Evolving Personal Finance » Archive
Why We Aren’t Contributing to Our New 401(k)
Kyle’s new postdoc position comes with a benefit neither of us have ever had before – access to a 401(k). (Okay, it’s a 403(b) because it’s through our university, but I’m going to call it 401(k) in this post.) However, we have (mostly) decided not to set up contributions to it. I’ll tell you our reasoning and then you can let me know if we’re missing anything and should change our decision. Accounts Prioritization Up to this … Read entire article »
Filed under: career, retirement, savings
Blog Statistics Update May June 2014
So here’s the deal. I’m not sticking to the posting schedule I wanted to for the spring/summer (obviously). I’m setting my defense date for the end of summer so I’m working as hard as I ever have in my life and for a longer amount of time than I’ve ever sustained before. It is what it is, and I’m looking forward to being back full-steam (and more) on the blog after my defense. This month, I only … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments May 2014
May was a very quiet month for me and EPF. Kyle’s defense took a lot of time and energy and now I’m working mega hard trying to make my defense happen by the end of the summer, so there hasn’t been much time for posting or commenting. Still, I have been reading/skimming my normal blogs, so I have gathered up my favorite posts from the month of May for you to enjoy, as well as the top comments left on EPF. Thank you all for bearing with me! Great Posts This Month Lance from Money Manifesto doesn’t want you to take and early or late retirement but rather periodic retirements. Brian from Luke 1428 is becoming a stay-at-home dad! Sam from Frugaling reveals how much he made off his blog in his first year (um… … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
May 2014 Month in Review: Money
This was a really crazy month for us, both in general and financially! Kyle defended, I had an (unsuccessful) out-of-town job interview, and we had both of our families come into town. Plus, we received an inheritance that pushed our net worth above $100,000! (I don’t include gifts in our income so the inheritance is not reflected below.) So a lot of upheaval overall, but thankfully our budget ran fairly smoothly. We had an unusually high … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
Becoming Hundred Thousandaires
Kyle and I officially have a net worth of over $100,000! I’m so excited to reach this milestone, but how it happened precisely has taken the wind out of my sails a little bit. But it probably shouldn’t have. See below. 😉 Slow and Steady One afternoon last week, I had some time to kill waiting in a parking lot, so I became absorbed in our Mint account (naturally). This was the net worth balance I saw … Read entire article »
Celebratory Spending
The main reason I’ve been absent from EPF and the blogosphere generally is that Kyle defended his PhD last week! You may now address him as Dr. Kyle. (Not that kind of doctor.) (Just kidding. We can all call him Kyle after just this one post.) Dr. Kyle has been working toward this moment for nearly seven years. It’s just staggering all that went into this accomplishment. I can’t even tell you. I’m so proud of … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, spending
A New Appreciation for Living Below Our Means
Kyle and I are coming up on our first big financial transitions – something I’ve anticipated since the founding of this blog. I always thought that our post-PhD lives would offer an opportunity for lifestyle inflation, but instead I’m grateful that we live sufficiently below our means to absorb an income cut. This week, I have a new appreciation for our budgeting system and how clearly it delineates between wants and needs. On top of … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, career, savings, targeted savings, transitions
Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments April 2014
As much as I’m trying to focus on finishing my work and writing my dissertation, my ideas for PF related projects keep dogging me. This month I attended a PF seminar for med students and residents as part of my university committee participation and then had a follow-up meeting on improving the seminar to be given to the grad students next fall. After that, I couldn’t get my various website and ebook ideas out of my mind. It didn’t help that I started listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast while doing labwork. Thankfully, so far I’ve kept myself from actually working on these projects, but they are so tempting! Kyle got his official offer letter for his postdoc (in his current advisor’s lab, for the short-term). We’re so glad that the … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® – A Tempting Sign-Up Bonus Offer
I know we really need to stop signing up for credit cards for the bonuses, but I think The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® may be next on our list. I’m really exercising restraint in not signing up for it right now! This post is my review of the card based on the Terms and Conditions. What I find really attractive about this card is that there is no minimum spend to get the sign-up bonus – you just have to make one purchase and pay the annual fee. We can’t consider most credit cards with high sign-up bonuses because we don’t put enough on our credit cards each month to meet the minimum spends. The sign-up bonus comes in the form of 40,000 miles that you can use on US Airways. … Read entire article »
Filed under: credit cards
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Blog Statistics Update April – May 2014
May 23rd, 2014 | 12 Comments
This last month we finally saw the traffic decrease I was anticipating. You can see below that EPF’s views are down over 30%. I actually have been thinking that the cause might not be solely my reduced posting schedule but also in large part because I’ve virtually stopped commenting on other blogs. I don’t know if my comments elsewhere really drive much new traffic, but I think it encourages other bloggers to visit. I messed up … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging, month in review