Evolving Personal Finance » Archive
Two Tiny Notes
Miss me yet? š Just wanted to pop in with two bits of news. 1) You can get your EPF fix over at Making Sense of Cents today. Michelle published a guest post I wroteĀ (pre-FinCon14 freak-out) on a budget-related method of motivating myself to earn side income in my funemployment. For September, I’m already up to ‘car gas.’ Leave me a comment over on Making Sense of Cents to let me know what you think of my idea! 2) I just learned I have an internship interview in a field I’m very interested in so please wish me luck! Even though I’m not job-searching, I seem to be job-applying. I’ve applied for three internships, a fellowship, a part-time contract job, and two full-time jobs in the past six weeks. Most of those … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging, career, funemployment
Post-FinCon14 Soul-Searching on My Hobby
How I Developed My Hobby In the spring of 2008, I went on a handful of interviews for PhD programs in my field. The interview days consisted of meetings with potential advisors, information sessions about the programs, and social time with current grad students. While socializing, I fielded the typical getting-a-beat-on you questions like āWhere did you go to college?ā and āWhere did you grow up?ā I was also asked over and over again what my … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging
How My Funemployment Is Different from Jan from the Officeās Unemployment
I am a huge fan of The Office.Ā Iāve probably watched through the whole series about eight times on Netflix!Ā Itās my go-to programming in the evening when Iām cooking, cleaning or otherwise occupied when I can mostly only listen.Ā Well, it just so happened that I recently rewatched the episode āMoney,ā in which Michael is basically a poster child for what not to do in personal finance.Ā But this time around, I was struck … Read entire article »
Filed under: funemployment
What to Do About a Large Reimbursable Expense
In May, I went on an interview and incurred some incidental reimbursable costs for food and transportation (my flight and hotel were paid directly by the company). Also in May, Kyle registered for a conference; in June he booked his flight to the conference; in July he paid for his lodging and food at the conference. All of his costs were reimbursable as well, but not until after he returned. My costs were only $85, so … Read entire article »
Filed under: career, emergency fund, savings
Targeted Savings Accounts and Funemployment for the One-Car Win!
I had a great experience last week ā about as good of an experience as you can have running errands, that is. Ā š Ā This funemployed spouse/homemaker gig is pretty nice, both for me and for Kyle. We noticed that our car needed to be repaired, so we made an appointment with our mechanic to drop off the car one weekday morning.Ā The last time we did this, we dropped the car off together and then took … Read entire article »
Filed under: cars, funemployment, targeted savings
August 2014 Month in Review: Money
Our income this month was Kyleās new postdoc pay plus my normal stipend paycheck. Even with the higher income from July (Kyleās first month as a postdoc), we kept our budget the same and it will be the same for next month (funded by our pay this month). We wonāt really adjust our budget or money management system until Octoberās budget, the first with our lower income. A few other loose ends: We corrected our mistake from … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
Funemployment Report: August 2014
My funemployment officially started on Monday!Ā I spent all of Monday at home or doing errands, then spent all of Tuesday on campus, and Iām spending today at the public library.Ā I want to figure out quickly which places and times are most conducive to me working efficiently (similar to Erin trying to get in the zone for working). Last week I started this 30 day workout challenge that my sister recommended on top of doing … Read entire article »
Filed under: funemployment
My Seventy-Second and Last Paycheck as a Grad Student
Last Friday I picked up my seventy-second and last paycheck from my university for my role as a graduate student. Ā This post is a bunch of random thoughts about my experience of being a paid graduate student. 1. My final paycheck was for $2,088.77. Ā My first paycheck in September 2008 was for $1,807.46. At first glance, this is quite depressing. 2. The reason I’m getting a check right now is because I could never get payroll to … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, income
Dreaming of Financial Incentives for Grad Students
Last night I literally dreamed about how my progress through my PhD might have been different if there were financial incentives in place.Ā In the last few weeks Iāve been reflecting on what I wish I had done differently during grad school; Iām in that super-jaded place that a lot of people get to around the time that they defend. I have found myself wishing that there had been clearer expectations set out by my advisor, … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school
How Joint Money Management Is Keeping My Marriage Together
I have recently been thinking quite a lot about career transitions, two-body problems, and money in marriage. Kyle and I keep completely joint finances, which I think is a key reason that we are living in the same city and working together to optimize our two-body solution.Ā If we had separate finances, things would probably look quite differentā¦ How We Got to Where We Are Kyle and I started dating when we were undergraduates, both graduating in … Read entire article »
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