Evolving Personal Finance » Archive
Things Are Experiences
There is a certain theme that comes up cyclically in reporting on personal finance issues: it’s better to spend your money on experiences rather than things. Sometimes this assertion is backed up by studies and sometimes not. The basic point is that experiences give you a great time and leave you with wonderful lasting memories, while the enjoyment you receive from stuff is rather fleeting and it just rots in your closet/garage/storage unit. Actually, phrased … Read entire article »
How to Calculate Estimated Tax When You Don’t Know Your Income
If you will owe more than $1,000 next April 15 (that is, if your total tax liability exceeds your withholdings by more than $1,000), you are supposed to make estimated tax payments quarterly. The next payment is due on April 15, 2015 If you basically know your 2015 income, you can easily and straightforwardly calculate and file your estimated tax payment. You have two choices of how to calculate the amount you should pay and you … Read entire article »
Filed under: taxes
Grad Student Finances Has Launched!
I just wanted to tell you guys that we now have Grad Student Finances online! If you remember, this project was supposed to be my passion project from last fall before I got absorbed in creating my comprehensive personal finance for grad students seminar. My concept for Grad Student Finances was for it to be a timeless resource for graduate students to help them with learn about how to maximize their money. For that reason, I … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging, grad school
Tax Benefits that Don’t Apply to (Some) Graduate Students
Through the course of researching taxes for my own use and this blog, I have periodically gotten excited about some tax benefit available to the general public, only to find out that I was not eligible for it. Sometimes my ineligibility was because of my student status and sometimes it was because I only had fellowship income. Commenters’ questions on previous posts have altered me to additional exclusions that I had not come across in … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, taxes
March 2015 Money Puddle and Spending Report
Hi y’all… Sorry for the dearth of posts and responding to comments recently. My schedule has been just as tight as earlier this spring. Between work, my commute, occasional socializing with my fellow fellows, and trying to maintain my relationship with Kyle long-distance, I have very little free time. The free time I do have has been going toward booking and advertising my personal finance for grad students seminars, working on the Grad Student Finances … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
Revealed: Mid-Term Investment Choice from 2011
I’m going to reveal something today that I never have before on EPF – or to anyone (other than Kyle), actually. This is more intimidating to me than sharing my net worth, even! In 2011, we had enough money to pay off my subsidized and deferred student loans, but instead of doing so we invested the money with a 2-3 year time horizon. Today I’m going to tell you exactly what we bought with that … Read entire article »
Filed under: investing
Winning a Fight with the IRS
I’m very, very excited about the content I have to share with you today. The story comes from someone who found EPF while searching for resources regarding grad student taxes and how to argue with the IRS. After emailing back and forth a few times about how to approach her problem, she offered to share her research and work with you through EPF. I will refer to this reader as Amanda in this post. Thank … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, taxes
February 2015 Money Puddle and Spending Report
Finally FINALLY FINALLY we are in the black for this month! What a difference having two incomes makes! I had half a month of income from my fellowship (1/6 of the total for the 3-month period since I started on January 20) and all of my December contract work income, which was my highest ever at $1,208 for the month. Kyle had his normal postdoc income. While our spending was higher than was typical for us … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
I Love My Car Even If No One Else Does
Kyle and I have transitioned from being a one-car family to being a two-car family once again. I bought my car in 2008 just after I started grad school, and we stopped driving it in 2012 but didn’t sell it, anticipating a time when we would need two cars again. That time came much later than we expected, but it has come. My car has been the butt of many thinly veiled jokes over the years … Read entire article »
Filed under: cars
Time vs. Money vs. Experience in Commuting
If my first job out of college, I was a megacommuter. My home (with my parents) and my job were both in the DC area, but about 120 degrees away from one another around the Beltway. I got a ride from my parent to the Metro station (about 15 minutes), went from the end of one line into DC and then most of the way out another (70 minutes), and then walked to my building … Read entire article »
Filed under: cars
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