Queercents

LinkedIn has a Question and Answer board where I recently asked the question:

My question is whether anybody out there has personal finance recommendations for new or recent graduates. I’m open to any suggestions or ideas including products or services, books, blogs, or budgeting tools. Many of us are looking at major purchases including cars or homes. The rent vs buy decision is pertinent and any advice on that would be awesome.

Lots of great responses. Here are some of the best ones. Joseph Bowden at Citi Smith Barney suggests using Google to find a rent versus buy calculator. I found one at Dinkytown.net which looks sophisticated enough. The New York Times version I found might have a better reputational value.

Kelli Pence a controller for West Music Company, Inc wrote an especially compelling response giving advice similar to the advice I had from some of my college professors out of undergrad. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m about to hit the six-month anniversaries of my first solo apartment and grown-up job. This time last year, I thought college graduation might kill me—I am happy to report that I have not only survived, I’m happier, healthier and financially more stable than I was six months ago. So here is the review: what I did right, what I did wrong, what I’ve learned so far.

The best way to deal with the scary adult stuff is head-on. I went through a lot of hackneyed plans and destructive behavior trying to put cushions between me and the thought of being on my own. As it turned out, not only did none of that work, but I’ve felt the most success from doing the scariest possible things, from throwing more money at my debt to smiling, straightening my dress, and walking right into the cheesy singles volunteer day.

As it turns out, cool stuff—job opportunities, freelance gigs, new people—are everywhere and easy to find. But I have to look, which is terrifying, and then I have to get phone numbers and give out my card, which is even worse. Practice makes perfect, though. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you sometimes get in your own way?

Do you find yourself sabotaging your own best efforts?

Do you find yourself going in the same circle over and over with your finances?

Wonder how you can break free of this fruitless cycle?

Let’s face it the financial facts are pretty much straightforward. Earn more than you spend, save for a rainy day, and be savvy about handing your money. Numbers don’t lie and usually our financial challenges have far less to do with facts and more to do with our relationship to money. Money is an amazing mirror into how we feel about ourselves. Are you seeing what you want to see when you look in that mirror? Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you for all of your wonderful feedback on my last entry. I had planned to make this next entry about taking out loans for school, but something much more important came up over the past few days:

My wonderful cat Minnie is really sick. Minnie is a sweet, loving, and vocal 12-year old marmalade Maine Coon mix.

I’ve had her for ten years, most of my adult life, and she has seen me through so much. She’s moved house with me countless times, including two cross-country moves. She’s known my exes, she’s made good friends with my partner, and she’s been a constant and faithful friend. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you know why money is important to you? If you’re like most of us you spend plenty of time thinking about, earning, spending, and investing (hopefully) money. Yet, do you know why you do what you do? Or, is your financial life simply random chaos? Is your relationship with money serving you or are your a slave to the almighty greenback?

Recently I wrote a post here on Queercents that generated quite a bit of conversation. Once again it confirms the truth that in everyone’s life money is a powerful and emotional topic. Whether you have $5 or $5,000 a month of discretionary income, the reality is it still really matters that you unearth your values. In fact I’d go out on a limb and say that the less money you have and the more struggle you are experiencing with your financial life, the more important it is for you to understand and spend according to your values as much as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Take a moment to imagine 2008 as the year you finally get comfortable in your own skin, make peace with your relationship to money, and create the life you want…

Imagine…

You don’t start it like the usual post-holiday train wreck…

Imagine…

You skip the resolutions…

Imagine…

You make an investment in YOU, in transformation, so you can be comfortable in your own skin, anytime, anywhere.

Imagine…

You finally get your financial house in order in a way that FEELS great while zapping debt and building real wealth. Read the rest of this entry »

Time is money.

Right?

A lot of personal finance and productivity bloggers are proponents of quantifying time by some formula related to your income, and judging the value of tasks or frugal choices by comparing them to this number. Trent at The Simple Dollar, who is a huge proponent of this system, explains the formula he uses here:

Let’s say that you can make $12 an hour sitting on your back porch writing, but your lawn needs mowed. If you can pay the neighbor kid $10 to mow your yard, then it’s worth it - you actually earn $2 by sitting on your porch writing while the neighbor kid mows the yard. But if your time is worth only $8 an hour, then you’re better off mowing it yourself. Once I figured out my true wage, I started thinking of a lot of things in this light.

As his commenters point out, it’s not a perfect formula–most people aren’t spending every waking hour doing something that earns money, and if you traded an hour of television or sleep for mowing the lawn you’d both earn the full $12 and save the full $10. (Hey, if you traded knitting you’d even save the price of yarn.) I don’t think it’s meant to imply that, though–it’s an interesting way to look at and think about the choices you make in trading money or time for the other. Read the rest of this entry »

When investors buy shares of company stock, they expect that company to use their money to generate returns by using the money wisely. A good investor will do a lot of research, including looking at the company’s past financial statements, free cash flow, return on equity, and other factors, to be confident that their money will be put to good use and generate a suitable return. Giving money to charity is similar - the returns are just in a different form. Instead of using your money to make more money, you expect the charity to fund AIDS research, find missing children, feed the hungry, etc. Some charities are better at this than others, and just like buying company stock, it’s a good idea to do some research before handing over your money. There are some organizations out there that research and rate charities in order to help you get the biggest bang for your charity buck, but how helpful are these ratings really? Read the rest of this entry »