Evolving Personal Finance » Archive
Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 7Apr2013
We are back in NC and enjoying the spring that has finally arrived! Well, I should say I’m enjoying it and Kyle is complaining about how hot the house is now without any A/C. Nothing else out of the ordinary went on except we had a meeting regarding evangelism, one of my favorite subjects, which I’ll post on this week and we saw Smash Mouth in concert on Friday night at our university. Posts I Liked Grayson … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
Do You Want a Vacation Home?
When I was in high school, I was invited to a friend’s family lake house along with several of our other friends. We stayed there for a couple nights, waterskiing and eating and hanging out all day. It was great fun to be hosted by that family and I had never had an experience like that before – it was tremendously generous. I learned that the lake house was owned by my friend’s parents jointly … Read entire article »
The Real Reason I Am into Personal Finance
Kyle and I took the “Life Values Inventory” together last week – it’s a little tool that helps you identify your values and which ones you would like to be spending more or less time on. It was developed by people at my university so the career center and counseling services are always pushing it – it’s free so it’s worth checking out. Anyway, as I have previously identified “security” as one of my top 5 … Read entire article »
Filed under: values
Our Experiences Using Tax Software
A week ago I filled you in on why Kyle and I haven’t yet filed our taxes – we aren’t sure what our gross income truly is! Now that we’re getting down to the wire on the deadline for filing our taxes we need to make a decision and get through the math of figuring out how much tax we owe for 2012. Like other years, we will likely use free online tax software and … Read entire article »
Filed under: taxes
Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 1Apr2013
Kyle and I have been in CA since Wednesday and are flying home tonight. It’s been a quick trip, but we’ve been able to spend a lot of time with Kyle’s parents and aunt and uncle and saw some other family and friends briefly as well. Last Sunday we had our busy Easter morning and brunch and then watched our team get demolished in the Elite Eight (I’m still not over that injury – holy cow). I spent all of Monday and Tuesday preparing for a presentation I gave to our collaborator’s lab meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting went well and I had a good conversation with my advisor in which we agreed that I will write a grant (for the experience) and take some other career-prep steps. During this trip … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
March 2013 Month in Review: Money
While last month was characterized by super-stress, this one has been characterized by super-fun! My prelim was on March 4 and I’ve been having a great time since then getting back to work. Kyle and I also both had additional presentations to give to various audiences this month, so our work has been more slide-making and reflecting on previous work than generating new data. We hosted a lot of social stuff this month, which was costly … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
Missteps on the Road to Value: Cell Phone Saga
Last summer, we were spending $99/month on one smartphone and one dumbphone and had a plan to upgrade to two smartphones while reducing expenses. However, through the winter we had hundreds of dollars of cell phone expenses in each month! This post covers: 1) What the heck happened!? and 2) How did we resolve it? If you’ve ever been frustrated or lied to by your cell carrier, you’ll want to add your story to ours! August I … Read entire article »
Filed under: choices
Republic Wireless Review
Last August I told you that I signed up to get a smartphone through Republic Wireless, a new company with a different business model for providing cell services. I received my new phone in December and I thought it was high time to write a review! Go back to our previous post for more detail, but briefly: Republic Wireless utilizes available wireless internet to cut cell expenses for its customers. Customers are required to register at … Read entire article »
Filed under: frugality
Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 24Mar2013
HAPPY EASTER! Hallelujah, He is Risen!!! Easter is my #1 most favorite time of the year because of the focus on Jesus’s Resurrection. My conversion from atheism to Christianity five years ago turned on my coming to understand that the Resurrection was a real historical event. At its core, Christianity depends on this one event – no matter all the theology that’s been built up, all the emotional experiences of individuals, or all the arguments for … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
Disagreement Over Grad Student Health Insurance Taxes
If you want to read an updated version of this post, see Grad Student Tax Lie #6: You don’t have to pay tax on the scholarship that pays your health insurance premium on Personal Finance for PhDs. Kyle and I haven’t filed our taxes yet this year – perhaps because of laziness/procrastination but chiefly because we haven’t yet agreed on our reportable income! The “income” under question is the money used for our health insurance. One … Read entire article »
Filed under: grad school, taxes
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