Evolving Personal Finance » grad school
Do You Support More Openness About Finances?
I guess I haven’t fully understood why money is the last taboo topic in our society. Obviously, I wanted to talk about money so much in my real life that I created a blog about it and I’ve only gotten worse since then. You can connect almost anything we do or value in life to money somehow, which is why writing in the “niche” of personal finance actually opens you up to writing about almost … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging, goals, grad school, psychology, values
A Peek at Graduate Student Loan Debt
An article popped up on my personal Facebook feed last week that was accompanied by a spirited discussion in the comments about PhD student stipend levels and the necessity of taking out student loans even for students who are “fully funded.” Of course I clicked over and eventually found my way to this spreadsheet of student loan balances created by Karen Kelsky of The Professor Is In to demonstrate her point that even funded humanities PhDs can result … Read entire article »
Filed under: debt, grad school
Money and the Timing of Children
Kyle and I have been married for 3.5 years, and 1) we don’t have any kids, 2) we’re not pregnant, and 3) we’re not trying to get pregnant. We do want to have (two or three) children in the future. And the timing of those decisions has nothing to do with our finances. This week, our church started a series titled “God and the Rest of the Week,” which is about not segregating God into solely … Read entire article »
Filed under: family, grad school
How to Calculate and File Estimated Tax Payments
If you are being paid but aren’t having any money withheld for income taxes, you may need to pay estimated tax quarterly. If you don’t know what those are or how to do them, read on! Grad students, please pay special attention. You have to pay income tax on your stipend if it doesn’t go toward qualified educational expenses (your rent does not count). If you do not have withholding set up, you will likely … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, taxes
You Should Spend More and Save Less (Especially Grad Students)
The same episode of Freakonomics that I wrote about last week contained another segment that I thought worthy of comment here (and actually there is one more!). Levitt told Dubner some advice that he received from an older faculty member when he was just starting out as a professor of economics: “You should spend more and save less. You’re never going to be poorer than you are today… Your salary would only go up and your … Read entire article »
Filed under: career, grad school, savings, spending
DECREASE IN PAY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I received an email last week that gave me a bit of a scare! The subject line included my name and “Pay Decrease.” When I opened the email, the attachment was titled “DECREASE IN PAY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.” I kind of freaked out until I read the body of the email, but even after that reassurance I was pissed at the manner they let me know about this change! Even my advisor agreed that it was “unfortunately … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, income
Have You Even Been without Health Insurance?
Earlier this week NPR did a Q&A for clarifications on the ACA and there were a couple regarding college and graduate students, which caught my ear for sure. Apparently, it has been confirmed that university-provided student health insurance counts as having health insurance for the ACA – I didn’t know that was a question at all, but it’s good to know. I also found out that if you earn so little money that you don’t … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, insurance
Financially Surviving Your First Month as a PhD Student
First month’s rent up front plus a security deposit. A parking permit. Textbooks. Furnishing your new place. In the first few weeks of grad school you’re hit by one expense after another. On top of that, your department expects you to start orientation (followed by classes and research) five to six weeks before getting your first paycheck! How are you supposed to swing this? The best position to be in at the time you enter grad … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, credit cards, food, frugality, grad school, housing, income, spending, taxes
Is “Live Like a College Student” Good Advice?
One oft-repeated piece of advice for young adults who need to get their feet under them financially is to continue to live like a college student for several years after graduation. Maybe this advice applied a couple decades ago, but now that colleges compete for students by enhancing the perks and amenities they offer, I’m not so sure. I think that in many ways I had to decrease my standard of living post-college to live … Read entire article »
Filed under: college, grad school
When We Were Just Starting Out
One of our objectives with this blog is to show graduate students – particularly PhD students who receive livable stipends – how to live well while being financially responsible. But I’m afraid that we’ve come so far, both in time and in net worth, from where we were when we first started grad school that pictures of our current state are not actually helpful or inspirational but perhaps even intimidating to someone just starting out. … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, grad school
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