Evolving Personal Finance

May 2013 Month in Review: Money

June 7th, 2013 | 9 Comments

We had a pretty good month! Nothing too out of the ordinary. We overspent our grocery budget but it was made up for by underspending in a few other categories. Our trip to Boston wasn’t very expensive at all and we got a bunch of great experiences out of it so it was high in value. We had more side income than we usually do. Our cash is getting really, really high, people! I wish we … Read entire article »

Filed under: month in review

Losing My Graduate School Funding

June 5th, 2013 | 27 Comments

The following is a guest post from Ross at Cash Rebel. He’s a 20-something engineer who writes about frugality, sustainability, and stick-to-itiveness. This is his story about losing funding for graduate school. The year was 2010 and I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life. I’d graduated college with a degree in Mechanical Engineering earlier that year and although tons of recent grads were signing up for grad school because they couldn’t find … Read entire article »

Filed under: grad school

Early Retirement Isn’t for Us

June 3rd, 2013 | 70 Comments

Before becoming immersed in the PF blogosphere, I never realized there was such a thing as truly early retirement. If you had said “early retirement” to me, I probably would have thought of retiring at 55 instead of 65. Similarly, I heard “financial independence” to mean independence from parents, not independence from work/active income! I just had no idea that anyone would want to stop their primary career/gainful employment in his 30s or 40s. Now I’m … Read entire article »

Filed under: choices

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 26May2013

June 2nd, 2013 | 12 Comments

Phew! We’ve had a busy week! And we’ve hardly had time to recover! Last Sunday and Monday we were in Boston for a wedding. Right when we got into RDU on Monday we drove to a Memorial Day cookout – we were thankful for the hot ready meal! We were back at work Tuesday through Thursday, including attending a 4-hour seminar on negotiation and problem solving, focused on hiring negotiations. On Wednesday night we had small group as usual. On Thursday we went to a young professionals event at our church, where we got a free meal and SQUARE DANCED for about an hour! It was so much fun! Then on Friday we heard the North Carolina Symphony play movie music at a free outdoor concert. On Saturday morning we drove to northern Virginia … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

Mini-Vacation Financials: Wedding in Boston

May 31st, 2013 | 12 Comments

Last weekend Kyle and I traveled to Boston to attend the wedding of one of my high school friends to her college sweetheart. The wedding was on Sunday night (before Memorial Day) so the couple organized an afternoon and evening of activities for the younger wedding guests on Saturday. We were able to stay with another friend attending the wedding and hung out with her and other high school friends in town for the event … Read entire article »

Filed under: travel

Six Years of Internet Banking

May 29th, 2013 | 28 Comments

I can’t believe it’s been six years since I opened my first account with an internet-only bank! There have been so many changes during that time and I think internet-only banks have really come into their own. I believe they can go toe-to-toe with brick-and-mortar banks and even beat them in many ways. I opened an account with ING Direct (now Capital One 360) after I graduated from college when I realized that Bank of America … Read entire article »

Filed under: checking, savings

Pulling Back the Veil on Our Daily Money Management

May 27th, 2013 | 31 Comments

I thought it would be helpful for some to get really into the nitty-gritty of how we manage our money on a daily (or at least monthly) basis. It’s simple to say “we have joint accounts” or “we use Mint” but what does that really mean? (You can reference a copy of our current budget if you like.) Start with a Clean Slate On the first of the month the only money in our checking accounts is … Read entire article »

Filed under: budgeting, credit cards, found money, side income, spending, targeted savings

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 19May2013

May 26th, 2013 | 8 Comments

Happy Memorial Day from Boston! Kyle and I are in town for a wedding of one of my good friends from high school. I’m so excited to spend time with a bunch of my old crew friends – it’s been a while! Yesterday we went on the Duck Tour and out to dinner with some of the other wedding guests. I love when there are more events on a wedding weekend than just the wedding. The rest of this week was pretty normal. We went to a great game night last Sunday and just kept our noses to the grindstones throughout the week so that we could leave town guilt-free. Our small group is transitioning to our “summer hours.” Our church finished up its big spring series two weeks ago, so … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

What Would You Do If You Really Needed Money?

May 24th, 2013 | 22 Comments

I asked myself and Kyle this question last week when I was thinking of contingency plans in case Kyle is unemployed for a while between graduation and starting a postdoc. I’m not about earning the maximum possible amount of money all the time – if I was, I wouldn’t be pursuing a PhD! – so there are plenty of money-making activities that I could do but am not at the moment because I’m satisfied with … Read entire article »

Filed under: income

Long-Distance Marriage: Travel and Advice

May 22nd, 2013 | 22 Comments

This is the fourth installment of our series on financially navigating a long-distance marriage. Please read and comment on the first, second, and third installments as well! Our final post in this series on the impact of long-distance marriage on finances covers visits and advice. It made sense combine these two categories since much of the advice was on travel itself! Many of the couples emphasized the importance of regular visits, even at the expense of other … Read entire article »

Filed under: marriage, travel