Update on Financial Goals

Greetings - I've done a bit of work calculating my net worth, and constructing a graph to depict what I'm doing with my money. So, at the end of September...here I am.

As you can see, I have three main goals - to buy a Macbook, save money for retirement/college debt, and have enough to buy food, etc.

My budget is as follows:
20% Long Term Savings
40% Short-Term Savings (Macbook)
40% Expenses



Needless to say, this graph is somewhat skewed in one respect....as it is a simple show of net worth, it neglects the things I have bought with my checking account. In other words, I've spend 33.43% of my allotted 40% for expenses this month.

I'm making good progress on the laptop fund...I should be able to purchase it before Christmas, if not earlier. I am, coincidentally, picking up my first paycheck from my on-campus job today! There are roughly 13.5 hours on it....at 8.25$/hour (and no taxes as it is work-study) = 111.38$.

I apologize for the relative lack of updates these past few weeks. My interest in this project has waned, but I'm ready to get going again. I suppose the main issue is I have trouble coming up with material that other college students might find helpful (or at least, entertaining). We'll see.

An Interesting Anecdote

I was asked in my Italian discussion session how much money I had on me.

In short: "zero" isn't fun to say in any language.

If I was asked about savings, though, I'd need to expand my vocabulary.

Budget Woes...New Job!

My apologies for the week without updates.

Things, monetarily, have been up and down. I spent a large part of my weekend wages the day I got paid - I settled some debt, went grocery shopping and ate out.

Still. The budget is going OK. I have slacked off on writing everything down....oh well, I won't hold myself to a perfect standard, especially considering this is my first attempt at real fiscal responsibility and independence.

I've made enormous progress in the past month -

I've successfully saved 20% of my income in a long term ING savings account.
I've got a part-time job that pays me 90$ in cash each weekend.
I've (mostly) kept track of my expenses/income. There is, obviously, some room for improvement here.

Finally - here is some good news - I started my on-campus job yesterday. I have training (for which I am paid) for the next week or so. I will pick up around 11 hours just this week...at $8.25/hour. This should really speed up my attempts at a Macbook, and allow me to get a turntable and some new records. There is a great record store in town.

I've got nowhere to go but up. What do you do when you fall off the horse, anyway?

College Frugal Pastime #2

Rent DVDs from your school's library. Most colleges have a fairly sizable DVD or multimedia collection in their library(ies). You know that show you've always seen on TV but secretly loved and wanted to watch in order? Or, how about that movie that the crazy guy you work for recommended? It should cost you very little - if anything - to watch some of your favorite movies....a much better choice, if you ask me, than buying latte after latte at your local coffee house.

Or just buy, say, one latte and drink it while watching. Now that's a frugal compromise!


I'm on Season 1 Disc 3 of West Wing if anyone is wondering.

Budgets Work Wonders for College Students

My budget is working fantastically. I'm saving up money for my Macbook, I'm putting money towards retirement (which is at least 40 years away, I figured), I'm covering most of my expenses and learning great financial habits. I highly suggest to any of my fellow Collegiate Frugaliteers that you set up a similar budget. Remember - 20% long-term, 40% short-term, 40% expenses.

Granted, the majority of college students don't have to pay for housing, food, etc. out-of-pocket. I realize this, but I would argue that developing successful spending/saving habits on a smaller scale is fundamental to long-term financial security.

Or something. I'm still an amateur at this frugal thing, but I'm coming around. Which leads me to my next point - humans are imperfect. Keeping that in mind can help ease some of the stresses associated with budgeting. Living in fear - financial or otherwise - of failure is, frankly, stupid. We will never be perfect, no matter how much we allocate, budget, etc.

Philosophical ramblings aside - I'm starting to think that people will soon actually read this blog. I hope so. Please leave a comment or follow (on the right pane) this blog if you like something you read here or if you simply have something to share.

Savings & Budgets

I had my first day of part-time work yesterday....I held a sign near an intersection for five hours. That probably isn't something most people would be excited by, but I am. I made a quick 45$ cash - that's nine bucks an hour -- which is more than I'd get with my on-campus job.

Plus, I get to do it again today.

I entered this information into my financial records...wherein I keep track of every dime I spend and every dime I get....and my 90$ weekends more than pay for my expenses each week. I can start to really save some money now.

Consequently, I opened an ING Orange Savings account yesterday - they have about the highest interest rate out of simimilar accounts at other banks. It is here that I will deposit 20% of my income, whenever I recieve it, regardless of anything else.

The breakdown (of my current 90$/wk income) is as follows:
20% - Long-Term Savings [compund investment does wonders, especially if you start at my age]
40% - Short-Term Savings [Macbook, in other words]
40% - Expenses & Entertainment [Groceries, eating out, riding the bus, soap, theatre tickets, movie rentals, etc.]

I'm waiting for the ING account to be verified. Opening a long-term savings account at a different bank from your primary checking account is a smart way to keep yourself out of the proverbial cookie jar.

Part-Time Job! Civic Duty! Money for talking?

The past 24 hours have been very eventful (except for the first 8 where I slept).

First of all, I've been keeping an extraordinarily detailed record of my expenses and income for the past few days. I'm beginning to see a trend - money goes out, and then more money goes out. And I've been frugal, too! A few unexpected [i.e unplanned for] expenses popped up. I had to spend 15$ ordering food for my phonebanking party....a few friends and I spent 3 hours calling up strangers trying to get them to vote for a certain state senate candidate.

Then I realized I didn't eat dinner, and the dining halls are closed, so there goes another 8$ for ordering out.

Here's the good news - if all goes well this weekend, I'll walk away with 90$ cash. Remember that part-time job I had given up on after multiple calls and an email? It turns out I was the only one to email the employer, and now I've got myself a weekend job, five hours each day. I'm getting 9$ an hour to hold a sign in front of a mall. Being frugal means being humble. Working a job others won't means you'll be able to do things others can't later in life.

In other CF news: I'm entering a speech contest wherein I speak for 8-10 minutes in support of a candidate for President. If all goes according to plan (the plan being victory!) then I'll walk away with a prize (boring!) and 200$. That's roughly a sixth of this. Fellow college students would do well to look for similar opportunities at their institutions of higher learning. Not as many people enter contests that require actual work....if you feel like you can win it, try. The worst case scenario is that you only learned more about a topic.


And that's the way it was.


...not to be overtly partisan, but does Sarah Palin scare anyone else?