Pragmatic Finance

This is my first time hosting a festival. For those that are unfamiliar, this new carnival is aimed at collecting advice and information that would be financially useful to those under the age of 30. Both young and old can submit articles and there is also a specific question each week that you can answer if you wish. If you want to participate in the next edition at Ninja Pigeon, head on over to the blogcarnival and submit your post. Don’t forget to answer the question in the comments field too. I tried to point out things I liked about the articles or give comments when I had time to fully read them.

Sally at Through a Glass Darkly wrote an article which answered my question in the form of a letter: Financial Advice (a letter to my younger self). This was a great piece that really illustrated some of the common challenges when a person first enters college. She tells her younger self about the important of learning to manage money for the first time and making budget priorities. A great read.

Noah Kagan discusses 12 ways to save money in college at Okdork. He shows a great explanation of the benefits of being a resident assistant, both in terms of housing and food discounts. Hmm, maybe I should have done this… Some other great points that I have done are working at a restaurant for free food and taking out subsidized loans and placing them in an online savings or money market account.

Penny Nickel of Money and Values decides to set some very specific goals by Estimating her Annual Retirement Expenses. This is part one of a series on retirement planning in your 20s. She does a great job of realistically looking at what kind of income she will need after retirement and comes up with a 25k ballpark figure, much less than the common 6 figure amount many people say they would like but don’t look at how much they will have to save to reach that.

Mike of College Student Financials tells a story of a boy who decides it’s Time to buy his first car. He has had a car from his parents since 16 and now that he has finished college is wondering if he should buy a newer car that he can drive for a long time or buy an older one while he saves up some more money. I think the prudent thing is to buy the older one and save money. It would save a ton on insurance and interest payments. But that is a hard thing once you start getting those paychecks…

Ninja Pigeon uses a story about a friend named Kate to explain a common trend among young people, spending beyond their means. He is trying to throw her the Financial Life Preserver that saved him:paying yourself first.

Daniel at My Money Path gives us his list of Attributes that are essential for raises. 7 great tips. I especially like the ones regarding being the one the manager can count on and also recognizing that he is on your side too by helping you get better to better himself.

Frugal of My 1st Million at 33 discusses his Definition of Success that he learned when he was at a rough time in his life. Sometimes trying to do your best is all that matters.

Kira at Penny Foolish says that Sometimes I’m too caught up in what I don’t have. She points out that sometimes when she doesn’t reach her goes she doesn’t really think about how good she has done and how far ahead she is compared to most people at her age. It sounds to me like things are pretty under control when you can get stressed over Tickle reversals If you don’t know what that is, start reading her site!

David at the Good Human discusses the types of Consumer Debt and how it hurts your mind as well as your wallet. A great point at the end about setting priorities and teaching your children about finance before they head off to college.

Beachgirl’s Budget Blog advises a way of tracking your spending as part of a series on debt-proof living. The key here is to form weekly spending reports for a month and compare them to your monthly pay to see which is higher. Then you can try to cut out expenses you don’t need to get under budget.

Free the Drones explains what he believes is a Dysfunctional financial personality: The foot dragger. A very interesting analysis of people who live carefree and procrastinate in financial planning for retirement and what you should do if you fall into this category.

He just laughs talks about Reasons for using a Roth IRA. A lot of great information and advice here. This is something every one in their 20s should be considering.

Laura of Then Things advises us to Expect the Unexpected and predict your emergency expenses. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in squeezing every dollar out of our investments and online savings accounts that we forget that sometimes we need access to cash for emergencies.

Jeannie of Bouncing Back wonders Should you have more house or more life? When you go to buy your first house a big decision is how much to spend. Many people buy the biggest they can afford but this can sometimes leave you house rich and cash poor.

Bryan C. Fleming discusses When to blow some cash. Some great ideas here relating setting goals and rewarding yourself when you achieve them.

Chuck of The Finance Journey talks about the Lessons Learned from selling his home himself. A great read, especially for someone like me who has no first hand knowledge about buying or selling a home.

Mmm…Life takes a look at how many people attempt to Get Rich Quick in life by being frugal and depriving themselves of many things they would enjoy. He ponders whether it is worth it or if you should enjoy life to the fullest. Always good to look at things from a different perspective.

Eric of Money Crashers takes a look at Four types of insurance you must have at all times. One he mentioned that I hadn’t thought much about was long-term disability insurance. He also gives a different take on life insurance than I see many give and it makes a lot of sense.

Debt Free compares Small Cap Growth versus Value Stocks. This could be an interesting read for those that already want to get more involved in how their savings are invested.

F. D. Bryant gives a tip to pay off debt in 1/4 of the time by managing your payments so that more goes toward your principle.

Ricky of Wealth Building World discusses one of the biggest money mistakes: not having something specific to save for and writing those goals down.

Answers to this week’s question If you could go back and tell yourself one piece of financial related advice as you first entered college or the job market, what would that be?

Penny Nickel says I’d tell my college freshman self to learn about credit and credit reports ASAP, so I wouldn’t end up with the charge-off on my credit report for the small medical bill I was too stubborn and disorganized to pay.

Hah, yea I had a charge off on mine from when I was like 16 and never paid for some membership in some cd company. I think that was the reason my credit union wanted a co-signer when I first applied for a credit card.

Mike answers I would say do not put yourself in debt no matter what. No matter how easy it is to do or how tempting it is you will regret it for the rest of your life. Debt is evil in college! Great point. I might argue that unnecessary debt is evil. I wouldn’t fault anyone for taking out student loans because they couldn’t pay tuition otherwise. Now going out every night and charging it on your credit card…

Ninja Pigeon explains that he would tell himself Be more interactive with my peers. Networking is perhaps one of the best tools for keeping your career on track; the more people you know, the easier it gets. This is something I am starting to learn too, the importance of getting to know people, especially in your field to help you get that foot in the door so you can show the company your abilities.

Daniel says Let’s see, one piece of advice for myself would be to convince myself to be a saver and not a spender. I still struggle to this day with this area. Mostly because of bad habits I picked up in college. Do whatever it takes to save money. This is probably one of the most common bad habits, especially when we are younger.

Kira reiterates a common theme: I wish I would have told myself not to spend all my damn money! I had no concept of a budget or a savings plan or anything like that when I went to college, and I shudder to think how much money simply went down the drain.

Free the drones says I’d advise myself to make more effort to avoid student loans. Turn in those FAFSA forms early to the financial aid office, go in and ask them about private scholarships you can apply for, and send out as many as you can - it’s a numbers game, so applying to one or two isn’t going to cut it - there are hundreds available if you put in the time.

Laura says I would tell myself “don’t stress out, you will find your dream job in time”. After a summer of many interviews and no hiring I was just about ready to give up. Your first job out of college will probably be the hardest one to get but don’t be steered away from your dream, keep at it and it will happen!