Weekly Update 20

June 17th, 2012 | Add a Comment

I gave lab meeting on Monday (hence why Kyle posted that day!) and that went well. My advisor has been away for several weeks and seemed please with my progress when we talked. My research the rest of the week wasn’t so hot but I’m still riding high from that feedback early in the week.

We went out to dinner (sort of) on Monday night to celebrate a friend’s birthday and then out again for a trivia night at a local bar on Tuesday, so that was a lot of restaurant spending for us in a short amount of time! This week I also met with a friend to coach her a bit on her finances. I’ve realized that I’m a problem solver – that’s what I like about science and what I want to do in my next career – and financial quandaries are just a different type of problem. I enjoy brainstorming for solutions and talking over which ones are viable. We ultimately came up with a list of action items so I hope she’ll find the changes useful. I’ve had another person ask to meet with me to talk over his situation so I might take him up on that since I had fun this time around.

Posts I Liked

The Happy Homeowner shared that she has become obsessed with budgeting and pinching every penny to the point that it has seriously affected her lifestyle. I really related to this post.

Janice M from Talking Cents shared some thoughts and tips for financially preparing to be a wedding guest.

Kathleen from Frugal Portland is living on half her income while she pays off debt, but soon she will be saving half!

G.E. Miller from 20somethingfinance asked if you could live below the US poverty line. He and his wife are close – unfortunately, we are not!

I Am 1 Percent put together a simple and cogent argument for why he doesn’t invest in individual stocks. I just have to say “me too!”

Mentions

Life in Transition listed How to Move Out on a Shoestring Budget in her week-in-review.

Jason from Work Save Live included Sometimes I Don’t Eat. Is that Rude? in his weekend reading.

Carnivals

How to Move Out on a Shoestring Budget was featured in the Financial Carnival for Young Adults – 16th Edition, the Yakezie Carnival, and the Festival of Frugality #340.

Laying a Path from Here to There was featured in the Carnival of Money Pros.

Top Comment

We received many great comments on our budgeting and tracking post from Friday. Many people who budget and track now hope that they will not have to do that forever. Jason’s comment typified this mindset: “I envision that I’ll get to a point where budgeting isn’t a big of a priority… If our income continues to go up I don’t see as much of a need. I know my wife and I are both frugal and we’re not just going to blow money on a monthly basis, but it would be nice to not have “limits” on all of our spending categories. If we’re making enough money and we want something, then I’m fine with just buying it and not making sure it “fits” in the budget.”

Most Frequent Commenters