Comments on: Reader Mailbag: Kitchens and Careers

By: jb

jb — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:41:42 +0000

i always look forward to the mailbags! i totally support having another one during the week.

By: Hallie

Hallie — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:20:28 +0000

I love the reader mailbag questions, what I always look forward to the most! Yes, do another one on Thursdays!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:55:27 +0000

oh yeah, forgot… links don’t get moderated

Becky Joy– try capital one. You may not be able to get a rewards card right away, but you should be able to get a card with a small limit. They have several options for beginner cards.

Not sure why you don’t have a decent credit history now from paying off student loans though.

By: Becky Joy

Becky Joy — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:55:52 +0000

Hi Trent — I’d definitely advocate for a second reader mailbag. And here’s my question:

My husband and I are happy frugal types — we live within our means and are paying off our student loans ahead of schedule. As city dwellers, we’ve never owned a car. Neither of us has ever had a credit card, eschewing them for years as only for overspenders.

But we know that One Should Build Good Credit in case we want to buy a car or a home. So in the past few months I’ve applied for a few credit cards — two rewards-earning cards (i.e. Amazon.com) and then one through my local bank, figuring they would definitely approve me given my 10 year history with them and our sizeable savings account. But no go; I’ve been consistently denied.

So how does a 25 year old like myself open her first credit card in this financial climate?

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:06:47 +0000

@ Justin: You sound miserable! I’ve been there before, and speaking from personal experience, I couldn’t stay at my job AND write–it was killing my creativity. Have you considered finishing out the school year (getting your finances in order in
the meantime), getting a weird summer job (like grape-picking–something you can get a lot of ideas from that involves meeting different people and good hard work), and then settling down to PART-TIME work within the school system in the fall? That part-time work could include library assistant or office assistant work, as well as tutoring. Get one or two income-producing jobs that don’t take 8 hours per day. Split your workday between these jobs, using mealtimes as transition. For instance, work between breakfast and lunch writing, and work in the afternoons at school, finishing up with tutoring. As you make more money at writing, drop one of your part-time jobs–and always continue to look at jobs as a way to feed your creativity. Look for the strange jobs, seasonal jobs–things that will earn you money and also inspire you. Good luck!

@ Anita:
2 acres would make a sizable corn maze.

@Tas:
Since you’re planning a life change, I don’t think the term “emergency fund” applies here. You should have 3-6 months living expenses for your emergency fund (which comes out to $2500/month for you). Then you should have a “career change fund.” My husband and I are planning a small business, for instance, so we have our emergency fund and a small business fund. Since you know what your living expenses will be, you are doing the right thing by saving money to cover your cost of living during that time. If you work for another year or two at your current job, you should be able to sock away enough money for those two years of living expenses, in addition to your 3-6 month emergency fund.

By: Lexi

Lexi — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:10:12 +0000

Sue- Above all, get a crockpot! :)

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:46:57 +0000

I’d take the one mailbag and split it in half.

I’d also think that the poster who says you plant the corn in a pattern would be more correct than plant it all, cut it down.

By: Lexi

Lexi — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:28:37 +0000

Mailbags are one of my favorite posts. I would love to see these 2 or 3 times a week!

By: Jordan

Jordan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:28:03 +0000

Hey Trent,
I’d be interested to read more mailbags per week if you are interested to write them! One thing I’d suggest though is fewer letters per mailbag – one or two of the responses to this week’s mailbag felt a little rushed or canned, so fewer letters would give you more time and space to respond to them.
Thanks again for everything!
Jordan

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:58:31 +0000

The additional mailbag day could be done as an experiment for a few months ( 6 perhaps) to see how much time it takes and reader response.
Keep up the great work!

By: J

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:57:52 +0000

@Steve — an emergency fund is based on keeping 3-6 months of expenses on hand. It’s kept in a safe medium (like a savings account) and not touched except in the case of en emergency. Birthdays, Christmas and Thanksgiving do not count as emergencies.

With $4K coming to you soon, I would recommend two things. The first is, yes, pay off that CC debt. Alternatively, since you are planning on a move to NYC, you might want to hold off on that so you can pay for first/last month’s rent, deposits, moving trucks, etc. The second thing is to adjust your tax withholding so you aren’t giving the government ~$330/month of free loans. In a perfect world, you could neither owe or get a refund on taxes — but if you can get things set up to get it adjusted to within a hundred dollars plus or minus, you can consider yourself a winner.

With moving to NYC you can likely cut expenses by not having a car (look into zipcar if you need occasionaly need a car, plus walking/bike/public transit), not to mention roomies. Or you can just forego having a “home” (or go in with roommates) at all since as a starting attorney you’ll just be at the office all the time, anyway :)

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:49:00 +0000

I think that teachers don’t get paid enough for all that they do, especially the good ones who really like what they do. My son is in special ed in elementary school and it is amazing to me to see the progress that he has made this past year. We are fortunate that he has very passionate teachers who love what they do, and it shows. As a society, until we place a higher value on education, teachers will not be paid what they are truly worth.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:40:25 +0000

Yes!Another reader mailbag! Or even a few posts from readers who have been influenced by your site.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:02:09 +0000

Yes, I would really enjoy another reader mailbag!

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:34:53 +0000

I read your website daily and try to follow as much of your advice as I possibly can. I began my career as an attorney this past August. I currently have a modest salary. I have a $4000 tax return coming to me on Thursday. I would like some advice on what to do with it.

I currently live paycheck-to-paycheck, but pay off all of my expenses and have left over money after each month that I use towards paying off my credit card debt. I have a $1,000 emergency fund. I have $7,000 in credit card debt and around $200,000 in student loan debt (Undergraduate and Law School). My student loan payments are approximately $800/month. I pay approximately $200/month in credit card payments, plus whatever I have left over at the end of the month. I am also planning on moving to New York City, where my rent will be around $1,200 per month, rather than $615 per month. In addition, I’d like to start to contribute to my 401(k) when I become eligible in April.

I figure you are going to tell me to put all $4,000 of that towards the credit card debt. I really like the idea of having a big emergency fund, in case anything ever happens. With a student loan payment of $800/month; Credit Card payments of $200/month and Rent/Utilities of $1300/month, I would have approximately $1,300 left over per month for food, other expenses, etc. Should I use my $4,000 tax return to lower my credit card balances, or keep it in savings/checking so that I can use it if I need to? I’m not talking about blowing it on stuff, but just having it to use in case of an emergency or a birthday or something of that nature. Thanks.

By: ML

ML — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:34:23 +0000

Yes, to the extra mailbag. I can relate to a lot of the questions that are selected.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:29:02 +0000

Pursuit of Peace…. (my mantra)
I am a new subscriber and found this blog in an article I read looking for some RSS feeds to help me get through the day to day. I have been really working hard on researching and reading helping to make peaceful decisions if that is even possible. I can attest that it is with time :). I really enjoyed reading the questions from your readers because they are very facinating and I say that because you know exactly what they are going through financially because you have been there or you are going through the same thing BUT with your own life’s twist. With that being said I thought I would seek some advice for my current situation and somehow from reading these posts I think I know your response but like any human I too need that extra reassurences.
I have recently acheived credit card debt freedom and have learned the tricks and the trades of maintaining good credit. I have a mortgage that is thru the roof and my house like so many others is not worth the land it is on but I continue to pay my mortgage even though I feel as though I am being robbed each month that I do. The kicker is that it is an interest only loan, and I say that it pains me yes, I was very young + naive and now I am just young. The loan is on an ARM and will change in 2013. $1470 is my payment each month and none of that touches the principle. I don’t qualify for a loan refi since the house is worth seriously nothing what I paid, the loan officer said “he had never seen anything so bad” which in this economy …. you get the point. I don’t qualify for a loan mod well because I make my payments on time and I don’t qualify for assistance. I am not going to walk away from my home either, I bought it, it is my home, I must pay for it. This is where my questions come in…. What should I do? I have school loans kicking in at the end of the year, will have my second degree in May. I owe around $12,000 on my vehicle, and have managed to save enough money for a rainy day (3-5mo) since I have been in this pursuit to actually get in a position financially where I am not living paycheck to paycheck, there is no peace in that. I was wanting to know if I should continue to pay just interest on the home? or pay my vehicle off first, to secure funding for my school loans when they become a bill. Should I be paying principle on my mortgage??

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:27:30 +0000

I like the mailbags a lot for the variety and the opportunity to think about a lot of situations I haven’t encountered before. I’d enjoy it if you added another one on Thursdays.

By: lulu

lulu — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:39:12 +0000

Please do a Thursday Q&A.
They are very fun even though I don’t always agree with your answers…

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:01:44 +0000

Anita, it sounds like you are making careful considerations about the corn maze plan. I just wanted to make sure that you are considering parking, signage, and advertising in your overall costs. How is your location? You are choosing to go by your house, but since you are buying land for this, perhaps another location (near a major highway which out-of-towners can find easily and can advertise itself to passersby) is better. Then pray like the dickens for perfect weather each weekend. Finally, fall agritourism typically either grows (add pumpkins, add hay rides, add a bbq, add animals, add contests, etc.) to keep people coming back each year or it peeters out after a few seasons. I don’t know your locale and the source of customers, but I just wanted to share my thought that this plan might become more consuming than you had hoped (since you want to leave time for the non-profit). Best of luck to you.