We're off to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to visit some family for the weekend. It's a whole family enclave living on the on the same street in Baton Rouge--one grandmother, two uncles, an aunt, and 3 first cousins who are all under the age of 10.
Lots of togetherness. Oh joy.
At least there will be plenty of cajun cookin'. Mmm, boiled crawfish.
I know, I know, I swore I was going to travel less this year and save boatloads of money. But it's only January. I could still reform.
Update: Crawfish were out of season. Oh well. We went in January to avoid the swampy weather but it meant we missed my favorite cajun dish.
26 January 2006
Savings accounts for kids
Well, this has been blogged up, down and backwards, so I won't tell you about the "sale" going on at ING. But I opened an account for L today, so we're $35 the richer. $10 referral bonus into my account, and $25 into his. I also put in some money he got from the grandparents for Xmas. I still have a little of his money burning a hole in my checking account. I put a little sticky in the check register so I don't forget: "I owe L $530."
I have to decide whether to dump it in his 529, or open an Affinity Bank kids' account for him that pays 10% on balances up to $500. Their website claims the parents have to have an account with Affinity, too, but an old post at Saving Advice says that at one time at least it was possible to avoid this rule. I'll have to check it out.
I have to decide whether to dump it in his 529, or open an Affinity Bank kids' account for him that pays 10% on balances up to $500. Their website claims the parents have to have an account with Affinity, too, but an old post at Saving Advice says that at one time at least it was possible to avoid this rule. I'll have to check it out.
What does it mean to "balance" the checkbook?
M's major financial responsibility in our house is balancing the checkbook. When I have to do it, I end up being surly to M, and using too many swear-words in front of our two year old (who is commonly referred to as "the little echo").
The problem? He's six months behind. Luckily, I can monitor our balance online, so I've just tried to nag him as little as possible about it and figure he'll do it eventually.
He finally "balanced" it last week. But when I looked at it, I almost ruptured something. He wrote: "discrepancy between statements and checkbook: $589.80" and drew a red line across the whole page.
I ask you, would you describe the current state of our checkbook as "balanced"?
The problem? He's six months behind. Luckily, I can monitor our balance online, so I've just tried to nag him as little as possible about it and figure he'll do it eventually.
He finally "balanced" it last week. But when I looked at it, I almost ruptured something. He wrote: "discrepancy between statements and checkbook: $589.80" and drew a red line across the whole page.
I ask you, would you describe the current state of our checkbook as "balanced"?
25 January 2006
Finances: division of responsibility in a relationship
The financial responsibilities in our house are divided up as follows.
M:
* Makes decisions about his own 403b, which means the allocations haven't been touched since it was set up.
* Pays his own Discover card bill off monthly from our joint checking account
* Balances checkbook for our joint checking account
* Is available for consultation about major decisions
* Is available to listen to monthly budget reports. Responds like this: "Oh." or "Ahh." or "Hmm."
* Generally thinks about money as little as possible
* Is naturally frugal and makes good financial decisions when he takes the time to think about it
C:
* Pays all household bills from joint checking
* Manages short term savings accounts
* Plans for major expenses
* Manages monthly budget
* Manages personal 403b, Roth, brokerage, and savings accounts
* Manages UGMA and 529 accounts for L
* Strategizes about when it is appropriate to convince M to talk about money
* Obsesses over money constantly, writes a financial blog, haunts the discussion boards
* Likes to spend money on travel, books, gifts, good food, and has to budget to keep under control
M:
* Makes decisions about his own 403b, which means the allocations haven't been touched since it was set up.
* Pays his own Discover card bill off monthly from our joint checking account
* Balances checkbook for our joint checking account
* Is available for consultation about major decisions
* Is available to listen to monthly budget reports. Responds like this: "Oh." or "Ahh." or "Hmm."
* Generally thinks about money as little as possible
* Is naturally frugal and makes good financial decisions when he takes the time to think about it
C:
* Pays all household bills from joint checking
* Manages short term savings accounts
* Plans for major expenses
* Manages monthly budget
* Manages personal 403b, Roth, brokerage, and savings accounts
* Manages UGMA and 529 accounts for L
* Strategizes about when it is appropriate to convince M to talk about money
* Obsesses over money constantly, writes a financial blog, haunts the discussion boards
* Likes to spend money on travel, books, gifts, good food, and has to budget to keep under control
24 January 2006
Value of my house
I looked up my house's value at HomeValueBot. I put 20K into it, and if I said that the renovations were finished in 2005, my house is theoretically worth 120K-147K.
But if I tell the program that I finished the renovations in 2004, a year earlier, my house is worth 121K-148K.
What's up with that? Why would my house be worth more if the renovations were a year older?
I still stand by my decision to list my house at the 2004 purchase price of 70K in my net worth, however. I don't think my house is going to retain its value until I sell it, and it makes me nervous to count my chickens like that.
But if I tell the program that I finished the renovations in 2004, a year earlier, my house is worth 121K-148K.
What's up with that? Why would my house be worth more if the renovations were a year older?
I still stand by my decision to list my house at the 2004 purchase price of 70K in my net worth, however. I don't think my house is going to retain its value until I sell it, and it makes me nervous to count my chickens like that.
20 January 2006
Contemplating a job change
I've been thinking about changing jobs.
Right now, I'm working full time but dividing my time between two part time jobs. Juggling both schedules, not to mention the extra commuting time, is getting old. Also, my job at The College is an evening job, and my two-year-old son said to me this week, "Mama, are you work late? Don't work late, Mama." It just about breaks my heart. Two days a week I drop him off at daycare at 8:30, and I don't see him til 5:30 AM the next morning. I HATE it.
The public library is hiring, and the starting salary for someone at my level is $40,426. That would be a slight pay raise for me (now that I've finally figured out an estimate of my annual salary).
It would be nice to have only one job, although I wouldn't be able to flex my hours like I can right now--work from home, work on weekends, leave work early to do errands, etc.
I'll have to think more about this in the next couple of weeks, and weigh the pros and cons. In the meantime, I think it's worth submitting an application.
If I was really smart, I'd get a full time job at the public library, and keep my night job only one night a week. That would boost my earnings by about $7,500 a year, and actually allow me to start saving more aggressively.
However, when somebody says to you, "Mama, don't work late" and "I miss you, Mama", being able to save more doesn't seem worth it.
Right now, I'm working full time but dividing my time between two part time jobs. Juggling both schedules, not to mention the extra commuting time, is getting old. Also, my job at The College is an evening job, and my two-year-old son said to me this week, "Mama, are you work late? Don't work late, Mama." It just about breaks my heart. Two days a week I drop him off at daycare at 8:30, and I don't see him til 5:30 AM the next morning. I HATE it.
The public library is hiring, and the starting salary for someone at my level is $40,426. That would be a slight pay raise for me (now that I've finally figured out an estimate of my annual salary).
It would be nice to have only one job, although I wouldn't be able to flex my hours like I can right now--work from home, work on weekends, leave work early to do errands, etc.
I'll have to think more about this in the next couple of weeks, and weigh the pros and cons. In the meantime, I think it's worth submitting an application.
If I was really smart, I'd get a full time job at the public library, and keep my night job only one night a week. That would boost my earnings by about $7,500 a year, and actually allow me to start saving more aggressively.
However, when somebody says to you, "Mama, don't work late" and "I miss you, Mama", being able to save more doesn't seem worth it.
What's my salary?
This is a strange confession coming from a PF blogger, but I don't know exactly what my annual income is.
Time to figure it out.
Job #1, at The Big University.
This job used to be 20 hours a week, but I went up to 25 hours a week back in April. This, plus a couple of small pay raises, and an administrative change that made me an hourly employee instead of salaried, have made me lose track of what my actual annual salary is.
Hourly rate: $19.28
Times 25 hours/week: $482/week
Times 52 weeks/year: $25,064/year
That was the easy one.
Job #2, at The College
The problem here is that hours are set each semester, and I'm not sure how many hours I'll be given beyond this semester.
Currently, I'm working 14 hours a week. In the summer, I expect (if I'm lucky) to get only 5.5 hours a week because the library's hours are limited. In the fall, I may get as many as 14 again, but 11 is more likely.
Each semester is 14 weeks.
Hourly rate is $32.63
Spring 06:
$32.63 times 14 hours/week: $457/week
Times 14 weeks: $6395
Summer 06:
$32.63 times 5.5 hours/week: $179/week
Times 14 weeks: $2513
Fall 06:
$32.63 times 11 hours/week: $359/week
Times 14 weeks: $5025
Total for Job #2:
$13,933
Total for both jobs:
$38,997
Well, it ain't gonna make me rich, but it's better than flipping burgers.
Time to figure it out.
Job #1, at The Big University.
This job used to be 20 hours a week, but I went up to 25 hours a week back in April. This, plus a couple of small pay raises, and an administrative change that made me an hourly employee instead of salaried, have made me lose track of what my actual annual salary is.
Hourly rate: $19.28
Times 25 hours/week: $482/week
Times 52 weeks/year: $25,064/year
That was the easy one.
Job #2, at The College
The problem here is that hours are set each semester, and I'm not sure how many hours I'll be given beyond this semester.
Currently, I'm working 14 hours a week. In the summer, I expect (if I'm lucky) to get only 5.5 hours a week because the library's hours are limited. In the fall, I may get as many as 14 again, but 11 is more likely.
Each semester is 14 weeks.
Hourly rate is $32.63
Spring 06:
$32.63 times 14 hours/week: $457/week
Times 14 weeks: $6395
Summer 06:
$32.63 times 5.5 hours/week: $179/week
Times 14 weeks: $2513
Fall 06:
$32.63 times 11 hours/week: $359/week
Times 14 weeks: $5025
Total for Job #2:
$13,933
Total for both jobs:
$38,997
Well, it ain't gonna make me rich, but it's better than flipping burgers.
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