So far, so good

This was my first week at my new job and so far I'm loving it! Within my first week at my last job I was miserable, so I'm taking this as a good sign. I had new employee orientation yesterday and they explained all of our benefits. We get a pension plan and a 403(b) with 50% employer matching on the first 6% we contribute. Both are fully vested after 3 years. The fund choices for the 403(b) seem pretty good. I'm going to start out by contributing 6% in order to get the full match, but beyond that I'll put money in my Roth IRA until I reach the limit because the expenses on it are next to nothing.

I'm struggling with what health plan to choose. There are four options ranging in premiums from $20.32-$91.07 biweekly. To complicate things further, it doesn't appear that my doctor is in their network. I absolutely love my doctor and have been going to her for almost 10 years. I really don't want to switch doctors, but the cost of going out-of-network is horrible. ugh....

Earned Income Credit

I found out last month that I qualified for an earned income credit for 2007. I got my check last week and it was for $182. Not too bad. It's $182 I didn't expect to have! I deposited it and immediately moved it into my fund for a home down payment. I didn't even consider spending it. If I had gotten that check a few months ago I would have immediately thought, "How am I going to spend this?!" Actually, I think I'm more excited about having more money in my savings than I would have been if I bought something.

July Goals Recap

I didn't do very well with meeting my goals for July. I'm somewhat disappointed in myself, but I know July was a crazy month. Then again, most of my life is crazy. Some of these goals I will carry over into August.

• Transportation challenge - Met. My goal was to spend less than $80 and I spent only $57.77!
• Get my free credit report - No. This was due to my own laziness and procrastination.
• Begin 403(b) contributions - No. This is because I accepted a new job! I'll be sure to get started with my contributions after I start.
• Enroll in online bill pay for car loan - No. Again, procrastination. I could do this online but they ask for your social security number and I'm leery of submitting mine online. The alternative is to go to a branch location to enroll and I just haven't gotten around to it.
• Know my networth - No. I would have to know the remaining balance on my car loan, which I don't. Yet another reason I need to enroll online.
• Get my Avon orders in on time - Close. I got two out of three in on time. Not bad considering that when I was in school I submitted nearly every order late.

But... I don't wanna grow up

Today is my 27th birthday. My new focus on my finances has been making me think about my long-term goals. I'm not where I thought I would be at 27. I was expecting to be at the point where I was financially secure. I never imagined I'd go to grad school and end up with so much educational debt. I also thought I'd be close to the point where I could afford kids. I'm so nowhere near that point. It's kind of scary. I'm really going to need to figure out how to get some extra income coming in. If I could do that, I would put it all into savings and investments. It's just a question of how. I'll be making $3,000 more a year at my new job, but I'll also have expenses I don't have at this job. I'll have to pay my own health insurance premiums, for one (my current agency pays employee premiums). A second job may be a possibility, but I at least have to get settled with the new job first - I don't want to overload myself.

Eh, quarter-life crises suck.

One more week

I have one week left at my current job! Unfortunately, I don't get a break before starting my new job. P and I are supposed to be going to visit her family next weekend. I'm debating whether to go with her or not, as it's kind of exhausting - a 5 hour drive each way and I usually end up baby sitting for her sister while we're there. I don't want to be feeling tired and lazy on my first day!

This week has already been exhausting. Between my current job which constantly keeps me running, having my pre-employment physical and HR meeting for the new job, and practicing for my first student performance, I've been insanely busy. I would really like to do nothing this weekend, but I know that won't happen!

Investing

I have to admit, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to investing. It was something that my mother never taught me about as a kid. Hell, we rarely talked about money at all. Several years ago I read a very basic personal finance book which introduced me to investing – something I had never imagined myself doing. Here’s what I remember from that book: money market funds are a safe place to keep an emergency fund because they are extremely low risk, but also low reward; bonds are slightly higher risk and slightly higher reward; stocks offer greater rewards but at the expense of being extremely risky and difficult to understand. Admittedly, after three years I’m sure my memory of this book has become foggy, but this is what I took away from it. Consequently, what money I did sock away was all stuck into a money market fund for safe keeping. I always planned to learn more about investing and diversify at some later point when I had a better understanding of what I was doing – that point just never came.

My trusty money market fund has done its job. My savings were kept safe and earned at least a small amount of interest, and it did help me out in an emergency. Last year when the hand-me-down car I’d been driving since I first got my license finally decided to die, my money market fund provided me with enough money to make a sizeable down payment on a used car – without totally wiping me out.

However, the time has come for me to finally do what I promised myself I would do years ago and start learning more about investing. To that end, I’ve begun reading Charles Schwab’s New Guide to Financial Independence. I picked it up at the used book store a couple years back but never got around to reading it. I’m now on page 62 and so far, so good. It starts off very simple and explains investing in a non-intimidating way that even the novice (aka – me) can understand. I was worried it would be somewhat dry, but it’s held my interest so far and I’m zipping right through it. By the time I finish reading this book, I plan to (dun-dun-DUN) diversify my investments.

July Transportation Challenge Update

My goal was to spend $80 on transportation for the month of July. It's the 15th and so far I've only spent $20.34 on gas - when I filled up at GetGo using my Fuelperks. My tank is still 3/4 full! Looks like I'll be well within my limit. I haven't made much progress on my other July goals, though. I should probably get on that.