career change thoughts

I really want to be my own boss and do my own thing. And I have no doubts that at some point I will be doing just that. Unfortunately, that time is most likely in the future due to the debtload. I don't have the time or money to invest in a business venture right now. I have a few things that I plan on working on that don't require a lot of time or money up front, but they are not the kind of things that allow you to quit your day job.

And I hate my day job. Accounting. Ick. Now, I'd actually like to get into a financial analyst role and have taken several finance classes. Yet, finance managers can't seem to see past my accounting background. It's as if I have the plague. They don't care that I have unofficially done fin analyst roles in positions where the job title was not fin analyst but some of the work was. They don't care about my degree or how many finance classes I have taken. So, that frustrates me.

A few days ago I got an email from the Art Institute Online about some new programs they are doing and I check out their site. I think I might take a couple of classes on web design and whatnot and see where that leads. It is definitely something that I am interested in. And it would be easy to make that a business. So, who knows, maybe it will be a good fit. I'm thinking maybe I'll go half-time, that way I won't have a lot invested in it if I don't like it. Of course, I don't know how I'll fit that in with all the overtime I am trying to work. Actually, by the time classes start I'll probably be burnt out on working overtime- do it won't be a problem.

And I'm still the top candidate for the open position at my company. It should pay more, and it's a lot of fin analyst work - but again, it doesn't have that for the job title! So, it would leave me in the same place.

long hours - really worth the overtime pay?

I've worked 10 hours days the past 2 days. So, add in the commute and my lunch break and I'm away from home almost 12 hours. Talk about exhausting.

I'm wondering if it is really worth it in the end for the overtime pay? Besides the overtime pay, I get the perk of missing rush hour traffic as I've been arriving early and staying late. It's always very quiet when I get to work and at the end of the day as no one else is as crazy as me and working these hours. The downside? I spend most of my waking hours at work, or driving to and from it. By the time I get home I don't want to spend time cooking, so I end up eating something quick, which usually means not as healthy. I don't feel like working out as it is 7pm when I get home and I need to eat dinner, do the dishes and so on. Ah, I just don't know.

It might be easier if my employer isn't an internet Nazi - then I could pay my bills, etc. online at work when I got a chance. Instead, I have to add that to the after 7pm task list.

I think all banks are evil

On MSN today I saw the headline "Six signs your bank is evil," which is kind of funny as I think all banks are evil. I mean, c'mon you get a deposit and some checks post in the same night but they post the checks before the deposit just so they can charge you NSF fees. Evil.

The story is here. And what are the evil signs?

1. Checks clear almost immediately; deposits take days
2. Stacking the deck against you - this is what I'm talking about!
3. Charging for 'potential' overdrafts - say what?
4. The oxymoronic 'courtesy overdraft'
5. Fat fees for using personal-finance software - they don't want to send you paper statements for free, yet they don't want to you download for free. wtf?
6. Closing accounts because of bad credit - this is of course in reference to the new ING checking accounts.

Fact: Banks are indeed evil.

You heard it here first.

Now, if it was just feasible for me to keep all my money in a shoebox under my bed...

Silly gas stories

On Yahoo this morning, I was the following story: Gas prices are rising, but you don't have to feel the pain.

Uh, not likely.

The story gives some "tips" on how to not feel the pain of gas prices. But the so-called tips are nothing new and most likely things that people have already been doing for a while now.

Nonetheless, I found the headline slightly amusing.

Just a warning ...

There will be some paid reviews going up soon, not because I want crappy content, but because I need some extra cash flow.

I'll be trying to post them back to back so that they can be skipped over easily.

I'm an over-prepper

I had my interview for the higher position at my current place of employment - I went in armed with all sorts of knowledge in regards to salary. I had a list of questions to make me look super smart and super interested in the position. The questions, I was able to use and they worked like a charm. The salary info - I didn't get to use cause we didn't discuss that. They are interviewing outside candidates as well, and after all that they will bring people in for a second interview. Bah.

All in all though, it seemed to go well. Surprisingly, it was one of my better interviews as far as my performance. I should really prep like this for all interviews. It's hard though when you are being interviewed by someone in HR who does not know the position well and such. And about half the time interviews seem to be with this sort of HR screener person.

The way that I see it, even if I don't get it, I'm better armed for other interviews.

opportunity on the horizon

I got word today that I have scored an interview for the open position at my company that I applied for on the 4th of this month. It is more closely aligned with my experience and skillset, so I think my chances are pretty decent of getting it. It would also look great on the resume for when I want to transition into something else later on down the line. Not to mention the fact that it is supposed to "pay a lot" according to a co-worker that knew the girl who previously had the position. And best of all, it would enable me to stop the job hunt. Ah, that would be nice.

After reading all the recent articles on why women make less than men, I really want to make sure that I go into this interview educated on what the average pay rate is in this area for this sort of position and be prepared to ask for what I think is a fair salary. Sadly, I have no idea what they are planning on offering. I hate when places do not post a salary range for positions because it just sends the message that they want to screw you if they can. Meaning, if you short sell yourself and ask for less than what they were prepared to pay, then they want to take full advantage of that.

So, I'm going to research what the position pays in this area, then I'll ask for the high end of that. Hopefully, this will result in them offering me the mid-grade of the salary range, with them thinking they have won the negotiation, instead of them saying "no, thanks, we'll find someone else."

I've been tagged by MoneyDummy!

I've seen the posts on various blogs for the latest obsessions meme, and now I get to do one as Money Dummy tagged me.

So, what are my latest obsessions?

1. Reading Problogger.net
2. Creating alternative streams of income
3. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I was sold after hearing "Face Down" once.
4. GTD stuff
5. Millstone's Swiss Chocolate Almond coffee - my local stores stopped carrying it. I've looked high and low for it. I'm afraid I'm going to have to break down and buy it online for about $2 more than I'm used to paying. Oh the agony of coffee addiction.

And now, I tag....Well-heeled, See Me Get Rich, and SeeMeSellAScreenplay. These are some of the newer editions to my blog reading list, so hopefully you guys haven't done this yet!

job hunting woes

I really hate job hunting. But what I hate even more is interviewing! I feel like that is all I have been doing lately, and it's hard to keep up the job hunt. It's frustrating to go to an interview and get someone that clearly has no idea how to conduct an interview. I've been to so many interviews that I can tell almost immediately when I'm going to have an amateur interviewer.

1. For starters, they are on time. Most interviewers tend to keep you waiting about 15 minutes before they come out, at least in my experience. And this really irritates me. Interviewers expect the job hunter to arrive early, yet they make them wait. I actually had someone that was in HR in one of my MBA classes that actually said that if someone does not show up early for an interview that her company will not hire that person - regardless of qualifications or how the interview goes - because by not arriving early they do not appear to show a real interest or care for the position. That's right, if you really care about getting the job, you must show up early. Even though they will make you wait. Unless they are amateurs.
2. They come into the interview empty-handed. Most interviewers at least show up with a copy of your resume in their hand. And then there is the dreaded list of questions. What I really hate are the form questions, that don't apply for every position but they ask them of every single person that interviews. I think that this is really irresponsible of companies because by not tailoring the interview to the position, then they cannot accurately gauge the interviewee's qualifications for the specific position. I recently interviewed at a large hospital, with multiple locations all over the state, for a financial analyst position. The majority of the form letter interview questions had to do with customer service. Not once did they ask my about my background in financial analysis or anything even remotely related to financial analysis.
3. There is a long uncomfortable pause when you both sit down to start the interview where they smile at you uneasily. This is by far the biggest clue that it will be up to me to lead the interview. Otherwise, I don't have a chance in hell of getting a second interview. This usually seems to happen when the interviewer is a lower level supervisor that is not used to doing this sort of thing. An easy fix would be to have a higher manager or even an HR person in on the interview. The person being interviewed should never have to be relied upon to lead the interview. Coming in for the interview is stressful enough as it is.

And now, on to Monster to see what kind of torture I can subject myself to later this week.

willpower...i'm running low on it

Ahh, summer seems to be here, at least according to the weather outside. The warm weather brought the intense desire to travel with it. Travel is always a weakness for me. Truth be told, it's mostly likely the reason for my credit card debt. By that I mean, whenI travel I use credit cards and I frequently travel when I don't have the money. It's a bad bad bad habit that is very costly. So, I'm trying to cut back.

The warm weather isn't helping. Neither is the fact that my mom is a flight attendant and I can get 6 free flights a year. As if that isn't tempting enough, she called me because she has 2 overnights in a row at JFK, which meant if I could get there I could stay with her in her hotel room for free. Ooh the temptation. Add to that my JetBlue flight credit that expires in July. Danger. That's what that is. Pure danger.

But I always spend more than I expect to in NYC. And I was just there on a scheduled visit to see a friend. So, with much effort, I declined her invitation to meet up at JFK and then go shopping in the city. Oh the agony.

When I pay off my debt, I am so using some of those free flight tickets to go to Santorini. Eye on the prize, eye on the prize. That's how I'll pay off this debt.

The most ridiculous items on eBay that I must have

Focusing on paying off debt is hard stuff. And it sucks a lot of the time. So, to keep myself focused on the goals, I have a list of things that I want to do once I pay off all the debt. Of course, all of these things will be paid for with cash, as to not get any new debt. So, when I pay off all my debt, these will be my rewards.

The most ridiculous items on eBay that I must have when I pay off my debt:

1. A drawing of Paris Hilton in Jail, currently $2.00
2. The sexy apple, only $1.00 to bid
3. Hot, juicy letters from 'me' for one year, only $0.99 to bid
4. The fake doctor's note, only $4.99
5. My imaginary friend's favorite things, with free used imaginary friend, currently $0.01

Here's what I'm thinking. My new used imaginary friend and I will use the fake doctor's note to miss work, which won't be a big deal financially as I'll be debt free by this point. Then we will read the hot, juicy letters from 'me' while we ponder what to do with the sexy apple. Then, we will look at the drawing of Paris Hilton in jail and realize that she needs the sexy apple more than we do, the poor thing. See how fun it will be to be debt free. I can't wait!

**This post submitted to the Problogger Group Writing Project. Don't forget to do one of your own!**

Coin laundry vs renting a washer & dryer

My apartment did not come with a washer and dryer, so my options were:

1. Buy a set
2. Rent a set
3. Do laundry elsewhere, most likely the coin laundry or at family members homes

So, I ran a cost benefit analysis and decided that buying would not be in my best interest as I plan on moving out of state when my lease it up and having them would mean having to sell or getting a larger moving truck to handle hauling them. Renting would be around $35 per month plus the added cost of a higher water/electric bill. Doing laundry at a family member's home is free, and around $30 in quarters if I pay to do it.

I decided to go with #3. So far it's been working out splendidly. Then I did laundry out this week. For some reason there are more washers than dryers at the place I go to. And all but 2 dryers were full when my loads were done in the washers. This is when I realized the problem in my cost-benefit analysis. Time. I did not factor in the time I would spend at the laundry place, when I could have been at home doing other things while the laundry was going on. Now it is too late for it to be a wise decision to buy the appliances. But renting them isn't looking too bad at this juncture. I'm not sure if it is a good idea or not though.

What would you do with your money if you were given a few months to live?

What would you do if you were told you had a deadly disease and only months to live? Would you spend like there is no tomorrow as there really might not be one? Would you get rid of all of your material possessions? Quit your job? Live life to its fullest?

One man did all of that. Then the doctors told him they had misdiagnosed him and he would be just fine. Now he's suing them because he spent his life savings based on information they gave him. Story here.

I would have done just what he did. I don't know that I'd be suing the hospital now. For sure I'd be uber mad though.

Goals

My goals for April were:
Get a better paying job that is closer to home
Focus on business ideas with low startup costs
Make at least $250 in alternative income streams
Pay off next lowest credit card ($159 balance)
Reduce dining out/food costs

How did I shape up?

Well, I have not found a better job yet. I have leads as usual, but still haven't found anything that is a good fit. I did come up with a business idea, but it needs some prep time. I might be able to be running with it by the end of the summer though. My alternative income stream goal, well I busted that one outta the park. I have the cash to pay off my lowest balance card, but I didn't do it cause I got strep and was out of work for a couple of days so I was holding on to the cash in case I needed it. I reduced out dining out costs to only $72 for the entire month. But our grocery cost went up to $430. That is frustrating, but I know we are eating better by eating at home, even if we aren't saving money now. Being healthy will save us money down the road. Right? right!

New goals for May

1. Continue the job hunt,without settling for something just to be able to stop the job hunt
2. Increase alternative income to $1200 for the month
3. Continue to work on reducing food costs
4. Try to only go to the store once a week in an effort to reduce spending
5. Stay home more to reduce gas costs ( $3.19/gallon here!)
6. Pay off that low balance credit card
7. Get on a regular workout schedule - not finance related, but something I need to do
8. Organize my desk at home so that I don't make stupid money mistakes like paying a bill late because it got buried (happened in April)

Debt roundup #3

Sadly, April was not as good for me in some ways as I had hoped. On paper, it looks as if my total debt went up. However, that is not exactly accurate. I used my AMEX Gold card for groceries, my trip and a few other things. That card has to be paid in full each month. So, while its balance is reflected in the totals below, it will be paid in full this month. So, I guess it will make next month look like I made way more progress than I did. Also, my car loan balance increased as I put the payment toward something else this month. And it looks like my student loans had some interest added onto them.

Balances as of April 30 were...

• Car loan = $12,929.05
• Student loans = $154,245.33
• Credit cards = $30,490.40

Total debt = $197,664.78

So, that is an overall all increase of $1288.31 but my AMEX bill that will be paid in full this month is a little over $1800. So, I did make some progress, you just can't see it!

Make money online? Yes please.

I don’t remember where I came across it exactly, but there is a great post on making money online at Dream, Think Act. (maybe it was in one of the carnivals?)

The article starts out with utilizing advertising on your blog to generate income. I know I keep reading about people making mad cash with this avenue, but it’s really unreliable. I much prefer utilizing Associated Content, which is also mentioned, as I have somewhat of a control as to the amount of money coming in. Of course, they are not obligated to buy everything you submit, so there is the risk of writing and not getting paid. But that’s the way it goes.

There were some things in the list that I wasn’t familiar with, so if you’re looking for ways to make some alternative income online, you might want to check out this article – 53 Ways to Make Money on the Internet.

more on alternative income

For those of you interested in what I have been selling on eBay - I'm mostly doing just short (6-12 pgs) e-books on things like travel/location guides and some feng shui stuff. Basically, I took some of the research I was doing for my Associated Content articles and made some e-books at the same time. And I try out new e-books when they have $0.20 listing days so that I don't waste a lot of money in listing fees if they do not sell. Honestly, I was a bit shocked that people actually paid for e-books on eBay, but I thought I'd give it a shot. People really will buy just about anything.

As for what I am doing on Associated Content...Honestly, I refer to it as writing tripe for pay.
Associated Content takes articles on just about anything. You can choose to send them something with exclusive or non-exclusive rights. The difference in pay is usually around $1. The minimum word for all articles is 400, unless there is a special content request, called a CSO, where they minimum pay rate is higher so the word counter is usually higher as well. You learn what the CSO are by signing up for their newsletter.

In my experience with them, they are looking for keyword-rich articles. They don't buy opinion pieces at all. And all news pieces that get payment are a flat $5. You also get a performance bonus that is based on page views.

The pay range is supposed to be from $3 - $20. The most I've gotten from them is $10.22 and the lowest was $4.00. They usually take around 5 business days to review your work when you submit it. They pay by PayPal on Mon/Wed/Fri.

Here's a link to what all they have published of mine,
http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/57690/sl_newman.html

And here is a referral link if you want to sign up,
http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=57690

Let me know if you guys have any other questions.

alternative income made in April

April was an amazing month for me as far as alternative income.

I made $913.56. It was almost half and half split between ebay and Associated Content. I've just been selling digital download things on ebay, so that's been pretty easy. Nothing like getting up in the morning and seeing that you made $50 while you were sleeping. But the Associated Content articles do take up time, and I spend most of my "free" time doing articles for them. It sucks, but I'm focused on the end result.

Of course, my trip out of town was around $572, so I wasn't able to apply anything towards the debt really. That is kind of a bummer.

May is already shaping up to be better than April. I'm totally psyched about that. And I don't have any trips planned or any out of town visitors lined up.

Free Smoothie King smoothie!

Came across an ad today for a free 20 oz smoothie from Smoothie King

Link is here for those that are interested. These things are too expensive to buy, so this is a great deal for me!

Enjoy :)

eBay death threats

One of the ways that I make some alternative income is by selling stuff on eBay. I prefer selling digital download items, like ebooks, because it doesn't require me having to schlep back and forth to the post office. Financially speaking, it's done quite well for me. I use e-junkie for my delivery and don't have to worry about emailing out files. I can sell things while I am sleeping, which is great.

However, when I checked my email this morning I had a nasty, obscenity ladden email from someone that had purchased one of my items around 2am this morning. Seems his PayPal address is not his current email address, so when he paid for the file, PayPal sent the link to the PayPal address - which means he did not get the link to download the file and he was mad. His nasty email included the death threat "i will hunt you down and kill you" among other colorful sentences. Who knew $4.99 could make a college kid so violent? The email address he emailed me from was from Syracuse University - many states away from me. In the wake of the recent events at Virginia Tech, I shot an email to the campus police this morning with his email attached and I asked them if they could handle this threat or if I should contact the city police.

Within about 15 minutes I had a reply to give them a call. I talked the head of campus police, who took my contact info to give to the city police. And about an hour ago I got a call from them. They asked me a lot of questions (do I know the person, have I had any other contact with them, etc.) and told me they "take sitauations like this very seriously" and at a minimum the kid will be made to undergo some counseling and if he has a file of similar incidents with the university he can be suspended and made to do community service, etc. They told me I could press criminal charges, but I don't plan on it, unless he does show up at my doorstep.

The lesson here - use a PO box or a UPS store box like I do for your ebay transactions. EBay freely gives out your contact info to any winning bidder with just a few clicks on their part. No need to give the crazy people your home address.

How many hours of work does that cost you?

A great post over on Money, Matter and More Musings talks about using the old 'how many hours would you have to work to pay for that?' technique to squash any compulsive spending. Personally, this is something that I use a lot, and it is effective. Of course, I rather loathe my job right now, so that might be why it is so particularly effective.

I have a friend that is going to be 30 years old this year and she lives with her parents. No big, except she is not doing to save money or anything. She's been there for the past 5 years and somehow manages to have car debt, student loan debt and credit card debt. She never ever misses work. She puts her groceries on credit. Oh, and she makes around 40K before her annual bonus. I try to use this "don't spend" technique with her. Last week, one night after work, in one trip to Wal-Mart, she spent $300 on an mp3 player and $25 on the Moral Orel season one DVD...and those are just the purchases I know about. Note that she has a PDA that plays mp3s. I told her that in that one trip she spent more than she made that day. She shrugs it off. As someone in debt, it is so extremely frustrating to see people throwing money away like she is. And she has debt!

a first glance back at April

In gathering all my info, it looks like April was a less than stellar month for me overall. In some ways it was awesome (alternative income streams) but my spending was higher than usual because of the trip that I took to NYC. Of course, I knew that it was going to put a damper on things. All things considered, it looks like things are pretty good as that trip was not as devastating as it could have been.

The good thing for the month is that I sat down with my other half and we really looked at finances, etc. and came up with a pretty good plan of attack and a loose idea of where we want to go as far as goals. And that led to the Amsterdam discovery.

There's also been a lot of frustration on the job hunting front. I've discovered that it's hard being a woman with an MBA as I see less qualified people around me getting the jobs I desire. But I am forging ahead. There has to be someone that wants to pay me what I am worth, or at least close to it, in a position that I would enjoy. I just have to find them. On the horizon I have an interview for a Fin Analyst position with JP Morgan Chase. I'm not sure they'll be a good fit for me, but I'm going to feel it out anyway.