Evolving Personal Finance

Missteps on the Road to Value: Cell Phone Saga

April 3rd, 2013 | 24 Comments

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

April 1st, 2013 | 57 Comments

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

March 31st, 2013 | 5 Comments

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

March 29th, 2013 | 46 Comments

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

Considerations for Grad Students Buying Houses

March 27th, 2013 | 32 Comments

Many graduate students consider buying a home near their universities, especially when they are just starting a PhD program. I don’t have to tell you that the mortgage rates and home prices in many areas of the country make the prospect incredibly tempting! The problem is that most students are probably like I was when I started my PhD program – single, next to broke, and looking forward to 5-6 years of a ridiculously low … Read entire article »

Filed under: grad school, housing

Marginal Tax Brackets, Deductions, and Credits Explained Graphically

March 25th, 2013 | 30 Comments

Many US taxpayers have a difficult time understanding what marginal tax brackets are and the differences between credits and deductions. I will illustrate these three concepts for a hypothetical single taxpayer, Alex. Alex’s Gross Income Alex’s gross income is $225,000, all from his job, shown in solid red. Deductions Deductions reduce your amount of taxable income. Alex has deductions that can be found in lines 23 to 35 of his 1040 in the amount of $15,000 (patterned red). Examples of … Read entire article »

Filed under: taxes

Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 17Mar2013

March 24th, 2013 | 6 Comments

This week is all about watching March Madness! My PI walked into my office when I had it streaming one time this week. :/ We also saw Anything Goes at our local theater – Kyle really liked it and I thought it was pretty good. On Friday night we went to a Grad Christian Fellowship gathering and hear from a bioethicist faculty member, which was fascinating and provoked a lot of great discussion afterwards. Finally, one of our friends in Kyle’s program defended this week – congratulations Dr. S! Posts I Liked Kraig from Young Cheap Living explains why he’s bucking the standard advice to use tax-advantaged retirement accounts and buy a house. Well Heeled Blog draws attention to the trend of freezing eggs to extend the childbearing years in favor of focusing … Read entire article »

Filed under: weekly update

Blog Statistics Update February – March 2013

March 22nd, 2013 | 5 Comments

I sure am glad this month is over! I passed my prelim on March 4 and was fairly busy and stressed leading up to that date. Now I feel so much closer to graduation! Unfortunately my relative absence from the blogosphere resulted in lower traffic and comments on EPF this month, but after our great Jan/Feb it’s not been too bad. Here’s to a better next month! Guest Posts This month we had three guest posts from fellow … Read entire article »

Filed under: blogging, month in review

Our Experiences with Paying Off Debt

March 20th, 2013 | 27 Comments

This post is a personal story about how debt has intersected our lives and not intended to be any big lessons. You’ll see that how we paid off our debt doesn’t necessarily apply to others as I’ve been rescued a couple times! We also still go back and forth over whether or not we are officially debt-free. Between me and Kyle, I have more experience with debt so I’ll start with mine. Student Loans I took out some … Read entire article »

Filed under: cars, credit cards, debt

How to Spend Less When Attending Out-of-Town Weddings

March 18th, 2013 | 42 Comments

In a 48-hour period last week, we received two unexpected wedding invitations, heard about two more engagements, and attended a pre-wedding event – all for weddings occurring this summer! We had thought it was going to be another slow wedding season for us, but we are now planning to attend at least two out-of-town weddings – one in Boston and the other in Madison, WI. Since 2010, we have attended TEN out-of-town weddings. We want to … Read entire article »

Filed under: family, food, frugality, marriage, personal, travel