Archive for July, 2008

How To Control Unconcious Spending

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 31, 2008 (6:14 pm)

 

I don’t think most people intentionally sabotages their finances. It’s more likely that they spend and not keep track of income and bills. I had a problem when I was in college. I was estimating what I was spending on eating out, but after looking at my credit card bills, I saw I was off by a lot.

Keep a record. Simply put, if you do not follow this step you are setting yourself up for failure. You have to track what you’re spending your money on, whether it’s video games, eating out, bills, or gas money.

There is no way you can fix something unless you know what is wrong. Identifying the problem is the most important step. Guessing is not an option.

Adjust your plan. Life happens and your early attempts at budgeting will be off (mine was). Learn from what worked and what didn’t and adjust accordingly. Budgets only work if they are realistic.

You will have an unexpected emergency. You will eat out sometime. You will hang with friends. That’s fine IF you plan for it. Set aside money each paycheck. Period.

When Expenses Exceed Income

I wrote about reducing your bills to give you some ideas of how you can cut some expenses. It has worked me and has gave us room to save and pay down debt.

If you have a serious time keeping a budget, you may have an addiction.

Trent offers some steps to defeating an addiction to spending. The first out of the twelve steps is:

We admitted we were powerless over spending — that our lives had become unmanageable.

I think that is the first step to fixing a problem: acknowledging its existence. Here are some resources about spending addictions:

I looked up some personal finance bloggers who have to deal with overwhelming debt and are either out of it or working towards their goals.

These are real people who made mistakes and are learning.

I’ve improved with my spending habits, but I am by no means perfect. This blog is a online diary of my journey to a debt free life. 

Has anyone dealt with this issue? How did you work through it? If you’re a blogger and have a post about it, please email me and I’ll update my post with your story.

Photo Credit: iChaz

How Lemon Laws Can Protect You

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 29, 2008 (6:22 am)

I think my sister got a lemon of a car. She has had her car for a little over a year and she constantly has had to have repairs. She keeps paying out of pocket because these issues aren’t covered with her warranty. The last issue was about $500 and it would’ve been more, but she couldn’t afford the other repair.

A friend mentioned to me the other day about the lemon law for this state and I passed it on to my sister to checkout. I’m including some information for others who may be in the same predicament.

What are lemon laws?

Wikipedia describes lemon laws as

Lemon laws are American state laws that provide a remedy for purchasers of cars that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. These cars are called lemons. The federal lemon law (the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) protects citizens of all states. State lemon laws vary by state and may not necessarily cover used or leased cars. The rights afforded to consumers by lemon laws may exceed the warranties expressed in purchase contracts. Lemon law is the common nickname for these laws, but each state has different names for the laws and acts.

What are my state’s car lemon laws?

I found a site with links to all 50 states’ lemon laws, so you can find the appropriate resource. I know that I have international readers and I’m still looking for some resources. If you find anything, please leave it in the comments and I’ll update the posts and give credit to you for the link.

How much is this going to cost me?

From what I gathered it’s free to ask if your car qualifies as a lemon. Each state has its own rules and it involves proving that several repairs have to be made.

Here’s an example sent by someone who has gone through the lemon law process (Thanks Paul!):

In Virginia, within the first 18 months of delivery, the manufacturer has three attempts to fix a significant problem with the vehicle, and one attempt to correct a life-threatening condition of the defective vehicle. If the problem isn’t fixed after these attempts, the consumer, with a seasoned attorney’s guidance, can invoke his or her rights under Virginia Lemon Laws to quickly obtain either a full refund or another vehicle of equal value.

  • What do you have to lose? A small bit of your time.
  • What can you gain? A chance to get a better mode of transportation.

If you know someone with a lemon, pass the links on and hopefully, it will point them in the right direction.

How to Enjoy Eating Out Without Hurting Your Wallet

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 28, 2008 (4:49 am)

Does being frugal automatically mean not enjoying yourself? Definitely not.

Enjoy eating out  can be done frugally. The best advice is to plan ahead and set a budget for how much you spend. While I don’t eat out all the time, I do enjoy getting together with friends over a meal and not having to worry about cleaning up or cooking.

Here are some tips to maximize your meal:

  • Dig to find local spots. We asked around and discovered a fantastic Cuban place in the area. Lunch specials (entrée and 2 sides) are $5.95 ad dinner is $7.95. The portions are great and I usual have to have a to-go box.
  • Make a second meal on leftovers. I fill up on my bread or chips (depending on the place). I’m not acting greedy, but I do enjoy what they offer. If salad is included with a dinner, then eat the entire salad. It fills you up and it’s generally good or you. Two meals for the price of one!
  • Get a discount. See if they have lunch/dinner specials or use a site like Restaurant.com to get a deal on gift certificates. Sometimes you can get a $25 gift certificate for $10 or less!
  • Mix Appetizers. Sometimes you can get a good deal by having two appetizers.
  • Drink water. Soft drinks and ice tea are now $2! Having water is a good thirst quencher and if the food is flavorful, it’s a nice complement.

Don’t be frugal with your tip. That should go without saying, but if you got good service, please tip accordingly. After all, you wouldn’t want your boss to be miserly with your paycheck.

Weekly Round-Up: Learning to Budget Edition

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 26, 2008 (3:19 pm)

Photo Credit: crowt59

It’s been a great week for me. I’m done budgeting my last paychecks and my car loan balance is down to $1800. I still have money in my bank account for food and gas the next couple of weeks and I intend on spending it wisely.

Here are some posts fro this past week that I enjoyed.

  • Grad Girl has her first lesson in Free Fun. She shares a lesson in preparation.; I had a similar experience.
  • Are We Ready for a Cashless Society? Broke Grad Student asked the question and looked at the responses given. I as amazed how polarized the opinions were. It’s an issue that I believe we’ll continue to face as use cards more and more in our financial transactions.
  • Poorer Than You wants to “Know Where the Money Goes”. Actually Stephanie wants you to know where your money goes. I’m going to try this by using Google Spreadsheets. I’m interested in seeing I do.
  • I use Google Analytics with this site as I try to improve its usefulness. Jennifer shares what terms bring people to her site. She has a most bizarre search term.
  • If you’re a personal who love to examine the ethics of different situation, try MFA or Bust’s post on the Ethical Cheapskate. Better yet, read and share it with others to have a real discussion.
  • Spilling Buckets (our newest College Money Network members!) ask an important and self-examining question in The abandonment of work life balance: True job security. I’m happy that they’ve joined and this post is a great example way having them makes the network even better.

Welcome MSN Readers

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 24, 2008 (6:08 am)

 

Welcome!

I noticed last night that quite few visitors came from MSN. Thank you Smart Spending and Karen Datko. Special thanks to my fellow bloggers for their great articles.

I also want to thank friend and long time reader Neal (You know you always have an open invitation to our place, right?).

A recent piece of news, I’ve joined the College Money Network .

Here’s an overview of some of my most popular posts to get started:

Banking

Budget & Savings

Cars

Credit Cards

Debt

Education

Life

Here’s a series describing our struggle to get our money back from a car mechanic’s negligence. It was around the time I started blogging about personal finance.

Car Repairs Gone Bad Series:

Feel free to subscribe to my site to get the latest delivered to your inbox.

Photo Credit: by alborzshawn

Use Budgeting and Savings to Cope with the Economy

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 23, 2008 (5:59 pm)

 

 

With increasing debt a more common issue and the economy the way it is; it seems that many people are trying to be wise with their money. Some tactics include brown bagging your lunch, starting or rebuilding their emergency funds, cutting unnecessary bills, and sticking to a budget.

These tactics are great to follow in general, not just during difficult times.

With us now switching to depending on one income, we have to be a bit smarter with our cash. The good news is that it is not too much of an adjustment.

I received my last paychecks from my job on Friday. It took a few days, but everything seems to be cleared now. I feel better knowing that the hard part is done.

Knowing my history of unconscious spending, I decided to automate my budget. My husband proved invaluable with his ideas. 

I scheduled bill payments, deposits, and withdrawals, and transfers. I used ING Direct to set up the transfers since they do not charge fees.

How I’m allocating my paychecks:

  • 34.61%          Joint Checking
  • 10%               Emergency Fund
  • 23%               Car Loan
  • 23%               Student Loan
  • 10%               Gas & Food

If all goes well, we should be fine with our bills without dipping into any savings. The two adjustments made to our budget are: less money will go into the house fund and eat more at home until I find an office job.

How have your budgeting and saving strategies changed? What tips do you use to cope with today’s economy?

Photo Credit: babasteve

Weekly Round Up: Beginning of the Week

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 21, 2008 (7:27 am)

Photo Credit: crowt59

I had some fun this weekend. I went up to Virginia to enjoy Lake Fest in Clarksville. It was a bit of fun. As for my job hunt, I’m being careful this time around and I updated and tweaked my resume. I sent my resume o 1 job that caught my eye. I don’t want to just send my resume everywhere, I’m being a  a bit pickier. I’m grateful for having some money saved and a husband who is smart with his money.

Here are some great posts I saw this week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

College Money Network Posts

Rest of the Web

Have a great day !

The Best Job Hunt Post: Top 40 Links From The Web

By: Green Panda | Date posted: July 18, 2008 (1:16 pm)

 

frustration.jpg

Photo Credit: Aaron Jacobs

Inspired by my current situation of trying to find a great job, I decided to assemble a post that has the best information I can find on the web. I asked others to help out and they were kind enough to share.

Here’s the rundown of what happened at my last job:

Starting Out:

Before you go out to send your resume, you should really think about having a game plan. How do you know what job to apply for? How do you search for a new job when you’re on the hunt? What if you’ve been laid off or fired?

You’ve found a job you’re interested in. You also discovered you haven’t updated your resume in awhile. What do you do? How do you make your resume stand out from the others?

Building Your Resume:

Now you know what you want and you have your resume polished. Your cover letter is ready to be adjusted for each specific job you apply for. Where do you find jobs to apply to? How do you network properly?

Where to Find Jobs:

Online Resources

Networks to Consider

  • Friends and Family
  • Former Co-workers
  • Local Job Sites
  • Newspapers

Networking Tips:

So you managed to get an interview. Congratulations, but there is still work to be as you now have to ace your interview. This means being prepared, both for the questions and for first impressions. What do you wear for a job interview? How do get read for a phone interview? What kind of questions should you expect? How do you answer the tough and awkward questions?

Interviewing Tips:

The interview went fantastic and now you have a job offer (or two). What should you do to close the deal? What if it is a small company that you absolutely love and it can’t pay what a bigger company can? What do you ask for to compensate?

Negotiating Job Offers and Salaries:

References:

I would like to thank everyone who volunteered their posts. It took me a bit to read through these, but they were wonderfully written.

  • Cash Money Life: By far, there was a wealth of information from this blog. You should definitely check it out for even MORE information.
  • Mrs. Micah: She always has good book recommendations.
  • Gather Little By Little: Good solid advice and a down to earth guy.
  • SquawkFox: She included worksheets! A very classy blogger and detailed oriented.

That’s what I managed to find and read from the web. If you have any more tips, please leave a comment.

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