My Personal Finance Journey

All posts by Jacob A Irwin

Living Like No One Else, So Later We Can Live Like No One Else

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food.  She blogs at Mom’s Plans, where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.

My husband and I have approximately $47,000 in debt between his student loans, my student loans, and one credit card. We don’t yet own a house. Did I mention we have 3 kids?
Our money is very tight.
 

Rebounding from Very Limited Income

Last year, our income tax return showed that in 2011, we made a little more than half the U.S. Census Bureau’s calculation of the average American’s income of $52,762.

Part of the reason our income was so low was because I launched a new freelance writing career, and my husband was finishing his Ph.D. 

Money was VERY tight for both 2010 and 2011, which is part of the reason we now have debt.  Honestly, though, another part of the reason we have so much debt is because we weren’t as careful financially as we should have been. 

We weren’t as careful as we are being now.



The Future Looks Bright

A few years in, my career is growing, and my business has doubled each year for the past two years.
My husband is in a post-doc research position which gives him both a decent salary and training to land a tenure track position.  When he finds that tenure track job in a few years, his salary will double. 
There will be a time, not too far in the future, when we will have a very comfortable income. 

That time just isn’t here yet. 

However, we are getting some breathing room; our tax returns this year will show that we are finally at the median income level.


Living Like No One Else

Listeners of Dave Ramsey will know the phrase, “Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.”  Basically, he is saying, sacrifice now and live your life like no one else does, and later you will have wealth and can live your life more financially secure than others can.

We’ve learned from our past mistakes, and we’re now not spending money we don’t have.  Even though our income has grown, we still have to pay the piper, so to speak.

Since we were so broke before, we put off things.  We have an 8.5 year old car with 113,000 miles on it.  We put off any non-necessary car repairs for over a year, and now we can’t put them off any longer.  We need to find $2,000 to replace the bald tires, change the spark plugs and brakes, and add brake fluid, to name just a few of the repairs.

Our television, that we have had for 12 years, just died.  We don’t have the luxury of replacing it right now.
The engine in our hand mixer also just burned out this week.

Our blender is a garage sale find that I bought 14 years ago for $3.  It is on its last legs, as is our microwave.
Our car’s automatic door no longer opens.  We can’t replace it right now.

Our couch is 9 years old and is definitely no longer as comfortable as it used to be.

Our dining room table, which we bought 13 years ago for $25 at a consignment shop, only seats 4.  We have 4 mismatched chairs, and my husband pulls up a folding chair that is missing the back.  It fell off a few months ago.

I have recently lost a lot of weight, and I don’t have the luxury of going on a big shopping spree for clothes.  Instead, we shopped at Goodwill and spent $50 on clothes that fit my new size.


Finding Power in Living Like No One Else

Sometimes, it literally feels like everything is breaking at once, and we have no money to replace or fix items.  Of course, we could replace things by charging them, but that would only compound our problem.  We won’t do that again.

It’d be easy to be depressed, but instead, we’re encouraged.

Because we’re being smart and conservative with our money now, we know better times are ahead.  We’ll happily scrimp now and work on paying down debt.  Then, when we’re earning a good salary 3 years from now, we’ll be very comfortable.  We’ll probably look back on this time and laugh. 

I’m happy to live like no one else right now so later we can live like no one else.
How about you all? How far have you gone to live like no one else while paying down debt?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

    ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/irrezolut/5662003627/sizes/m/

    The Importance of Marketing a New Business

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    Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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    The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

    Marketing involves lots of different things. When marketing a new business, you have to think about things like customer service, advertisements, publicity, your website, branding, and lots more. It is the effective combination of all of these things that will help to make your business a successful one.


    Know Your Target Market

    Before you started the business, you will have done your research and put together an idea of who your target audience is. You can only assume that you will be able to successfully sell your product or service if you know who your customer will be, what their needs are and why they would come to you to fulfill them – what it is about your product that will be irresistible to them. Once you know this information about your target market, you need to appeal to them through marketing so that they know who you are, what you provide and where they can find you. Unfortunately, lots of business owners don’t view marketing as a necessity that will help make their business a success, but more of a stretch on their funds and a large expense. This is always a mistake, as the whole point of advertising is to drum up business. The gamble of spending £300 on marketing is made in the hope that you are going to get £1000 worth of business out of it.

    Identify What Type of Marketing Works Best for You

    Once you have decided on your budget, you need to decide the forms of marketing you are going to spend it on and start to gauge how effective it is. Websites offer a great range of print solutions for your marketing needs at competitive rates. Posters, flyers, and business cards can all be a great asset to your business. They serve well to keep your brand in people’s minds.

    How about you all? If you have your own business, how much do you spend on marketing? Do you feel it is a sufficient amount, or should you be spending more or less?

     Share your experiences by commenting below!

    ***Photo courtesy of http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3241/3021283568_fae10cc8de_z.jpg?zz=1

    Easy Like Sunday Morning Recap and Roundup – # 12 – February 10th, 2013

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    Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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    Each time, the purpose of the Easy Like Sunday Morning Recap and Roundup series is the same – for me to be able to connect with you, the readers, on a more personal (non personal finance informational transmission only) level, encourage community, and also to give back to the other bloggers around the blogosphere who have mentioned My Personal Finance Journey throughout the past few weeks or so. It’s been about TWO months since the last roundup, so we definitely have some catching up to do! 

    As far as the theme goes, the title of the roundup gives it away. The roundup theme is named after the Lionel Richie song, Easy Like Sunday Morning (which I play once each time I put this together), to remind us of the importance of slowing down at least every once in a while to take appreciation for that which transpired over the past few days.

    So, without further ado, let’s get started with this edition’s roundup!

    UPDATES FROM JACOB’S PERSONAL FINANCE JOURNEY AND LIFE 

    • As far as my life in general, the months of December and January were busy, but AMAZINGLY AWESOME and also productive! Below are some of the highlights:
      • In my graduate school Alzheimer’s disease research…
        • We were finally able to finish up the follow-up experiments required to respond to the manuscript reviewer’s comments (a paper that myself and another coworkers in my lab had been working on for about 2 years). And, with some luck, it got accepted to the journal, PLoS One, without further revisions needed! The title of the paper is, “Halogenation Generates Effective Modulators of Amyloid-Beta Aggregation and Neurotoxicity.” We just submitted the approved-proofed version of the paper a few days ago, so I’ll be sure to share the link whenever the paper experiences final publication.
        • If you’re interested in reading up on the type of research I do, you can view the article at the following link in the journal, Biomacromolecules. My paper, titled, “Different Fates of Alzheimer’s Disease Amyloid-Beta Fibrils Remodeled by Biocompatible Small Molecules,” that was approved last year was published in the January edition of the journal. Looks nice! 
        • This past month, we have also started the planning process for testing our Alzheimer’s Disease drug targets in an animal (mouse) model in the next year or so. Having gained experience testing drug targets on the in vitro level, it would be a nice addition to my graduate school experience (and overall career development) to have some knowledge with in vivo testing as well. So, I’m glad to be making this progress!
      • Having finished getting the Biomacromolecules paper published, we also decided to turn it in to my Master’s Thesis. In late December 2012, with some luck, I was able to successfully defend my thesis, and therefore, will be getting my official MS degree in Chemical Engineering in May 2013. Only a couple more years of grad school now! 
      • At the beginning of November 2012, our younger greyhound, Charlie passed away after losing his battle with some stomach problems that had been pretty severe since June of last year. Because of this, in early January, we successfully adopted a new golden retriever, Crystal (9 years old), from a local kennel here in Virginia. Our records indicated that she had 72 puppies, and since the current puppies at the kennel were selling for $1300 a piece, she apparently was quite the money maker! As you might have read, we had Crystal spayed in mid January, and she has recovered very nicely. Below is a picture of her with her new greyhound “brother from another mother.” She fits in to our life so well and is amazingly sweet! Note: we have no idea why, but the greyhound’s eyes ALWAYS glow green like this in all pictures! It’s kind of endearing to us! 

      • Lastly, over the Christmas and New Year’s break, I visited my home in Arkansas for 1 week, and then our family went on a week long vacation to Playa Del Carmen and Isla Mujeres, Mexico. It was a very beautiful vacation, filled with lots of great memories. Below is a picture of me swimming with the fishes in Playa Del Carmen, compliments of the awesome Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 shockproof waterproof drop-proof camera Xmas present I got my girlfriend last year! Literally, my entire nuclear family has this same camera, and not one has broken yet! 
    • As far as my personal finances, the months of December and January have been going well. 
      • At the start of the New Year, I updated my target asset allocation by 5% to closer match the reality of how I have been operating for the past year or so. Now, I employ a 30% fixed income / 70% equity asset allocation split.
      • The S&P500 index/the overall market has now gone up almost 13% in the past year, so my net worth is now at an all time high. However, since the market has increased recently, it is also necessary to keep a close eye on my asset allocation target to make sure I am not getting too overweighted on equity, which would trigger me to sell equity and buy fixed income. When I checked my overall net worth earlier this week, I was still within the appropriate +/- 5% rebalancing band limits, so all is well! 
      • So far in 2013, I have contributed $2,050 of my $5,500 allowable yearly Roth IRA contributions. So, I’m on a good track there! 
      • Other than that, my finances have been dominated in late January/early February 2013 by getting in a $3,000 personal donation to the Blue Ridge Multiple Sclerosis Society to support my MS150 ride this summer. With this being the 25th anniversary of the MS150 ride here in Virginia, my goal is to raise $25,000 overall in the past 5 years. In order to meet this target, I need to raise about $9,000 this year.
        • If you are interested in helping out with a tax-deductible donation, please click on my donation page link below. Just $10 will make a world of difference in helping me reach my “$25k for the 25th Anniversary” fundraising target!
          • Jacob’s MS150 Fundraising Page  
        • In order to encourage young adults to get involved in the personal finance habit of donating to charity (which often is only adopted later in life), MyPersonalFinanceJourney.com will not only match, but double any money donated to my MS ride by people under the age of 30 years old. So far, 6 folks under the age of 30 have donated! Thanks so much guys and gals! 
        • Throughout the weekends of the spring and summer, I will also set up and ride my bike trainer outside of various Harris Teeter’s, Wal-Mart’s, Target’s, Kroger’s, and the Downtown Mall throughout the Charlottesville area to promote the MS Society and raise funds. 
    • As far as my blog goes, February 2013 is now the 5th month for My Personal Finance Journey to feature posts by our staff writing team!
      • As I mentioned in the September roundup, I added several new staff writers to contribute articles for the site on a regular basis to prevent having one to two week breaks between my regular posts while I am busy in graduate school and leaving you all out to dry. Listed below are the awesome staff writers for My Personal Finance Journey! They are all doing a great job so far.
      • While this definitely reduces the net profit of my site (and vis-a-vis the amount that I have available for the 10% income give back), I view this as a HIGHLY worthwhile long-term investment for my site building for the future, so am more than happy to have each and every one of the writers above!  

      GUEST POSTS FROM PERSONAL FINANCE BLOGGERS ON MY PERSONAL FINANCE JOURNEY

      Since the last roundup, there were 4 guest posts here at My Personal Finance Journey. They were all SUPER high quality! Enjoy! 

      If you would like to guest post on my site, please click here to read more details about how to kick off the guest posting process. I’d love to hear from you!

      BLASTS FROM THE PAST

      For the first 6 months after I started this blog, I pretty much “blogged in a cave.” What I mean by this is that I cranked out over 200 very good blog articles in this time period, but since I didn’t know any better, I didn’t reach out to other bloggers, get involved with the online community through commenting on other sites, or do any kind of site promotion at all. As you can imagine, some of the articles written during this time period didn’t get the attention that I think they deserved corresponding to the content contained.
      The Blast from the Past section will feature one old My Personal Finance Journey article each roundup that I feel is high quality, but was published prior to my blog having any sort of real readership. This week’s article is listed below:
      Cubicle Copying – What it is and Why You Should Avoid it – When I first started working back in 2008, I noticed that a lot of the new employees would simply ask their new friends at work about what type of mutual funds they should invest in as part of their 401k, something I later learned was called, “cubicle copying.” Cubicle copying is something you definitely want to avoid since your friends at work probably have very different financial situations and needs than you do! 

      PERSONAL FINANCE “MAD PROPS” OF THE WEEK AWARD

      Every once in a while, when I’m reading an article or site in the personal finance blogosphere, I’ll be so impressed in hearing about what a person did or wrote about, that all I can say to myself is WOW! This section of the roundup will serve as a running “home” for recognizing outstanding achievement.

      The Mad Props prize this time around goes out to Eva from Teens Got Cents. Unlike most high-school teens at her age, she has taken the initiative to start learning about the nebulous world of personal finance in order to prepare for the future. I started that process when I was 18-20 (after high school) years old, and I can’t tell you how much it has benefited me to start from a young age! 
      If you know of someone in the PF blogging world that is really doing amazing things, feel free to send me an email for consideration in future roundups.

      GIVEAWAYS

      Listed below are the giveaways I’ve come across in my journey through the personal finance blogosphere this week (along with the links so that you can head over and enter!). It’s great to see everyone giving back to their readers through these promotions. 

      If you’re hosting a giveaway and it’s not listed above, please send me an email to let me know, and I’ll get it included in next week’s roundup!

      BLOG CARNIVALS FEATURING MY PERSONAL FINANCE JOURNEY ARTICLES

      ·         Don’t Mess With Taxes hosted the Tax Carnival and included Easy Tax Breaks That Are Often Overlooked.
      ·         One Smart Dollar hosted the Festival of Frugality and included Creative Christmas Gift Ideas.
      ·         Thriftability hosted the Carnival of Financial Planning and included Are Debt Management Plans Worth the Cost?
      ·         Money Life and More hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance and included Smallest Balance or Highest Rate – Which Credit Card Should You Pay Off First?
      ·        Adam Hagerman Financial Coach hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance and included Don’t Let the Stigma of Debt Keep You From Getting Help.
      ·        Workers’ Comp Insider hosted the Cavalcade of Risk and included Why a Homemaker Should Have Life Insurance – And Plenty of it!

      If you are hosting a carnival that includes (or included) My Personal Finance Journey and I missed listing it here (I don’t get trackbacks since I’m not on WordPress, so I have to rely on direct email and Google Alert notifications), please email me so I can include it in my roundup. Thanks!

      5 POSTS I’VE ENJOYED READING SINCE THE LAST ROUNDUP

      1. Peter from Bible Money Matters presents How to Save Money On Just About All of Your Regular Monthly Bills.
      2. Roger Wohlner from The Chicago Financial Planner presents Life Insurance as a Retirement Savings Vehicle – A Good Idea?
      3. Harry Campbell from Your Personal Finance Pro presents Is Restaurant Week Even a Good Deal?
      4. Suba from Wealth Informatics presents Are you using all the credit card, insurance and workplace perks.

      5. MyFIJourney from My Journey to Financial Independence presents Man Up and Admit Your Money Mistakes In Order to Learn and Improve.

      TOP 10 REFERRING SITES TO MY PERSONAL FINANCE JOURNEY SINCE THE LAST ROUNDUP

      1. Yakezie
      2. Free Money Finance
      3. Enemy of Debt
      4. Can I Retire Yet?
      5. Tight Fisted Miser
      6. Wise Bread
      7. Cordelia Calls it Quits
      8. So Over This
      9. Festival of Frugality
      10. Mortgage Free by 30

      TOP 5 MY PERSONAL FINANCE JOURNEY COMMENTERS SINCE THE LAST ROUNDUP

      BEST READER SUBMITTED QUESTION SINCE THE LAST ROUNDUP

      This section will serve as a running location for any very insightful, high quality questions submitted by readers throughout the week.
      A couple weeks ago, I got asked a question by a reader about the various options available for repaying student debt. The answer turned in to an entire post. Click here to read it!

      If you are wondering something about personal finance, please feel free to email me and ask!


      MY OTHER SITES

      Currently, my only other site besides this one is The Carnival of Passive Investing, which runs monthly editions. For the upcoming February edition, we have John from Frugal Rules as our host. If you have any passive investing posts you’ve written recently, you can submit them to be included in the carnival.

      In addition, I’ve also been working on building a family genealogy site for my Dad. The site is Irwin Family Genealogy if you’d like to check it out! 
      Also, I have several other domain names purchased, and I am currently learning WordPress Self-Hosted to get these sites live as soon as time allows! I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on progress.
      Well, that wraps up this edition of the round-up. If you have any suggestions or recommendations for things you’d like to see in this roundup, just let me know by sending me an email!
      As always, thanks to all the readers for creating such a great community here at My Personal Finance Journey. Your interaction, questions, and knowledge are what keeps me going on this blog!
      Until next time – Jacob
      How about you all? 

      How is the New Year going for you so far? Are you ready for the warmer weather and longer days yet?!

      When To Buy Name Brand Products and When You’re Just Buying the Name

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      Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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      The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, SK. SK writes about the reasons we get into debt, changing the patterns that get us into debt, and examines small business ownership and real estate investing at her blog, American Debt Project.
      Somewhere along the way, I became an expert shopper. I know way too much about sales, price points, aspirational marketing, and what different brands signify. I can’t help analyzing details in every situation, and shopping was a fun way to put my analytical mind to use. Sure, I went overboard with it for a while, but that’s all behind me now. These days, I can simply enjoy finding the best products for the lowest prices, knowing when to bother to comparison shop and understanding that just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean you have to buy it. 

      Here are a few of my best tips to help you decide when you should buy a brand name product and when to skip the fancy packaging that’s housing a product identical to the generic brand.

      Condiments

      Sorry, Safeway. But your store brand condiments taste either awful or like nothing at all. When it comes to ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise, the biggest names can’t be beat. Give me a bottle of Heinz ketchup and Hellmann’s any day! And, with an item that you don’t need to buy every week, the cost savings would have been negligible.

      Tools

      I don’t know that much about tools, but I know enough not to buy Harbor Freight. This ultra-cheap brand is like the Big Lots of tool companies. Yeah, you can buy a skillsaw for like 1/5th the price of a Makita. But there’s a reason for that. The reason being that it will break down after about the fifth time you use it. Save your money by either renting tools, buying used or buying a durable brand from Sears or your local hardware store.


      Over the Counter Drugs

      Do you buy Aleve or the private label naproxen sodium tablets that are conveniently located right next to the Aleve tablets? The cost of the name brand medication can sometimes be twice as much. As my pharmacist cousin says, there is no chemical difference between the generic and name-brand medications (and the FDA requires the generic medication to be identical or near-identical to the name brand counterpart), and you are generally paying for the R&D and marketing costs of the brand name when you buy the Tylenol, Advil or other well-known brand.


      Diamonds and Fine Jewelry 

      If every man and woman simply scrubbed the effect of Cartier and Tiffany advertising from their minds, we’d all be a lot richer (except for the owners and employees of Cartier and Tiffany). Despite my shopping expertise, I knew very little about diamonds and fine jewelry until recently. Now that I am in the happy period of engagement and looking at settings for my diamond, I am floored by the retail markup on diamond jewelry in any store that is brand name, from the high-end Cartier and Tiffany to the lower-end Kay, Zales and Helzberg stores. 

      If you go to an independent jeweler, a diamond district, or even better, a jeweler you know or have been referred to, you can find the same pieces for a fraction of the price, and often created with more attention to detail and artwork. You have to know their language from the 4 C’s and the importance of certification, but it will be well worth it in the end to get more for your money and a unique piece that can’t be picked up from just any mall store.  There are also certain online resources (like Pricescope) that will give you a wealth of information to keep you from wasting thousands of dollars.

      How about you all? When do you insist on buying name brand and when do you insist on buying the generic stuff?

      Share your experiences by commenting below!

        ***Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1411312

        Save Money on Valentine’s Day by Celebrating a Day Later

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        Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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        The following post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis. Travis is a customer blogger for CareOne Debt Relief Services, and also appears weekly at Enemy of Debt.  Travis candidly shares his personal journey to pay off $109,000 of credit card debt and the tips he’s learned along the way. As a father and husband, he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.

        I walked out of the kitchen of the restaurant I was working at, and went behind the counter to refill my mug with soda.  As I turned around, I saw my best friend’s parents sitting in the corner booth staring at their food, then they looked up at me.
        “I hope YOU didn’t make this food, Travis,” they said.

        It was my first day training in to be a short order cook, and I certainly had made their food.  It was Father’s Day and the restaurant was a complete madhouse. During the three years I worked at the restaurant, I witnessed this phenomenon many times.  On holidays, the restaurant would be packed to capacity for hours, with a line of people stretched out the door.  It never seemed like enough staff was on duty, and the food and service ended up being sub-par.
        Valentine’s day is coming up, and across the globe, people like you and I will be making reservations to treat their significant other to a romantic meal.  Restaurants will be overrun with couples looking to celebrate their love for each other, only to be seated in the cold booth next to the door, and be served food that was sitting in the kitchen window for 10 minutes because that’s the soonest the overworked server could get to it.
        Nothing says “You’re special” like a cold, overcooked steak.

        The meal is just a single component of the Valentine’s Day gift requirement that has been plainly stated in small print in the relationship contract (have you ever read the fine print?).  Flowers, candy, chocolates, and a stuffed animal, preferably a bear, with some sort of mushy, cutely spelled phrase are all required.
        I Wuv You, Too.

        All of this can can put a significant dent in your funds.  You want to put the love of your life on the pedestal they deserve.  You want them to feel admired, adored, and loved.  But if you’re like me, you don’t like standing in line to eat for an hour, and your funds run out long before your ideas.  Fear not, my friends, I have a very simple solution for you. 
        Move your celebration of Valentine’s Day to February 15th.

        Here’s why:
        ·           Restaurants will be less busy:  A huge percentage of the population just went out to eat the night before, and will be staying home.  Restaurants will be better equipped to handle the customer load.  Your wait will be shorter (or non-existent), the service will be better, and so will your food.
        ·           Flowers back to normal cost:  A local flower shop near my home has a sign that advertises a dozen roses for $9.99.  The week leading up to Valentine’s Day the sign is changed to $29.99.  The day after V-day it’s back to $9.99.
        ·           Post V-day Discounts:  Valentine themed items such as candy, stuffed animals, and cards are discounted deeply the day after.  Shower your Valentine with as much post holiday pink and red gifts that you can get your hands on at a fraction of the cost.
        You do have to practice a little bit of discretion, however. Saying you want to move the day to make it less of a hassle and to save money makes you come off as uncaring and cheap.
        It also kills the romance.

        Instead, tell your loved one that they are so special that they deserve their very own day.  February 15th is a Valentine’s Day just for them.  Tell them that they don’t deserve to wait in line with everyone else for their dinner, they deserve to sit right down.  Tell them they deserve to be showered with gifts.  All of this can happen, if you celebrate Valentine’s Day one day later.
        Then cross your fingers, and hope they go with it.
        How about you all?  Do you think your significant other would agree to celebrate Valentine’s Day a day later to save money? 

        Share your experiences by commenting below!

          ***Image courtesy of Master isolated images, / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

          Tax Changes For 2013 And What They Mean To Your Finances

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          Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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          The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Toi Williams, who is a professional personal finance blogger of Fine Tuned Finances. She has backgrounds in personal finance, sales, and real estate.

          For 2013, Congress has enacted some tax changes that could have an effect on your finances in the new year.  Because the national legislation changed tax regulations, many employees and small business owners will find that their personal income taxes and paychecks are affected.  In most cases, any withholding changes have been entered into the payroll system of the employer, so individuals will not have to take any additional withholding action. 
          Here are some of the tax changes you can expect to see in 2013.

          Tax Change #1: Expiration Of Social Security Payroll Tax Reduction

          In 2013, the social security portion of the payroll tax is increasing from 4.2% to 6.2% for all workers.  This will reinstate the 2% temporary reduction in the tax passed by Congress in December of 2010.  This higher tax amount will be taken directly from the employee’s paycheck along with all other payroll taxes owed.  The increased deduction will begin with paychecks issued in January, affecting biweekly employees’ January 9 paychecks and monthly employees’ January 31paychecks.
          This increase in the tax rate affects all Americans that earn a paycheck from an employer.  The tax reduction had increased the after-tax wages of employees and with the reduction reinstated, employees will see a reduction in their take home pay.  Experts have calculated that the average American family earning $50,000 annually will pay around $1,000 more out of their paychecks over the year to cover this tax rate increase. 

          Tax Change #2: Top Marginal Tax Rate Increase

          The top marginal income tax rate will increase to 39.6% from 35% for all taxable incomes of more than $450,000 for couples or $400,000 for single filers.  This is the result of legislation extending the Bush-era income tax cuts for filers earning incomes below this threshold, but allowing them to expire for higher incomes. 
          This will not have a large effect on anyone making less than the threshold for the increased tax rate.  All of the other tax brackets – with marginal income rates of 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, and 35% – will remain the same as prior years.  The new tax tables released by the IRS will provide guidance on the taxable income thresholds for each tax bracket. 

          Tax Change #3: Personal Exemption Changes 

          The personal exemption deduction will increase to $3,900, from $3,800 in 2012.  However, personal exemptions will be phased out for adjusted gross incomes of more than $300,000 for joint filers or $250,000 for single filers.  The personal exemption will be reduced by 2% for each $2,500 above the listed income thresholds.  The personal exemption is eliminated completely for those with adjusted gross incomes of $422,500 for couples filing jointly or $372,500 for individual filers.

          Tax Change #4: Standard And Itemized Deduction Changes 

          The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly will increase to $12,200, up from $11,900 in 2012.  The standard deduction for individuals will rise to $6,100 from $5,950 in 2012.  This will allow these filers to reduce their gross income a little bit farther, decreasing their tax liability and the amount that they will ultimately pay out of pocket if they owe taxes.
          Itemized deductions will be limited for adjusted gross incomes of more than $300,000 for joint filers or $250,000 for single filers. The amount of the deductions allowed is reduced by 3% for incomes over the threshold.  This means that taxpayers that make more than the income threshold will not be able to take all of the deductions that they could previously take.  Medical expenses, investment interest, and gambling losses are not subject to the limit.

          Tax Change #5: Alternative Minimum Tax Exemption Increase

          For 2013, the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount has increased to $51,900 for individual filers and to $80,800 for married couples filing jointly.  In 2012, the exemption amounts were set at 50,600 for individual filers and $78,750 for joint filers.  In the future, the amounts will be indexed for inflation as set forth in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.  The Alternative Minimum Tax was designed to prevent some of the richest Americans from avoiding taxes by requiring them to give up some deductions due to their higher income.  It is estimated that nearly 4 million taxpayers are subject to the tax. 

          Other Tax Changes To Be Aware Of

          #6 – Earned Income Credit Increase – The maximum amount of the earned income credit allowed for those with three or more qualifying children will increase to $6,044 for married couples filing jointly.  This is an up from $5,891 allowed under the rules in 2012.

          #7 – Capital Gains Tax Increase – The tax rate on dividends and capital gains will increase to 20% from 15% for taxable incomes over $450,000, or $400,000 for single filers.

          #8 – Estate Tax Increase – For estates larger than $5 million, the tax rate will increase from 35% to 40%.  Beneficiaries will have a basic exclusion amount of $5,250,000, up from $5,120,000 allowed for the estates of decedents who died in 2012.

          #9 – Investment Income Surtax – A 3.8% surtax will be levied on investment income for all taxpayers with taxable income exceeding $250,000 when filing jointly or $200,000 for single filers.

          #10 – Increase In Wages Subject To Social Security Taxes – The amount of wages that are subject to Social Security taxes will increase in 2013.  The taxes will now be assessed on the first $113,700 of income, up from $110,000 in 2012.

          #11 – Hospital Insurance Payroll Tax Increase – The Hospital Insurance portion of the payroll tax will increase by 0.9% for incomes over $250,000 for joint filers or $200,000 for single filers.  The additional tax will only apply to wages earned above this threshold, with the withholding beginning once the threshold is reached and continuing for the rest of the year.

          How about you all? How will these tax changes affect you?


          Share your concerns by commenting below!

            ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6355404323/

            Help a Reader – How Cheap Is Too Cheap?

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            Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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            The following is an email I got from Joe. B, a MPFJ reader. 

            Having watched part of an installment of Extreme Cheapskate, I can say urinating in a bottle is way too cheap for me.  

            However, I ask myself periodically how far can/should I go in the realm of cheapness? For example, how about turning off electronics that use power even when not in use, like TV’s and DVD’s? I figured out how to do it, I put them on power strips and turn several off at once. However, I wonder if on-and-offing them is deleterious to their function and would it cost more in wear and tear and subsequent replacement than leaving them turned on full time?

            I also wonder about such things as walking to save money. Certainly, it is healthful and even nice to connect with the world outside my four walls (maybe even enjoying nature occasionally). The issue is one of available time, energy and even the cost of shoe leather – or plastic. If I can make money with my spare time, does driving because it is faster make sense? I already own the car and have paid for the maintenance and insurance; the only cost is depreciation and gasoline, right? And how far is too far to walk: one block to my Postal Service cluster box, a mile to my fitness center (is driving to a fitness center an oxymoron?), three miles to the nearest grocery store? 

            I do my own minor auto maintenance since I have trouble paying someone $5.00 to replace the air filter on my car. I have also done home projects like making book cases and adding ceiling fans (I live in a hot climate; they really do pay for themselves!) I do it myself in part because I enjoy accomplishing projects, but also, I save money and assure the job gets done timely and well (mostly).  However, then I am buying tools – – however, how good a tool to buy, the Professional quality one – often way south of $100 or the “homeowner” version for $40 –  but don’t expect extreme durability.

            Speaking of do-it-yourself, how about gardening, making your own baked goods, always home cooking your own meals instead of going out and even preserving your own fruits and vegetables when they are in season for later use? All can save money but they take time and most require equipment, use energy and, did I say, time? Is it worth it?

            Also, look at activities like going to movies. I can go when they are first released and pay $10+, I can wait 4-8 months and rent them for a dollar or two and the whole family can watch it, or I can wait a year or so and see it on television. Is it worth the wait? What if I forget I wanted to watch it and miss it? How about a new ipad? It would be pretty cool to be able to carry 100’s of books at one time and get books on-line from the library for free (I rarely buy new books). How about my 7 year old PC? It still does what I want and I’m afraid some of the programs I use are so old they likely will not be compatible with a new OS. What about a smart phone?… 

            My Thoughts – How Cheap is Too Cheap?

            This is a great topic to discuss, so a big thanks goes to Joe for bringing this up! Indeed, the line between cheap and too cheap can often be a fine one (and one that I, as a pretty frugal-minded person, often walk).

            To help myself define whether something is worthwhile to be cheap about or I need to “loosen up the purse strings,” I generally follow 3 guidelines:

            • # 1 – Don’t be cheap on things that help you work towards achieving your life values and/or life dreams?
              • In general, I believe that for the things in your life of which you feel very passionately (your life values and dreams), those are not areas in which you want to be cheap. 
              • For example, if helping others by donating to charity is high up on your life of life values, then it would be best to skimp in other areas in order to free up some money to donate to your favorite causes. 
              • As another example, if traveling to see the world is high up on your life values/dreams listing, it is OK to be cheap about what type of clothing you buy if that means that you’ll be able to finally take the “trip of a lifetime” you’ve been planning for 5 years.  
            • # 2 – Focus on saving money on “the big things” and value your time.
              • As Joe hinted at above, for everything (big or little) we do, there is likely SOME WAY that we could technically be doing it cheaper. 
              • For example, instead of driving my car the 2 miles to work on days that it is rainy and cold, I could ride my bike. However, the mental anguish that comes along with being really wet makes the little bit of money I spend in gas very worthwhile. 
              • Likewise, I probably could save a little money over the long run by replacing the 4 regular light bulbs in my house with energy-efficient CFL ones. However, how much money would that really save? A few dollars? It’s probably not worth worrying about every little detail like this. 
              • On the other hand, it is very important, in my opinion, to address issues that cost you very large amounts of money. For example, if you are eating out 6 times a week, that’s likely costing thousands of dollars a year, and as such, it would be very well worth your time to investigate the issue and find a way to eat cheaper.
              • Lastly, in all of this, always make sure that the work required to do something cheaply doesn’t take up more time than it is worth in cost savings.
            • # 3 – How well are your savings goals being met?
              • After figuring out ways to save money on the more significant items in your life as discussed in #2, the next important issue becomes to determine if you actually need to worry about “going cheap” in the more minor areas of your financial life.
              • To determine this, you must ask yourself if you are able to save the amount of money that you want/need to. If at that point, you are already saving enough money, I wouldn’t worry too much about going more hyper-frugal.
              • In my experience, most often, people are prevented from meeting their savings goals by some systemic, fairly clear ‘problem’ in their spending patterns, not because they, for example, decided to pay a mechanic to do their oil change/tune up versus do it themselves.
              • However, if after addressing any major spending issues in your finances, you define that you need to save more than you are, it would be worthwhile to look in to ways to be cheaper in other aspects of your life. 
              • And, by going through these 3 guidelines, you would then have a solid justification for why you need to be cheap in a certain way (and then, it would not be ‘too’ cheap at all, right?! haha).
            How about you all? What questions about how far to go down the road of cheapness have you asked and resolved? What do you think? And, more importantly, what do you do?

            Share your experiences by commenting below! 

            ***Photo courtesy of http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7232/7213949570_9c0b4aaf9b.jpg

            Are $300,000 Worth Of Medical School Student Loans Worth It?

            The following is a guest post by fellow personal finance blogger, Catherine Alford, of Budget Blonde. You can also follow her on twitter @BudgetBlonde. Enjoy! 

            Many of you might read that title, and think, “Absolutely not! That’s what’s wrong with our country!” And, you would be right. The student loan debt in our country is a massive problem, one that’s surpassed a trillion dollars in recent years.

            Yet, that’s exactly how much money my husband and I are borrowing so he can attend school at a private American owned international medical school.

            Why didn’t we just pick a public medical school? Wouldn’t it be cheaper?

            Medical school is one of the most competitive and most difficult forms of education that someone can go through. Less than 9% of applicants get accepted. Unless you have unbelievable MCAT scores, the average student who wants to go to medical school doesn’t really have their pick of schools if they even get accepted at all. If they get to choose between two schools, they are lucky. We’re thrilled with the international school my husband attends. They have students from 180 different countries, and it’s been the experience of a lifetime.

            Won’t it be easy to pay it back once he starts working as a physician?

            We’re not naïve enough to think that once he becomes a physician, we’re going to have piles of money. That’s a very common misconception, but I feel that many people are starting to realize that physicians do not make the same salaries that they did 10-20 years ago. We’re not sure how the health care reform will affect his potential salary, but money is not why we did this to begin with. No one in their right mind would undergo this rigorous of a curriculum just to make six figures, when you can make that in many other fields and have a much better lifestyle. All we ever hope for is that we will make enough to comfortably pay these loans back and raise a family.

            How are you going to do that?

            There are many different programs that physicians can take part in to have their loan amounts lowered. Listed below are some of these options:

            • They can work in a rural area for a specified amount of time.
            • They can become officers in the military.
            • They can do what’s called a Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and work for 10 years in a public service position.

            We’re not exactly sure how we personally are going to tackle this, but as of right now, we’re going to enroll in income-based repayment during residency. Essentially, when my husband graduates from medical school in 3 years, his loans will start being due 6 months from that. The problem is that he’s not done with his education yet, and will be in residency for another 3-7 years depending on the program. Residency is not considered being “in school” because you get a salary, so the loans are not deferred. However, the salary of a resident on average is $50,000, and if you do the math, it’s hard to pay back $300,000 when you only make $50,000. So, we’re going to enroll in income-based repayment to start paying it off slowly while he’s in residency. We’re choosing that over hardships or forbearance, because I know that just paying it a little over time will help us in the end.

            Times have certainly changed both in terms of student loans and also health care. Just a few years ago, medical schools students were borrowing money at 2% and 3%. Now, we don’t have subsidized loans anymore, and our interest rate is 7.9%. However, when you want to do something that you believe in, and the only way to fund it is through U.S. loans, we think it’s worth it. We’re living simply now, we’re watching what we spend, and we have a plan for the future so that one day we can pay this off quickly and more importantly, with no regrets.

            How about you all? What techniques have you used in the past to pay off your student loans? Did you take advantage of any loan forgiveness or relief/deferral programs? 

            Share your experiences by commenting below!

            ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/edenpictures/4133664894/sizes/l/in/photostream/

            You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know – A First-Hand Account of the State of Personal Finance Education

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            Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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            The following is a guest post by Eva Baker of TeensGotCents.com, who is (in my opinion) a very wise high-school student for getting started early learning about personal finance. I’m very excited to have her guest posting on my site today. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming her as well!

             Personal finance is in a shambles in America.  On the news and in daily conversation, you hear people talking about credit card debt, student loan debt, and how difficult it is to save any money in this economy.  Over the last few years, many of my friends have have had a parent lose their job, I know families that have lost their homes to foreclosure, and teens are having a more and more difficult time finding a good part time job.

            One might think that these terrible circumstances would lead to an urgent move on the part of parents and schools to teach their children, particularly high school students, more about personal finance.  But, you would be very wrong.  Few states even offer personal finance classes and even fewer require such a class for graduation.

            In 2011 Charles Schwab released a study called, “TEENS & MONEY SURVEY FINDINGS: Insights Into Money Attitudes, Behaviors, and Expectations of 16- To 18- Year-Olds.”  What the study shows is very interesting and is at times, quite entertaining.  It reveals that 93% of teens say that their family has been directly affected by the recession and that 75% of them have had a conversation about their family’s financial situation in the past year.  73% of those teens believe that it is important to have emergency savings in case a family falls on hard times.  What was most poignant about the study to me is that fully 86% of teens say that they are interested in learning about money management in a class instead of making financial mistakes in the real world.  Unfortunately for them, only 14 states currently offer such a class (if you’re interested in reading up on which states offer personal finance and economics education classes, click here and go to page 8). 

            The entertaining part of the study?  Well, most teens think that we are going to earn an average salary of $150,000 a year.  (Of course I am, duh…)  We also consider ourselves to be ‘financially savvy’, but hardly any of us teens even know what a 401(k)/Roth IRA is, how income taxes work, or whether or not using a check cashing service is a good idea.  Those things are kinda funny, and at the same time, not so much.  A check cashing service?  Now that isn’t funny at all.  And don’t even get me started on paycheck advance places.  Someone should tell teens to stay far, far away.

            In an article for US News and World Report titled, “Why Most High Schoolers Don’t Know How to Manage Their Money,” we find out why many teens don’t have the answers to their questions.  Apparently there is ‘discomfort among teachers and parents’ and neither group feels qualified to teach teens the basics of personal finance.  The article quotes a person named Morrison of the Council for Economic Education saying, “To say it’s a parent’s responsibility seems unfair—unfair to the parents and unfair to the kids. You can’t ask people to be responsible for teaching something if they haven’t received the education themselves.”   Really?  To be honest that just makes me mad.  So, if my teachers don’t feel comfortable and neither do my parents – just where am I supposed to learn anything about managing money?  (I have all sorts of snarky things to say here but my mom told me I have to be nice.)

            I completely disagree with that kind of thinking.  I believe it is the responsibility of parents and teachers to help us as teens understand the basics of managing our money.  You don’t have to be an expert, have a finance degree, or go through a year of specialized training in order to teach those basics.  Thankfully, this gap in education is not going unnoticed.  The Council for Economic Education reports that fourteen states now require students to take a personal finance class in order to graduate.  According to CEE in the News, local groups such as the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce are also doing their part to help educate students.  They recently sponsored a “Reality Check” event which is an exercise in real life budgeting and money management.  Even though students may not understand everything in the class, they did walk away with a greater appreciation for the cost of living and how education affects earning ability.

            Some of my earliest memories about money involve managing that money.  My parents made up three envelopes for me, and I had to choose each week how much of my allowance would go into each envelope.  My choices were savings, spending, and giving.  It really doesn’t get much more simple than that.  Early training has helped me appreciate that money is a tool and I am the one responsible for making purposeful decisions about what I earn or am given.

            If you are a parent or educator, I urge you to get involved now with your students so that they can learn these basic principles.  If you have or are struggling yourself, be transparent with your kids and allow them to learn with you so that they don’t make the same financial mistakes you might have made.  If you are a teen, talk to your parents.  Don’t be afraid to tell them that you have questions and want to be educated on all issues of handling your money well.

            Teens may not know what we don’t know, but we deserve a fighting chance.

             Aside from that, I’ll leave you with the following cartoon I found while writing this post. It was a good reminder for me of the importance of open communication between parents and teens.

            ***Cartoon displayed with special permission from http://www.glasbergen.com

             How about you all? Did you learn about personal finance in school or from your parents? Or, did you have to teach yourself through trial and error? 

             How do you think the personal finance education system in US public schools could be improved? What roadblocks do you see to prevent its implementation?

             Share your experiences by commenting below!

             
            About Eva:
             
             

            Eva Baker is a high school student passionate about preparing for her financial future and helping other teenagers prepare as well. When she isn’t rock climbing at the gym or pinning ideas for her non-existent wedding, she documents her financial journey over at TeensGotCents.com. Find her on Facebook and Pinterest as well!

            Is Self-Employment More Secure than a Job?

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            Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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            Click here to enter my free $51.95 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is January 31st, 2013.

            The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Kevin Mercadante, who is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com. He has backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry.

            It may seem counter intuitive that self-employment is more secure than a job, but with the deterioration in the job market in recent years, that may in fact be the case. It’s not so much that self-employment has become more secure, but rather that traditional jobs have become less so.

            Why jobs are less secure than they used to be

            As the economy has slowly climbed out of the recession, employment has been lagging. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the loss of jobs during the recession had at least as much to do with structural changes in employment as it did with the bad economy.

            Technology is one factor. Computers are increasingly eliminating jobs. Cheap overseas labor is another drag. Employers are learning that it’s less expensive to hire foreign-based workers at $5 an hour than to pay a domestic employee $25.

            In addition, employers are increasingly making use of contract, part-time and virtual workers during heavy work cycles. As a result, many employers are maintaining minimal permanent staff and relying on a flexible workforce to make up the difference.

            All of these changes make traditional jobs far less secure than they were just a few years ago.

            Holding a job can cost money

            In addition to the lack of job security, jobs are becoming steadily more expensive to maintain. Consider the following:

            • Commuting. Now that gasoline is close to $4 a gallon, commuting is much more expensive than it was when the price was hovering around $1 dollar a gallon. And if you live in an area with tolls, they’ve gone way up too.
            • Relocation. Companies still hire people for out of town assignments, but they’re becoming much more reluctant to foot the bill. If you relocate, there’s a greater chance you’ll do so out of your own pocket.
            • Employee benefit contributions. Many employers have been cutting back on the company contribution for the cost of benefits. This is especially true with health insurance. A few years ago employers routinely covered 80% of the cost, but many are now paying 50% or less. The employee contribution is growing larger.
            • Extended working hours. Some employers expect their workers put in extra hours without additional compensation. This has always been true at the management level, but it’s now increasingly common among the rank-and-file.

            It could be said that employees today are bearing expenses that are not at all unlike those of the self-employed.

            Self-employment can give you more control over your occupation

            When you work for someone else, you’re typically hired to do a specific job. If that job is suddenly subject to elimination, you lose your job unless you can relocate to another job somewhere within the company. When you’re self-employed, you’re largely free to gravitate toward successful income sources. If one source is beginning to decline, you can begin shifting to another. In addition, as a self-employed person you can generally adjust to change much more quickly than an entire organization. That means you have more control over your occupation.

            If you’re self-employed you can take on additional income earning ventures

            Even if you’re self-employed, you will have certain commitments of time and effort that you’ll have to honor. However, you will also have a great amount of control as to when those tasks need to be completed; That means you have the kind of time flexibility that can allow you to take on additional income sources. This can be an additional revenue stream within the same business, or a venture – such as a part-time job – that is completely unrelated. When you hold a full-time job your time is much more limited, and so are your additional income earning options. Most jobs today have shifted away from “9 – 5” to something more like a nine hour workday. It could be 8 – 5, or 9 – 6, as employers are now insisting on a full eight hour workday plus an hour for lunch. If you add commuting time, 8 – 5 can easily turn into 7 – 6. That’s 11 hours a day! That doesn’t leave much room for much else, and will be even more complicated if your employer requires additional hours.

            For people over 50, self-employment can be the only option

            If you’re over 50, replacing a lost job is more difficult than ever. Middle-age workers face all of the obstacles that every other worker faces, but adds age to the mix. For many middle-age workers, self-employment will be the only option the event of a job loss.

            Self-employment can flow more neatly into retirement

            Millions of people are not adequately prepared to retire by age 65. For most of them, they’ll have to continue working into the traditional retirement years. As jobs become even more difficult to find as you get older, self-employment can be the safest bet for a continuing income. If you hold a job up until retirement, there’s a better-than-even chance that you will lose your job as a result of some sort of mandatory retirement provision.

            But, if you are self-employed, you can continue working for as long as you like. In addition, if you’re self-employed, you’ll have a better chance of earning a living wage. Many of the jobs open to people in their 60s and 70s are low-wage positions that often require standing for long periods of time or performing functions that can be physically challenging to an older person. Self-employment can also provide greater control over your work schedule than a job will allow. This can be very important to person in the traditional retirement years. If you’re worried about the security of your job, you may want to take a long, hard look at self-employment options.

            How about you all? Do you think that the security pendulum may be swinging from traditional jobs to self-employment?

            Share your experiences by commenting below! 

              ***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/86530412@N02/8224527333/sizes/l/in/photostream/

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