News, finances, oofs.

So the news is I finally made the move to live with Boo! Whew! Talk about painful though.

Cost of truck: 324.

Cost of gas: Close to 200.

Cost of sterilite: about 120.

So, christmas for me was light. I think I tried to spare as much as I could to keep things simple. The greatest part of it, was the knowing that I had received gifts that would work for others MUCH better than they would have for me. Regifting may be a frowned upon practice but I think I did it with care and grace and caution. It is not exactly an experience that I think I would need to repeat, but at least now, I have a barometer for how I feel about it and how that's going to work for me.

Tax season: I get back about 1100 from Uncle Sam and the State of CA COMBINED! Yay! I was not a head of household and I declared no exemptions. It feels good. However, I'm unsure if I fall under the group of people who won't get theirs processed til mid-February or if I will luck out and get the money in the two weeks or so from e-filing. I used this website and found it easy and informative. They do the work and then the next business day or so, they can tell you if it was approved for efile or if there are issues. They even help you with filing extensions! Highly recommended. It only took me about thirty minutes and that was because I wanted to fill in my own paperwork by hand during the time I was filing for this year. :D

Job hunt: goes. SLOWLY. But I'm not getting bogged down about because this is my first actual week here and I have time. I don't feel like it but I'm using the time while I'm looking to arrange things, get clothes put away, laundry done, meals cooked, basically fulfilling househusband (it fits me better than housewife, if you knew me, you'd know it's true) duties and trying not to feel down about this economy. Or my prospects. Or my lack of income. Or a myriad other things.

I have one excursion to San Jose at the end of this month and I have lodgings taken care of. My registration fees are 75$ and I'm in talks with the people I'm staying with about paying the lodging, one is a friend and we have an understanding because of my current job status so that she knows I may only be able to pay in payments.

Current debt could be completely paid off with the taxes and a little extra, but I think what I want to do is pay off the lower interest one and continue to carry the higher and the no interest for a couple months as those payments are lower than the lowest interest debt. It feels good to have a plan and it also means I can hold onto more of the tax money until I have a paying job.

Sounds hectic but the truth is, right now, between searching and househusband stuff, I've got time. It also helps that Boo is being amazingly patient with me and optimistic about my chances. She's a strong person and she's helping me remember that this may be the dark, but there is a dawn approaching.

Uncle Sam wears the pants in this household.

ARGH. I finally got my 2010 W-2, and I went to TurboTax and did my tax filing first thing, and I owe the IRS $844.

This smarts even worse because I'd used a TurboTax calculator through Mint.com, and it had estimated that I'd have a small refund. So the big bill was a surprise indeed!

The problem, I found, was that I had said, "Yes, file as Head of Household" on the tax calculator, and that had skewed the results. (A Head of Household gets more deductions, and therefore is taxed on a smaller amount and has to pay less.) I figured that in 2010 I lived alone (or with a housemate who paid her own bills) and paid my rent; I make the financial decisions in my household because I'm not responsible to someone else (a parent, for example). But to be eligible for that role, you have to have dependents of your own, and they have to be related to you. I didn't find that out until I had filled out the 1040 tax form. *sigh*

This morning I e-filed my federal return (free through TurboTax) and set up a direct debit payment to come from my checking account in early March; because of legislation passed in December 2010, returns like mine won't be processed until mid-February even if they are filed now. That gives me enough time to cut back further on expenses and just take that chunk out of one paycheck. It's painful, but it will work. And I'll still fulfill my resolution of paying my taxes on time.

Slightly better news: I have to file a simple state tax return and mail it in (TurboTax charges to e-file a state return, so I'll do it myself), and I'm owed a refund of $26. That will go toward paying my federal taxes, of course.

I'm feeling really poor right now. But all my bills are paid. I guess that's the difference between being broke and just having very few assets and no ready cash flow.

Christmas Club

Oof. I think I understand for the first time the "traditional" haze of bills that follows the holidays.

I got a little out of control with Xmas gifts, I'll admit -- and everything went on the little blue card! That got me extra JetBlue points, which is great... but even I, with my aversion to credit-based economy, can feel the attraction of "buy now, pay later". Glad I got it out of my system without too much damage. I can pay my January AMEX bill. Barely. It means that I'm going to have to watch myself for the next couple months, though.

For next year, I've set up an account for holiday expenses. It's an ING "Electric Orange" checking account (again, opened online in just a few minutes). I've arranged a small weekly transfer -- just $10 -- to run until the week before Thanksgiving. That gives me about $450 (a little more than I spent on family/friends/loved ones' gifts this year) to work with, and I can start early to avoid the holiday rush. It won't cover everything, but it's an amount I won't miss, and it more than gets me started. The account has a debit card I may be able to use to pay for items online, and then anything above that amount -- special food or decorations and the children's gifts I always donate through my church -- can be handled out of what I have available at the time.

Starting 2011 off right

I realized that all of my major financial triumphs in 2010 were made in the last three months. Admittedly, Quarter 4 had a lot of foundational planning behind it -- but that only points out that I can do much more in 2011 if I start early!

To that end, I opened a Roth IRA this morning at Charles Schwab.

I got an email nudge from Mint.com with a list of potential investment companies, including Schwab. I was attracted to it because of the zero-minimum starting balance (as long as you set up a recurring deposit, which I'd intended to do anyway) and that I could apply online! I don't want to go into a bank and talk to a human about my inexperience in financial matters. So I filled out a form online and elected to transfer funds in later (after my paycheck tomorrow is the plan). Easy!

I still don't know how much I'll be socking away each month. I think my educational fund will be taking the focus in 2011 and 2012. Although I know the sooner I get started with the IRA, the more I'll end up with, I think adding small amounts for the first couple of years is okay. Assuming the advanced degree gives me more earning power, I can maximize my contributions when I'm employed at a higher salary.

New Year's Resolutions

It's getting to be that time of year again. This post on DailyWorth.com inspired me to create a few financial resolutions of my own.

*Make at least one post a month in this blog.

*Set aside $100/month (equal to half my monthly church pledge or half my monthly house savings contribution) to be donated to a worthy charity.

*Pay my taxes on time.

*Make payments into my education savings account for grad school.

*Apply any bonuses or raises to savings.

In general, I plan to live below my means in order to accrue savings for larger life events. More about "living poor" and what that means for my life -- especially once Koo moves in! -- in another post.

I do it for the miles, baby.

One benefit of my JetBlue American Express card is, of course, the TrueBlue reward points I get for using it.

Now, because I use this card largely as a debit card, I won't be racking up thousands in purchases. (That may change when I start paying school fees with it.) However, the ways in which I choose to make charges can help me slowly gain points (that don't expire) that I can use toward JetBlue flights. Anytime I spend money with the AMEX, I get a point per dollar. If I'm spending in a select category (including restaurants, gym memberships, movie theaters, event tickets purchased from the venue), I get 2 points per dollar. And if I buy JetBlue tickets online at jetblue.com with my JetBlue American Express, I get a whopping 8 points per dollar!

The companies say that TrueBlue reward flights start at 5,000 points one-way / 10,000 points round-trip. That's technically true, but for my usage (SFO to LGB or PBI and back, often on weekends/holidays, but infrequently) it runs a little higher. It's going to take me a while to rack up enough points from daily spending to completely cover a flight. (And it does need to be completely covered; if you're trying to buy a flight with points and you don't have enough points accrued, you have to purchase points to complete the sale.) However, I got 10,000 points for signing up and using the card the first time, and an additional 10,000 because I spent more than $500 on the card in the first 6 weeks (I was charging EVERYTHING in order to reach that bonus). I sent AMEX a polite request to have the points credited to my TrueBlue account sooner (they say processing usually takes up to 12 weeks), and they were great about it. The 20,000 points were transferred the next day, in plenty of time for me to book my New Year's weekend travel, and they paid for most of a one-way flight back from Florida. After pricing round-trip tickets, it looked like it would cost just as much as two one-ways, and I would have to pay it out of pocket.

SFO > PBI via kayak.com: 438.90 (Yes! It's crazy-expensive to fly during the holidays!)
PBI > SFO via jetblue.com: 126.48 (paid in addition to points)
Here's the breakdown:
1,650 previously-earned points (from flights in 2009-10; I had earned double points for booking online)
plus 20,000 points (from the AMEX bonus)
plus $126.48 paid for extra points (a bundle of 3500 plus 850 bonus points from JetBlue for purchasing them in bulk; I couldn't buy just the amount that I needed.)

That left me using 25,600 points for a ONE-WAY TRIP. Ouch. But it's free money. I had 426 points left over, and this morning AMEX credited me 818 points for my recent purchases (several weeks after making them, for processing). So I have a healthy balance still. My sweetie I'm visiting in Florida chipped in toward the USD cost of airfare, so all in all this really helped out in vacation planning.


Now, JetBlue still rocks some pretty sweet fare deals, and it's not always worth it to use the points. For example, I got an email last week plugging one-way fares from $39 -- travel period several weeks from now, one-day-only sale. It seemed like a great way to get Koo back up here after she moves her stuff and has to return the U-Haul in SoCal (rates are sooo much better than one-way move). The LGB airport is tiny and has always been hassle-free with security, and she can fly up here in an hour, then take BART (public transit) to me. I scooped up a one-way flight for Koo on the Monday after the move for under $50 including taxes/fees. If I'd tried to get the same flight in points, it would have run me 5,000 -- or about $112. And, hey, buying it online with my card gets me more points!

Catch-up!

Wow, it's been a while. Work and everything else have been pretty hectic (so what else is new), and I let my blogging here slide. But I've got lots of money stuff going on.

What's new:
I didn't get a raise. It's been two years since my last one, and now the news from management is that I've topped out the "band" for my level and position. Moving into a different department might increase my potential salary, but I've not made any decisions yet. In these uncertain times, I'm planning on staying with this company (and in my current position if I must) as long as they're willing to pay me. I count on a steady income, and I'd rather plug along doing work I am good at (even if it's not the most inspiring) while I have the opportunity.

I collected receipts -- every single one -- throughout October and some of November, but I fell off around Thanksgiving. I think it was a great exercise in seeing where my money goes, but I realize that I use my debit card (or now my American Express) for most purchases. I think that going forward, I will track ATM withdrawals and cash spending only; the other information is recorded online at my bank and American Express and Mint.com. I'll still hang on to receipts for large purchases, or those that might be important for tax purposes.

I have started the grad school application process! I am still waiting on my W-2s (but I can use the ones from 2009 for the FAFSA application, I believe) to complete the process and submit the application online, but I did order an undergraduate transcript yesterday and had that sent to the admissions office.

Oh, and... Drumroll, please!

I PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOAN.

*cheers* That's $18,689.69 (about $15,000 plus interest) paid off, 5 years after graduating (including a year of unemployment without income, in which I went into deferral status for several months). That means I can start applying the same monthly payment ($500) to a savings account for grad school fees! And it means that I am officially debt-free!

Credit Score revealed

During the rental application process for my new apartment (yes! I am signing a lease on my first place where I haven't had a parent as a co-signer!), they ran my credit check. The company has a strict 660+ policy for new tenants, and because I have little credit history, I was worried that I wouldn't measure up. I'd run my stats in CreditKarma.com, and they estimated my score to be about 666. Cutting it close!

But the landlady was favorably impressed by my income, lack of debt, and even my credit score -- which I asked her for, since she'd submitted the inquiry to Trans Union (one of the 3 major credit bureaux).

Approved!

Today I was approved for my first credit card.

Growing Up and Keeping Up

Koo pointed out in her introductory post that how we're raised affects many of our attitudes about money. I thought I'd chime in with some notes about my own childhood. 

Both of my parents worked outside the home. My father was in finance, and he was the CFO of a dot-com for most of my adolescence. (I sort of knew that he "worked with computers", but I didn't find it very interesting.) My mother was a realtor when I was very small, and then became an elementary school teacher. From the time I was in school, she was in her own classroom in the same school. Before 3rd grade or so, I'd go to her after classes were done, until it was time to go home. After that, I walked or rode my bike home after school; it was less than a mile to the grade school, the middle school, and the high school (although by 9th grade I preferred to take the local bus instead of biking or walking, because I could sleep in). My grandmother often babysat me when I was an infant, and then I had a sequence of two or three in-home daycare situations and one after-school center (when I had half-days in kindergarten). I don't recall what arrangements were made for my younger sister in the couple of years before she went to nursery school during the day. 

My needs were all provided for, and many of my wants (plus several things that I wouldn't have thought to want, but that my parents provided for me anyway, like swim club membership, scouts camp, and more clothes than I ever was interested in). In fact, our family was quite well off, but while we lived in a very wealthy town, I never really felt like we belonged to that set. We lived in a modest house down the block from a mechanic's garage and the DMV. We didn't spend nearly as conspicuously as some of our neighbors, and I can't recall minding that, or feeling resentful as a child or teenager that I didn't have the same toys and things as other classmates. We had two cars at a time, though, like most of my peers, and they turned over fairly regularly when I was small. The station wagon was the same from when I was 5 until after I graduated high school, however. :)

Koo Here

So, like Boo said, we've been at this long distance thing for a while now and to be honest, it hasn't been easy. It's hard enough to try and make a relationship work when you live in the same general area but when you're an 8-plus-hour drive away and you need solace or something and it can't physically be given, yeah, that's tough.

But before you go thinking that this is more of an emotional pull to move up there, let me explain why the move is even happening.

1. School up there that can get me not only to finish my bachelor's degree, but also score me a teaching credential under one roof in the exact discipline I want without giving me a runaround or making me jump through hoops in fields I don't need to be jumping in? Give it to me.

2. My job as a CSA for a theatrical effects company has not been as fulfilling as I had hoped. There had been and has always been talk of moving me into sales; never amounted to anything. I speak two languages fluently, work with our German and Italian/Spanish distributors (and am the only one who can!), and it still gets me $12/hour. I take on tasks in our warehouse (I'd started there as a 1099 contractor) and now can handle shipping our products as well as building some of them (yes, I'm a girl who can solder) and what does it garner me: still $12/hour. I recently said that I love my job because I have it and in this economy, that's not saying much.

3. I wouldn't be lying if I didn't say that being near her would be a bonus. But she and I discussed the possibilities and we came to a "what better time than now?" opinion.

She and I have very different ideas on how to handle and discuss money. Being willing to share this much is going to be a challenge. Money was never discussed at home: Dad made it, Mom made it, and they both paid bills and groceries with it. Which isn't to say that it was plentiful; bellies went hungry in our home on occasion. We learned to stretch top ramen like no one's business and to this day, I consider having a loaf of bread and a jar of mayo a very big luxury.

Still, as my mom would say, sin pelos en la lengua.

Hey, there! You can call me Boo.

I have been in a long-distance relationship for more than a year, and my girlfriend (Koo) will be moving from Long Beach to San Francisco to live with me in January/February 2011. We're excited about planning a life together! We are planning out many practicalities of budgeting once we share a home: how we will divide costs based on our unequal incomes, how we will save for our joint projects (vacations and home improvements), how we will pay for grad school, how we will secure our futures in retirement.

Right now we're planning a budget using a spreadsheet template provided by Galia Gichon of DownToEarthFinance.com, as featured on DailyWorth.com. The focus is on Q4 2010 (pre-moving saving, holiday gifts, paying off my student loan, and starting my 401k contribution) and Q1 2011 (moving in together!, her finding a new job, starting to save for grad school, budgeting daily and monthly expenses for 2 instead of 1).  We're going to be completely transparent about how much money we earn and where it all goes.

We DO exist, we responsible young people. We want to do it right (without going into crazy credit card debt!). Koo and I want to do it together -- handle our income, savings, and debt -- and we might as well share the story.