So, some general or somebody during the Civil War (or some other war), said something like, "it's important to plan every battle. a battle plan is useless in battle." Whatever, you get the gist of it.
Part of what I did at the beginning of this month was set up a 6 month plan for my financial goals. Um, oops. I mucked it up almost right at the beginning. I couldn't resist getting my new camera. I've been dreaming about buying one since January, and as soon as I knew I would have the money saved this Fall, I couldn't wait to actually have the money. It was dumb, but I don't regret it. I've had to shift things around to compensate, but it's a temporary compensation. I borrowed a little bit of money from my emergency savings (and no, I don't think this is really an emergency, but I had to pay my cell phone bill somehow) and I'll be replacing it next week. The important thing is, I had planned on this purchase, I knew how much it was going to cost, and I knew where the money was coming from. So not exactly an impulse buy, but still way too impulsive. I should have waited until the money was really in the bank. I'm counting all sorts of chickens before they hatch, which many a tale has taught us is a very bad idea.
Another part of my plan will probably end up changing, as well. I'll probably be taking some unpaid leave in November, which I predict will push back my ability to contribute to an IRA until after the first of the year. Possibly it won't be that late, but I definitely don't want to start contributing before I'm stable enough to really keep up with it. And January is always a good time to start new projects, right? And it will have been about one year since my financial awakening, so it'll have a little symbolic weight behind it then, as well.
Oh! I almost forgot! We're finally having our long awaited financial seminar at work tomorrow! I'll be taking notes and blogging all about it afterward, so look forward to that!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
In Absentia
Hey folks!
sorry I've been neglecting my blog lately. I think I'm a little ashamed of some of my behavior over the last few weeks, but that will be a topic for another post.
the topic for this post is my new blog. Yep, new blog. It's less businessy, more personal, and more photographic.
So, take a peek over there: intentsandpurposes.wordpress.com
see you on this blog very soon, though, promise.
sorry I've been neglecting my blog lately. I think I'm a little ashamed of some of my behavior over the last few weeks, but that will be a topic for another post.
the topic for this post is my new blog. Yep, new blog. It's less businessy, more personal, and more photographic.
So, take a peek over there: intentsandpurposes.wordpress.com
see you on this blog very soon, though, promise.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
This post has a lot of colons, sorry. New! Links!
Also, this post is very long, and I'm sorry about that. You don't necessarily have to read the whole thing, I'm sure there's stuff in the middle you can totally skip (but I'd like it better if you didn't).
I've spent the better part of two hours trying distill my short term financial goals into some sort of organized plan. It's harder than I thought it was going to be. I can't help but feel I'm missing some integral tools. My kingdom for a desk calendar! Either that, or I really need to learn how to use Excel. (As a side note, does anybody know of a free tool/software that makes financial planning easier? I know a lot of things that help you monitor finances, but projections is something I haven't seen)
At any rate, I've been cross referencing a googledoc spreadsheet and my day-planner to formulate a 6 month plan. The way I see it, there are two parts to my financial management. One side is the consistent income and monthly expenses. I've revisited my budget and I know how much spending money I have weekly, after bills and savings. The other side is the intermittent income and savings accounts. Estimating my occasional income is difficult, especially once I try to guess past 4 months from now. But I did my best, and I've established some target dates for savings.
There are a handful of things that I'm planning around this Fall:
1) By Sept. 1st I will need to pay $300 to hold my place at grad. school.
2) I need to establish an account for 2009 taxes (I owed $240 this year).
3) Trip to Montreal in October, trip to Florida at Christmas
4) I want to buy a digital camera.
5) I want to open a Roth IRA as soon as I feel comfortable doing so.
When I opened up my ING Direct account, I really opened 4. They make it very simple to have multiple linked accounts with nicknames. I now have "General," "Taxes," "Travel," and "Camera." I have $25 automatically debited weekly to the "general" account.
I've prioritized my goals thus: school payment, $600 in travel, camera, taxes. According to my really crappy spreadsheet projections, this is how the next few months will go:
August - I will continue to automatically debit into my general savings account, but I will dip into it to pay for school.
September - I'll be paid enough for my incidental work to fully fund my travel expense account for the rest of the year ($600). This will pay for the Montreal trip in October and my plane ticket for Florida. I'll also be able to fully fund the camera account and buy it! I suppose then I will put a new goal in its place.
October - While the general savings account will keep growing little by little, the travel account will be empty again. I'll open my IRA and start funding it at $50 a month. I'll also be able to put $250 into the taxes account.
November - I'll put $250 more into the taxes account, maxing it out at $500. I'll promptly forget it's there until April next year. By the end of the month I'll have just shy of $300 in the general account, which will probably help me get started on the travel expenses of going to Florida, and holiday expenses in general.
December - Keep on trucking along, probably deplete some of my general saving, but stay on track with IRA contributions. Start building travel funds back up.
January - Concentrate on funding travel account, looking forward to a possible European vacation late in the Summer of 2010.
So there it is, my 6 month savings plan, barring anything emergency related (which is likely, because my tooth is aching today). And even if there is some emergency (tooth related or not), my emergency account is waiting there to handle it.
The bigger question in all of this is, how do I keep the other half of this equation on track? I've been using my occasional income to cover my ass way too much lately, and this plan doesn't give me any wiggle room on that. I'm thinking of trying a cash system for a few weeks and seeing how it works out. I know in the past I've said I suck at cash, and I think I do. But possibly it might work out a little better than trying to shuttle money between two checking accounts. Then again, I could just start not bringing my other card with me everywhere, not to mention the Discover. I'm just setting myself up for overspending. One thing I know I cannot do anymore is get reimbursed by friends for anything (like a zipcar, or dinner, or movie tickets). I just can't deal with it properly. I put it on my credit card and then spend the cash, too. Not good. I have to be disciplined and really stick to it. Sigh.
Any reactions?
I've spent the better part of two hours trying distill my short term financial goals into some sort of organized plan. It's harder than I thought it was going to be. I can't help but feel I'm missing some integral tools. My kingdom for a desk calendar! Either that, or I really need to learn how to use Excel. (As a side note, does anybody know of a free tool/software that makes financial planning easier? I know a lot of things that help you monitor finances, but projections is something I haven't seen)
At any rate, I've been cross referencing a googledoc spreadsheet and my day-planner to formulate a 6 month plan. The way I see it, there are two parts to my financial management. One side is the consistent income and monthly expenses. I've revisited my budget and I know how much spending money I have weekly, after bills and savings. The other side is the intermittent income and savings accounts. Estimating my occasional income is difficult, especially once I try to guess past 4 months from now. But I did my best, and I've established some target dates for savings.
There are a handful of things that I'm planning around this Fall:
1) By Sept. 1st I will need to pay $300 to hold my place at grad. school.
2) I need to establish an account for 2009 taxes (I owed $240 this year).
3) Trip to Montreal in October, trip to Florida at Christmas
4) I want to buy a digital camera.
5) I want to open a Roth IRA as soon as I feel comfortable doing so.
When I opened up my ING Direct account, I really opened 4. They make it very simple to have multiple linked accounts with nicknames. I now have "General," "Taxes," "Travel," and "Camera." I have $25 automatically debited weekly to the "general" account.
I've prioritized my goals thus: school payment, $600 in travel, camera, taxes. According to my really crappy spreadsheet projections, this is how the next few months will go:
August - I will continue to automatically debit into my general savings account, but I will dip into it to pay for school.
September - I'll be paid enough for my incidental work to fully fund my travel expense account for the rest of the year ($600). This will pay for the Montreal trip in October and my plane ticket for Florida. I'll also be able to fully fund the camera account and buy it! I suppose then I will put a new goal in its place.
October - While the general savings account will keep growing little by little, the travel account will be empty again. I'll open my IRA and start funding it at $50 a month. I'll also be able to put $250 into the taxes account.
November - I'll put $250 more into the taxes account, maxing it out at $500. I'll promptly forget it's there until April next year. By the end of the month I'll have just shy of $300 in the general account, which will probably help me get started on the travel expenses of going to Florida, and holiday expenses in general.
December - Keep on trucking along, probably deplete some of my general saving, but stay on track with IRA contributions. Start building travel funds back up.
January - Concentrate on funding travel account, looking forward to a possible European vacation late in the Summer of 2010.
So there it is, my 6 month savings plan, barring anything emergency related (which is likely, because my tooth is aching today). And even if there is some emergency (tooth related or not), my emergency account is waiting there to handle it.
The bigger question in all of this is, how do I keep the other half of this equation on track? I've been using my occasional income to cover my ass way too much lately, and this plan doesn't give me any wiggle room on that. I'm thinking of trying a cash system for a few weeks and seeing how it works out. I know in the past I've said I suck at cash, and I think I do. But possibly it might work out a little better than trying to shuttle money between two checking accounts. Then again, I could just start not bringing my other card with me everywhere, not to mention the Discover. I'm just setting myself up for overspending. One thing I know I cannot do anymore is get reimbursed by friends for anything (like a zipcar, or dinner, or movie tickets). I just can't deal with it properly. I put it on my credit card and then spend the cash, too. Not good. I have to be disciplined and really stick to it. Sigh.
Any reactions?
Wow, check out this cool graph!
This interactive graph is really cool. It's data compiled about how people spent every minute of their days in 2008. I like just clicking between the different groups and watch the shapes change. I'm really surprised by the relative times of tv and movie watching compared to computer/internet time. I think most people (especially young ones) are doing both at once (I am), so I'm curious how they took that into account. Also there's not a specific set for 'listening to music.' I wonder how that would look.
Oh well, not specifically financial, but interesting nonetheless.
Oh well, not specifically financial, but interesting nonetheless.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
just looking over things
I know I said I was going to put together a post on some short term future plans, but this isn't it. I'll try to get that together tomorrow and post it. For now, I've just been looking over my spending habits on mint.com. Even though I've generally gotten better at paying myself first via my two savings accounts, I have a lot of work to do.
The first thing I'm going to do is reevaluate my monthly budget numbers. I've had a couple adjustments in my expenses and I'd like to start from scratch on my weekly projections. I'm thinking of this like course correction. I'm on a boat! Of financial security!!!
Now onto the number crunching! Catch you on the flip side with a report....
The first thing I'm going to do is reevaluate my monthly budget numbers. I've had a couple adjustments in my expenses and I'd like to start from scratch on my weekly projections. I'm thinking of this like course correction. I'm on a boat! Of financial security!!!
Now onto the number crunching! Catch you on the flip side with a report....
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Can I afford dental insurance?
Or can I afford not to have it? I just can't figure that question out. When I went to the dentist to get my two fillings a few months ago, he indicated I would probably need a root canal sooner rather than later.
The plan I'm looking at is through a giant reputable dental insurance company, and the premiums are about $40 a month. All preventative work is covered in full (two cleanings a year! I haven't done that since before college), and restorative (like my root canal) will be covered at 50%. I'm starting to think this is a pretty good idea. There are also various other plans available, but most of them look like "discount" plans that are a bit shady. With those sorts of things you pay them a premium every month, and you get a discount at participating providers. I'm wary of anything like that, because it's easy to imagine some basic restorative work costing more in the end.
I've been trying to control my expenses, but putting another $41 in my bills every month is going to hurt a little bit. Mostly it will hurt my savings. I was going to try to get $50 a month going to a retirement fund (I know you know, I just blogged about it). But not having to kill my entire emergency fund on a root canal I know is looming would be a good benefit. A great one, in fact. I'll need to make it 6 months without needing it for this to work to my advantage, though.
So, I guess I'd like some advice.
$492 per year to get free preventative dental care, and a 50% discount on my root canal (which alone could save me like $400 or something), or start my retirement fund. I know it seems like a clear choice, but is it really? It doesn't feel like a clear choice.
The plan I'm looking at is through a giant reputable dental insurance company, and the premiums are about $40 a month. All preventative work is covered in full (two cleanings a year! I haven't done that since before college), and restorative (like my root canal) will be covered at 50%. I'm starting to think this is a pretty good idea. There are also various other plans available, but most of them look like "discount" plans that are a bit shady. With those sorts of things you pay them a premium every month, and you get a discount at participating providers. I'm wary of anything like that, because it's easy to imagine some basic restorative work costing more in the end.
I've been trying to control my expenses, but putting another $41 in my bills every month is going to hurt a little bit. Mostly it will hurt my savings. I was going to try to get $50 a month going to a retirement fund (I know you know, I just blogged about it). But not having to kill my entire emergency fund on a root canal I know is looming would be a good benefit. A great one, in fact. I'll need to make it 6 months without needing it for this to work to my advantage, though.
So, I guess I'd like some advice.
$492 per year to get free preventative dental care, and a 50% discount on my root canal (which alone could save me like $400 or something), or start my retirement fund. I know it seems like a clear choice, but is it really? It doesn't feel like a clear choice.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Summary
I thought that since I'm just about ready to make a big investment in my future, I'd like to devote a post to just summarizing how I got here from there. And then in the next post I'd like to layout plan for the short term future.
So, December 2008 I randomly (and I mean RANDOMLY, I have no idea what caused me to do this) bought a copy of Suze Orman's Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke. I guess I saw it there on the shelf and something told me it was the right time to think about money. After a quick read through, I realized that there wasn't any time to lose, and got gettin' on this blog. This is probably the biggest change I've made. I discovered my sense of urgency about the business of my life.
So where have I made the most progress since I've begun?
1) I don't overspend on food the way I did before.
I've made a habit out of going to the grocery and stocking up on breakfast and lunch supplies. I eat lunch out about once every few weeks now, compared to almost every day before. I eat breakfast out once every few months now, compared to every single day before. I also have my own coffee at home now. And I enjoy it a lot more. I sit on my porch with my cereal and coffee in the mornings after I water my plants. I like this ritual. It helps me start the day. I've also begun cooking dinner at home more (chipotle lima bean soup is simmering away as I type). I still eat out, but far more because I'm going out with friends, not because I just don't have anything at home. These changes have made a tremendous difference in my available cash. Before I was probably spending close to $75 a week on breakfast and lunch alone! I think it's more like $15 now.
2) I committed to my emergency savings.
Before I read Suze's book, I didn't even know this was a thing. Isn't that crazy? I had never even come across the concept of cash on hand. I think about that and it's such a palm-to-forehead moment (what a sad state of affairs when I was taught the supply/demand curve to perfection, but had no idea how to keep myself solvent). I have an advantage when it comes to my savings: I have two casual part time jobs that pay me large sums every few months in addition to my full time job. This means it truly is extra money that I haven't budgeted. It goes straight into my savings now.
3) I've started planning how to have enough money when bills come due without making myself broke.
Before (I think I need a name for this time..like BGU...before growing up), I would slap my whole last paycheck of the month down for rent. I came up short once or twice. Then I'd eat popcorn and rice for a week. If there was $250 in my account and I didn't have a bill that week, I'd buy new shoes. Or jeans. Silliness. Now I set aside a weekly amount for bills and let myself spend the rest. If the new shoes I want are $125 (and they are), I have to save up out of my spending cash. I don't get to just throw away half a paycheck on them without any effort.
4) I started paying myself.
In addition to my extra income, I decided to put away a standard amount every week from my regular paycheck. This helped me get my emergency fund back on track after my dental work. And now it's helping me get a new savings account going, which in turn will set my retirement savings in motion. I have this automatically debited on pay-day, so it's out of sight, out of mind.
5) Mostly, I got educated.
I know the steps to take to gain my financial freedom. I never thought I would be so interested in personal finance, but even if it hadn't become a bit of a passion, I needed to know this stuff. Everybody needs to know this stuff.
And I want to give you all some quick thanks for supporting me the whole way, giving me helpful links/tips, and making me feel like a success, even when I crap out and have some failures.
So, December 2008 I randomly (and I mean RANDOMLY, I have no idea what caused me to do this) bought a copy of Suze Orman's Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke. I guess I saw it there on the shelf and something told me it was the right time to think about money. After a quick read through, I realized that there wasn't any time to lose, and got gettin' on this blog. This is probably the biggest change I've made. I discovered my sense of urgency about the business of my life.
So where have I made the most progress since I've begun?
1) I don't overspend on food the way I did before.
I've made a habit out of going to the grocery and stocking up on breakfast and lunch supplies. I eat lunch out about once every few weeks now, compared to almost every day before. I eat breakfast out once every few months now, compared to every single day before. I also have my own coffee at home now. And I enjoy it a lot more. I sit on my porch with my cereal and coffee in the mornings after I water my plants. I like this ritual. It helps me start the day. I've also begun cooking dinner at home more (chipotle lima bean soup is simmering away as I type). I still eat out, but far more because I'm going out with friends, not because I just don't have anything at home. These changes have made a tremendous difference in my available cash. Before I was probably spending close to $75 a week on breakfast and lunch alone! I think it's more like $15 now.
2) I committed to my emergency savings.
Before I read Suze's book, I didn't even know this was a thing. Isn't that crazy? I had never even come across the concept of cash on hand. I think about that and it's such a palm-to-forehead moment (what a sad state of affairs when I was taught the supply/demand curve to perfection, but had no idea how to keep myself solvent). I have an advantage when it comes to my savings: I have two casual part time jobs that pay me large sums every few months in addition to my full time job. This means it truly is extra money that I haven't budgeted. It goes straight into my savings now.
3) I've started planning how to have enough money when bills come due without making myself broke.
Before (I think I need a name for this time..like BGU...before growing up), I would slap my whole last paycheck of the month down for rent. I came up short once or twice. Then I'd eat popcorn and rice for a week. If there was $250 in my account and I didn't have a bill that week, I'd buy new shoes. Or jeans. Silliness. Now I set aside a weekly amount for bills and let myself spend the rest. If the new shoes I want are $125 (and they are), I have to save up out of my spending cash. I don't get to just throw away half a paycheck on them without any effort.
4) I started paying myself.
In addition to my extra income, I decided to put away a standard amount every week from my regular paycheck. This helped me get my emergency fund back on track after my dental work. And now it's helping me get a new savings account going, which in turn will set my retirement savings in motion. I have this automatically debited on pay-day, so it's out of sight, out of mind.
5) Mostly, I got educated.
I know the steps to take to gain my financial freedom. I never thought I would be so interested in personal finance, but even if it hadn't become a bit of a passion, I needed to know this stuff. Everybody needs to know this stuff.
And I want to give you all some quick thanks for supporting me the whole way, giving me helpful links/tips, and making me feel like a success, even when I crap out and have some failures.
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