Today, I opened a Vanguard Roth IRA thanks to some help from my boyfriend. It was a fairly simple process that took me less than 10 minutes. While I am roughly six years behind my peers who opened accounts after receiving undergraduate degrees, it's never too late to start saving for retirement.
What makes a Roth IRA different from a Traditional IRA is that you're taxed when you deposit money as opposed to when you withdraw it. Since I'm an entry level social worker working per diem, my income and tax rate is not very high. A Roth IRA seemed like the practical choice as I'd rather pay taxes now than have to pay more later.
I feel that as a social worker, I should be especially conscious about saving money. I'm not only saying this because of my profession's reputation for being underpaid. By being knowledgeable about money issues and applying money saving tactics to my own life, I can better counsel individuals and families with their own money problems. One tip I will definitely suggest is to open an IRA and put as much money as possible each year. As of today, I have maxed out my IRA contribution for 2010 and plan to max out subsequent years.
This is not to say that I don't like to shop and have fun, as I've been doing a considerable amount of shopping lately and have a few excursions planned for the immediate future! However, there should always be some balance between spending now and saving up for more fun down the line. I suppose I will (hopefully) see the money I deposited today again in 35-40 years!
I'll post another update later about the different funds I picked and why. This is all new to me, and I have a lot to learn about the investing process!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
(not so) Cheap St. Patrick's Day!
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Similar to how I typically only eat roasted turkey during Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day is the one day out of the year I eat corned beef and cabbage! In past years, I've gone to restaurants to enjoy this dish. Since I'm currently living at home, I decided to modify a corned beef and cabbage recipe
and make it in my parent's kitchen.
When I've eaten at restaurants on St. Patrick's Day in past years, a plate of corned beef and cabbage cost me upwards of $12. A pint of green beer or Guinness usually cost about $4. Add in (California) tax and tip and you have a St. Patrick's Day meal that sets you back roughly $20.
For my St. Patrick's Day meal, I decided to take advantage of the weekly deals on corned beef, cabbage, beef broth, and Guinness at Safeway. Here's my cost breakdown:
3.06 pounds corned beef brisket * $3.99/pound = $12.21
32 oz. box of beef broth = $2
2.26 pounds cabbage head * $0.39/pound = $0.88
1.06 pounds of baby red potatoes * $0.99/pound = $1.05
0.70 pound of carrots * $0.99/pound = $0.69
FOOD TOTAL: $16.83
After a cash register mishap, I purchased a 4 pack of Guinness for $6.77 with tax included.
GRAND TOTAL: $23.60
$23.60 for a St. Patrick's Day meal for 4 to 6 people seems like a pretty good deal compared to paying $20 per person at a restaurant. Since there are only three people in my household, there will be plenty of leftovers. Maybe I should start cooking every year!
and make it in my parent's kitchen.
When I've eaten at restaurants on St. Patrick's Day in past years, a plate of corned beef and cabbage cost me upwards of $12. A pint of green beer or Guinness usually cost about $4. Add in (California) tax and tip and you have a St. Patrick's Day meal that sets you back roughly $20.
For my St. Patrick's Day meal, I decided to take advantage of the weekly deals on corned beef, cabbage, beef broth, and Guinness at Safeway. Here's my cost breakdown:
3.06 pounds corned beef brisket * $3.99/pound = $12.21
32 oz. box of beef broth = $2
2.26 pounds cabbage head * $0.39/pound = $0.88
1.06 pounds of baby red potatoes * $0.99/pound = $1.05
0.70 pound of carrots * $0.99/pound = $0.69
FOOD TOTAL: $16.83
After a cash register mishap, I purchased a 4 pack of Guinness for $6.77 with tax included.
GRAND TOTAL: $23.60
$23.60 for a St. Patrick's Day meal for 4 to 6 people seems like a pretty good deal compared to paying $20 per person at a restaurant. Since there are only three people in my household, there will be plenty of leftovers. Maybe I should start cooking every year!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
How to Make the Most of Birthday Freebies
I recently celebrated my birthday, which is not only a great excuse to have fun with friends, but my favorite time a year to receive free stuff! In this post, I will share how I go about maximizing my annual freebies. My view is that all my meals should be free or have a freebie the week of my birthday!
Step 1: Start preparing for your birthday several weeks in advance. Many freebies can be used as soon as two weeks before your birthday up to two weeks after.
Step 2: Scour websites/blogs/forums for lists of birthday freebies. The main ones I use are on slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com
Step 3: Sign up for websites that offer birthday freebies! If want, you can even open a new e-mail address so your inbox doesn't get cluttered by a barrage of e-mails when your birthday hits. Remember to sign up early, for these e-mails can start coming as soon as two weeks before your birthday. The year I started, several restaurants gave me freebies for just signing up for their mailing lists, making for extra free stuff on my birthday!
Step 4: Wait and watch as you start receiving birthday freebies in your e-mail. When printing out/writing down your freebies, organize them by expiration date. One year, I missed out on a free meal because the coupon expired sooner than I expected.
Step 5: Enjoy your birthday freebies!
A few side notes:
-Don't try to cheat the system! Many restaurants check ID to make sure it's your birthday. At Denny's, they actually wrote down my driver's license number.
-Make sure to tip for the amount before discount! Restaurant employees deserve full tips for good service!
-Offer to split the cost of buy one/get one free meals with your friend. You can also get your friend to sign up for birthday freebies and pay the full priced meal then.
-Have fun and make the most of your special day!
Quick Ways To Help Japan
The situation in Japan is both horrifying and heartbreaking. While I know that many of us want to help, traveling to Japan might not be possible. Therefore, here are some quick and simple ways to assist the relief process:
Donate via text:
-Red Cross: Text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
-Salvation Army: Text "Japan" or "Quake" to 80888 to donate $10.
-World Vision: Text "4JAPAN" to 20222 to make a $10 donation.
An extensive list can be found here: Text to donate
Donate via Paypal:
You can use your Paypal account to donate to one of eight charities.
Please spread the world so we can provide maximum assistance to those impacted by this catastrophe. Also, if you are looking for a loved one please know that Google has launched a people finder that might have some information.
It seems like so many places have been impacted by natural disasters recently. Let's hope that they can all recover as soon as possible.
Donate via text:
-Red Cross: Text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
-Salvation Army: Text "Japan" or "Quake" to 80888 to donate $10.
-World Vision: Text "4JAPAN" to 20222 to make a $10 donation.
An extensive list can be found here: Text to donate
Donate via Paypal:
You can use your Paypal account to donate to one of eight charities.
Please spread the world so we can provide maximum assistance to those impacted by this catastrophe. Also, if you are looking for a loved one please know that Google has launched a people finder that might have some information.
It seems like so many places have been impacted by natural disasters recently. Let's hope that they can all recover as soon as possible.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Happy Social Work Month!
Today marks the beginning of Social Work Month! While I usually like to keep my non-financial related social work discussions on my other blog, I've decided to use this particular entry to pay homage to my profession. Social workers work tirelessly to improve the lives of the less fortunate. While their financial compensation is not reflective of their importance in society, the sense of fulfillment social workers receive from helping others can be worth more than anything money can buy.
On my other blog, you can find an extensive post on Social Work Month. If you happen to know any social workers, don't forget to thank them for the vital services they provide to our society.
On my other blog, you can find an extensive post on Social Work Month. If you happen to know any social workers, don't forget to thank them for the vital services they provide to our society.
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