Owner: This Writer's Wallet URL:http://www.thiswriterswallet.com Join Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:42:58 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: I’m Grad Girl, often known as GG, a 20-something Chicagoan with a recent graduate degree in a writing-based field. At my blog, I chart my saving, spending and learning journey for you. Site statistics:Click here
Can We Talk about the Market for a Minute? 2008-08-14 06:12:52 My sidebar counters are all wrong, I’m afraid. What was once $41K in savings toward the down-payment fund, though I’ve only added to it over the past few weeks, has gone down.
The latest low is $10K less, at $31K or so.
A $10K drop from $41K is, obviously, a 25% loss. I. hate. this. economy.
So I [...] Read more:Market
, Minute
Resolutions 2008-08-13 06:00:19 I don’t even believe in resolutions, so this post is nothing more than a mental list, a list of things I’m working towards, however slowly:
1. I don’t want to watch mindless TV.
2. I’m not going to check my Facebook several times a day.
3. Work e-mail can wait until Mondays.
4. I want to cook more.
What about [...] Read more:Resolutions
I’m the Proud Sister. 2008-08-12 06:02:41 My brilliant brother, the recent college grad, will be starting his new job this month, at a great starting salary, doing something he enjoys. He’ll get to travel, be in an upper-level role, work with cool people.
His story is one that demonstrates the way a internship can work:
He interned for a full school year with [...] Read more:Proud
Unexpected Charges or, A Day in My Life 2008-09-16 05:08:55 Here’s a fun story for you:
Our happy heroine buys a Blackberry cell phone (or her company buys her one—awesome!), not because she wants to have Internet everywhere but because she likes having a personal organizer with her phone. She learns her phone has wireless. She starts using it.
First, she gets a signal in a downtown [...] Read more:Unexpected
Saturday Round-Up 2008-09-14 06:47:30 Oh I have had a week, friends. Thank goodness for Saturday
s. Really. As scheduled, here are some articles I enjoyed this week:
Easiest Way to Get Your Credit Score Free: FYI my credit score in February was 760, and last night it was 704, according to Credit Karma, which this article highlights. WHAT IN THE WORLD. [...]
If You Have Good/Excellent Credit 2008-09-12 05:00:55 I last had my credit checked this past winter/spring, when I applied for an apartment rental, which I ended up passing on. I found out my score: I had a “very good” rating. From what I researched later about FICO scores, etc., the people with the highest credit ratings (above mine) are the people who [...]
My Food Spending 2008-09-11 07:25:44 The reason I’ve been spending so much less on clothes, honestly, is because I’ve been busy with other things, one of the biggest being food—going out to eat, cooking, etc. I have been checking out Bon Appetit magazines and interesting food memoirs from the library (don’t you love the library?), and I have been cooking [...] Read more:Spending
CMN Back-to-School Giveaway Over 2008-09-10 22:44:56 As I posted a few days ago, the College Money Network’s back-to-school giveaway is officially over, and there are a lot of prizes to be handed out! We’ve been wanting to formally announce who won what, but we’re still waiting for responses from a couple winners.
In the meantime, head over to the CMN’s blog for [...] Read more:School
Update to 2008 Goals 2008-09-09 05:54:43 In light of the stock market’s volatility, but with the optimism of an American who believes in the economy’s eventual improvement, I am still saving, but I’m making some changes/updates to my 2008 goals.
1. New Goal for down-payment fund: Deposit another $5K by December 31.
I like this goal because it is something I have control [...] Read more:Update
, Goals
[no excuses] 2008-09-08 06:07:31 OK, readers, time for a confession: this blog has been absolutely my last priority lately, and I’m sorry. I’ve found typos in dozens of my articles, just because I didn’t take enough time originally to read over what I was writing. And, you probably noticed, the quality of the content’s been a little lacking, too. [...]
saturday reading 2008-09-06 06:00:02 Happy Saturday! My plans for today include going out for breakfast, a $3 movie and an afternoon cooking. I *love* weekends. Hope yours is relaxing and enjoyable, too.
Here’s a round-up of posts from the past week:
10 Stupid Ways College Students Waste Money
I Can’t Pay All my Bills!
Banks Vs. Credit Unions
Clothing, Accessories, Shoes Hiatus at Well-heeled
Image: [...]
One Contest Down, but Here’s Another! 2008-09-04 22:45:24 College Money Network’s back-to-school giveaway is over, and the winners are currently being contacted about their prizes! I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about that, especially from the happy recipients! Thanks to everyone who entered!
Now it’s my turn to try to win a prize, over at 20s Money. The winner will receive a $250 American [...] Read more:Contest
Additional Income, August 2008 2008-09-04 06:22:39 (late, but not forgotten!)
EARNED INCOME:
$15 Blogging
IN THE WORKS:
1) Applied for a freelancing gig (received a follow-up e-mail on 9/2, so we’ll see where that goes)
2) Listed my old Blackberry (who can believe I have an old Blackberry) on eBay; got a buyer; he never paid; tried a second-chance offer; no response
3) Looked into more monetization [...] Read more:Income
, August
Saturday Round-Up, 10/4 2008-10-04 11:14:44 Here’s a taste of what you may have missed in the College Money Network this week:
Poorer Than You gave a brand-new HP laptop away (sadly, not to me. I tried!), but now Broke-Ass Student has one to offer. Entries must be submitted by 10 PM tomorrow night, so hurry over to see what you have [...] Read more:Saturday
Random Thoughts on a Friday Evening 2008-10-03 22:00:08 My stock portfolio, like probably everybody else’s, is at a new low. Let’s not talk about it. I promise I believe things will work out, and it’s not like I’m checking my numbers every day; it’s just Mint.com likes to e-mail me status updates at the end of each week. So I’m just saying.
The bailout, [...] Read more:Random
, Friday
, Random Thoughts
On Personality 2008-10-02 18:12:34 I am discovering, I think, that I might be a Type A person.
Type A, from what I understand, likes to get things done, likes to be prepared, likes to feel in control. This can be good, and this can be bad. Good: planning for retirement, being an effective employee, staying on top of responsibilities. Bad: [...] Read more:Personality
Additional Income: September 2008 2008-09-30 09:36:17 This month has FLOWN by for me, and, thankfully, that doesn’t mean my additional-income plans took a backseat to other life activities. Here’s the breakdown, in approximations to make it easy:
Work bonus: $300
Blogging: $120
= TOTAL $420 additional income for September
.
Previous totals:
August: $15
July: $22
June: $668 Read more:Income
Congress Listens! 2008-09-29 18:36:15 So I’ve never, ever written a letter to a congressperson before, even as I listen with admiration to my friend’s husband talk about calling his senators. But this bail-out thing got me so worked up, it was time.
And it seems like they listen. This weekend, my state representative, Congress
woman Judy Biggert, wrote back and said [...]
Saturday Round-Up 9/27 2008-09-27 07:47:41 Here are some highlights from the last week. Enjoy your weekends!:
WaMu Bought by JP Morgan, Don’t Press the Panic Button
Practical Steps in This Economic Mess
Win an HP Laptop!
Alternatives to the $700 Billion Bail-out
Evaluating Job Offers: How Much Do You Really Get Paid Read more:Saturday
What the Market Means to Me 2008-09-26 23:41:27 OK. So about the economy.
First of all, I am against the bail-out because it will raise our taxes and put us further in debt to foreign nations. I even wrote my congresswoman and one of my senators, as well as e-mailed a bunch of people in my contact list. Bottom line: whatever happens, I *hope* [...] Read more:Market
, Means
Dave Ramsey’s Take on the Bail-Out 2008-09-25 18:38:24 “I’d rather them work their own crap out than have us bail them out with $700 billion of our tax dollars.
I don’t like giving them any money or any help with my tax dollars. But I’d rather see that than see the whole thing turn completely upside down in a fruit basket turnover than have [...]
Enough Doom and Gloom… 2008-09-24 06:00:44 You guys are great. Really. Thank you to the really gracious, insightful commenters who gave me some food for thought about the maybe-Depression-like future of our economy. I have some responses, but they’re still mulling, and I will post when I have more clarity.
But what I really want to say is that, in light of [...] Read more:Enough
, Gloom
Are We Ready for a Depression? 2008-09-23 07:04:20 I was listening to someone this weekend talk about how our country is headed for further economic disaster. It was enough to make you want to take all you own and go hide away in a hole somewhere. Nonetheless, the doom and gloom did get me thinking: If a serious economic crash (we’re talking even [...]
This is my fall. 2008-10-14 20:40:50 I drive to work in the morning and pass one school and four big, yellow school buses, filled with children with backpacks, wearing thick jackets, smiling. I see neighborhoods of sprawling maple trees, their leaves varying shades of crimson, golden, deep burgundy. Trees also flank the highways, peeking out above embankments, marching in ordered [...]
My Thoughts on Credit or, this economy 2008-10-13 06:18:55 Here’s the thing about this whole economic mess: I feel like I’m the victim. Do you know what I mean? I do realize that I’m not the only victim, of course: there are the people who were talked into bad mortgages and the people who’ve lost jobs and (oh gosh) the people who invested in [...] Read more:economy
This past week 2008-10-09 21:05:05 I’ve been out of town, driving all over the Midwest, seeing old friends and visiting my parents at their cabin and coming back to work again. It’s been a busy week, a good week.
Last night and today, I caught up on all your blogs and our terrible economy and what everyone thinks about the bailout [...]
burned on eBay 2008-11-09 09:18:33 I have been burned
on eBay twice in the past few months. The first time, the winner of my old cell phone wouldn’t pay me. I finally filed a complaint, and NOTHING HAPPENED. Eventually, I ended up donating the phone to one of those charities that gives them to service people.
Then, last week, I was [...]
A Bit of Housekeeping 2008-10-31 22:40:49 When I updated my goals in September, I had said I altered my savings strategies a little and mentioned that, some time in the future, I’d like to save up for a new laptop.
What with all the sour news lately, though, I had sort of put that off on the back burner. Then my dad, [...]
Difference a Day 2008-10-23 14:02:13 It’s amazing to me how different life can be from day to day, and, along those lines, how absolutely impossible it is to measure the happiness of one’s life (or even the peacefulness or the conflict-free-ness of it) by one morning.
Take this week, for example:
Yesterday, because of a smallish mistake a restaurant made on my [...]
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