Green Panda Treehouse

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We got back from a fun weekend. We back to our old place (LOL, it’s only been like 6 weeks) to celebrate the graduations of my brother in law and one of my dear friends. He’s a physical therapy assistant. It’s something that fits him as he’s athletic and loves helping people reach their potential.

My friend is already working in her field by helping out local families with low income or housing issues as an advocate’s assistant. This is a personal passion of hers and I’m happy to say she graduated with no student loan debt!

It’s amazing that these two found majors that they care about and have the talent and drive to succeed in. I wish them the best and much happiness.

It was a fun and tiring weekend! Graduation ceremonies seem much longer when they are not your own!  While waiting for my friend to be called, I was working on Big Brain Academy. I have a B- and my suggested career is doctor. (LOL!) There was tons of food this weekend and I think I’m going to explode. Otherwise I feel great!

We’re back home now, so I should be rested for work tomorrow. I feel energized from having such a good time.

Some more good news: another  good friend started a blog about step families. She’s a good mom and thought a blog sharing the joys, adjustments,headaches, and triumphs of step families would be beneficial to all. It’s called TheStepLife and she’d welcome any feedback and participation. Also if you’re interested in sharing your story in written form, she’ll be happy to accept. It’s hard keeping the family running, working full-time, and starting a new site. I don’t know how she does it. Some recent topics shared included:

• Toddlers Feel Pain Too
• How Children View Dating After Divorce
• Allow Your Kids To Love You Both

I just wanted to share some good news with everyone. I hope you had a great weekend!

Photo Credit: ivanx

A new month means an update of the progress we’ve made on my goals so far this year. I’m hoping that by sharing it, it holds me accountable.

Let me first review my goals for this year:

• Income: I would like to earn $37,000 for the year.
• Spending: I’m going to continue cutting back on eating out to twice a week, including weekends.
• Investing: I’m going to enroll in my company’s 401(k) and meet the employer match. I’ll also continue to contribute to my Roth IRA.
• Saving: I will have $2,000 in my emergency fund by September 1, 2008. I would also like to put our income tax return into our house fund toward paying down the car loan.
• Debt: I would like to pay off my car loan by July 31, 2008. I would like to have my car loan out before I have to start paying student loans.

Here’s how I’m doing:

• Income: I am happy with this goal and unless something major happens, I’m good to go on this one.
• Spending: April took a lot of money out of my budget and I spent my emergency fund getting settled in the new city. I have rebuilt it back up to the pre-move amount.
• Investing: I’ve been investing n my Roth IRA still. The balance is starting to rise again. I use index funds and they were fluctuating a bit.
• Saving: I’m glad that I’ve automated my savings. The hectic pace of the move has distracted me on keeping tabs on everything.
• Debt: I’m still pushing back the car loan pay off to August 31,2008 as this move depleted some money from our savings. Whenever we get the stimulus check, we’ll put it towards the car loan. Any income from the blog is also going to go towards this debt. Thank you for all your support.

April has definitely been a month of adjustments. My work schedule is 1/2 day on Monday and regular hours Tuesday through Friday. I really my job and I love my coworkers. We went salsa dancing Thursday with some coworkers and had a blast.

We got the cars registered and I have to get an inspection done on Wednesday. My car failed today due to a sensor light. It should be fine the second time around. I’m hoping May will be a great month for my goals AND just overall.

I just want to congratulate my brother-in-law who’ll graduate Friday and my best buddy from high school who is graduating Saturday. They’ve both worked hard and I wish them the best. I’m looking forward to celebrating with them.

Photo Credit: Bald Eagle89

The 151st edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Alpha Consumer featured this article.

Renting a place has a connotation of just trying to find something affordable and safe. It can so much more than that. Renting in a good neighborhood can improve your quality of life, reduce stress, and save you money in the long run.

Start with Google. It pays to look ahead on some things before considering a move, such as:

• Crime (look at the amount of crime and the type of crime)
• Shopping Areas (Are conveniently located?)
• Libraries, Parks, Attractions, etc. (You’re trying to find places that interest you.)

If the area doesn’t do well with the above criteria you may just want to skip visiting the location and save yourself time.

Here are some things to do while going though a potential neighborhood:

• Visit on a Friday or Saturday night. This visit lets you know if the place is too noisy and rowdy for you or if it’s not exciting enough. My cousin is a city girl, so she needs things to do and happen. (She’s a great salsa dancer.) My sister likes someplace peaceful and quiet at night. Each would have a different opinion of the same neighborhood.
• Look to see if your bank is located nearby. (This might not be an issue if you’re considering changing your bank.) With banks charging $3 for out of network users, this is something to seriously consider. I wrote some tips on how to cut down the ATM fees.
• Ask for directions a few times. Try and see if the area is generally friendly or not.
• See if good public transportation is available. Rising gas prices have made public transportation a consideration. If the area has a great system, then you can save thousands of dollars a year and reduce the stress of sitting in traffic .

Renting a place is a good opportunity to ‘test drive’ a place that you may considering owning a condo, townhome, or house. What are some tricks and tips you’ve used when looking for an area to rent in?