Evolving Personal Finance

Mini-Vacation Financials: Madison, WI for a Wedding

July 12th, 2013 | 39 Comments

We traveled to Madison, WI from July 4 to July 7 for a wedding and to see some friends. This trip was very different from the ones we usually take (like our recent trip to Boston) and really made me appreciate both styles of travel. I really liked downtown Madison, probably mostly because it’s summer – great weather and not so many college kids! Usually when we travel for events like weddings we couch-surf and try … Read entire article »

Filed under: marriage, travel

Is “Live Like a College Student” Good Advice?

July 10th, 2013 | 47 Comments

One oft-repeated piece of advice for young adults who need to get their feet under them financially is to continue to live like a college student for several years after graduation. Maybe this advice applied a couple decades ago, but now that colleges compete for students by enhancing the perks and amenities they offer, I’m not so sure. I think that in many ways I had to decrease my standard of living post-college to live … Read entire article »

Filed under: college, grad school

PF Choices: Damned If You Do and Damned If You Don’t

July 8th, 2013 | 31 Comments

It seems that there are many choices you can make about your personal finances that will get you excoriated – or at least criticized – by one group or another espousing particular strategies. If you decide on strategy A you’ll get criticized by group B and if you decide on strategy B you’ll get criticized by group A! Sure, people may be nice about it and say “to each his own” but you know they … Read entire article »

Filed under: choices

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 30June2013

July 7th, 2013 | 5 Comments

We had a bit of a weird week! We had planned on working three days and taking the 4th and 5th off. We still took the last two days off, but on Monday morning we were confronted with a leak in the ceiling in our townhouse. We kind of freaked out and spend the day cleanup up and trying to get in touch with our property management company. We both worked a bit later in the day but it sucked to miss the most productive part of the day in an already short week. On Thursday morning we flew out and we’ve spent the long weekend in Madison, WI for a wedding. It actually has felt like a vacation for once and not a jam-packed trip! I’ll have a post up … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

June 2013 Month in Review: Money

July 5th, 2013 | 20 Comments

We did an excellent job sticking to our budget this month! We came in under budget in every single category! Plus we had a big-spending month from our targeted savings, so months like these really validate why we have those accounts in place. We paid for much of our July 4 trip to Madison, WI as well as a quick drive up to northern Virginia. The Everyday Budget Top-line items INCOME: Our paychecks from our university plus $172.40 from … Read entire article »

Filed under: month in review

Reader Question: Where to Open an IRA?

July 3rd, 2013 | 16 Comments

Last week I received a great question on where to open an IRA from a reader! I think this is an important question that doesn’t necessarily get the discussion it deserves in comparison with the question of asset allocation or particular investments. I’m not a financial advisor, though, so please do your own research as well! Hey Emily, I’m starting my first “big kid” job at the end of the summer. So this got me thinking about … Read entire article »

Filed under: retirement

First Values and Goals, Then Strategies

July 1st, 2013 | 33 Comments

When you first encounter the subject of personal finance, you may be tempted to jump right into trying to understand the best debt payoff method, the right retirement savings vehicle, which investments to buy and when, or how to get the best credit card rewards. But without being properly motivated and focused by your own values and goals, hectic personal finance activity won’t result in satisfaction and will possibly burn you out. Before getting into … Read entire article »

Filed under: goals, values

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 23June2013

June 30th, 2013 | Add a Comment

Just in case you missed the zillions of reminders from Google Reader itself or any of the other blogs you read, today is the last day of Google Reader’s life! You will have to switch to another RSS reader if you want to keep having all your great blog content organized in one place. There are many other options – Kyle is now using The Old Reader and I am using Feedly. And if you’ve never signed up to get EPF’s content through an RSS feed, this is a great opportunity! We had another week of heavy work this week and not much else. We’ve tried to fit in as much tennis as we can but it’s been raining quite a bit. That’s also put a damper on our grilling but … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

When We Were Just Starting Out

June 28th, 2013 | 22 Comments

One of our objectives with this blog is to show graduate students – particularly PhD students who receive livable stipends – how to live well while being financially responsible. But I’m afraid that we’ve come so far, both in time and in net worth, from where we were when we first started grad school that pictures of our current state are not actually helpful or inspirational but perhaps even intimidating to someone just starting out. … Read entire article »

Filed under: budgeting, grad school

Do I Want a Camera or Subjects?

June 26th, 2013 | 30 Comments

I’m “that person” in my group of friends – the one who always has a camera out, taking awkward candid photos. I estimate that I have tens of thousands of photos that I’ve taken with my two Canon point-and-shoots over the past 7 or 8 years. (But for all the flak my friends give me about annoyingly documenting everything, they frequently tell me how much they appreciate my efforts and several times have asked for … Read entire article »

Filed under: choices, spending, targeted savings