Stacking Pennies . . .

In the begining...
In the past month, I have been perusing through the world of personal finance blogs. I have seen some very good things from a variety of people. I briefly considered emulating some of my favorite blogs and trying to set up a site that could generate some amount income. At this point, it didn't seem like a road I need to go down, probably not worth the effort since I don't expect a large readership. There are a lot of good financial blogs out there already and I don't know if I have the time to devote to making a blog that would be truly unique. If my blog becomes wildly popular, I may change this, but for now, I did what I knew how to do--went to blogger.com and hit the ground running.

Instead, I am just going to chronicle my journey, as many others do, so I can track my progress and stay motivated.

Roughly one year ago, I graduated from college and realized that money was more difficult to manage when there was more to do than just show up for financial aid dispersement and spend the money they gave me. I started taking an interest in personal finance, starting with a "Personal Finance for Dummies" book (which really, wasn't incredibly useful) and listening to Marketplace Money every weekend (which has been useful). Then I discovered the blog world.

The college years
Let's review my situation. I did a few things right in college and a few things wrong. There wasn't a penny saved for my education (nor do I think I'm entitled to have my parents save up. It would have been nice, but they did pay for four years of a private high school). My parents helped out some, providing me with a car and insurance, along with little bits of money, but mostly, it was funded on loans.

Here's what I had going for me.
-I had $2000/yr in scholarships and went to a relatively inexpensive state school.
-I worked part time throughout college
-I lived at home for 3 semesters (for free! Thanks mom and dad!)
-I opened a credit card to build credit history, and never carried a balance
-In the later years (once I became smarter with my money), I used money I was eligible for from subsidized federal loans (0% interest) to pay back most of my "alternative loans" that I took out my first year or two.
-I didn't go on spring breaks. Though some would say I missed out, I haven't had a chance to regret it

Here's what I could have done better, had I known.
-I took summer school my first two summers and while I worked, so I didn't work full time. This allowed me to get some difficult classes out of the way (and they were a bit easier in the summer), but was a financial mistake. Not only did I not make much money those summers, I also had to take out extra loans to fund them.
-I worked jobs that didn't pay well when i could have done something better. I worked in retail when, at minimum, I could have been making much much more waitressing.
-I didn't apply for internships related to my major until after my junior year (these paid around $15/hr), when I probably could have got one sooner.
-I studied abroad. Worth every penny, but realistically probably added at least 5000 to my student loan debt, maybe more. I don't like to think about it. =)
-I didn't finish in four years, but five. To be fair, I took one semester off for an internship (paid), so it was really 4.5 years. And I could have squeezed it in in 4 had I not studied abroad. Also, few people in my major get out in 4 flat, though it isn't unheard of by any means.
-I could have spent less money (but who couldn't?)

The after effects of the college years
Here's where things stand now. My base salary is about 56k, and I'm contributing 10% to my works 401k plan and getting a match on 6% of that. I have a Health Savings Account which I'm contributing 200/month to for the first half of the year, then it will be fully funded. I decided to do that in case I needed the money for a medical expense--I wanted it to be there ASAP. I'm contributing 350/month to a Roth IRA I opened in January (but I started out just contributing 250) with plans of maxing it.

I started working in June, and paid off about 6000 of student loan debt in the first six months. The interest rate was around 8% for that chunk of non-federal loans. I consolidated my federal loans through Wells Fargo, and I must say I'm really unhappy with how the process went. In fact, it is still not complete--somehow about 5500 of debt was "forgot" in the consolidation, and I'm waiting for them to finish adding it. Perhaps I'll discuss later, but Wells Fargo has left a bad taste in my mouth but now I'm stuck with them for the life of my student loan.

I opened a savings account at INGDirect after realizing Wells Fargo was paying me .5% or so on any money I kept there. Later I switched to HSBC for their "new money" deal, and plan on sticking with it. I'm paid bi-weekly, and have 300 from each paycheck automatically deposited in that account.

Here are the numbers, neglecting credit card balance ( always paid in full) and checking account (less than 500 anyway):
Student Loans at Wells Fargo (currently at 0% interest): $14,800
Student Loans waiting to be consolidated: 5,500 (7.14% interest... thanks for screwing up WF!): $5446
Roth IRA: $1100
401k: $9057
HSBC: $4130

The numbers won't add up exactly, but this includes everything:
NET WORTH: $-6,300

Oh look, it is still red.

I comfort myself by the thought that I have roughly $2000 coming to me in tuition reimbursement (once I finish my last project) and $300 coming in mail in rebates (what a pain!) from my laptop, so that brings the pretty red number to about $-4000. But really, that money isn't in my possession yet, so I can't count it. It would be just as sneaky to count this weeks paycheck!

Changing those numbers
I'm trying to set a goal for when I'll see that number turn black, but I just recently started tracking everything, and I really have no idea how much each paycheck will affect it. Usually, I immediately see about 1300 in my checking/savings, but that doesn't include my 401k+match, which probably is around another 300 or so. I imagine it'll be very soon--within months. Today is May 09th, and I imagine it'll take at least 4 paychecks to get in the black... so let's go with June 22nd as the date to be "in the black".

What I like about this goal is that I'm allowed to arrange my money how I want to meet it. I don't have to focus on increasing my savings at the expense of my 401k, I can attack everything in a balanced manner and still see a huge overall impact.

Let the learning begin.

In the begining...
In the past month, I have been perusing through the world of personal finance blogs. I have seen some very good things from a variety of people. I briefly considered emulating some of my favorite blogs and trying to set up a site that could generate some amount income. At this point, it didn't seem like a road I need to go down, probably not worth the effort since I don't expect a large readership. There are a lot of good financial blogs out there already and I don't know if I have the time to devote to making a blog that would be truly unique. If my blog becomes wildly popular, I may change this, but for now, I did what I knew how to do--went to blogger.com and hit the ground running.

Instead, I am just going to chronicle my journey, as many others do, so I can track my progress and stay motivated.

Roughly one year ago, I graduated from college and realized that money was more difficult to manage when there was more to do than just show up for financial aid dispersement and spend the money they gave me. I started taking an interest in personal finance, starting with a "Personal Finance for Dummies" book (which really, wasn't incredibly useful) and listening to Marketplace Money every weekend (which has been useful). Then I discovered the blog world.

The college years
Let's review my situation. I did a few things right in college and a few things wrong. There wasn't a penny saved for my education (nor do I think I'm entitled to have my parents save up. It would have been nice, but they did pay for four years of a private high school). My parents helped out some, providing me with a car and insurance, along with little bits of money, but mostly, it was funded on loans.

Here's what I had going for me.
-I had $2000/yr in scholarships and went to a relatively inexpensive state school.
-I worked part time throughout college
-I lived at home for 3 semesters (for free! Thanks mom and dad!)
-I opened a credit card to build credit history, and never carried a balance
-In the later years (once I became smarter with my money), I used money I was eligible for from subsidized federal loans (0% interest) to pay back most of my "alternative loans" that I took out my first year or two.
-I didn't go on spring breaks. Though some would say I missed out, I haven't had a chance to regret it

Here's what I could have done better, had I known.
-I took summer school my first two summers and while I worked, so I didn't work full time. This allowed me to get some difficult classes out of the way (and they were a bit easier in the summer), but was a financial mistake. Not only did I not make much money those summers, I also had to take out extra loans to fund them.
-I worked jobs that didn't pay well when i could have done something better. I worked in retail when, at minimum, I could have been making much much more waitressing.
-I didn't apply for internships related to my major until after my junior year (these paid around $15/hr), when I probably could have got one sooner.
-I studied abroad. Worth every penny, but realistically probably added at least 5000 to my student loan debt, maybe more. I don't like to think about it. =)
-I didn't finish in four years, but five. To be fair, I took one semester off for an internship (paid), so it was really 4.5 years. And I could have squeezed it in in 4 had I not studied abroad. Also, few people in my major get out in 4 flat, though it isn't unheard of by any means.
-I could have spent less money (but who couldn't?)

The after effects of the college years
Here's where things stand now. My base salary is about 56k, and I'm contributing 10% to my works 401k plan and getting a match on 6% of that. I have a Health Savings Account which I'm contributing 200/month to for the first half of the year, then it will be fully funded. I decided to do that in case I needed the money for a medical expense--I wanted it to be there ASAP. I'm contributing 350/month to a Roth IRA I opened in January (but I started out just contributing 250) with plans of maxing it.

I started working in June, and paid off about 6000 of student loan debt in the first six months. The interest rate was around 8% for that chunk of non-federal loans. I consolidated my federal loans through Wells Fargo, and I must say I'm really unhappy with how the process went. In fact, it is still not complete--somehow about 5500 of debt was "forgot" in the consolidation, and I'm waiting for them to finish adding it. Perhaps I'll discuss later, but Wells Fargo has left a bad taste in my mouth but now I'm stuck with them for the life of my student loan.

I opened a savings account at INGDirect after realizing Wells Fargo was paying me .5% or so on any money I kept there. Later I switched to HSBC for their "new money" deal, and plan on sticking with it. I'm paid bi-weekly, and have 300 from each paycheck automatically deposited in that account.

Here are the numbers, neglecting credit card balance ( always paid in full) and checking account (less than 500 anyway):
Student Loans at Wells Fargo (currently at 0% interest): $14,800
Student Loans waiting to be consolidated: 5,500 (7.14% interest... thanks for screwing up WF!): $5446
Roth IRA: $1100
401k: $9057
HSBC: $4130

The numbers won't add up exactly, but this includes everything:
NET WORTH: $-6,300

Oh look, it is still red.

I comfort myself by the thought that I have roughly $2000 coming to me in tuition reimbursement (once I finish my last project) and $300 coming in mail in rebates (what a pain!) from my laptop, so that brings the pretty red number to about $-4000. But really, that money isn't in my possession yet, so I can't count it. It would be just as sneaky to count this weeks paycheck!

Changing those numbers
I'm trying to set a goal for when I'll see that number turn black, but I just recently started tracking everything, and I really have no idea how much each paycheck will affect it. Usually, I immediately see about 1300 in my checking/savings, but that doesn't include my 401k+match, which probably is around another 300 or so. I imagine it'll be very soon--within months. Today is May 09th, and I imagine it'll take at least 4 paychecks to get in the black... so let's go with June 22nd as the date to be "in the black".

What I like about this goal is that I'm allowed to arrange my money how I want to meet it. I don't have to focus on increasing my savings at the expense of my 401k, I can attack everything in a balanced manner and still see a huge overall impact.

Let the learning begin.

In the begining...
In the past month, I have been perusing through the world of personal finance blogs. I have seen some very good things from a variety of people. I briefly considered emulating some of my favorite blogs and trying to set up a site that could generate some amount income. At this point, it didn't seem like a road I need to go down, probably not worth the effort since I don't expect a large readership. There are a lot of good financial blogs out there already and I don't know if I have the time to devote to making a blog that would be truly unique. If my blog becomes wildly popular, I may change this, but for now, I did what I knew how to do--went to blogger.com and hit the ground running.

Instead, I am just going to chronicle my journey, as many others do, so I can track my progress and stay motivated.

Roughly one year ago, I graduated from college and realized that money was more difficult to manage when there was more to do than just show up for financial aid dispersement and spend the money they gave me. I started taking an interest in personal finance, starting with a "Personal Finance for Dummies" book (which really, wasn't incredibly useful) and listening to Marketplace Money every weekend (which has been useful). Then I discovered the blog world.

The college years
Let's review my situation. I did a few things right in college and a few things wrong. There wasn't a penny saved for my education (nor do I think I'm entitled to have my parents save up. It would have been nice, but they did pay for four years of a private high school). My parents helped out some, providing me with a car and insurance, along with little bits of money, but mostly, it was funded on loans.

Here's what I had going for me.
-I had $2000/yr in scholarships and went to a relatively inexpensive state school.
-I worked part time throughout college
-I lived at home for 3 semesters (for free! Thanks mom and dad!)
-I opened a credit card to build credit history, and never carried a balance
-In the later years (once I became smarter with my money), I used money I was eligible for from subsidized federal loans (0% interest) to pay back most of my "alternative loans" that I took out my first year or two.
-I didn't go on spring breaks. Though some would say I missed out, I haven't had a chance to regret it

Here's what I could have done better, had I known.
-I took summer school my first two summers and while I worked, so I didn't work full time. This allowed me to get some difficult classes out of the way (and they were a bit easier in the summer), but was a financial mistake. Not only did I not make much money those summers, I also had to take out extra loans to fund them.
-I worked jobs that didn't pay well when i could have done something better. I worked in retail when, at minimum, I could have been making much much more waitressing.
-I didn't apply for internships related to my major until after my junior year (these paid around $15/hr), when I probably could have got one sooner.
-I studied abroad. Worth every penny, but realistically probably added at least 5000 to my student loan debt, maybe more. I don't like to think about it. =)
-I didn't finish in four years, but five. To be fair, I took one semester off for an internship (paid), so it was really 4.5 years. And I could have squeezed it in in 4 had I not studied abroad. Also, few people in my major get out in 4 flat, though it isn't unheard of by any means.
-I could have spent less money (but who couldn't?)

The after effects of the college years
Here's where things stand now. My base salary is about 56k, and I'm contributing 10% to my works 401k plan and getting a match on 6% of that. I have a Health Savings Account which I'm contributing 200/month to for the first half of the year, then it will be fully funded. I decided to do that in case I needed the money for a medical expense--I wanted it to be there ASAP. I'm contributing 350/month to a Roth IRA I opened in January (but I started out just contributing 250) with plans of maxing it.

I started working in June, and paid off about 6000 of student loan debt in the first six months. The interest rate was around 8% for that chunk of non-federal loans. I consolidated my federal loans through Wells Fargo, and I must say I'm really unhappy with how the process went. In fact, it is still not complete--somehow about 5500 of debt was "forgot" in the consolidation, and I'm waiting for them to finish adding it. Perhaps I'll discuss later, but Wells Fargo has left a bad taste in my mouth but now I'm stuck with them for the life of my student loan.

I opened a savings account at INGDirect after realizing Wells Fargo was paying me .5% or so on any money I kept there. Later I switched to HSBC for their "new money" deal, and plan on sticking with it. I'm paid bi-weekly, and have 300 from each paycheck automatically deposited in that account.

Here are the numbers, neglecting credit card balance ( always paid in full) and checking account (less than 500 anyway):
Student Loans at Wells Fargo (currently at 0% interest): $14,800
Student Loans waiting to be consolidated: 5,500 (7.14% interest... thanks for screwing up WF!): $5446
Roth IRA: $1100
401k: $9057
HSBC: $4130

The numbers won't add up exactly, but this includes everything:
NET WORTH: $-6,300

Oh look, it is still red.

I comfort myself by the thought that I have roughly $2000 coming to me in tuition reimbursement (once I finish my last project) and $300 coming in mail in rebates (what a pain!) from my laptop, so that brings the pretty red number to about $-4000. But really, that money isn't in my possession yet, so I can't count it. It would be just as sneaky to count this weeks paycheck!

Changing those numbers
I'm trying to set a goal for when I'll see that number turn black, but I just recently started tracking everything, and I really have no idea how much each paycheck will affect it. Usually, I immediately see about 1300 in my checking/savings, but that doesn't include my 401k+match, which probably is around another 300 or so. I imagine it'll be very soon--within months. Today is May 09th, and I imagine it'll take at least 4 paychecks to get in the black... so let's go with June 22nd as the date to be "in the black".

What I like about this goal is that I'm allowed to arrange my money how I want to meet it. I don't have to focus on increasing my savings at the expense of my 401k, I can attack everything in a balanced manner and still see a huge overall impact.

Let the learning begin.

In the begining...
In the past month, I have been perusing through the world of personal finance blogs. I have seen some very good things from a variety of people. I briefly considered emulating some of my favorite blogs and trying to set up a site that could generate some amount income. At this point, it didn't seem like a road I need to go down, probably not worth the effort since I don't expect a large readership. There are a lot of good financial blogs out there already and I don't know if I have the time to devote to making a blog that would be truly unique. If my blog becomes wildly popular, I may change this, but for now, I did what I knew how to do--went to blogger.com and hit the ground running.

Instead, I am just going to chronicle my journey, as many others do, so I can track my progress and stay motivated.

Roughly one year ago, I graduated from college and realized that money was more difficult to manage when there was more to do than just show up for financial aid dispersement and spend the money they gave me. I started taking an interest in personal finance, starting with a "Personal Finance for Dummies" book (which really, wasn't incredibly useful) and listening to Marketplace Money every weekend (which has been useful). Then I discovered the blog world.

The college years
Let's review my situation. I did a few things right in college and a few things wrong. There wasn't a penny saved for my education (nor do I think I'm entitled to have my parents save up. It would have been nice, but they did pay for four years of a private high school). My parents helped out some, providing me with a car and insurance, along with little bits of money, but mostly, it was funded on loans.

Here's what I had going for me.
-I had $2000/yr in scholarships and went to a relatively inexpensive state school.
-I worked part time throughout college
-I lived at home for 3 semesters (for free! Thanks mom and dad!)
-I opened a credit card to build credit history, and never carried a balance
-In the later years (once I became smarter with my money), I used money I was eligible for from subsidized federal loans (0% interest) to pay back most of my "alternative loans" that I took out my first year or two.
-I didn't go on spring breaks. Though some would say I missed out, I haven't had a chance to regret it

Here's what I could have done better, had I known.
-I took summer school my first two summers and while I worked, so I didn't work full time. This allowed me to get some difficult classes out of the way (and they were a bit easier in the summer), but was a financial mistake. Not only did I not make much money those summers, I also had to take out extra loans to fund them.
-I worked jobs that didn't pay well when i could have done something better. I worked in retail when, at minimum, I could have been making much much more waitressing.
-I didn't apply for internships related to my major until after my junior year (these paid around $15/hr), when I probably could have got one sooner.
-I studied abroad. Worth every penny, but realistically probably added at least 5000 to my student loan debt, maybe more. I don't like to think about it. =)
-I didn't finish in four years, but five. To be fair, I took one semester off for an internship (paid), so it was really 4.5 years. And I could have squeezed it in in 4 had I not studied abroad. Also, few people in my major get out in 4 flat, though it isn't unheard of by any means.
-I could have spent less money (but who couldn't?)

The after effects of the college years
Here's where things stand now. My base salary is about 56k, and I'm contributing 10% to my works 401k plan and getting a match on 6% of that. I have a Health Savings Account which I'm contributing 200/month to for the first half of the year, then it will be fully funded. I decided to do that in case I needed the money for a medical expense--I wanted it to be there ASAP. I'm contributing 350/month to a Roth IRA I opened in January (but I started out just contributing 250) with plans of maxing it.

I started working in June, and paid off about 6000 of student loan debt in the first six months. The interest rate was around 8% for that chunk of non-federal loans. I consolidated my federal loans through Wells Fargo, and I must say I'm really unhappy with how the process went. In fact, it is still not complete--somehow about 5500 of debt was "forgot" in the consolidation, and I'm waiting for them to finish adding it. Perhaps I'll discuss later, but Wells Fargo has left a bad taste in my mouth but now I'm stuck with them for the life of my student loan.

I opened a savings account at INGDirect after realizing Wells Fargo was paying me .5% or so on any money I kept there. Later I switched to HSBC for their "new money" deal, and plan on sticking with it. I'm paid bi-weekly, and have 300 from each paycheck automatically deposited in that account.

Here are the numbers, neglecting credit card balance ( always paid in full) and checking account (less than 500 anyway):
Student Loans at Wells Fargo (currently at 0% interest): $14,800
Student Loans waiting to be consolidated: 5,500 (7.14% interest... thanks for screwing up WF!): $5446
Roth IRA: $1100
401k: $9057
HSBC: $4130

The numbers won't add up exactly, but this includes everything:
NET WORTH: $-6,300

Oh look, it is still red.

I comfort myself by the thought that I have roughly $2000 coming to me in tuition reimbursement (once I finish my last project) and $300 coming in mail in rebates (what a pain!) from my laptop, so that brings the pretty red number to about $-4000. But really, that money isn't in my possession yet, so I can't count it. It would be just as sneaky to count this weeks paycheck!

Changing those numbers
I'm trying to set a goal for when I'll see that number turn black, but I just recently started tracking everything, and I really have no idea how much each paycheck will affect it. Usually, I immediately see about 1300 in my checking/savings, but that doesn't include my 401k+match, which probably is around another 300 or so. I imagine it'll be very soon--within months. Today is May 09th, and I imagine it'll take at least 4 paychecks to get in the black... so let's go with June 22nd as the date to be "in the black".

What I like about this goal is that I'm allowed to arrange my money how I want to meet it. I don't have to focus on increasing my savings at the expense of my 401k, I can attack everything in a balanced manner and still see a huge overall impact.

Let the learning begin.