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Personal Finance: Learn From Others

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®
personal finance
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When growing up you probably looked up to your parents, teachers, older siblings, or other mentors that were in your life.  You may have even tried to imitate them, just as I did my older sister (except for that blue lipstick phase she went through – she was on her own).  It’s no surprise that we learn most of our spending and saving habits from those we surround ourselves with.

My Dad is good with money and I think that is where I get a lot of my personal finance passion from.  I love seeing money grow by investments and trying to calculate out the future value of a dollar.  I know, I know – I’m a strange duck.  But that’s okay!

personal finance
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It’s important before going out on your own, or if you are out on your own before making mistakes to learn from others about their personal finances.  Now, I am not stating that you need to go digging into your boss’ bills or expense records because that would be wrong, very wrong.  But what I am saying is ask questions and then listen to the answers.

Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

– approximately how much do you save out of your paychecks?

– do you follow a monthly budget?

– how did you create your budget?

– do you see a financial planner?  (FYI – I always recommend seeing a financial planner, this is their job and it is what they are trained to do!)

– what are your life goals?

From there just let the conversation flow.  Learn from people around you when it comes to finances, or any area.  People would be willing to talk about what works and what didn’t work for their families.

What Are You Afraid Of? Facing Your Fears

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Take a deep breath.

Your parents and loved ones are still going to love you.  You aren’t going to disappoint anyone and if you do, then perhaps you didn’t mean that much to them in the first place.  If you make the wrong decision then more than likely, it won’t be the last decision if you ever get to make.  You can change your mind and shift gears.  Years from now, if you realize it was the wrong decision then you can make a new one.  You are able to point your life in any direction that you want.

You will still be loved at the end of it all.  Sick of a job then pick a new one.  Want to get into a new field then study up on one that interests you to learn as much as you can about it.  Don’t like the city you live in then save money and move to a new one.  Tired of the daily grind then find something, anything that you are passionate about it and go for it.

face your fears

It’s easy to tell yourself these things, but it’s another thing to actually do it.  So, take a deep breath and leap.  You will land on your feet.  It might take you some extra time to perfect that landing, but you will do it.

Here’s to taking chances, changing your life for the better, and being happy.  You have to be your own knight in shining armor.

Cheers!

October Wrap Up and November Goals

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Blogger GoalsOctober has come and gone; and now November has flown in.  I feel like October flew by so much faster than September, but perhaps in all technicality that’s not true.

Let’s see how I did in October, here’s a refresher for last month.

1) Get everything in order for our wedding in ONE month – PASS!  We were married last Saturday.

2) Book a few more side hustle jobs – FAIL! I did not get one single side hustle for the month, but I was a bit distracted.

3) Pay $200 towards our smallest debt – FAIL! I had some dental work come up and that drained our savings and an extra money we had for the month, you can read about that here.

4) Take the dogs for more walks – FAIL! We played a lot more, but didn’t get to the actual walk around the block part.

5) Finish the Dave Ramsey videos – PASS!

Now let’s look forward to the next month and set some new goals.  Goals are important to me, they keep me focused and on task.  I have tendency to be distracted by shiny objects and if I don’t have something to pull my attention back to where I need to be then all hell can break loose.  So, let’s get into it.

My November goals:

1) create a new budget
2) Set some monthly, quarterly and yearly goals for myself
3) Take the dogs for more walks
4) Develop a game plan for Christmas shopping
5) Pay off our smallest debt

I feel like I need to bring it all in for one last “go team” cheer.

Cheers!

What I Would Do Differently As A College Student

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®
college advice
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In college you have friends, professors, advisors and mentors that you follow and look up to.  With all of that help and guidance it’s hard to say that you ‘missed’ anything.  But for me there a few things that I wish I could have done differently.  Now that I am older and maybe a little wiser I would like to pass down that infinite wisdom to other college students.  I wrote a letter to incoming freshmen a few months ago, but there are always new areas to learn from.

First, take more pictures.  Back in my day I didn’t start college off with some fancy iPhone that could snap video and pictures with a click of a button.  Nope, I had to carry around a digital camera in my clutch.  Sometimes that oversized wristlet did not go with my outfit and I wasn’t about to leave my ID, money or phone at home so the camera was left behind.  Man, if I could go back to some of my favorite memories and just have a camera in my hands – that would be awesome!  I would love to have documentation of those crazy, awesome, never happening again moments.  Mainly for proof that it actually happened and then secondly so that I don’t forget 30 years from now.

college adivce
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Second, intern more.  I had one real intern throughout college.  It was for a local advertising firm.  I liked it just fine.  It was not what I dreamed of, which is probably why I am not pursuing advertising today.  I learned the hard way, real fast about office politics and why Ms. Big Client’s kid got all of the good assignments even though they were a complete screw up and had no idea what responsibility was.  While I sat at the front desk answering calls and designing the boss’ personal Christmas party invite.

If I could go back, I would have found an internship each semester to do and possibly a second one during the summer months.  I would have not worked so much at a job I no longer have so that I could have experienced more in fields I was interested in.  I could have built my resume to be pretty strong and made a lot of connections in the real world.

That’s it.  Two simple pieces of advice for today’s college students.  Read it, learn it, and then go do it.  Don’t regret your actions so that you can not move forward, but simply learn from others so that you can better yourself.

Cheers!

5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Graduating College

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

The other day I was having a conversation with my parents about life, childhood, and the fact that I am getting married, which blows my mind.  We were talking about life in college and how I could always hear my parents advice in the back of my mind, which guided me.  Or as I like to think kept me from having too much fun, until that one day at a local bar where a friend of mine got drugged because she took a drink from a cute guy.  The cute guy’s friend offered me a drink that looked eerily similar to my friend’s and I turned it down because I heard my Dad’s voice telling me not to take a drink that I didn’t see get made.  At that moment,  I couldn’t understand why the guy instantly lost interest in me… I was cute, I was funny, but why did he stop talking to me?  The next day as my friend was really sick and couldn’t remember the night… it hit me, I know he lost interest because I turned down his drugged drink.
5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Graduating CollegeI really think that with their guidance I have made it pretty far in life with not many bad moments or memories.  My parents always helped and were there for me, sometimes they would let me figure things out on my own; and those moments were harder for me.  Once I graduated with my Masters and started really thinking of my career is when I realized I still had quite a bit of learning to do.

I always hear advice from family, friends, and sometimes even strangers about life.  Sometimes their advice is solicited and sometimes it is not.  So I listen to learn.  There are times that their advice misses the intended target or I have to learn on my own.

Here are 5 things I wish I would have known about before graduating college:

1) Trust your gut when it comes to your career.

5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Graduating College
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it’s important to know that it’s okay to walk away.  Do not waste time in a career that is not right for you.  Now I am not suggesting quitting a job without any source of income or another job.  So, bide your time, look for a new job and when the time is right for you, make your exit.

For example, I thought retail was the answer.  My major in undergrad was Marketing – Retail/Merchandising.  That must mean I wanted to work in retail, right? No.  H-E-double hockey sticks No.  I tried it after college, full-time.  The hours were not great, I missed J in the evenings and on the weekends, and the part that determined my exit was being tossed around and had smoke blown in places that it should not be blown.

2) Don’t lose your best friends.  

My mom always said that there will be friends that go with that phase of your life, but then there are special friends that you will carry through every phase of your life.  It’s important that you keep those people you love, and to keep them, you have to be willing to work at those relationships.

3) Getting an A or a B really doesn’t matter.

5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Graduating College
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I wrote about this in a letter to the incoming freshman class awhile back.  I wish I would have taken it a bit more seriously in college and would have had a bit more fun.  I am not saying that I never had fun, but there are moments that I missed out because I was worried about getting that A.  It didn’t matter.  I’ve never been asked for my GPA or class rank.  I think the degree I earned speaks for itself.

4) Don’t replace the busyness of college with an overwhelming workload.

5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Graduating College
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In college I was actively involved on campus with several clubs and my sorority, and I always had something to do or people to talk to about something.  After college I felt the need to keep myself busy and threw myself into my job.  I wasn’t getting paid that great and there was really no room for me to grow, and I had just set the precedent that I would be available at 10pm Monday-Friday and anytime on the weekends.  When the time came for me to get a life outside of work and I met J, it was hard for my coworkers to swallow that I would only be working 45 hours a week and not 60.

5) How much work it is to be an actual adult without the label of being a student.

I never realized during college how much work and planning it takes to be an adult.  There are responsibilities that come the moment without any hesitation once you walk across that stage and receive that empty leather diploma holder.  I am not talking about bills being due or needing food and shelter; I am talking about the social responsibilities.

Don’t get me wrong being an adult is 1000x better than being a student, but sometimes I wish I could go back to that irresponsible student if only for a moment.

Cheers!

September Wrap Up and October Goals

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

october goals

September is almost gone and October is right around the corner.

Here’s how I did for September:

1) side hustle – 95%

eh… not the best, but really this was my first month at trying to make any money on the side.  So, with that in mind I am not disappointed.  I sold an order on Etsy, which just made me do a happy dance.  I joined Elance and had one completed job that I got paid for.  With two success I would give this a 95%. I had hopes of making more, but I will take it.

2) purchase the big items for our favors – PASS

Our favor items have been purchased and now we move on to the next project.  It was such a relief the night J and I went to multiple stores to buy all the different pieces we were looking for.

3) pay $200 towards our smallest debt – FAIL

We…er…I miscalculated our emergency fund total and that $200 went in there.  Now we are on track for next month and we will kick butt on paying off some debt.

4) fund our emergency fund all the way – PASS

It is such a good feeling to know that we are covered for any unexpected events.  We do not have to stress if the car breaks or freak out over an unexpected bill.  This makes me a lot calmer and probably nicer to be around.

5) knock out ¼ of the remaining Dave Ramsey Videos – PASS

We do not have that many videos left and we are ahead of schedule.  I think I am learning too much, if that’s even possible.  Sometimes I like to quote Dave Ramsey and J is not amused with me, especially when we are in public.  I like to think I am passing around useful information to those around us, but he does not see it that way.

October goals:

1) Get everything in order for our wedding in ONE month – CRAZY!
2) Book a few more side hustle jobs
3) Pay $200 towards our smallest debt
4) Take the dogs for more walks
5) Finish the Dave Ramsey videos

We are getting married in one month and two days.  Just seems crazy that my life is where it is.  I am so excited for our future together and the years that we have ahead of us.  I think we are in a good place and ready for this step.  It’s just crazy!

Cheers!

A Life Lived

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Last night I had one of those down moments.  Where everything just seemed to be going wrong.  There is not enough time to get the details done, I haven’t found time to finish thank you cards for a shower, J could not do anything right, the dogs were driving me crazy, and I just needed to sleep.  It was a mountain to climb and I just did not have the strength to even try.

Those nights it is just best to call it a night and lay down to sleep.  I woke up this morning in a much better mood, realizing that things aren’t as overwhelming as I tend to make it.  Surprise!  I have a clearer outlook for today and spent time to make a list of what needs to get done.  I do love a good to-do list more than most things.

Life lately has been one big, fun ride with trips to see family, friends, and outings with some pretty fun people.  There are times when it hits me that this really is a great part of my life.  I am getting ready to marry by best my friend in less than 2 months.  Even though I get stressed out with wedding details, all the car rides for work and to see family – I am truly blessed.

life lived
DColeman Photography

Counting my blessings.

marrying J
two sweet, sweet dogs that truly love me unconditionally
a nice place to call home
a job that lets me have flexibility
great friends that have been there for me through so much
new friends that really make me feel like myself
family that has always supported me
J’s family that is there for us
the desire to be healthier and cook more at home

life lived

Life is good.

Cheers!

How We Are Gaining in Our Personal Finance

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

managing personal finance

J and I are working hard to get control of our personal finance before we are married, which is why so many of my posts lately have been about money.  Well, that’s not the only reason – I actually am interested in it.

  Here’s how we are gaining control:

1) we communicate.  It may come as no surprise, but to work out a budget with 2 incomes the people bringing in the money must talk to one another.

2) bi-monthly budget meetings.  J and I get together when we get paid which is every other week to talk about what bills need to be paid and how we are doing on our personal finance.

3) allocating money.  We know how our money is going to be spent before we ever spend one dollar.  Basically, we know that J’s income goes to certain bills and mine goes to certain bills.  At that point anything left over goes to our savings and/or debt.

4) talk to someone we look up to.  My Dad is really good with money.  I mean scary good with money, but that’’s his job and that’s probably why is so good at it.  We talked to him about what our goals.  It’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas that has been there done that.

5) we are taking Financial Peace University.  This is probably one of the biggest things that has helped us so far with our personal finance.  First our number 4 point, my Dad pointed us in this direction and encouraged us to take the classes.  Second, everything else that we were already being successful at prior to FPU (points 1-3) were taught in FPU, which made us feel that we were on the right path.  We are learning how to save money and pay off debt with the snowball effect.

That’s it.  5 simple steps and we are gaining control over our personal finance, our budget, and building a savings while paying down our debt.  It’s pretty neat how it’s all coming together.

Cheers!

Developing A Budget As A Couple

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

tips for developing a budget

It’s no lie that finding someone, dating them, and then planning a wedding with them can be a bit difficult at times.  Combining two ways of doing just about everything to create one unified way can be frustrating and asks for a lot of compromise from both people.  That is the same for when you are asking two people with separate incomes, separate budgets, separate bills, separate bank accounts (wow! that’s a lot of separation) to come together to make a single family unit.

A team approach is the best.  You have to realize that the debts are no longer his and hers, they are now yours.  You have to plan to payoff the debts together and in a way that works best for the family unit.

Developing a budget is key.  As Dave Ramsey (roughly) says “You have to spend every dollar on paper before you actually spend it.”  That means calculating both incomes, all payment of bills, and putting aside some to savings.

As you might guess, J and I have been taking Financial Peace University.  While we aren’t finished with the classes yet, we are making progress.  Recently, we sat down to make a new budget that worked for us.  We kept finding reasons to not commit to a budget, but then we weren’t getting anywhere.  Here were our excuses reasons:

1) we just moved and had a lot of unusual spending – such as our final bills for our old utilities, moving truck, extra gas for driving further than normal, etc…

2) weren’t sure what J’s new monthly income after taxes and 401(k) draws was going to be

3) I switched to salary with my job and again, we weren’t sure what my monthly net income would be.

See, reasons.

tips for developing a budget

We were tired of reasons and it was time to get started.  I took Dave Ramsey’s forms and made a basic template using our monthly bills that we can hang on our fridge to talk about when monthly bills come in and get paid.

Cheers!

Quarter Life Opportunity

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Quarter Life Opportunity

Ever read something that just hits you like a ton of bricks?  And you’re left standing (or in my case sitting) there like “wow, that is so me.”  That happened to me the other day when I ran across fellow blogger Cat’s article in the Huffington Post called “Quarter Life Crisis or Quarter Life Opportunity.”

I have been following Catsince she started, but those days I had another blog and was pretty quiet on the blogosphere.  I’ve seen her grow into this great blogger with great posts and this article is no different.

I have been saying for years (well at least the past 2) that I am going through a Quarter Life Crisis.  I do not know which way my life is going to turn, I am panicked that I do not have a “career” yet, and I do not own a home.  My “crisis” hit on my 25th birthday, I went out with my best friend and got rip roaring drunk.  I woke up with not only a headache, but also a knot on my forehead.  I only remember bits and pieces of the night including the start, the middle and a random 40+ year old lady telling me that she’s been clubbing for over 20 years.

Since that night, I have worked to find a purpose in my life.  I did not want to be someone who had been clubbing for 20+ years, and as a girl that hardly went out in my early twenties I highly doubted it, but still – it was scary folks!  I am lucky that I found someone to share my life with, someone that deals with my panic moments of being an adult with no career who thinks that defines my purpose.

I work hard, I do.  I am willing to be the first one in the door and the last one out.  I am willing to take all the responsibility that I can for my workplace.  I take calls from angry clients that do not understand something, I make the hard calls that need to be made, I get more stuff done in an 8-hour period compared to majority of people I know; however, it does not feel like a career.  I am not where I wanted or more importantly, where I thought I would be by my late twenties.

However, I need to stop looking at it as a “crisis.”  The position I am in is good.  I am still young, I do not have small children to feed or shelter, just two furry dogs that I think are my children.  I am educated and love school so the idea of furthering my education always makes me happy.  I have family and a fiance that will support me.  I love all aspects of business and being creative, so the window is wide open for me to pursue a plethora of options.

Why do we, as mid to late twenty-somethings think that we are not living up to our potential when our lives are not what we dreamed when we were 12?  This, my friends, is not a bad thing.  It’s an opportunity to create the life that we want, even if you are like me and are not sure what that life looks like.

There is not one job or one career out there that will satisfy every aspect of what makes me happy.  Maybe that is what the world is evolving into, individuals with multiple jobs and not the typical 8-5, Monday through Friday.  Perhaps our generation will be much more fulfilled than the previous generation.  Our generation will be able to have a healthy balance between family, work, and play because we will design the jobs that we WANT to work around the life that we WANT to live.

I know that when I go to work each day and feel that I have a made a difference, am happy with my overall performance, and have moderate amounts of stress (because I am weird and like some stress) then I know that I will have found my calling.  Until that moment, I will continue working hard at my 9-5, designing prints for my beloved Etsy shop, and creating for this little blog of mine.

Cheers to the opportunity that is in front of us!