I got VA State Tax Forms pre-printed. For a small fee, I can use the library printers if I need to print something out. It sure beats going to Kinko’s and feeding the meter on top of paying for the copies. My municipal library has a lot of great services and I see families there all the time checking out foreign language books and DVD’s.
I pulled out a couple more personal finance books that I’ll be reviewing here in the next few weeks.
Get yourself a library card!
My boss always tells me, “You are yourself incorporated.”
He reminds me to evaluate a job offer for fair remuneration for myself as a company offering services to the job market. I urge all of you to do the same.
If you were to look at yourself as a company what are your operating expenses? Where could you trim the fat (figuratively and literally!)? How can you increase your revenue? How are you selling yourself? Can you charge more for your services to increase your income? What product do you have to offer?
I cannot stress it enough that taking stock of yourself, looking at your personal finance bottom line, your P&L, Income Statement and Balance Statement is important to your personal valuation.
I have a secret. I used to work in accounting as an accounts receivable clerk. I took Accounting 101 at night school on top of my undergrad degree in geography. (Now does my nickname make sense?) I’m tossing out these terms, but they aren’t so hard to understand.
Ask yourself, what do you want to make? Is You Inc. being remunerated properly? Do you have room to advance?
I’m not saying that making more money is the answer to all personal finance problems, curbing your spending is. But to get yourself more room in your budget and save more for the future, increasing your income is good. Ask yourself what you think you are worth and go out there and get it!
Money Blog Network has it courtesy of JLP’s labors.
It’s short, but pretty sweet.
Sorry for the lack of a post this morning. I was trying to put one up but was thwarted by technology. Thanks for continuing to read this blog.
The full title is Making It in the City: A Girl’s Guide to Starting Life on Your Own in a Ridiculously Expensive City You Can’t Afford, by Adina Kalish Neufeld.
I found this book on the New Book bookcase in the front of the library. It’s a cute pink & brown cover. It reminds me of raspberry cream chocolates. I wasn’t sure what it would be like, but the premise is a girl’s guide to making it in urban meccas that are expensive. Her target cities are NYC, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. I think I picked it up because I wish I had a book like this when I first moved to San Francisco many years ago. I also thought that it would have some good hints for DC, where I currently live.
This book isn’t the personal finance guide that I first thought it was. It was shevled right next to the loathesome Dave Barry book. The chapters are written as standalone articles you could read on your frugal 20-minute bus ride to and from work, or during the day when you eat your packed lunch on a park bench. She has excellent frugal tips for the internet savvy girl just graduated from college. The topics include how to pound the pavement to find an apartment, living with a roommate, cheap dates, healthcare, personal finance and more. She directs readers to the internet, especially sites like Craigslist, upon which I relied heavily in SF when it first stopped being a list that Craig wrote himself.
The author doles out practical and incredibly realistic advice on dealing with roommates, replying to family pressure to move home, bribing doormen for information on vacancies, approaching people at a networking event and making chit-chat, etc. There are anecdotes on successes interspersed in the chapters, that offer hope, but don’t take over the advice.
Some of the listings made me laugh, like going to the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse for second run films. I’ve served beer there and I agree, it’s a great place for an inexpensive dinner and movie. I learned new things about SF and DC so I think this book is pretty darn worthwhile as a graduation present for someone thinking about moving to any of these cities. It’s a good starting out guide, but it’s not the place to get a strong foundation on personal finance.
WaPo’s Saturday article. You probably have to register for free to read it. Try BugMeNot if you need a login. I have one and WaPo doesn’t spam me at all.
This kind of freaks me out, but the question is how much have I got to lose? Could I get away clean with nothing but my original downpayment and cover all the costs? Possibly. Who knows? There is a glut out there, but I still think units as cheap as mine aren’t available. I have room to watch prices fall, but probably not too much room.
I am trying to verify this with DC.gov, but I can’t find anything easily on their site pertaining to fundraising door-to-door. Is there a reader out there who can verify this to be true?
From an email:
“All people raising money must be registered with the City and must have
official identification cards with them. No exceptions.
You are both smart and within your rights to call police when these
folks knock on your door. The ID must be a DC issued ID specifically
for fund raising, which also IDs the organization for which money is being
raised.”
Amy Blair is hilarious. I found her through Craig of Craigslist. Animal NY is her new location, but the archives at BlackTable are deliciously snarky. Mind you, NSFW. Not really because of her, but because of the underbelly of humanity and all their bad grammar and misspellings.
Enjoy!
There is a seasonal changeover with gasoline additives that is hitting us really hard right now. The problem is with MTBE, which is a fuel additive in the cold months. It’s also a pretty dangerous chemical that leaches into the groundwater. It’s very unpleasant stuff. The gist of the CNN article says that the changeover from MTBE to ethanol additives requires that refinery tanks be scrubbed before putting the ethanol fuel in.
Ok, so my question is, what about the tanks at gas stations? Or is it just a refinery issues during the chemical processing?
My pop had a station that we lost when PA changed over their state EPA rules for gas station tanks. Around the late 1980’s-early 1990’s there was a new requirement for double-hull gas tanks to prevent leaks at your neighborhood station. I look upon that law as a good thing for the environment, even if it did cost us a gas station. With crisis comes opportunity and my dad got a better station as a result of the closing. Did you know that state EPA’s do groundwater checks around gas stations? There is a testing spot across a 4-lane street from our station.
If you’re wondering what I’m doing about the high price of gas, I have to confess, nothing. I am switching over to a 4/10 work schedule for a few weeks. On my 3 day weekend, I go home to care for my family. So I’ll end up driving an extra 300 miles in a week. But on balance there are certain things which truly are priceless.
Jonathan on how to buy a T-bill, here and here. Something I have always wondered and now I know!
Single Ma is a kick in the pants. Mine and yours.
More drinking cheaply from Penny Nickel.
I goofed up when saving this draft so it’s now published out to you.