A Life After College?

Fast food is cutting into my budget

2007-01-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Since I've moved out I haven't really gotten grocercies yet. I used spend about 100-150 bucks on groceries every 2-3 weeks. Right now, my food situation is day by day which is really cutting into my budget, spending about 10-20 bucks a day on food alone. If you look at it monthly that's around 300-600 bucks per month on fast food when I could be spending 200-300 per month. I hate looking at my budget sheet and seeing that I buy something every day. Fast food isn't really that healthy either, so my goal tomorrow is to buy up some groceries.

2007 I'm back!

2007-01-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been awhile since I've posted. There's a lot to catch up on in the past few months. My struggle to get out of the parents house, stay sane at my workplace, and of course keep up with my personal finance.

2006 was a much loved and hated year. It's time for a change in a big way, an actual life after college. Oh how I missed being in college though, having time for myself, having money come to me in the form of student loans, and able to spend that money on fun stuff like widgets and booze... Good times.

2007 is here though. A time for resolutions, although i heard somewhere that only 25% of people who make resolutions actually stick to them. I've got mine and I plan to keep them. I started early on mine. My first one was to get out of the parents house and I completed it on Jan 1, 2007 and whoa the sense of relief! No more stress. It feels so good to be on my own. Worth every penny I'm going to have to spend on rent and groceries and bills. So for my first resolutions.

Don't move back in w/ the parents. I plan on being completely independent now. It costs money, but I think I can do it.
Get my web development cert this year. Gotta study my arse off.
Workout more. Seems like this one is on everyone's list, but i plan to keep up with it.

We'll I'm glad to be back. *clinky crystals* CHEERS!

To move or not to move?

2006-09-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

I will be living with the parents at least until the end of the year. But will I save up enough money to be financially stable when I move out, and will I be able to save? That is the big question.

I've tallied it up and figured this out. Staying with the parents till the end of the year I will save about $10,000. To you that might be good enough to move out. But I want to put some of that money away to invest also, probably half of it and still have the other half to pay for all the fees of moving out. With my current wage, if I am on my own I could still save 200-300 bucks per month. But right now, living at home, I am able to save about 1,000 bucks per month.

I could stick it out and live with the parents for another year and have really good financial stability, and lower my debt. But there is this thing in the back of my head that's saying to me "MOVE OUT!". I think even though I'll be only saving a couple hundred bucks a month instead of 1,000 I'll be a lot happier with my life and strive that much more to make the changes to save more money.

Well I still have a couple more months to ponder.

One small step for saving money

2006-08-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

I spend 300 bucks per month on gas. I know that is pretty damn crazy because I basically live out of my car. I don't actually, but I spend a good amount of the day driving in my car. I calculated how many times I fill up per month. It's about 8-9 times. One of the things I've been thinking about for awhile now is taking the bus to work. I was also thinking about doing a vanpool or carpool which would save time and money as well, but since my company offers a free bus pass to employees, I'll take them up on it. A sweet deal I might add. Taking the bus would cut down on my gas spending dramatically. Plus instead of sitting in traffic getting road rage, I could spend that time on the bus studying, sleeping, reading, or playing my DS Lite (oh yeah!). By the end of the month I'll have some extra cash in hand. woo hoo!

First Sick Day

2006-08-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

I had to take my first sick day from work today. I've seen one of my other fellow co-workers take multiple sick days in the 2 and half months that I've been working there. But I kind of feel bad for taking one so early in my career. I guess I can't help getting sick, but I feel like it leaves a bad impression. I'm not sure about anywhere else, but my boss seemed cool about it when I told him on the phone. He knew right away I was calling in sick. I'm pretty sure everyone else knew I was going to be sick too because yesterday I was coughing up a storm.

I'm kind of glad I took this sick day. Even though I was sick, I was able to relax and have a nice stress free day. Sit on my butt and do a lot of nothing. Anyways, I figured out that I'm going to lose $112 out of my next pay check. Was it worth it? I think I needed it.

Thank You Under 30 Honor Roll

2006-08-13T23:14:00.001-07:00

I'm glad to be apart of the Under 30 Honor Roll. I hope to learn from everyone's experiences, and hopefully save a little bit of money. Luckily I found the site just searching other personal finance blogs, what a relief it is to know this community exists.

Mutual Fund Blues

2006-08-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

When I was 12 years old my father helped me invest money into a mutual fund. He said "It'll be good for you to start saving early, a mutual fund will help you gain money over a long period of time. The money you put into it will be worth more when you take it out." I was like, "That sonds like sweet deal." I had saved up $1,000 at that time from various methods like: lunch money, allowance, washing cars, mowing lawns, whatever I could scrounge up I would save. My father told me if I put in my $1,000 into a mutual fund, he would match it and put it $1,000 also. Now that was a sweet deal!

I'm 22 years old now. 10 years have passed. My mutual fund is worth $1,441. That is loss of $559 over ten years. I sent in the order to cash it out today. Take my losses before it loses more.

Based on my experience, I don't recommend using a mutual fund for long term investment. I would rather have put it in CD. But if you do want to use a mutual fund, don't use the company I went with John Handcock Funds LLC. THEY SUCK!

DealBarbiePays

2006-08-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Looking into this a bit more. I'm not quite sure exactly how it works yet, although it seems to pay off. See Pennyfoolish's posts 1 and 2. I don't want to sign up before I know what I'm getting myself into, but I'm excited to read more about it and maybe after awhile start making some money online.

A Long Distance Relationship + Difference in Cultural Values = Heartache

2006-08-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

I met my sweetheart in college my senior year. She's a sophomore and still has two more years of school left. But after she's done with school she wants to be a doctor or pharmacist, and that will be another four years. I love her and trust to very much, and will wait for however long it takes to be with her. Right now we are about two hours apart. She still lives with her parents, and I go visit her every chance I get. She doesn't visit me because her mother won't let her. She says it's too dangerous to drive. So I'm the one who is always traveling.

Now, my girlfriend's mom is very traditional Filipino. Meaning she is VERY strict. This is getting on my nerves so much. It's very frustrating to see my girlfriend, who is so obediant, just let her mom tell her what to do all the time. She wants to go visit me, but its not her decision she says. Well I'm not sure how much of culture is talking or what, but she is 19 years old, a big girl now, and can make up her mind for herself..... right? I assume they all trust me, and knew I was a good person for their daughter. But now I'm getting doubts, like they don't accept me.

My girlfriend requested time off from work so we can have a nice 9 monthsary together. I asked her if she could come visit me for once for our 9 monthsary. She said I don't know if my mom will let me. Well, I'm taking a stand. I've given into all her family's cultural traditions for long enough. I've decided not to go visit her next weekend for our 9 monthsary. If she wants a 9 monthsary, she will have to be the one to visit me. I told her this, and she is sad because now she has to decide whether or not to break her mom's rules. If she does her mom will be very upset with her. If she doesn't I will be very dissapointed in her. I hate to make her sad, but I'm sick and tired of doing all the sacrificing.

Is it reasonable for me to put her in this situation?

A Financial SnapShot: Moneyflow

2006-08-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

Net Worth: $5400
Savings in the bank: $2300
Savings at home: $100
Mutual Fund: $1400
Money Market: $1600

Cash Inflows: $1800 /mo
Job: $1800 /mo

Cash Outflows: $733 /mo
Student Loan: $233 /mo
Gas: $300 /mo
Misc Expenses $200 /mo

Potential Savings: Inflows - Outflows = $1067 /mo

I'm kind of glad I'm still living at home because I can bank that $1067 per month. I just wish it was more. In order to make that number bigger I need to start increasing my inflows and decreasing my outflows.

I wish I had a pool full of money

Ideas for increasing my inflows:

Ask for raise? I don't know yet about this one
Side jobs: web sites, manual labor, part-time job?
Online programs and ads

Ideas for decreasing my outflows:

Take the bus to save on gas or carpool... reminder: VanPool?
Consolidate Student Loan... get a fixed rate
Stop eating fast food!

If there are any other ideas out there I would love to here about them.

Living With Your Parents After College

2006-08-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

Some people choose to move back home with their parents after college, while others are happy being independent and living on their own. I on one hand would have liked to have chosen the later, but gave in to all the benefits included with living with the parents. There are definitely pros and cons to living with your parents after college, in my case the pros outweigh the cons. Let's take a look.

Pros:

No Rent: My parents won't charge me rent because they know I don't have very much money coming my way, and I have a student loans to pay off.
Free Food: They are always cooking up stuff. Lasagna, steak, BBQ, etc.
Free Laundry: Saves me tons of time doing my laundry.... and quarters.
No Misc Bills: Power, garbage, cable, internet, phone... all taken care of. woot!

Cons:

It's hard to have friends over, especially if you want to be intimate with your girlfriend.
You have to abide by your parents rules... although the rules are pretty common curtisy things.
Reputation of living at home with parents in your 20's... not that bad.

I would love the independece of being on my own. Oh how wonderful the college days were. But I feel that living back home gives me an advantage of really being stable when I do move out as well as help me put a dent on my debt. Some people wouldn't even think about moving back in with their parents, but they will have to strive really hard just to pay rent.

I'm not totally lucky though, it isn't the same as when you were a kid, and your parents would have to pay for basically everything. They know I have a job now and make me pay for everything. I tried testing my parents on some things. For example:

"Hey dad, I think the car needs an oil change."

at this point my dad would usually say "I'll go take it in later today." But instead he said:

"Well then go get an oil change."

meaning I have to pay. DOH!

So just for a little advice. Even if your living with your parents, you probably won't get away with everything you used to. If your not living with your parents then all the luck to you and..... FFFFFRRRRRRREEEEEEEDDDDDDDOOOOOOMMMMM! .... .... .... sorry I had to bust out the Braveheart.

Some sources:
Living with Your Parents: Good for Your Career?
Kiplinger Forum Discussion

Should I be Making More Money?

2006-08-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

According to the Class of 2006 Starting Salaries Still Climbing students coming right out of college are getting paid more than ever. Wow that is amazing to me. My own father who has twenty or so years of experience is only making a little bit more than $60,000. I thought that was pretty good, but I can see that he could be getting paid a junk load more.

MIS grads starting salary is $45,724, which converts to approximately $22.00 per hour. For me, being an MIS and 2006 grad, I started at $10.00 per hour as an intern right out of college, and after two months got a raise to $14.00 per hour. Maybe after a couple more months of experience I can get another raise and be at the level of the rest of my class’s starting salary. Or should I be making more money?

Do those students right out of college who are making those figures have that much experience? I didn't feel like I had that much experience to be making that much. Although a good friend of mine got hired on at a fish company as a project manager, and she is making $40.00 per hour... but she graduated in finance. hmm...

I should've held out for more.

Your Last Summer Vacation?

2006-08-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

The graduation ceremony is over, and summer vacation has started. Sure I still had the thought spending my summer getting ready for the real world, and submitting my resume to all those corporations out there. But at that moment, the moment I walked off the stage, all I really wanted to do was celebrate. Celebrate the fact that I was done, celebrate with all my friends whom I probably would not see again for a long time, celebrate like I never celebrated before. I wanted to get wasted so much that I didn’t want to have that the thought of “real life” in my head any longer, and I did! My last fling.

After that, life hits hard. I spent my last summer vacation getting my portfolio and resume ready, talking to recruiters, and being very desperate for a job. Which wasn’t my idea of a last vacation. I would rather be in Mexico sitting on the beach, sipping a margarita. But still I need to do what I need to do eh? $20,000 debt and no income. Summer vacation must wait.

But I guess I just regret not doing something really fun for my last summer vacation before I started my career. I will probably only get a couple weeks vacation a year from now on until I retire. I should’ve taken that extra month or two and gone to Mexico or Europe, or somewhere I would’ve enjoyed.

How will you spend your last summer vacation?

Manage Your Time Efficiently

2006-08-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

When I was in college I had all the time in the world. I wouldn't wake up until noon everyday. I could schedule my classes around my personal interests rather than schedule my personal interests around my classes. I took an 8AM course once, and couldn’t stay awake long enough to even learn the professor’s name. Time scheduling in college was pretty effortless. For example: Hmmm I think I’ll pick the option to only go to school three days a week. Pretty cool huh?

Now after college it’s quite the opposite. Where did all the time go? I can’t find enough time to get sleep, eat three meals a day, or be able to hang out with friends for more than twenty minutes. All I do is work, drive home, scour for food, sleep, and repeat for the next day. This has been very burdensome to me these past couple months out of college. I feel like my life no longer exists and my soul is empty and meaningless. By the time I get home all I want to do is fall down on a couch and vegge out. That’s what work does to you. But there is hope.

TIP: Manage Your Time Efficiently
If you manage your time efficiently, you can still have spare time for hobbies and things. Try to prepare for the expected

Lay out your clothes for work before you go to bed
Take a shower the night before work instead of in the morning
Prepare a lunch and snacks for the day
Make a calendar and organize your schedule of tasks
Etc etc etc…

Taking care of the small things before you actually have to do them saves more time during the day when you’re brain is more active and you can concentrate on your hobby a lot easier.

Real Life Starts Here

2006-07-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

I graduated from Western Washington University in March of 2006 with a degree in Business Adminstration and a concentration in Management Information System.

It is my goal to become a web developer, and I'm on my way to acheiving that goal for I landed a job as a part-time web developer for a financial company in Bellevue paying $10/hour. I recently got hired on full-time with benefits, and a pay raise to $14/hour. I still have a lot to learn, and they are willing to pay for more schooling which is awesome.

I have to pay off my college debt which turns out to be around $20,000. I've moved back in with my parents in order to save money, but I plan on moving out fairly soon (give or take 2 months). Since my parents live in Tacoma, I'm commuting to Bellevue everyday which is a total pain the ass. It takes around an hour each way. So I'm looking for place a lot closer to work. (Tack on rent bill here)

Aside from my typical daily job income, I will be trying out new and creative ways to provide an alternate income. Already I am working with a friend and business partner on a couple online retail sites. 1) Customizedpads.com and 2) DIYEmblem.com. My goal is to eventually quit the daytime job and have a consisted inflow of money coming from my alternative projects.

This is basically the start of it all (the real life). We'll see how it goes from here.