss proposed rulemaking for the amended Higher Education Act. Unsurprisingly, this has attracted a LOT of attention from educators and loan-holding students. Articles about the Berkeley and Chicago hearings cover some of the highlights.

However, the official Department of Education page includes the most information. I found the PDF of the Berkeley transcript particularly enlightening.

Some of the most requested policy changes seem to be:

Clarify and expand articulation agreements. If students attend career-focused or community colleges to save money, their transcripts should not be rejected out of hand by four-year colleges. At the very least, all schools should be required to make their articulation agreements and transfer credit standards publicly available.
Simplify the aid form process. The ability to navigate bureaucracy is still economically privileged, and for lower-income students, most of the necessary information could probably fit on a postcard. It was also suggested that students and parents be able to request that financial aid offices receive tax records at the time they file their returns with the IRS. (I'm not sure how I feel about that from a privacy perspective, but it would certainly make things simpler.)
Relax the restrictions on Income Contingent Repayment, and end the term at 20 years. Students who go into fields like social work and education make the argument that their service is more valuable than salaries reflect, and that if they pay X percent of their income for 20 years, they should be forgiven the remaining balance.

Obviously, most of these proposals would be costly, and would have to be justified in the budget process. But I think many of them would go a long way towards making education more attainable for everyone.

There are also upcoming hearings in Orlando and DC for anyone who is interested. Again, the Dept. of Ed. page has the details.

Don't let them tell you that it doesn't hurt.

2006-10-23T14:11:00.000-04:00

Or, The Most Redacted Blog Entry Ever.*

This Friday, my father will be flying into [Local Airport], because he will be participating in [Well-Known Competitive Event] in the area. (He'll be staying at my aunt's place, because I have a one-bedroom and my sofa is not a sleeper.)

Since he'll be staying for about a week, I asked if he wanted to attend any events in particular. He mentioned that [Famous Performing Troupe] was setting up a production of one of their shows here.

I agreed to coordinate dates with various family members and take care of ordering the tickets.

Now, despite the fact that I was paying with a credit card, and despite the fact that I know my dad will reimburse me when he gets here...

When I saw the grand total for the ticket prices, I still went "oof."

Buying things on a card still stings.

But I trust that the show will be really, really good.

*I may be paranoid, but at least I won't ever be Dooced.

The Employee Benefit Nobody Ever Talks About.

2006-10-20T13:30:00.001-04:00

The communications/web publishing team informed me that the article which I co-wrote is now publicly available, and will be printed soon. This officially makes me a published writer. (By which I mean "print published", not "web self-published.")

Without going into too much detail, this article will be read by a number of people who have an interest in our data. And they take that interest in part because it is a product of my organization.

I know it's fashionable in certain quarters to knock being an employee. But I work for an organization that is known for carefully combining and analyzing data. So I'm going to have hundreds and possibly thousands of people reading my work because my reputation is entwined with my employer's.

There's something to be said for institutional legitimacy.

I've joined the Dream Book Club.

2006-10-19T13:58:00.000-04:00

Now I have a copy too.

I met with the Ameriprise representative today. I was expecting to steel myself against a hard sell, but I didn't have to.

She looked over most of my statements (benefits, tax returns, loan documents and the like) and said that I was covering all my bases, "which I don't say to everyone."

And then she said that since I want to get into a condo in the next year (or possibly two), that I should really spend some time with a mortgage lender and figure out my qualifications relative to my downpayment and cash flow. Until I have that firmed up, she wouldn't have much more to offer than cranking some target numbers.

So I guess I'll be talking to a lender after the new year.

In the mean time, I'll be doodling in the dream book.

Almost free music. Whee!

2006-10-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

My coworker and I have gotten into the habit of discussing music. We both love going to shows, hearing new songs, and reminiscing about familiar favorites. He's been suggesting that I check out Paste Magazine for awhile now, but at around $8 an issue, I couldn't justify it even WITH each included CD sampler.

Well, today he waltzed in and told me that he could offer two bonus subscriptions for about $18 a year each. So I'm getting one for me, and one as a gift for my dad. For me, getting 15-20 track CDs and having access to the download vault should keep me in new music for quite a long time. So hopefully it will help forestall too many CD purchases, and thereby pay for itself.

And it's one more already purchased item on my Christmas list. Hooray for less holiday shopping stress. (I'm not exactly a Buy Nothing Day person, but I do love avoiding crowded malls.)

Mastercard Adding Upromise Debit Rewards Program

2006-10-18T13:13:00.000-04:00

Four financial institutions will allow cardholders to receive bonus contributions for Upromise Accounts.

This is still in the press release stage, but for people who use debit cards a lot, it sounds worth investigating. If you have an account with one of the four banks (BancorpSouth, BankAtlantic, BECU, and Provident Bank), you could earn 1-3 percent back on transactions, which seems pretty standard for Upromise. I think the main advantage is that you don't have to register store cards or sign up for additional credit cards.

It's not enough to make me switch from my credit union, but I might feel differently if I actually had a kid. (My loans aren't managed through one of the providers who accepts Upromise, so that's out as well.)

Mastercard is here.
Upromise is here.

Student Life=Crazy Stunts for Pocket Change

2006-10-17T13:32:00.000-04:00

I had work study when I attended school. I had summer jobs that brought extra cash in. I had a number of advantages that insured I wouldn't starve my way through school.

But if I wanted any extra spending money, I needed to stretch. Fortunately, there were several ways that I could earn money without spending too much time away from my studies.

In undergrad, [Small Liberal Arts University] was conveniently located a few miles away from a blood and plasma research center. To entice new volunteers (I use the word loosely), they offered a two week plan: $20 for the first donation, $15 each for the second and third and $30 for the fourth. After that, you were considered a "regular donor" and got $10 for the first donation in a week and $15 for the second. I donated blood at regular drives as well, because plasma gets replaced regularly enough that I could do both. It was my prime source of extra income during junior year, but was brought to an abrupt halt when one of the other donors hit on my friend. (During senior year, I worked for a professor above and beyond my work study so I didn't make the effort to go on my own.)

In graduate school, however, I hit the motherlode. [Big 10 University] has both large business and medical schools (not to mention a decent psychology program), so research volunteers were requested year-round.

In the business school, I participated in a market-clearing experiment and got $10. I could have earned a lot more, but it was an early morning experiment and my sleep-deprived brain didn't comprehend some of the instructions until the second round. After that, I just decided to sleep in.

I periodically checked with the psychology department, but most of their studies seemed to ask for really specific traits. Not being albino, or a twin, or equipped with perfect pitch, I never managed to find one for which I qualified.

The engineering school performed an interesting study on driver distraction. I had to "drive" a half-car while looking out the windshield to the CGI road. I actually did slightly better with one distraction, but with two or three my reaction time was notably lengthened. That earned me about $20.

The medical school had the best options. I still have a copy of my brain scan. They were examining activity in the different layers and hemispheres of the brain, and I pretty much just had to lie still for awhile. That was over $100. However, the single best project was in the elder care research unit. The team was investigating the impact of weight training on muscle and bone mass (in the hopes that this would help reduce injuries from falling). So I gave a small sample of my leg tissue to begin with, and then did some cardio and weight training for twelve weeks, at which time my tissue was examined again. Yes, I was PAID to have a personal trainer. I got into pretty decent shape, although it didn't last much beyond the program. But getting up to 240 pounds on each leg from under 40 was a great feeling.

What is the craziest thing any of you have done to earn money in school?

Paperwork: 1. HC: 0.

2006-10-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

I've spent much of this past weekend dealing with arrangements for my poor car. And part of that is due to my own incompetence.

You see, I managed to have an accident in a similar place on my car 3 1/2 years ago. My insurance company, logically enough, wanted documentation that the repairs were made then so that they didn't end up paying for a prior accident. I figured that I would go home on Friday night, find the documents, fax them in this morning, and then get going right away.

However, I went home and looked through my car file. And looked. And looked. I had records for pretty much every service and repair done in [town containing Big 10 University] EXCEPT for this particular repair. (I DID find the rental car slip, which contained my claim number, but I didn't think that that would be sufficient.) So I called my old company, explained the situation, and was told "your records have been archived. Call back on Monday when they'll be active in the system again."

So, after dropping off my car at the repair shop this morning, I asked them to wait on it until I got the records to my agent. I called the old company, had them fax the check statements to me, faxed them back out of my new company, and tracked my agent down. He agreed that he had what he needed, so I was able to call the body shop and tell them to get started.

But if I'd kept better records to begin with, this would have been started hours earlier.

I'm still hoping I'll have it back on Friday.

And on a related note? My agent informed me that if my deductible had been lower, they'd probably have just totaled the car. So if your car is older and less valuable, consider whether you'd prefer paying $1K and having a car at the end, or having $500 shaved off the value of the car and being presented a check for that amount. I know what I chose.

Education Finance Roundup

2006-10-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

This is a look at my favorite educational finance posts of the last two weeks.

Kira is is paying off her own loans with Upromise (sort of).

Also on the Upromise front, HeJustLaughs is paying in for a kid he doesn't even have yet!

TiredbutHappy has some decisions to make about her son's UGMAs.

No Credit Needed warns us that credit card companies are getting exclusive marketing privileges on college campuses.

Five Cent Nickel and Free The Drones show us a vicious circle; parents need to focus on retirement rather than saving for their children's education, but those children then don't save for retirement partly because they are paying off their student loans!

If you want to be included in a future roundup, please email me at onebigmortarboardAT_thisisextraspamfighting_hotmailDOTcom.

If you were thinking about buying some CDs or DVDs...

2006-10-11T11:17:00.000-04:00

this is the weekend to do it.

Tower Records is going out of business; all inventory will be liquidated.

I liked Tower, but I can only remember actually making a purchase there once or twice.

And, depending on my insurance situation, I may still not make another one. [sigh]

But you kids go have discounted fun.

MyFSA continues the "one-stop financial aid shop" theme.

2006-10-10T16:20:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned last week, several state university systems are providing students with one site for applications and financial aid forms.

The same login used for these Xap powered sites will work on the Department of Education's MyFSA, which has convenient links to The Guide to Federal Student Aid.

I'll be examining each section of the guide in the upcoming weeks.

Michelle Singletary uses improbable assumptions to "prove" she's right.

2006-10-09T12:14:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Michelle Singletary advised a student with $30,000 to pay down her $39,000 debt loan rather than parking it in savings.

Well, I wasn't the only one who thought she was skimming over the assumptions. So her new article attempted to refute the saving advocates' point of view.

She did some basic rate calculations for the loan interest, trimmed 28 percent off that to account for the tax deduction, and compared it to parking the funds in a savings account for one year and paying the same tax rate on the interest. And lo and behold, she found that you'd pay more in interest on the $39,000 loan than you would receive on the $30,000 deposit.

Which is fine, except her assumption was that a savings account would only earn 4 percent.

As I said, and she should know, there are any number of accounts that beat that 4 percent. Even if this student didn't go with E-Loan, there are still tons of accounts besting 5 percent.

Based on her assumptions, in fact, the deposit would really only need to earn 4.6 percent to break even. That leaves the former student in question with almost 30 accounts from which to choose.

She makes the point that we might be in a declining interest rate environment, but even that doesn't hold that much water. If the questioner went to E-Loan (and why wouldn't she?), and E-Loan began drawing back their rate by 0.1% every month starting in November, she'd STILL be earning above 4.6 percent for at least another year.

She cheated to get that answer that she wanted. And I've lost some respect for her because of it.

Well, that's why I keep an emergency fund.

2006-10-08T19:30:00.000-04:00

I was in a fender bender yesterday. Of course this WOULD happen right before my renewal.

On the bright side:

The other driver was really calm and patient. I decided to call my insurance company to make sure that all the claim procedures were followed, and she sat and waited to give all her information even though she seemed ready to drive off and forget about it.

The police didn't have to get involved. I did call the police, explained the situation, and was told "if no one is injured and the damage isn't extensive, we'll just be there to help you exchange information." Since we'd already spent about 20 minutes on the phone with my company, that wasn't necessary.

I have the money to fully cover my deductible and more, in case it makes more sense to pay a few hundred more now rather than get it in premiums later. And it made me go back and realize that I'd been overwitholding, so I'll have a few extra dollars to start refilling the emergency fund.

Most importantly, we were both unhurt and both cars were driveable.

That's way more important than the shock to my net worth.

I'd been meaning to get around to this.

2006-10-06T16:40:00.000-04:00

The post I'd planned to make today is requiring a bit more digging than I thought it would (some government agencies seriously need to work on search and mapping).

But I saw that NCN was commenting on tons of entries today, and it reminded me that I'd never done my best money saving tip.

Given the focus of the blog, it might reasonably be expected that I'd suggest something about getting scholarships and carefully managing loans. These can certainly make a huge difference in one's financial life.

But to me, a truly good money saving tip should apply to everyone, whether they've gone on to higher education or not.

And so, my very best money saving tip is:

Volunteer.

Why?

You get out of the house and out of the mall. If you're cleaning out a field, doing crafts with small children, or organizing donations in a food bank, you aren't running up the electrical bill with the TV or PC, or buying that new blouse on sale. (Sure, you might spend a bit on gas if you drive to the volunteer site, but on balance, I suspect most people come out ahead.)
You often get free stuff. Volunteer organizations like to keep up morale. A free pen, water bottle, or T-shirt goes a long way towards making people feel valued, and it's one less thing you have to buy. This doesn't even begin to cover meals and event tickets, both of which are often offered for big fundraisers.
Most importantly, helping others helps you value what you have already. Gratitude goes a long way towards limiting the need to spend on "more things."

And on that note, I'm grateful that it's Friday. Everyone have a good weekend.

New Criteria for Ranking Schools Turns U.S. News List on Its Head

2006-10-05T15:48:00.000-04:00

The Washington Monthly Offers New Ways to Pick America's Colleges.

Everyone knows about U.S. News' national rankings and Kiplinger's private and public rankings. And nearly everyone can predict which schools are going to be at the top 10 of those lists.

Washington Monthly decided to shake up those assumptions. They built a new model to predict school excellence that asks what the school is doing for the country.

To determine this, they asked:

How well a school performs as an engine of social mobility. Schools scored based on outreach to lower-income students, measured by exceeding expected percentages of students with Pell Grants given SAT scores and by exceeding expected graduation rates for those Pell Grant students. (Please read the methodology for a better explanation.)
How well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research. Schools scored based on the total amount of an institution's research spending, the number of PhDs awarded by the university in the sciences and engineering, and the percentage of undergraduate alumni who have gone on to receive a PhD in any subject.
How well it promotes an ethic of service to country. Schools scored based on the percentage of students enrolled in the Army and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps, the percentage of alumni who are currently serving in the Peace Corps, and the percentage of federal work-study grants devoted to community service projects.

Please check out the full ranking. Some of these results might surprise you. If nothing else, applying to less well-known but still competitive schools often means a better aid offer. And applying to these schools might inspire public service, as well.

And if you want still more rankings, visit here.

States offer "one-stop" websites to help students apply to college and for financial aid.

2006-10-04T13:53:00.000-04:00

Many of these sites allow students to apply to schools or for financial aid electronically from a single source--and their supporters credit them with helping to boost college enrollment.

Since in-state tuition is often a great value, this is especially helpful for students weighing several schools in their own state. However, each state's site generally lists both private and public schools.

Most of the sites referenced appear to be hosted on xap.com, with about 20 states hosting sites there. (California has three.) In addition, there are sites that aggregate historically black schools and Christian schools.

Each state's site differs somewhat, but all of them appear to have links to school selection, online applications, and financial aid forms and deadlines. A student can even allow his or her high school counselor to view personal "mentor" profiles.

This seems like a great way for students to become aware of application requirements and stay organized throughout a demanding process.

Ten Ways to Get A's in College

2006-10-03T13:42:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post summarizes 10 tips to get A's in college starting with the first day of class.

Keeping a good GPA will both help a student maintain scholarships and qualify for upperclass ones. And that helps reduce loan debt.

As for the tips, some of these are intuitive, but 3, 4, and 9 aren't something that I've heard often. And 5 is something most people don't do, but should.

Show up the first day and pay attention, and if you don't like a course, drop it fast and pick another one. This can help you get out of a mismatch between expectations and reality.
Don't load up on easy courses to increase your supply of A's. Taking an occasional basket-weaver, however, is acceptable. I like to tell people that my school loved the liberal arts so much that we had both Slacker Physics AND Physics for Poets. ("Explain how the impending heat death of the universe makes you feel.")
Don't shy away from courses with lots of papers. It helps avoid "exam cram" at midterms. Besides, EVERYONE needs to learn how to write well.
Don't give up if they say the course you want is booked up . Appeal to the professor's vanity, if necessary.
Use office hours intelligently, and often . This is especially useful when developing a draft of one's paper. Also, the professors with whom you build a rapport are the best resort for recommendation letters later.
Go to lectures and take notes yourself. Anybody else's notes might leave out important details or even the entire structure of the lecture.
Use section meetings for more than identifying attractive classmates . In undergrad, I had almost none of these, since our classes were so small. But it can help to talk with a TA if you are confused.
Find some old exams in the course . A lot of these are simply put on course reserve.
Before you start work on your paper, do the analysis in your head. Fresh analysis comes from thought experiments, before note-taking and background research even start.
If you challenge a grade, be careful. Unless the grader really missed something, this is usually wasted effort and a quick way to burn bridges.

Happy studying.

Free Night of Theater 2006!

2006-10-03T09:35:00.000-04:00

16 metro areas across the country are participating in October's Free Night of Theater.

Many, but certainly not all, of the shows are on October 19. Please check to see if your community is participating. Then reserve your FREE tickets and enjoy the arts without breaking the bank.

(I would recommend making a donation to the theater you attend if at all possible.)

The organizers would like to see this be a truly national program in 2007. If your area is not participating this year, please encourage your friends in other cities and states to attend a production. I'd love to see everyone be able to participate in this.

Department of Education Improperly Paid Lender $278 million in subsidies

2006-10-02T11:59:00.001-04:00

Lender Nelnet received payments with a much higher return than lenders are normally entitled to receive on student loans.

I don't like the guaranteed interest rate provision for non-direct lenders to begin with. It costs the federal government a lot of money even when a lender doesn't "move loans through a series of transactions" to keep qualifying for the payout (of possibly another $882 million!).

One of the proposals that I really liked in Generation Debt comes in one of the later chapters. I don't have it to hand, and there's not the same citation in the blog, but I remember that the administrative costs of managing loans through the non-direct lenders were MUCH higher than administration through the Direct Loan program. Kamenetz argued that the non-direct programs should be scrapped and everything should be returned to the direct loan program. She suggested that the savings could pay for Pell Grant expansions, but that's not the only possible outcome.

At any rate, stories like this make me a lot more sympathetic to her view. (For full disclosure: I moved my loans to the Direct Loan program because everyone else promised me incentives after 24 months, when DL gave me one right away.)

September Education Finances Roundup

2006-09-29T10:10:00.000-04:00

This is my highly subjective recounting of the best posts dealing with student loans and other educational finance issues that I've read in the past month. I'll probably move this to a biweekly basis from now on.

If you think I missed yours, let me know. I may put it in the next roundup.

In no particular order:

Financial Baby Steps starts saving for college REALLY early.

Don't Mess With Taxes looks at some proposed education tax incentives. I particularly like the idea of raising the student loan interest threshold, as some of us eat $2500 for lunch.

Free Money Finance has a whole series on the Getting Into College and Paying for It guide. I actually recommended this to a coworker with a daughter in ninth grade. I'd start here and here.

Also on the series front, Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is doing Personal Finance for College Students. I liked his advice on keeping student loans for school expenses.

To toot my own horn a bit, I looked at Kiplinger's 50 Best Values in Public Colleges.

And I found a lot of posts dealing with online college courses.

See you next roundup!

Are medical benefits worth it in auto coverage?

2006-09-28T11:58:00.000-04:00

I just received my renewal notice from my auto insurance provider. Despite the fact that I have not filed a claim with this policy since I started it, and the fact that my car is older and presumably cheaper to insure, my rates went up. It was only $7, and that over six months, but I still think the only direction my premiums should go is down.

So I called and got an agent on the line fairly quickly. Apparently they have rerated my entire area and assured me that this would be the case with any other insurer. Again, it's not THAT much money, but who wouldn't want to pay less?

So I started looking over my policy again. I have $5,000 per person in medical benefits included as part of the policy. It would save me $30 or so to drop it. I'd never had it before I signed up with this insurer. Also, I don't drive that much, as my employer gives me public transportation benefits, and when I do, I rarely have passengers. I'm considering dropping it and just counting on my health insurance. (I don't want to switch providers until I've been with this one for another six months, since my student loan refinancing probably dinged my credit score a bit.)

So how do you feel about medical benefit coverage?

Kiplinger's 50 Best Values in Public Colleges

2006-09-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

New list has UNC, University of Florida, UVA, William and Mary, and SUNY-Bighamton in the Top 5

Every school in the top 10 shows an average four-year debt load of $16K or less. I'm always suspicious when I see a mean without a median, but this still looks pretty good to me.

This list focuses on academic quality first, and then the annual "sticker price", average "effective price", and the average debt load a student faces after four years.

I would like to read up a bit more on their methodology for determining quality. Average SAT scores tell you something about the class, but certainly not everything you'd want to know before attending.

At any rate, these are all well-regarded schools that give a student a head start in the race to graduate with less debt.