Evolving Personal Finance

Blog Statistics Update July-August 2013

August 16th, 2013 | 21 Comments

The big news for EPF this month happened just in the last week or so! Trent from The Simple Dollar linked to two of my posts, which brought a huge influx of traffic! Maybe a couple new commenters, too. Analytics Data from July 16 to August 15, 2013 People who listen to us, as of August 15, 2013: RSS subscribers: 157 (-22) (I think this is part of the fluctuations that always seem to be going on!) Twitter followers: … Read entire article »

Filed under: blogging, month in review

Left to Unwellness

August 14th, 2013 | 22 Comments

Our health insurance rolled over at the start of this month, taking with it the wellness program I’ve participated in for the last year and a half. The wellness program paid me $1.00 for every week that I ate five servings of fruits and vegetables five or more days and $0.37 per 30-minute workout, up to once per day. There were other program options, such as smoking cessation, but the food and workouts ones and … Read entire article »

Filed under: insurance

Would Someone Date You After Seeing Your Taxes?

August 12th, 2013 | 28 Comments

The inspiration for today’s post came from a very random place. I recently added a new podcast that answers listener questions, usually about relationships. One question was whether it is appropriate to ask someone out on a date in her place of work (like your waitress at a restaurant, for example). The hosts tried to think of various service relationships that come up in everyday life and how the customer might go about asking out … Read entire article »

Filed under: marriage, taxes

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 4August2013

August 11th, 2013 | 4 Comments

Kyle and I have been working crazy a lot this week. I’m still on schedule to meet my deadlines and it should only be another week of being very busy if things go well. I have given myself enough slack time to be able to recover if things don’t go well, which I’ll know early next week. This summer has really been wonderfully productive and I’ve implemented some good habits that I hope will carry into the school year! We received notice along with everyone else in the country a couple weeks ago that TWC is increasing our modem rental fee. When we moved last year we debated buying our own modem but decided to hold out for when we moved cross-country, but this increase in the rental fee changed the … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

My Best Clothing Purchase Ever

August 9th, 2013 | 23 Comments

When I was a sophomore in high school, I gave up JV soccer to row with my high school’s crew team. This activity change warranted a wardrobe change; as loose shorts can easily get caught in the slides beneath the moving seat in the shell, most rowers wear spandex shorts or pants. I bought several pairs of spandex shorts during high school to wear in practice, but one stands out – they have become my … Read entire article »

Filed under: spending

Inexpensive House, Expensive Car

August 7th, 2013 | 68 Comments

I’ve been taking frequent walks around our townhouse complex recently and I’ve noticed that there are a lot of pretty nice cars parked in the lots – sports cars, muscle cars, and some luxury brands. Two people just across the parking lot from us own an Audi and a sporty convertible. Beyond just the expensive models, many cars look close to brand new. Another thing I’ve noticed on my walks throughout this year are townhouses up … Read entire article »

Filed under: cars, choices, housing, values

Setting a Reward for a Big Goal

August 5th, 2013 | 32 Comments

I don’t talk about this much here because this is a PF blog and not a weight-loss blog, but occasionally the two intersect and I think this is a relevant topic. I’ve mentioned a few times that I used to be obese and I lost a bunch of weight in 2011. However, in the last nine months-ish I’ve gained about half that weight back and I’ve decided to get serious about returning to my goal … Read entire article »

Filed under: goals

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 28July2013

August 4th, 2013 | 10 Comments

I’m so glad that we have our housing situation all squared away! Our application was approved almost immediately last Monday and we sent in the security deposit online to hold the unit. However, we aren’t scheduled to sign the lease until the day we move in, which we think is a bit weird. We’re at least going to ask to read it over before that day to make sure there’s nothing we object to in … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

July 2013 Month in Review: Money

August 2nd, 2013 | 18 Comments

I think this is a fairly representative summer month, spending-wise. We had a bit of travel (mostly paid in advance) and grills for groups of people twice. Spent way too much on groceries, not terribly a lot on anything else! This was one of those months when I’m so glad for our general savings “nest egg” account – we dipped into it for the security deposit at our new place. If we didn’t have that account … Read entire article »

Filed under: month in review

Just Make a Decision

July 31st, 2013 | 34 Comments

I was very proud of Kyle and me for making such a quick decision on where to move. (Our application was accepted and we sent in our security deposit so it’s a done deal – we got the place!) We are notorious for being slow decision-makers, particularly Kyle. Often that works to our advantage – with new purchases we generally research and wait for quite a while, which means we avoid making impulse purchases basically … Read entire article »

Filed under: choices