Financial Tales of an MFA Nothing
I've been chewing on this for some time. Although I can't technically give you "financial advice," I guess I'm egotistical enough to think that opening up my own ups and downs financially over the last two years might be of use. At least, it might be entertaining. Here are some good, bad, and uglies I've compiled:
Things I Did Right:
* Before I graduated, I had four months of living expenses covered.
This actually came from my experience as a freelancer (aka sometimes employed, sometimes not) in between undergrad and graduate school. You just never know what's going to happen. And four months covers the entire summer following graduation, which to me seemed like a good amount of time. Waiting through an entire season/quarter allows for the possibility that the job market might totally blow when you graduate, but take a turn by the fall. It also gives you plenty of time to explore all of your options. Of course, it turned out that when I graduated, I was starting a company, and so the savings became even more important. (more on this later)
* I got a reliable used car with good fuel efficiency, and I've maintained it.
A 2000 Toyota Corolla. You see this car everywhere in Los Angeles, and that's not just hyperbole - it's got one of the best MPG next to a hybrid. And it doesn't need a lot of repair. And unlike my past experience, I've been diligent on taking it in for it's quarterly tune ups, which really is SO much cheaper in the long run.
*I moved close to where I work.
No joke! I saved a lot of money on gas between this and #2 above. Plus, it turns out car insurance is significantly cheaper in Venice than where I was living in Hollywood (I saved $400/yr). Also, because it doesn't take me very long to get to and from work, I'm much more motivated to fix my lunches and cook dinner in the evening.
* I bring my lunch to work.
The average work lunch at TGC is around $7. Times five per week, four weeks a month, and that's $150/month.
Things I Did Wrong:
* I bought a car too soon after graduation.
While at USC, I had a 1994 Acura Legend. For those that saw it, it was a disaster, primarily from one hit-and-run (I was the one hit), and one fender bender that was my fault. No internal damage, but the frame was bent in a few places, and repairs to get it to a somewhat normal looking state would have cost me around $1500. Plus, I was paying around $750/year to keep it running. Looking back, I should have sucked it up and paid those costs and just driven the car right into the ground before even looking at a new car. It would have probably given me 2 years to save up some money for the next vehicle, or to go towards the student loans.
* I spent my new salary too soon.
After being a student for 3 years, I got excited by having a full-time salary again. Of course, what killed me is that although I knew it would take awhile to negotiate our contract on flOw, I wasn't pessimistic enough. In the end it took 6 months for it to happen. That was 6 months with no salary. Remember - I had 4 months saved up. It was a brutal time, and I had to live off my credit cards. The American Dream!
* I didn't keep a budget, and didn't keep aware of upcoming expenses.
I'm still trying to get better at this. But thesis time is almost like the holidays - there are so many unexpected costs, so many small things that come up, that it's easy to throw up your hands at the whole notion of a budget. Correction - it's really effing hard to keep track of your budget at all. Especially if you don't even know what your income will be when you graduate. If I did it again now, I still don't know that I would be any better at it. But, these are my suggestions. Draw up a current state of your budget, and allocate the money you can spend on your project. Be pragmatic. And then, stick to that. And if you go over, take the money from somewhere else (dining out is usually where I hit first).
Suggested Reading:
I've been taking a lot of inspiration from these blogs:
Gather Little by Little - note that the author is a Christian, and so will weekly bring in inspiration he's gotten from the Bible, but whether you take inspiration from the Bible or not, his anecdotal posts are useful
Both of these blogs link to a slew of other financial blogs. I particularly like the two above because they aren't perfect people, and tell you so.