goodbye blogger -- new url!

I've decided to get away from blogger and get my own site. Please update your links and visit:

theweightofmoney.com

I'll be doing what I can to redirect traffic over there, but I'm not sure that blogger offers many options to do that.

Monday Carnivals

please view this post at: http://theweightofmoney.com/2006/10/monday-carnivals.html

I submitted to two different carnivals for this week -- Carnival of Debt Reduction and Carnival of Personal Finance.

It's Just Money is hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance #72 -- I submitted the personal assessts post because of the recent mummur over at Make Love, Not Debt.

My Money Forest is hostingthe Carnival of Debt Reduction #59 -- I submitted my post on reducing debt by reducing interest rates, which I find crucial for helping us get out of debt because of the $300+ a month we pay in interest could be going toward principal.

Favorite Post:
The Coin Jar's comments on having another child -- I will actually post a much longer response to this post this week.

Other posts I enjoyed:
- Taking Control over Money's post on bad debt - good breakdown of bad debt and felt like a fresh post on the subject.

- Money Under 30's radical ways to spend less - I notice that I'm often less likely to spend money because I don't own a television -- I don't hear about any of the latest new items or know about any blockbuster movies that we just 'have to see'.

- Mom Advice on using powdered milk -- no, not because I'm a big powdered milk advocate but because I love seeing stories where people have taken money saving advice they weren't sure about.

Out of all the posts I read through, these are the only ones I really found worth reading. I will put the disclaimer that I am a judge-a-book-by-its-cover type of gal and some article titles just didn't pull in enough click-it mojo to get my attention. I'm starting to wonder, what is teh saturation point for personal finance blogging? When are we all merely repeating the same things over and over again at different times?

I think I'll be reflecting on this along with some other ethical issues I've been considering the past two weeks.

Avoiding Credit Traps

Please view this post at: http://theweightofmoney.com/2006/10/avoiding-credit-traps.html

As personal finance bloggers know, when facing bad credit, people often resort to tactics that often leave them in a situation worse than they started. Sometimes the fear of negative credit ratings or bad credit scores causes them to seek out a bad credit loan or “credit repair” quick fixes.

There are several organizations working to help people avoid these traps. Bad Credit Loan appears to be targeting individuals searching for bad credit loans in order to educate consumers about what creditors are looking for and what negatively affects their credit score. Another resource offers a totally free credit report to help educate consumers about credit report issues and how to challenge incorrect information.

Both of these resources appear to be trying to help consumers, are using different tactics to reach populations in need of this type of information and are helping to prevent them from falling in the hands of predatory lenders.

festival of frugality #45

Please view this post at: http://theweightofmoney.com/2006/10/festival-of-frugality-45.html

Festival of Frugality is being hosted by Jason at Pragmatic Finance. I really like the creative format that he used to address the many great entries -- check it out.

Individual articles I enjoyed:

A Tutorial for the Fast-Food Generation: How to Get Started Cooking at Home for Frugality and Health - food and cooking are a major obstacle to intentional financial living. This is an excellent guide for those feeling overwhelmed by moving more towards cooking and away from prepared foods.

Sock it to Me - this is just because I've got a serious thing for socks. My white stocks manage to stay fairly white for a long time -- the daughter's on the other hand -- ewww. I don't understand how she manages to get to so very dirty – one the first wearing too.

Frugal living: credit cards - I enjoy seeing posts reminding people that credit cards are not evil. Many people use the rewards cards successfully and free money is a good thing.

Reproduction Money

Often times we read about the escalating costs of fertility in terms of treatment and options for child seeking couples. However, I've often been interested in the benefits of sperm/egg donation and surrogate motherhood. These can certainly have financial implications in terms of compensation provided, but that should not be the primary motivational factor.

I've looked at myself and my values several times in considering surrogate motherhood. I feel that pregnancy is a gift and something I'd be happy to share with another couple unable to experience it physically. However, I've often decided against it in the end when considering so many other life factors of being a single mom.

An option that is still open is being an egg donor. There is still the ability to help other couples without the nine month follow through needed of surrogacy. There are many physical issues to consider - the process is not a quick stop in a clinic to donate and leave; but having had friends and family facing fertility problems and needing egg donor services has opened my eyes to this possibility.

Again, while this is relevant in terms of money, egg donation is not about the money. Yes, women can often earn in excess of $5,000 for egg donation and surrogacy, there is a lot more to the decision than financial gain. A good source to start with when considering these options is the Becoming an Egg Donor publication from New York State Task Force on Life and Law.

Dow High, Spirits Low

Perhaps I’m wrong in my reaction, but I’m not happy with the recent closing records for the Dow Jones industrial average. Seeing as how I’ve just started contributions to my retirement plan, I’m more interested in seeing lower closings and working up to higher closing over time.

Perhaps I have a poor understanding, most likely the case, of how these closing will affect retirement investments. While I have an optimistic outlook on the life of my investments, current peaks leave me worried that I’m currently buying in at a time that will, of course (in my mind), go down soon. Yes, I know that I will be making continual contributions in funds and that will, in the long run, balance my investments – but still. I’ve just entered into this investment and already am personally forecasting lowered returns in the short term. This is only relevant in terms of emotional security as I continue to struggle to be comfortable my smaller paycheck; if I’m struggling to accept the long term value of the investment, I’m sure it’d be easier if it didn’t feel like I was entering the game near a peak of a downward climb.

Of course to further recognize my lack of overall knowledge – I’ve not yet looked at where the general trend has been the past year or two and realize that record breaking may not be as relevant if the Dow has consistently been in a higher bracket over the past year+. I could look it up, but I’m stealing internet breaks between conference workshops as is.

Personal Assets Add Up

Over at Make Love, Not Deb, Her posted about their net worth calculation formula. It appears to me that some people have a hard time accepting the fact that they could have household assets totaling $25,000. While I understand the surprise, I wonder if people are taking a more accurate assessment of the resale value of their household items.

Obviously, the quality and quantity of times will be a major factor in assessing the overall value. For Her and Him, perhaps they will choose to estimate high just to reduce the negative value of their net worth – I totally support that because I know how discouraging an excessively negative net worth can be. However, they may just be taking a realistic look at what they own.

I have not taken an accurate estimation of our net worth but I know that it would be in the same ball park as theirs. In fact, it most likely will pass it and possibly even get close to the $50,000 line. Many people want to know, just what people own that adds up to that high amount.

Some inclusions that can swiftly increase the dollar value of items owned:

• household appliances (freezer, stove, washer/dryer, mixer, vacuum, etc)
• high quality furniture (in good condition)
• high quality professional clothes and shoes (consignment)
• art and antique collections
• personal electronics (entertainment systems, computers, printers, stereos)
• music collections
• recreation equipment (kayaks, camping gear, bikes, boat, etc)
• formal dining items (china, stemware, family silver)
• wine collections
• jewelry (purchased and inherited)
• tools and machinery (woodworking, metal working, general, etc)
• lawn care supplies (lawnmowers, trimmers, tools, lighting, etc)
• art supplies (tools, specialty items, extensive collection)
• plants (orchid collections…)
• books and magazines (hard to find, specialized, good condition)

Our personal calculations/considerations:
The partner owns an impressive (aka overwhelming) number of items – it used to be in a warehouse and now fills a giant workshop equipped with a forklift and pallet shelving. The majority of these are heavy metal items – no, not music, machines and tooling equipment. I’d estimate the current value to be close to $20,000+ considering that we’ve sold $5,000 this year and I doubt that we’ve reduced the quantity of items by more than 10%.

He also has extensive amount of computer equipment that has little value in a piece by piece basis, but would add up to a couple thousand as a lot. There is a wine collection that has been bringing in small, steady stream of money as he sells cases at a time.

The book collection also has value because of the number of rare books and out-of-print items. These mostly focus on the metal working community and one major advantage of this passion of his is that items have very little depreciation.

Me, I own almost nothing. I’ve moved too many times in my life and am far more in tune with simple living to gather items. The only things I could sell would be a high end bike and some camping items. I’d be lucky to reach $500 if I liquidated everything the daughter and I own.

Finally, if you haven’t made the connection, The Weight of Money comes from the mass possessions the partner has and the correlation between weight and money or worth. It is actually far more valuable for us to sell high density and mass items than high priced items

Save Money: Make the Call II

I've written about saving money with a telephone call and it is time to do it again; this time I’m calling credit card companies for a reduced interest rate. Tackle your credit card interest rates routinely! It will make a difference.

I've called the partner's credit card companies at least 3 times in the past year. I usually wait a couple months and try again to get a lower rate. With found money on the horizon, we're planning to pay down debt and want to pay off the higher interest rates first.*

In March I called and got the following results:
Card #1 - 17.24% reduced to 12.49% (variable)
Card #2 - 18.45% reduced to 9.97% (variable)
Card #3 - 17.99% reduced to 13.99% (fixed)
Card #4 - 18.47% was increasing to 23.24% and they refused to budge.

Yesterday the rates were:
Card #1 - 13.24% (variable)
Card #2 - 10.82% (variable)
Card #3 - 13.99% (fixed)
Card #4 - 24.24% (fixed)

Clearly, variable rates tend to vary upwards. I choose to take the variable rates because I have the discipline to call and get it reduced when it starts inching upwards. If you don’t want to take the time to make the call, the slightly higher fixed rate may be your better option.

Today I repeated my calls to two of the cards. I’ve been very frustrated with #4 because they have refused to reduce their rate the last two times I’ve called. I gave them a final chance today and they finally responded.

Today’s results:
Card #3 – 13.99% reduced to 12.99%
Card #4 – 24.24% reduced to 8.74%

As you can see, Card #4 did not want to lose our business. The partner has had most of these cards to 10+ years and has always paid on time and has excellent credit. So, the ultimatum strategy finally worked. However, I feel that the strategy worked because we’ve paid $7000+ toward this card since the beginning of the year. It is actually our lowest balance card and the one with the most aggressive payments.

I haven’t decided if I’m going to call card #1 again or not. I got a good reduction in March and turned down in June or July when I tried again. I will call card #2 if I have the time but I am not going to stress over it right now.

So, next plan of action is to decide what to do about the upcoming found money. I’m thinking that throwing it at the highest rate and then possible transferring the balance to another card with a 0% rate for 6 months and a 3.96% fixed after 6 months. I’ve never done a balance transfer and that’s content for another post.

Important: Make the call! It is not complicated and the worst they can say is No, the best they can do is reduce your interest rate by 64% (see above) or more!

* In response to the higher interest rates/smallest balance debate - we hate to throw away money and that is what we are doing when we carry high interest rates. Many people argue that paying off the smaller balances first adds encouragement and makes peole stay motivated to reduce debt. We don't need the motivation, we've got it, and we're gonna make every penny count.

Special Purchase Plan for Kids

Money management is an important family skill and reponsiblity. Previously, I discussed learning to make a buck where we attempted to show the daughter how she could make some money. The lesson did not go as planned but I think that she still learned something from it. Last night provided another opportunity to expand the daughter’s financial knowledge.

The daughter has been envying Heelys – shoes with wheels in the heels – that all the children seem to be wearing. I’ve heard “I want…” too many times in the past two week to count. The daughter realizes that, in our family, gifts only come on holidays and that all the complaining in the world won’t bring the holidays any closer. Also, she knows that she doesn’t always get what she wants as a gift and she should plan to purchase things she really wants. Last night we sat down and wrote up a “Special Purchase Plan” for the Heelys. I wrote the general format and left blanks for her to fill in, sign, and date. It basically stated:

“I want to buy ____________ and it costs $_________.

I can make a special purchase by contributing 50% from my savings account and 50% from my cash on hand.

Current amount in Savings $_________. Current amount in cash $____________. I need to save $__________ more dollars.

I can make up to $5.00 a week doing chores. If I work hard and do well on my chores, it will take me _____ weeks to save up enough money.

I am willing to work hard and save money so I can buy this item. Sign _____________ Date_______”

We went online to check the prices for the shoes. She was a bit surprised to learn that the range in value from $40 - $100 and was interested in looking at the cheaper generic models (yay, she doesn’t require brand name labels). We ended up selecting a pair that cost $60 to use for planning purposes. I explained that she can always spend less or more but it was important to pick a pair, fill in the contract, and get to bed.

She filled in the blanks and signed the commitment to save the money and taped it on the wall by her desk so that she would see it everyday as a reminder of what she is working for. I reminded her of the option of taking additional chores when offered. Many times, in the past, she has opted to skip cash-for-chores in order to read or go out in play.

Hopefully this process will result in an important lesson and a special purchase for the daughter – I’ll let you know in about 10 weeks.

Updating and Adding Links

I'm finally getting around to updating my links to other personal finance websites. I have not touched the template since starting my site in June and want to give recognition to the many sites that I enjoy and take the time to read almost every day.

If you'd be interested in exchanging links, please leave a comment and I'll verify that I do indeed visit your page and that it is worth suggesting to others. I'm sure there are several sites that I will overlook in this update and do want help send traffic to good sites on personal finace.

My apologies if if this update removes your link or if I do not link you. I want to be sure that I'm sending visitors to sites that I would appreciate. Removal of links or failure to support a suggested link is usally due to a lack of consistency of posts or personal finace topics.

Also, I've added a Save-O-Meter developed by Clutter to Cash. I hope that they will return to blogging soon.

Relationships and Retirement

Tired but Happy recently posted about contributions to their retirement accounts: Annual Retirement Contributions. In talking about their progress she also brought up an interesting concept that I hadn't considered yet -- how each partner's retirement account affects the family.

Having just started my first post-college job, my first retirement contribution was made this month. I'm saving about 11% of my salary and my employer contributes 5% (they will increase their contribution to 10% next year and I will increase mine to 15%).

I'm in my mid-twenties and I know that this will keep me focused for my retirement goals (especially with my planned increases). My partner, on the other hand, is not on the same track and I'm starting to wonder how this will affect us in the long run.

Tired but Happy states, “we're partners, and so his financial health is my financial health.” This is true and is reflected in my recent discussion of I/we in personal finances. However, where is the partnership when each partner establishes an individually focused retirement plan?

I established my contributions solely considering my later in life position. I want to know that I have provided for myself and that I have ability to retire when I want. What about the partner?

The partner is in his late-thirties and not currently contributing anything to his retirement accounts. He has an older rollover account with a couple thousand dollars but hasn’t made any new contributions. The partner is planning to start contributions this year, but only at about $30-50 a paycheck – this will only total about 2% of his income. Is this going to seriously affect our financial health?

With the “I” mentality, I can see it as a “his” issue and not worry about it. However, when I look at it through the “us” lens, suddenly our financial health feels at risk.

For me, this is something to think about. Read Tired but Happy’s article, there are some wonderful comments that follow up on this issue.

Decision Revoked - I'm keeping my car

The saga continues on the car. Perhaps I should have seen this coming with my reluctance to make a final decision and with my stated appreciation of my car (I love my car). But we finally had to decide where our priorities were and selling the car was not in line with them.

Primarily, we just don't feel that now is the time to purchase a new(er) car. Yes, we have a vehicle that is mostly just hobbling along, but our debt and home ownership goals have taken precedent. We've decided to keep the partner's car even though it may fall over and die any day now. When it does, we'll get rid of it. No more major repairs. We will keep my car as the backup family car. My car can fit all three of us but probably can't accommodate camping weekends to the scale we're used to.

But, there is good news in this. My major reservation with keeping my car were the fees I was going to have to pay to get my car tagged and titled in MD again. In trying to figure out how to get out of as many fees as I could, I actually called the MVA -- shock! I spoke with a very nice lady who explained that I don't have to get it inspected (-$68, plus less and repairs that would have been needed) and I am exempt from the excise tax (-$32). The reason for this sudden reduction in cost, 1. my car was previously titled in MD and 2. it will be classified as a gift from my mom -- oh so funny how my mom is gifting my car back to me.

So, decision made - my car stays and I'll refrain from posting about it anymore.

Found Money

Don't we all just love found money? I love the money but hate the concequences -- figuring out what to do with it. It has been many years since I've used the logic that found money is free money to spend. Instead, I agonize over the best use for the money and mourn the lost opportunity to spend it on totally frivioulus items.

The found money I'm talking about is the tax intercept for back child support that will show up next week to the tune of about $5,000.

Option One - Put all into savings: This is the one that I like the best. It feels safe to me and allows me to think that maybe we will be able to buy a house next year. I'm having a hard time thinking that we're going to be able build our savings up fast enough without contributions like this.

Options Two - Put all toward debt: This seems like the most logical option and what most personal finaces advisors would say. However, does anyone else ever have a hard time throwing large chunks of money at debt? Yes, I want our debt to go away, but I don't know how to shake the fear that we'll have less debt but still no money and no house in a year.

Options Three - Put allinto the daughter's savings: I could start investing in stocks for her, what a wonderful thing. However, that just isn't going to happen at this time. When we're no longer in debt, we'll do this -- but for now, it is going somewhere more useful. This option is really just my "ideal world" scenario.

Option Four - Split it up: This seems like it might be the best plan if I can get my mind to accept it. Say, put at least 50% toward debt and then 50% into savings. Or $800 for the daughter (summer camp) and split the remaining...

To make the best decision possible, I honestly need to evaluate our debt situation further and see what a difference this money will make. I must know: 1. how much will a $5,000 payment reduce our monthly payments? 2. If we take the difference between our current payments and the new reduced paymenrts and put it into savings, how long will it take to add up to $5,000. 3. Based on this information, what should our plan of action be?

I will keep everyone posted as I run the numbers some more.

October Financial Goals

I’ve fallen behind on setting these – time to get back on track with setting goals.

Remain within the new household budget.

This may sound simple enough, but this is a new budget and a fairly comprehensive for our monthly spending. I’m hoping that it will go well. Next month we’ll have even more money since I’ll have a full month’s worth of pay to work with.

Set up individual contribution to company retirement account.

I decided while still in school that I would contribute at least 10% from every job I have. I’m now in my first job post college and time to put those words to the test. My company will also contribute 5% this year and then 10% every year following. My goal is to increase my personal contribution to at least 15% next year.

Support the partner’s move to contributing to his 401K plan.

The partner has been reading financial books and has a renewed interest in retirement planning. It looks like he is about to take that step and finally start contributing. My new position will save us about $50 a paycheck and he’ll use those funds to start contributing. Originally he was only going to do half that amount per check but after considering the pre-tax benefits, I think he is committed to contributing the full amount.

Limit dining out to no more than $100.

Simple enough, we’ll see if it happens. There is a camping event coming up that will prolly eat through that budget this weekend – I’ll do what I can to avoid it.

Max budget of $200 for upcoming camping/event weekend.

I’ve gone on this trip at least twice a year for the past six years. I should not need to buy anything else! I’m factoring the food into the grocery budget and not planning any additional purchases – other than the tent we just bought.

Establish debt repayment plan and savings investing schedule by Oct. 30.

By the end of next month I should have enough information to properly set up our formal debt repayment plan. This will be a much needed relief since we have two months of minimum payments only – ack. While I know that you should not be building savings while you’re paying off high interest debt, we just can’t let our almost nonexistent savings stand still while we tackle our debt. No really, I know all the reasons against this method, but our personal preference and comfort level demands socking away some savings so that we have some money to buy a house next year. The low monthly payments alone won’t be enough to buy a house and we need to get into a house asap.

Continue reading financial books and sharing them with the partner.

The partner holds a lot of credit in things he reads; more than the things he hears. I often mistrust texts and words and will ready at least 5 books on a subject before deciding what I believe. I will continue bringing home financial books from the library and setting out one for the partner to read when I feel that are inline with my approach to finances. The biggest benefit to this plan is that the more the partner reads, the more time he spends things about finances and considering the impact of all of our financial choices.

Avoiding the "I" in Joint Finances

The newest bump in our joined finances adventure appears to be an “our” framework retrofitted onto a “your” outlook. Yes, we now have a joint account and our income is being pooled together – but the partner has taken the viewpoint that it is all my money now and no longer his. This has stirred up some frustrations when talking about the household budget, personal spending, and current savings.

Background: I am very budget focused and highly active in watching my finances and making sure that I stay within the lines. I am adamant that we must have a household budget in order to reach our financial goals. The partner thinks that budget is a dirty word and takes a more hands off approach. September was the first month where we joined finances and started using a new budgeting program – one that will meet each of individual preferences for spending but is seen as something I am pushing by the partner and as a compromise by myself.

Problem: Earlier this year, before becoming a legal ‘we’ and formally living together, we each contributed $5,000 toward a home purchase that fell through. $5,000 of that, which I’ve viewed as “mine”, was put into our joint savings account. I’ve been actively asking about the other $5,000 that was still in the partner’s personal accounts and making the partner uncomfortable. The partner didn’t like that I wanted the last of his money. I was getting frustrated that my portion was put into our account while he was keeping his portion. The partner revealed that he sees our joint accounts as mine and that that money was the only thing that was still his.

I/we: Through many conversations over the weekend, we realized that we did not have the same feelings toward our joint finances. Because I have spearheaded the recent move to the implementation of a new budgeting program, the partner sees me as the owner of the household finances. Also, the new accounts that we’ve joined and established are not accounts that the partner is used to using and he feels that he doesn’t have access and that they are really just my accounts with our name on them. I have added to this feeling of separation from the household budgeting by saying “I will put $$ into your personal account” instead of “we can put $$ into your personal account.”

Solutions: So, to help reduce the “I/you” outlook and move to the needed “our”, I will be making a strong effort to watch how I phrase things. Also, the budgeting program is going to be placed on the partner’s desktop instead of my laptop. Additionally, the joint checkbook and bills will remain accessible to both of us and I will make sure the partner knows how to use the budget program to manage bills. Finally, the $5,000 that is in our joint account will go back into my personal account. This returns the piece of mind that I will have some individual savings (I took my savings to $0 for the house and wedding) and will remove my need to see where that $5,000 of his is at. This will drop our joint savings considerably and will basically leave us starting from scratch. However, if we need additional money later, we can both decide what to contribute from our individual funds. I think this is the best approach for the savings situation as it allows us both to retain some ownership of our pre-partnered life.

Conclusion: The heated dialogues we were having this month traced back to feelings or impressions unequal access and ownership of finances. I feel that all couples should have equal understanding and feelings of responsibility for household money. If one person does the larger share of the financial work, it is very important to make sure the other one is informed on how to do the work. Ideally, sharing the financial responsibility equally will help keep both partners informed of current fiscal status and make sure both partners know what is happening and how to manage the finances fully if needed.

Price of a New Job: Food

This post continues the discussion of unexpected or underestimated costs associated with a new job. This series looks at clothing, transportation, food, and professional fees.

Food: A new job may present or renew challenges of keeping within a lunch budget.

You could be leaving a position where there were endless opportunities of lunch options and joining a company with only a burger joint nearby. If this is the case, you’ll probably start saving and need to take time at home to actually pack a lunch.

However, if you've just entered a company amidst enticing lunch options, then you may face a bigger challenge. If you're used to bringing your lunch, you may be able to walk blindly past all of the food places and continue your established ritual. However, if you've been starved for a variety of eating establishments, you may feel like you've struck a gold mine – at a price.

Because food and dining out is a common personal finance topic, this is a condensed list of suggestions and comments for reducing the impact of food on your wallet:

1) Tink about the reasoning behind your lunch choices:

• Is getting out of the office for lunch necessary for your stress level?
• Do you have the motivation to leave the office if you are not going out to eat?
• Do you find restaurant atmospheres relaxing or energizing?
• Do you develop better bonds with coworkers if you dine together regularly -- does this require eating out or can you meet in the lunch or board room?
• Do you consider good dining a part of your standard of living?

2) Think of ways to meet your daily expectations in a way that fits your budget and your personal preferences.

• If eating out gives you a break from the office that you wouldn't take otherwise, budget for it and enjoy your time without feeling guilty.
• If you work in an area full of great places and you enjoy good food, then decide how often you want to eat out and budget for it.
• If you love eating out but are focused on saving money, remind yourself why each time your pack your lunch or skip eating out.

3) Develop money saving suggestions based on your personal preferences.

• Visit places that have the best daily specials (price and quality).
• Order dishes that will give you enough leftovers for another day or more.
• Pack a lunch at home for every day or some days.
• Buddy up with someone willing to split plates.
• Balance how often you eat out for lunch with dining out for dinner.

Price of a New Job Series: Clothing, Transportation, Food, Professional Fees

Price of a New Job: Transportation

This post continues the discussion of unexpected or underestimated costs associated with a new job. This series looks at clothing, transportation, dining, and professional fees.

Transportation: A new position can take you either closer or further from home than your last position. Clearly, if it turns out to be closer, then you are probably saving some money in transportation costs. However, if you decided the new job is worth a longer commute, you may be surprised at exactly how much that new commute is going to cost in time and money.

Transportation & Costs: Start by calculating the cost per mile to drive your car. You can look at several online calculators and articles for details on doing this. Calculators range from simple (gas price per mile), moderate (cost per mile), and complex (true cost of driving). I highly recommend calculating in insurance, maintenance, and wear and tear for more accurate consideration.

Driving: If both the new and previous job require a driving commute, it is easy to compare the difference. Simply multiple the number of miles to and from work each day by the cost per mile. You can compare the daily differences, but also compare weekly (day x 5) and yearly (week x 52). What can be a $3 difference a day works out to $780 over the year.

Public Transportation: If either or both commutes required the sole use of public transportation, simply calculate your daily and annual cost for comparison.

Driving & Public Transportation: Now, if your commute requires the use of both public transportation and driving, calculations and comparisons are slightly more complicated. I found several calculators that allow you to compare the cost of driving versus using public transit, but most lacked the ability to combine both options and were region specific. The WMATA Calculator gives you comparisons for several different commuting options (driving, driving+public, public); however, their calculator is based on local fares and fees. For do-it-yourselfers, just add the daily public transportation cost to your daily driving cost if you combine public transportation and driving in your commute.

Important: One very important item to realize: even if you take public transportation you still incur annual vehicle costs if you own a car. Insurance and maintenance fees will be less when you are not driving every day but they will not disappear. This is something that many people overlook when championing the public transportation platform and calculating their annual transportation costs.

For my new job, I am using public transportation exclusively and using this option as one of the justifications for selling my car.

Transportation & Time: This area of comparison is more subjective and there are several options for how to address it.

Option One: If you simply alter your driving commute, there will be a straight forward comparison of time commuting. You can use this as a simple comparison.

Option Two: In my Comparing Job Offer Series, I calculated the value of time at work on a salary per hours worked basis. When considering a commute, some people may simply add the commute time to their workday. For these people, this is time that cannot be used for anything else and should be counted as part of their workday calculated as such.

Option Three: When using public transportation, you have another option. You may conclude that the time you spend commuting is free time to read the morning paper or a good book. This time would not count as part of your work day and you may find it a valuable use of time.

For my new job, my public transpiration commute of nearly three hours a day is time that I use for personal reading and relaxation. I do not consider it part of my work day and am happy to have “me time” each day – something that often gets cut out of my schedule when other tasks take precedent.

There are many ways of looking at time and commuting. These three options simply offer some options for how to consider your commute. As mentioned, evaluating time is subjective and is dependent on individual preferences and situations.

Price of a New Job Series: Clothing, Transportation, Food, Professional Fees

Price of a New Job: Clothing

A new job should be all about new income but often new expenditures come too. There are changes in transportation, clothing, dinging, and social environment -- each of these can take a bite out of the to-be-received paycheck.

Clothing: Will your new position require a change in your clothing style? Is it casual, business casual, or formal? Will you be working in an environment where clothing matters (i.e. The Devil Wears Prada)? As much as I deplore keeping up with the Jones, you will probably want to make a good impression and fit in at work -- this may mean buying new clothes.

My new position is with a highly respected national organization. I converse primarily with presidents of colleges and universities across the country and will eventually attending meetings with these people. Additionally, my position is in Washington, D.C. and there is a certain dress code or fashion culture present. In short, my wardrobe is insufficient for this office.

I recently spent $150 on new clothing at a local, lower-cost clothing store. I know that the quality of this store is not the greatest, but I needed enough variety to get me through the upcoming weeks and I hate to spend money. My penny pinching on clothing has already resulted in a pair of pants that look like they will barely last 2 months. Sigh. I still need to purchase more clothing.

I frequent thrift stores for clothing but rarely find good buys. I am not sure where to shop because I am not a shopper and am not fashion conscious. I want clothes that can go through the wash and look fine. I also want clothes that are going to last because I'm not interested in matching the latest fashion style, I want to buy it once and never again.

So, on my current shopping list is:
- 3 pairs of pants -- must wash and dry well, ironing is a pain (est. $100-120)
- 1 or 2 pairs of shoes -- something that is both comfortable and will go with all of the pants (est. $60 - 100)
- 3 tops -- this is to supplement the five tops I recently purchased (est. $60-100)
- 2 bras -- I simply need new undergarments and they need to not be black (est. $80)
- 10 pairs dress socks - I want two weeks worth of socks, but I also need a variety to match shoes/pants (est. $20-30)
- accessories -- watch, necklaces, bracelets (est. $100)

The accessories are to help add variety to the wardrobe. The above purchases, along with what is in my closet, will give me about 2 weeks worth of office clothes. This means I will need to change the looks with small accessory changes to help reduce the redundancy. I am not an accessories person, but it is a step to help fit in and limit my clothing purchases.

I will see what I can find at the local thrift stores this week. However, I will buy quality clothing if I go to another clothing store -- no more buying pants that last only a couple weeks before showing wear.

I must state that I hate spending money on clothing. I tend to go shopping with the intent to buy and come home with nothing. Here is one area where childhood has a strong influence on my shopping habits. As a child, my mom would take me shopping and allow me to pick out many things. Then, after we'd settled on which items I wanted, she'd suddenly decide that we could only afford to buy two or three items. As an adult, if I ever end up with more than an item or two I start panicking over the cost and end up leaving the store empty-handed -- or, I simply rationalize that it is all too expensive and don't bother picking anything out.

Price of a New Job Series: Clothing, Transportation, Food, Professional Fees

Choosing Your Company Insurance Plan

Dual-employeed partners often need to compare their insurance benefits to select the plan or combination of plans that will best fit their needs and financial goals.

My new job pays 100% of individual premiums and 50% of dependent premiums. The partner's job pays 30%. This comparison shows that the high percentage paid does not always mean a better deal, at least in terms of our desired PPO plan.

When comparing plans offered by your respective empolyeers, follow two simple steps:

Step One: Find out if either employer will provide a cash payout if you do not use their medical benefits. Some companies will pay you in salary what you are not using in medical benefits.

For my company, however, this was not an option.

Step Two: Compare the fees associated with each plan and decide on a plan of action. Be sure to consider premiums, deductible, co-pays, percetnage paid, etc. (See final remarks for additional considerations.)

Luckily for us, the plans at both HIS and HER companies were simmilar and required only a comparison of employee-paid premiums. Here are the comparisons that I went through:

Cost Comparison: This table lists the costs of each plan based on HIS and HER company; these are the fees that we pay and do not include employer contributions. HER company does not have a plan simmilar to the POS plan we currently participate in.

Options: The second chart details the comparisons I used in order to determine our plan of action.
- Plan 1: No Change. We stay with the family plan at HIS company that we have now.
- Plan 2: We switch to the family plan at HER company.
- Plan 3: We change to the Individual+Child plan at HIS company and sign up for the individual plan at HER company.
- Plan 4: We change to the Individual plan at HIS company and sign up for the Individual+Child at HER company.

Plan of Action: As you can see, the best option for us is Plan 3 - change to Individual+Child plan at HIS company and enroll in the individual plan at HER company.

Savings: Our annual savings will be $1,288.82 a year, $107.40 a month, and $49.57 a paycheck.

Final Thoughts: If you compare your health plans and discover that they are both fairly simmilar in all aspects, including emplopyee-paid preiums, pay attention to the full premium. If you ever lose your job and must rely on COBRA, this is the monthly fee that you will be required to pay. For dual-earner families, this may not be a big consideration beause you can always begin using the insurance benefits from the employeed partner.

Also, the type of coverage desired obviously has a big impact on the fees. I personally desire PPO plans for my own, personal medical care. For the rest of my family, the POS plan that we currently have is sufficient. Our plan of action will meet the needs of our family and our situation well.

Carnival of Personal Finance #67

Carnival of Personal Finance #67 has been posted on Canadian Capitalist.

Some posts I enjoyed:

Colorado Health Insurance Insider's post about kids and health insurance.

My Finanical Awareness's post on money and relationships. I don't think enough can ever be said about this subject and hearing the same things over and over again is a good reminder.

Accumulating Money's Need vs. Want. This seems like an ongoing dialogue with the partner, classifying things as a need or want. He seems really stuck in the everything is a "need" category.

New Job

My long job search has finally ended. I started at a national non-profit last week and my head has been spinning ever since. I'm part of a project that has just launched a national call for proposals and the activity is almost overwhelming. I've come home from work exhausted every night, yet eager to wake up and start again.

In terms of personal finances:

The position is $1,000 less than I wanted but I took it anyways. It is $12,000 more than my last position, so that makes me feel a little better. I described many details about this position in my evaluating job offer series Part One and Two (it is closely related to job offer two).

My title leaves much to be desired because it is the same one I had at my last job. However, I realize the responsibilty is much greater than previous positions and it provides a good challenge and opportunity to excel.

I have to commute to work and will be using public transportation. This requires a ~45 minute bus ride, 22 minute train ride, and 10 minute walk (to the bus and then to the office) each way. For me it works out to free exercise and about $130 a month. I will be able to get $105/month in pre-tax benefits.

I must improve my habit of bringing lunch to work. I work in an area full of wonderful food; it can add up quickly. Last week put a major damper on my budget because I failed to bring a lunch each day.

I am excited about this position. It is taking me away from home for longer periods of time than I am used to. My family is having to adjust to the fact that the partner is now the one home the majority of the time but I know that it will work out as we get used to the new schedule.

Decision: Selling My Car

In July I posted about selling my car and got some useful comments. However, I realized that I still hadn't committed to either prospect.

To briefly folow up on previous comments: 1) we will (most likely) not be getting a new car payment -- we both like the freedom of owning our cars outright; 2) Maryland insurance was more than $3,000 a year and Oklahoma was $500 -- big difference; 3) the partner's marriage discount amounted to $100 a year -- not impressive.

The partner and I discussed this further and outlied the pros for selling:

• milage (almost 140K)
• no a/c -- summer in Maryland is painful and none of our three cars has a/c
  
• stick shift -- annoying in rush hour traffic but otherwise great
• front-wheel drive is harder for the partner to work on
• no where to work on a vehicle at current residence
• don't want unexpected problems to arise -- more common as car gets older
• will be easier to sell now than later
• I will be using public transit for work and need to reduce transportation costs
• we really don't need three cars for two drivers
• no inspection fees and fees to tag it in MD
  

and the cons for selling:

• I love my car
• timing on being able to buy a newer car -- will I be stuck driving his car for a while?
• it is a great car and it never complains about anything
• time and effort
• again, I really love my car
  

So, we've decided to sell my car and I think I have finally settled and accepted this fact. This weekend I will do everything I can to get it cleaned and see if I can get out some spots in the backseat (oh the joys of children). Then, I think I'll visit the local CarMax, but I know they offer low numbers for cars over 100K, and then post to craigslist. I'll also post around in my social circles as well.

Also, I am considering getting it Maryland inspected anyways just so I can advertise that it has been done. This will help in terms of selling the car, I think, but will create a new timeline needed to get it sold. I'm a bit swamped right now and wondering if this will come back to bite me.

Finaly, I think the blue book value for my car is $3,100 but I just don't see anyone paying that much for it. It is a great, reliable car but it has power-nothing (except breaks and steering) and no a/c. Maybe this cool spell and cooler weather that we are having will help people overlook that aspect. The heater works great!

Cutting Costs by Cutting Connection

I have lived with high speed internet for at least 7 years. It started with DSL and my last residence had a T1 line. Needless to say, I have grown very accustom to high speed internet access. The partner has been living with high speed internet even longer than I have. We are both firmly committed to high speed access, or so we thought.

As soon as we signed the lease for our current residence, I ordered DSL and phone service. After a lot of calls and trouble tickets, the local dsl service finally decided that we cannot get high speed internet at our residence. All of the other dsl providers in the area echo this sentiment and we're left with only cable modem options.

However, neither the partner nor I want to spend money with the local cable companies. Yes, we are quite aware of the fact that we don't have to get cable in order to get internet, but that isn't really the issue. Being a tv-free household, we just don't want our money going to this company. Maybe some people think this is ridiculous, but it is just part of our way of voting with our dollars and we're voting ourselves right out of internet.

Now, while we were waiting for the dsl that was not to be to get installed, we had to come up with some other internet options. The partner discovered that he could dial into a friends house and I remembered the free dial-up access I can get through campus. So, we've been making do with dialup and have discovered that it just might actually work for us.

We are looking at the option of paying nothing for a slower connection or paying $60+ to a place we don't want to support. Now, while I thought that dial-up would be the end of the world, it turns out that is not the case. Dialup is actually working out just fine for the surfing that we are doing. The partner had high speed access at work, so he can get all of his streaming news articles. I am patient and will wait the couple of minutes for my pages full of tabs to load. Overall, it is far better than I thought it would be.

So now, I think we've decided that we would rather deal with slightly slower service for free instead of adding to our already elevated monthly expenses. Maybe it is something other internet-addicts (which I am also) could actually do for the right price. But I know, most people will read this and think "dial-up? no way!" and a couple months ago, I was right there too. But, having given it a go for several weeks now, it's not too bad. In fact, I think we can make this work for the next year for an annual savings of about $800.

Comparing Job Offers: Part Two

Welcome to the conclusion of my mini comparing job offers series. In the previous post, Comparing Job Offers: Part One, I compared the financial value of benefits offered by two different jobs. Now, having some numbers to work with, it is time to also consider the other job qualities that can make or break a job offer.

While the salary offered stands out for each job, we must recognize that money is not everything. There are several other qualities that must be considered when looking at the big picture of a new position. These qualities vary based on your personal preferences and everyone should compile a list of criteria to judge the positions by. Some qualities to consider are:

• Workplace culture: What is the office atmosphere and the general attitude of coworkers? Is it an office where the finish line is on everyone's mind and you must constantly wonder if your coworkers are working for or against you? Is it an environment where everyone is friendly and interested in working together on projects?
  
• Office Location:Where is the office located? Will you be out in the middle of no where with nothing to fill the required 1 hour lunch break or are there endless temptations just next door waiting to lighten your wallet?
  
• Prestige: How will you feel telling your friends and peers about the company? Is it a company or organization that lends additional respect to the work you are doing? Also, how will it look on the resume when looking for a future position?
  
• Work day: What are the hours? Is full-time a 35-hour work week or a 60-hour work week? Do you have to be a slave to the clock? Is there flextime available?
  
• Time Off: Just like time in the office, consider how much time you'll be able to spend out of the office. You can place a dollar value on this and determine the importance of time off in terms of job satisfaction.
  
• Commute: How long will it take to get to work? What are your transportation options? Car? Train?
  
• Duties: What are your tasks? How do they compare to your experience, desired level of responsibility, and future growth? How do they compare between offers? Also, how challenging is the position?
  
• Stress: What is the stress level expected for this position. This can include a combination of commute, schedule, time off, and duties.
  
• Growth and Advanement: Is there room for growth? Is individual advancement expected and encouraged? Will this position stall your career growth potential?
  
• Personal Values: How does the position fit in with your personal values? Will you be doing work that you feel is worthwhile? Will you be working to improve the bottom line for you and/or yourself?
  

As a reminder, I am comparing the following hypothtical positions in this series:

Job Offer One: Office Manager position at a for-profit, blue-collar industry company. This is a small, home-based business that has been in business for many years. This is a new position for the company and was established to respond to the companies continued growth in business. There are only two or three office personnel and the remaining staff work out of the office at customer sites. There is little to no room for growth or personal advancement in this position. ($38,000/year)

Job Offer Two: Program Assistant position at a non-profit, education field organization. This is an organization that has been in operation for almost 100 years and is nationally recognized in the field of education. This is a new position paid for by a new grant funded initiative. There are almost 50 staff members working on a variety of projects, programs, and initiatives. There is extensive room for growth and personal advancement in this position. ($33,000/year)

Qualities	Job Offer One	Job Offer Two
Culture	Blue-collar workplace. Small staff and casual environment.	Professional workplace with almost 50 staff members. Very close knit department and a lot of support and assistance from coworkers. Friendly and enthusiastic staff.
Prestige	None. Will look out of place on the resume if I wish to pursue future position in educational programming or research.	Well known organization in the higher education field. Will provide a strong position for growth within the field and look very good on the resume.
Duties	Basic duties at current skill level. Not very challenging.	A step up from previous position and higher degree of responsibility. Scope of work and the number of projects will provide new and exciting challeneges.
Location	Close to home but in a residential area with nothing around to fill the lunch hour if I wanted a break from the office. Would save money by not going out to lunch but may lead to feelings of being trapped when there is no where to go.	Very hip area with lots of shops and food options. Would probably put a dink in the wallet if I don’t keep a strict eye on spending.
Commute	Only a few miles away and about a 10 minute drive. Rush hour traffic irrelevant.	60-80 minute commute. Would require catching the bus (~45min) and a train (22min). Ability to read and catch up on work while commuting.
Growth and Advancement	Limited if any. No where to grow to and education and further development not encouraged.	Strong growth potential recognized and encouraged. Additional education also encouraged.
Personal Values	I would be helping the company make a buck and nothing more. Not very aligned with my desire to improve the world.	Excellent alignment with personal values. Working in my field of interest to ends that I admire.

Conclusion: This chart illustrates the degree of differences between the two job offers. For me, this is the comparison that truly makes a difference. Based on this comparison, I am far more interested in Job Offer Two, even with the longer commute and smaller salary. Thanks to taking the time to compare job qualities and the financial value of benefits, I am confident that my selection is a good one.

Resources:
Comparing two or more job offers looks mostly at the financial aspects but also lists the importance of considering job factors.
How to Weigh Pay vs. Prestige When Comparing Job Offers talks about the importance of prestige and how it can go farther than your paycheck sometimes.
Comparing all the factors when comparing to jobs has lists similar to the one above. It also describes rating the qualities on a numerical scale.

Comparing Job Offers: Part One

For those who have be actively searching for a new job for several months, like me, you may not believe this could ever be a problem. For those entering the job market with high hopes and expectations, you might be expecting companies to be falling all over themselves to get you. Either way, it is important to carefully analyze each job offer your receive (and/or negotiate).

Part One of The Weight of Money’s Comparing Job Offers series focuses on benefits.

While salary is one of the primary criteria for judging employment positions, it should not be the only criteria. There are many other factors about an offer that should be considered, including responsibilities, advancement, commute, office environments, and benefits.

In my search to compare two upcoming job offers, I found several articles detailing ways to compare the overall job qualities. However, I wanted to focuses on benefits packages and look a true values, in dollar amounts, of each option.

In this series, I will compare two different job offer packages. While this is a fictious example, it is closely related to personal choices that I will be making in the next week. Therefore, I will also be evaluating these offers based on my preferences. Each job seeker should carefully use their own criteria to judge offers.

Job Offer One: Office Manager position at a for-profit, blue-collar industry company. This is a small, home-based business that has been in business for many years. This is a new position for the company and was established to respond to the companies continued growth in business. There are only two or three office personnel and the remaining staff work out of the office at customer sites. There is little to no room for growth or personal advancement in this position.

Job Offer Two: Program Assistant position at a non-profit, education field organization. This is an organization that has been in operation for almost 100 years and is nationally recognized in the field of education. This is a new position paid for by a new grant funded initiative. There are almost 50 staff members working on a variety of projects, programs, and initiatives. There is extensive room for growth and personal advancement in this position.

Salary + Benefits	Job Offer One	Job Offer Two	Comparison
Salary	$38,000/ year	$33,000/year	$5,000 more at Job One
Medical Insurance Family Premium $500/month ($200 individual premium)	Employer pays 30% Employer: $1,800/year Employee: $4,200/year	Employer pays 100% employee premium and 50% dependant premium Employer; $4,200/year Employee: $1,800/year	Job One: +$1,800/year Job Two: +$4,200/year
Dental Insurance Family Premium $100/month ($50 is individual premium)	Employer Pays 15% Employer: $180/year Employee: $1,020/year	Employer pays 100% individual premiums. Employer: $600/year, Employee: $600/year.	Job One: +$180/year Job Two: +$600/year
Retirement Employer contribution not contingent on employee contribution.	No employer contribution. $0/year	5% contribution first year, 10% following years. $1,650 first year, $3,300 following years	Job One: +$0/year Job Two: +$1,650/year one, $3,300/year two+
Total Salary + Benefits	Job Offer One: $39,980/year	Job Offer Two: $39,450/year one, $41,400/year after.	Year One: $530 more at Job One. Year Two+: $1,420 more at Job Two
Vacation Days	First year: 5/year Second+ year: 10/year	First year: 12/year Second year: 18/year Third+ year: 24/year	7 days more, 8 to 14 days more at Job Two
Holidays	6/year	11/year	5 days more at Job Two
Sick Days	5/year	12/year	7 days more at Job Two
Personal Days	0	1	1 day more at Job Two
Time Off Adjustment This adjustment considers salary+benefits divided by the actual number of weeks worked.	Work 48.8 weeks the first year at $819.26/week. Work 47.8 weeks remaining years at $836.40/week.	Work 44.8 weeks the first year at $880.58/week. Work 43.6 weeks the second year at $949.54/week. Work 42.4 weeks the third and remaining years at $976.42/week.	Year One:$61.32/week worked more at Job Two. Year Two:$113.14/week worked more at Job Two. Year Three+:$140.02/week worked at Job Two.

Generalizations made to simplify calculations: Medical and insurance premium were kept consistent for both organizations. Annual salary increases were excluded.

Time Off Adjustment: This adjustment will depend on your personal preferences. For me, time off is extremely important and therefore highly relevant in calculating the amount paid per week of actual work. One reason for this preference is that my personal time commitments necessitate at least 11 vacation days a year. Also, some people may choose to exclude sick leave from this calculation. While I feel that it is not advisable to use all available sick leave, I do not want to be penalized with unpaid time off if I, or my child, should get sick for an extended period of time or ill several times in one year.

Conclusions: Developing this chart really helped compare the different benefits packages with actual numbers. It confirmed my understanding that while non-profits often pay less than their for-profit counter parts, their benefits packages can often make up the difference in pay.

Next: In Comparing Job Offers: Part Two, I will evaluate the overall job characteristics of each position. While salary and the actual value of benefits helps paint the financial picture for each job offer, there are other important considerations that should be made before making a final decision.

Resources:
The only source I've found discussing calculating vacation time was The Value of a Vacation Week posted at Find a New Job.

Next: Part Two

Part-time Job Opportunity

I've been racking my brain to come up with some ways to make money working at home and finally I'm going to act on one of them. This is a zero investment opportunity that couldn't be more ideal or come at a better time and all I had to do was put the idea out there. I will be flying out of state and spending a week learning traditional native arts & crafts. I will come home with the supplies I need to get started making items and already have a retail place secured to sell the items I make. I know there is indeed a market for these items because it is the high market demand that is making this all possible.

My mother runs her own custom sewing business that caters to traditional and ceremonial sewing for the local tribe in her area. For several years, she has also run an alterations business at the same time, but has finally had to turn customers away because custom sewing pays more and she just doesn't have the time to do both. We've talked many times about how impossible it is for her to keep part-time help and how she can't reach her shop dreams without additional assistance. For over a year we've talked about the idea of me making some items that she can sell, but over-the-phone descriptions of the items aren't clear enough and there are limited online resources for seeing exactly what she wants me to make. So, I'm just going to go out there and learn what I need to learn.

My mother is so excited and eager to have help that she was willing to buy my plane ticket (which she can then write off as a business expense), willing to set me up with all the supplies I'll need to get started, and was willing to let me show up without her precious grand baby (the daughter). I will be able to pay her back for the supplies when things sell.

She is going to be showing me some of the traditional beadwork and also set up a private lessons with a local expert bead artist that she's been wanting to learn from but just hasn't had the time. I'll also be learning how to make some the ribbon shirts and other non-jewelry items. She wants to build the retail offering in her store and needs someone able to make high quality items to sell.

Hopefully, by teaching me these things, she'll get some retail stock and I'll be able to sell there and online if I choose. Also, I'll be using the winter to get ready for the summer PowWow and dance season. This is a quiet time of year for ceremonial sales but since I won't be footing any of the initial start-up costs, it is a win-win situation for me. We decided that a week would be enough time to learn everything I'll need to know and practice making some of the shirts (I'm sure this is just her way of getting some free labor out of me while I'm there *grin*).

Now, in addition to hopefully providing some supplemental income, I'll also get to hand down the traditions to the daughter as well. A major plus since so many of these arts are fading away because none of the kids want to continue them. Now, the tribe my mom lives near is not our tribe. There are tribal specific arts and styles that will make this work different than work traditional to our family's tribe. However, seeing as how so much is fading away, I'm sure the daughter won't ming learning another groups ways, especially not when it is the group she sees most when visiting in Oklahoma. Plus, many of the skills translate well but the patterns and styles are tribe specific and my mom has learned that each group tends to buy only within their tradition -- hence why I have a beautiful shawl with Seminole patchwork in my closet that my mom let me borrow and never wanted back because she knew it wasn't going to sell.

I'm so excited!

financial doom - to act or not

What do you do when you think you might have made a very big financial mistake that will take about a year to impart full impact? This is not a situation you can avoid nor will you know for certain that it will happen (yet). Instead, you have reasonable indications that this is possible and are now facing the choice of wether or not to start stressing about it or not.

Now, I like to plan ahead and know when the world is going to fall apart. I tend to let my mind run away with those little indications and go ahead and plan for the worse. Right now, I'm wondering if this possibility will alter my course of action in terms of jobs or not.

I know, I'm being vague -- and the coffee shop is putting away it's chairs and I should be heading out -- but I want input without revealing the actual problem, probably not the best combination.

and the budget begins

The partner and I start our combine spending this month and it'll be... interesting. Since I've got no job and since we rented a place before I knew what he actually brings home, we're in the red this month. So, I'll toss over some of my savings to cover what I should be bringing home and we'll both get skinny on spending.

It is a pretty heated issue because, for him, it is so much change at once. Change banks, change direct deposit, change amount in his account, change spending methods (I don't do cash, he does), and I think there is a lot of teeth gritting going on. But, we're going to do it and we're going to do it right. :)

Of course, the money isn't actually in the account to spend yet -- he needs to pull from his personal account and I need to pull from mine, but we're at least going to get started this month.

Looking at our -$700 for a conservative month of spending, I've got to get moving on that job thing. More interviews next week, still nothing from the ones I've had. My moral career decision making just got a new kick since I'm seeing just how red we are right now. So much for holding out for the right organization, time to take one and then go from there.

Save Money - Make the Call

I saved us $59.90 in just two days by paying attention to details and making necessary phone calls.

Saving #1: Credit Card Late Fee (39.00) -- Due to the moving madness, we missed a credit card bill. The partner has never missed a bill and I promptly told him to call them and ask to have the charge removed. After almost two weeks of telling him to not forget, I just made the call myself. I explained the situation and reminded them that he has always payed his bill on time. They removed the fee and also reset the APR that had shot up 3% in response to the late charge. I also expressed concern over it being reported to the credit agencies and hopefully that is revolved as well -- they were a little less clear on this matter.

Savings #2: Residential Phone Service ($2.98) -- We've had some very unfortunate experiences in getting phone (and internet) service. After our first failed attempt, we put in a new order on the 11th. However, the line still didn't work and no one came out until the 17th to fix it. However, our bill still showed charges for the week that we couldn't use the phone. This call took the longest because they were a little reluctant to provide a credit, but I persisted and got a credit. According to my bill, the credit should have been $3.79 but I decided to give up after 10 minutes on the phone and took the $2.98 credit offered.

Savings #3: Electric Service ($17.92) -- When moving into a new place, take note of your meter readings. The electric company overcharged us for almost 200 kWh. While we forgot to take a meter reading the day we moved in, we did take one two days later and then the following week. Those numbers, along with the current meter reading, provided me an average daily use number that allowed me to give the electric company a more accurate previous (initial) reading and reduced our bill. It is important to know your daily energy usage -- I knew ahead of time that we were using about 35 kWh/day and that the bill's stated average of 51 kWh/day was too high. Also, when making the call, be confident and don't let confused agents talk you out of your savings - the agent told me that I was providing a higher previous reading and that I would be charged more. I had to clarify for her that when considering the difference of the current reading and previous reading, a higher previous reading would in fact reduce my bill, it took her a moment to finally realize her math error and agree.

Each of these calls took, on average, about 6 minutes. The average was driven up by the phone company's reluctance to give me the credit, but it is worth it. If we had the more expensive phone packages the savings would have been more substantial, but whether it is $3.00 or $30.00 it is still our hard earned money that is being spent.

The Best Budgeting Advice

There are many things people can do to stay on budget. If you have a budget or spending plan already planned out, the best thing you can do is check in with it during the month. Don’t wait until the month is coming to a close; check your budget progress every week or every other week.

I have been lax on my budgeting lately and it is having a negative impact this month. I have not entered any budget numbers this month at all and it has been a busy month. It started with a week at camp, which should have been no-spend days but was quite the opposite, and went through the weeks of moving. I should have been watching where my money was going, but I convinced myself that I just didn’t have the time.

So, I’ve now run the numbers for this month and I am way off budget. By several hundred dollars off budget and I still haven’t accounted for this weekend’s spending or the spending at the grocery store that I am about to do. If I had taken 10 minutes, two weeks ago, I would have known that I’d already spent too much in frivolous categories and had already put a hefty ding in my dining out budget. If I had done this, I would have made some better financial choices throughout the rest of the month. But, I didn’t and now I am looking at numbers that are making me cringe.

Soon, this month will end and the partner and I will start on our financial journey together. I am somewhat disappointed that this move follows a month of overspending and poor budget control. That just isn’t the encouragement and foundation I was to build from. But, I know that I am good at staying on track and that the circumstances of this month lent themselves to poor money managements – something that won’t be happening again anytime soon (I’m far to practical to say “won’t ever happen again”).

silently spending and surfing

I have not fallen off the personal finance blogging bandwagon, I've simply hit a major bump in the road -- no internet at the new house. It is torture not having access to the world of information at my fingertips. So, I'm forced to travel to libraries and the old house to get connection fixes. However, since I'm in the middle of frantic job hunting, that means all my time internet-enabled time is spent searching and responding to job leads -- no time for writing juicy tidbits about my financial habits.

I do open four of five windows full of tabbed pages for reading at home when I need to at least pretend that I've got some connection to the real world. I've seen things that I've wanted to comment on, but I really like that easy print and post option and am less likley to save it somewhere else and publish it later. So, in the mean time, I'll at least let everyone know:

I'm spending way too much on this move. Trash bags, trash cans, replacing closet systems, improving closet systems, buying books. Well, the book thing is more a habit and the partner put two bookcases in the living room and I couldn't help picking up a few books at the library book sale to add some of my interests to the shelves (I normally just keep about 30 library books out at a time).

Finally, the partner is of the move-one-day-at-a-time variety and I've reached my limit for this time of moving. It feels like I've been packing and moving for weeks and when I look at the calendar, I realize that I HAVE! I've pretty muched stopped helping and am just waiting for the never ending tide of boxes to stop appearing -- maybe we'll be moved out of the old place by the end of December, I'm not holding my breath though. Sigh.

Moving away from Debt Reduction

We are in the middle of moving -- packing, getting stuff into the new place, figuring out what to do with the stuff that won't fit. It is wrecking havoc on my finances focus because there is so little time available to spend focusing on things I care about, whether or not to pay extra toward this card, whether or not to pay off one card entirely, what to do about the two cars that need replacing...

I know this is temporary, but it is still getting under my skin. I want to be working out the plan to get our budget under control and our debt blown away, but I can't do that when all I'm doing is packing and moving boxes and the partner and I still haven't combine money.

We made a large purchase recently that I would have preferred having more time to think about it. As I've mentioned, the partner has a lot of stuff -- tons and tons, literally. He had been borrowing a pallet jack from work for a couple months and it has been very helpful. But, last week they noticed it was gone and needed it back. Somehow, the partner managed to talk me into us buying one. Now, they were on sale -- though I hate that rationale for buying things -- and it has been extremely useful, but I'm starting to wonder now if I would have said yes if we weren't in the middle of moving and if our plates were not so full at the moment. Yes, it has been useful but we obviously got along without it. And, while I understand the flexibility it offers over the forklift, the forklift has served that purpose just fine for quite some time now. So, I'm feeling a little disappointed that I didn't take more time to consider this decision before agreeing to it. Yet, I am glad to see that he felt the need to really consult with me and talk through this idea, even if I didn't give it much time to consider it.

I think I need to set a date for when all this moving stuff needs to not be taking over so much of the rest of our life and for when we will finally join up all this money thing. August was the plan but with summer camp plans it didn't happen. So, we must get things in order to start the new budget together by September. And then, when the partner asks me things like "How much should we put toward Chase this month?" -- I will be able to answer off the top of my head because I'll be in the know. For now, it is still just a shrug and a frown and I tell him to make up a number that sounds nice.

Eating Out and Buying Groceries

I doubt that anyone has really scanned my monthly budget, but if they have, they may wonder why I only budget $20.00 for groceries. This is because when I first went back to school and moved into my friend's house, I was not buying groceries. My friends paid for all the food and I did all of the shopping and cooking. It worked out to a pretty good arrangement. At the time, I was spending about $100 a month eating out, and $4 a month, on average, on groceries outside of the household spending.

That arrangement eventually fell apart due to busy schedules and soon I found myself with no groceries and no grocery budget. I mostly made up for it by eating out more often and making do with whatever was in the kitchen for when they went shopping. Also, the partner started buying groceries occasionally.

So, I am now budgeting $100 for August's budget for groceries, a completely impractical number for feeding a family of three, but I won't be the only one buying food. I look forward to having a real budget come September for food and seeing what I can do to make our limited budget stretch enough to cover groceries.

I have food issues and money issues that are in conflict with each other. I am constantly concerned over not having enough food and not having enough money. I have a very hard time spending money, even when I have it to spend, and will talk myself out of buying things. Seeing as how I'm always worried about not having enough to eat, it seems foolish that I will also talk myself out of buying food items of things because they *cost money* (shock!).

Unfortunatly, It is easier for me to spend money eating out than it is to buy a week's worth of groceries because it feels like a smaller amount of money though I know that is not true. I hope that I will be getting over this very soon, but if I'm supposed to make $100 provide a month's worth of groceries, it won't be happening anytime soon. September will be easier cause I'll have control/overview of both of our incomes and be able to really see how much we can spend on food and hopefully it'll allow me to lose some stress over spending money at the grocery store.

Calculating my professional worth

I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from a job that I really want. I completed the first interview a couple weeks ago and the second interview yesterday. I feel that both went extremely well. I was told that they would be making a decision this afternoon. However, I never directly brought up the issue of salary -- argh!

After the first interview, I was a little annoyed that it hadn't come up but was comfortable with not asking about it. Now that the second interview is completed, I'm wishing I'd been a little more pushy on that issue. I asked about it in the most round about way possible in inquiring about logistics of the position and got back information I wanted about work hours and also some benefit information -- but not a salary disclosure.

So, not only am I on pins and needles waiting to hear if I got the job or not, I'm anxious about whether or not it will pay enough. Currently, I'm looking to make $35,000 a year -- however, this is an almost completely fictitious number. I've no real basis for why I think that would be a good number, it has just been the one I've been most attached to since getting out of school. I know that $30,000 is the minimum I would consider, but I wonder if I would take something that low or not. My last job was $22,000 a year -- and I've since earned a degree and $35,000 in school loan debt.

So, I'm looking through some job postings on monster and in other job banks to see if I can come up with comparable job descriptions and salary listings. This position was simply listed that pay would be based on experience. I am comforted by the fact that at each interview, they have pointed out that I have considerable experience -- a assertion that surprises me somewhat since I feel my scattered jobs don't reflect experience as much as temporariness.

The position is a sort of mix of duties because the office is so small. The primary listing details it as a Grants Manager and Office Manager, but the interview also established that it really needs to lead into overall Operations Manager for the office. I can't believe that I am actually excited about the idea of having the title of "manager" since I figured that I'd never want to fill such a role, but it relates to managing tasks, not people, at least not at this point.

Well, I see that looking on monster offers a large range of salaries and duties. Basically, they mostly seem to list anything from $30,000 - $50,000 for somewhat comparable positions. However, I must also factor in the reality that the corporate world and business world differs greatly from the non-profit. Looking at idealist.org, I find comparable positions listed from the upper 20s to 40s. Wow, I'm glad I did this -- I just saw that the position I am waiting to hear from finally updated that portion of their listing -- it currently lists low to mid 30s. So, looks like I just might get my 35K afterall, and maybe, just maybe, after seeing these other listings, I'll see if I can push up it just a little higher. :)

Student Loans & The Cost of Procrastination

I needed to call about consolidating my last two student loans before school let out. I didn't.
I needed to call about consolidating my last two student loans before July 1. I didn't.
I needed to do this, I didn't, and now it will cost me more to pay off my student loans.

I finally called, and despite my mistaken notion, it is not possible to add my two unconsolidated loans to my consolidated loan for without changing (raising) the interest rate.

I must now figure out if it is worth it to consolidate them anyways or not. In all my calculations, I either save or lose about $300 in the life of the loan if I consolidate. My monthly payments would be only a few cents lower, but I would have the advantage of sending one check to one place every month.

My current consolidated loan is at 2.875% fixed -- it amazes me to have such low interest.
My unconsolidated loans are at 6.54% variable each year -- a little more consistent with current interest rates.

My options, at the moment are:

1) Consolidate all loans and end up at 4.125% fixed and send one check to one place.

2) Consolidate the unconsolidated loans together and then have one consolidated loan at 2.875% and one at 6.54% and send one check to one place.

3) Do nothing right now and wait to see what interest rates are going to do next year and send two checks to two places in the meantime. A lot can change in a year for interest rates.

I'm not sure what I am going to do. I find a lot of value in sending one check to one place and so the consolidation offers a lot of benefit. One benefit to having two separate loans is that it would be easier to make additional payments to pay one off sooner. If I consolidate them, either into one loan or two separate consolidated loans, it will be more work to make additional payments (to pay one off faster) and would allow more room for error on the processor's part.

Current plan of action: nothing, I'm going to mark my calendar to think about this again in October 2006, a month before my grace period ends.

Oh, good news is that I found out that I have about 5K less in school loan debt than I thought. Looks like my networth will get an instant boost mentally though not actually since I never owed as much as I thought to begin with.

Budget Recap - July

Wow, July went really fast. Maybe because it started with wedding madness or because there was simply so much going on. It is requiring extra discipline to focus and reflect on my budget for July because I'm already all wrapped up in August's spending and needs. I thought July would be the last month of my individual budget, but since the partner and I still haven't joined finances and since I was out of town for a week, we'll wait until September to join forces, I mean, money.

Dining Out - $134.48
Since this is usually a sore spot, I'll start with it. I've seen another decrease in what I am spending eating out -- hurrah!. I am very excited about this. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

Transportaion - $111.95
A slight dip in transportation costs. However, I'm betting that will go right back up this month since I've made several 70 mile drives to camp and back and there is still one more to make before the month is over. Gas prices have also shot up and I actually paid $3.17 a gallon recently, that is the highest I have paid in many, many months and I did not fill up. So, I need to stop and get gas asap and will still be paying over $3.00 a gallon to do so.

Orthodontist - $100
This has been a recurring bill for over a year now and, huzzah, it will no longer be. This is the bill I spoke of here when describing a bill pay error. I expect that I will get this money back sometime this month, hopefully, since I was not able to stop payment on it without getting charged a fee.

DD - $257.96
This is an unusual month to have such high expenses for the daughter. $31 spent is actually her money -- she turned in all her coins from her piggy jar and had to put 50% in her ING account (which first gets deposited into my account which is included under deposits). $100 also went into her ING savings because I felt like transferring more than just $31. It wasn't planned, so that did take a small bite out of my budget. Also, I had to make her a mattress for camp and that end up costing $116.49 in materials -- anyone who still thinks that sewing things yourself is cheaper, is mistaken. That $116 should really be listed under "procrastination" because I could have saved money if I had ordered a mattress several week prior to camp.

Overall, I'm pleased with my budget, even if I did go over somewhat. The mattress purchase and the moving supplies were what really pushed me over my budget.

I'm Off Saving Money

I will be on vacation until August 8th - a vacation worth -$400. The daughter's sleep away camp is $800 for two weeks; if I go and work there for a week - I get a week's worth of camp paid for. Considering the steep price of camp, this is a requirement for our family because I just couldn't afford it otherwise. Also, our camping program gives out scholarship money for lower income families, like us, and even with a scholarship this year, I still have to go and work a week to make it possible.

I absolutely think the camp is worth the cost and that my efforts are worth the reimbursement our family receives. I've already started budgeting for next years camp -- registration starts in Jan or Feb and payment is due by May -- and know that with my new job (or at least a new job I hope to have by then) I won't be able to take a week off to work at camp. Last week, however, the daughter said that she wants to go to camp for four weeks -- $ouch!. I told her that she better start thinking of ways to earn the money between now and then if she really wants to make it happen.

I look forward to catching up on some interesting posts when I get back.

Save Money by Organizing Your Hobbies

I love crafts of all sorts and I collect materials for different types of crafts at alarming rates. Now that I'm in the middle of packing to move, I'm starting to reconsider the organization patterns and purchasing patterns my craft hobbies have established. I've discovered that I truly enjoy acquiring crafting supplies more than I like actually making things. I love having neat little collections of everything you need to make x, y, or z. However, I've noticed lots of overlap and overpricing that could be avoided with organization.

I was looking for a way to organize my paper supplies and found this article:
Get Organized with Becky. This article shows a great way to organize all of your scrapbooking supplies but can easily be transferred to other craft or sewing supplies as well.

I noticed that some of my paper art supplies look very similar to my sewing supplies. While they look that same, I'm certain that I paid more for the paper art materials that resemble sewing supplies than if I'd just purchased sewing supplies. Take ribbon or thread "embellishments" for example. These are sold in scrapbooking stores and sections and frequently contain short lengths of colorful or whimsical threads. Now, in my knitting supplies, I have tons of neat threads that are certainly far more economically priced -- because while scrapbookers only buy enough to "embellish" a page, knitters must buy enough to make an entire project. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that yarn is cheap -- I've been to too many sheep and wool festivals and yarn shops to think that -- but it is certainly cheaper per inch/foot/yard than yarn/thread sets marketed to paper hobbyists.

So, Becky's article comes in very handy in helping reduce spending just by getting your craft space organized. While her tips are truly focused for scrapbookers, I can easily see how I can use those same methods to organize my sewing, painting, calligraphy, beading, polymer clay, metal, and other craft hobbies in a way that will allow me to use any and all supplies for any type of hobby. This way, I can use the better priced items that I already have on hand instead of being tempted by neatly packaged "embellishments" the scrapbooking companies are selling at a much higher priced.

Of course, I'm not sure how one would factor in the costs for all the organization supplies needed to have a craft room like the one in the article. Luckily, I've had a passion for clear storage containers for years and have a large selection of bins ready for sorting and storing. And, the partner had lots and lots of cabinets with small drawers perfect for little crafting nick-nacks. Too bad those cabinets weigh so much -- I don't think the man owns anything 'lightweight'.