Weekly Update 8

Pretty normal week again – lots of work.  I had another project application added to my work and I met with our new collaborators this week, so that was very interesting.  We planned an initial experiment that should happen in a couple weeks.  Kyle has been staying up late coding, which is more difficult now that we’re driving to work together.

I had lunch with a friend this week and I explained to her the guidelies of the diet I used to lose 40 lbs last year.  Only a few people have seriously inquired about my methods and one has implemented it very successfully.  We also had two friends over to watch some of the NCAA tournament and play games on Saturday night.  Lots of basketball-watching generally this week.

I attended a tax workshop this week for graduate students.  It was dismal.  The professional who came to give the workshop was totally unprepared for the particular needs of our audience despite the efforts of the organizers to collect questions that they sent to her in advance.  This is the second workshop I’ve attended in a PF-for-grad-students series at my university and they were both terrible.  (Nothing against the organizers.  The people giving the presentations just did not understand their audience – rule #1 for any piece of communication!)  In both cases the presenters actually gave false information and had to be helped out by multiple audience members at various points.  It’s shocking that there are on the order of 2 million currently enrolled graduate students in the US and it seems that no one can clearly speak to the specific financial needs of our community.  There is so much misinformation around and I personally haven’t been able to get an IRS representative to make a definitive statement…  It’s so frustrating!  I finished up my Roth IRA post today (going up Tuesday) and I’m glad to have found what I think is a definitive answer to the earned income question.  However, I still have some follow-up investigating to do as to why the answer is what it is.  Stay tuned, and please pass my posts on to your graduate student friends if they have PF concerns.

This week I’m participating in a case competition, culminating in a trip to Atlanta next weekend.  So if I’m a little less responsive to comments, that’s why!  I also won’t be able to read and comment as much on others’ blogs as I normally do, but I’ll be back in full force next week.  Wish me luck!  In addition to resume-bragging, there are cash awards.  🙂

Posts I Liked

Jason from Work Save Live wrote a detailed post on the reasons why many professional athletes and others who experience monetary windfalls end up with nothing a few years down the line.  It’s very sobering to see the problems we have in our normal-people lives magnified to celebrity levels.

Jefferson from See Debt Run explained why we all need emergency funds, even while paying off debt.

Daisy from When Life Gives You Lemons performed an interesting analysis on how much joy-time per dollar new clothing purchases gave her.

Minting Nickels hosted a post from Money Crashers on some ideas for making a little extra money, with the gentle reminder not to waste a lot of time on a low return!

Kari from Small Budget Big Dreams posted several suggestions on how to save on glasses and contacts.  Kyle and I have employed a couple of the tips in the past and they definitely work!

Jeff from Sustainable Life Blog listed 26 sustainability tips in alphabet form – great resource!

Mentions

SB at Finance Product Reviews listed Choosing an Amex Card in his weekly good reads.

Financial Knowledge Online included My Biggest Financial Mistake and Why I’m Glad I Made It in his weekly roundup.

Sicorra at Tackling Our Debt included What Does Frugal Mean to You? in her circle of friends.

Carnivals

My Biggest Financial Mistake and Why I’m Glad I Made It was featured in the Financial Carnival for Young Adults 4th Edition.

My Biggest Financial Mistake and Why I’m Glad I Made It was featured in the Carnival of Retirement #11.

Frequent Flyer Programs: Have We Been Missing Out? was featured in the Carnival of Financial Camaraderie.

What does “Frugal” Mean to You? was featured in the Carnival of Financial Cameraderie #26.

Top Comment

Leigh and I had a really interesting exchange concerning some of her friends who are not yet saving for retirement. “They’ve heard too many stories of people losing their entire retirement savings in the stock market. 🙁 They do understand compound interest though. Do you have any suggestions for how I could help them?”  I made a couple suggestions but ultimately concluded they were a tough case and there may not be much anyone can say to change their minds.  What do you think?

Most Frequent Commenters

1. Leigh @ Leigh’s Financial Journey
2. Jason @ Work Save Live
3. Daisy @ When Life Gives You Lemons
4. SB @ FPR

Top Sites Referring to EPF

1. Tackling Our Debt
2. Cult of Money
3. Work Save Live
4. In Budgets We Trust
5. Young Professional Finances