Advice from Alice

[baldwinscholars]

The medical school application, and how not to lose all your marbles

by Rae Dong, class of 2011

This began as a few tips on how to budget for medical school applications, but has turned into thoughts on the process overall. To all the pre-med Baldwins about to begin this process (or will at some point), best of luck! Though it is very long and arduous, I think it is also every bit as rewarding. I promise you’ll emerge even more excited to become a doctor.

Budgeting

1. Know how much you can / want to spend. It is helpful to have a ball park figure in mind at the outset of this process so you know how much money you need to earmark and avoid potential headaches down the road. It is probably no surprise to you that this process is expensive. For simplicity, you can assume ~$40 per primary application, and ~$100 per secondary. Then factor in travel expenses and it all quickly adds up. For reference, I applied to (a fairly standard) ~20 schools and spent all in, ~$5000. I was very fortunate to be doing all of this on a generous consulting salary so I didn’t have to limit the number of schools I was applying to on the basis of cost, but whatever your financial situation it is worth considering the schools you would seriously go to with a critical eye before pulling out the credit card.

2. Group interviews when you can. Most schools are receptive to emails letting them know you will be in the area so you can knock a couple of interviews out on one trip. Also, this is common sense, but once you know you’re going to an interview, book as soon as you can!

3. Look at alternate airports for cheaper flights (especially if you are going to the middle of nowhere). For example going to my Mayo Clinic interview, I met many people who flew into Minneapolis and then took a bus to Rochester for more / cheaper flight options. I did not think to do this, but I might have saved a couple hundred dollars had I been savvier.

4. Use those frequent flier miles. Make sure you’ve signed up for the rewards programs ahead of time because miles do add up!

5. Stay with students. Aside from being a major cost saver, this was actually my favorite way of getting to know the school. They often gave awesome talking points to the – why xx school question, and staying overnight is also an invaluable window into what your life might actually be like next year. The downside is you might not get as much rest if the option is a sleeping bag in the living room, but ultimately the choice is up to you.

6. Don’t interview if you’ve already gotten into a school you would rather go to. There is nothing wrong with declining an interview offer. (You will not hurt their feelings.) Don’t spend the unnecessary money, and someone else is likely to be hoping for that interview spot.

7. You don’t need an expensive looking portfolio; however you should invest in a nice suit. I usually brought a copy of my application along with me, but I was never asked to refer to it during any of my interviews. A 2 dollar black folder worked perfectly well for this and more times than not, it stayed in my bag. On the other hand, make sure you feel comfortable and look polished in your suit. (Also, bring an extra blouse and stockings just in case.) Business formal wear is an important investment that you should not skimp on.

8. Make a trip of it. I tried to schedule Monday or Friday interviews and took the opportunity whenever possible to stay the weekend and catch up with friends in the area or just explore the place a bit more. While you’re in town, it’s always great see what the city has to offer beyond the walls of the medical school. Just because you’re doing med school interviews doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have fun on your trip. Also, try not to let the travel stress you out. Sometimes cancellations and delays will happen, but building in cushion travel time allows you to be open to adventure. On one of my trips, my connection through DC was cancelled and I ended up with an 8 hour layover in Salt Lake City. Instead of going stir crazy at the airport, I drove into the city and took a spontaneous tour of the Mormon temple, then got to see a couple of old friends over brunch. The point is, be creative and have fun with the opportunity to travel to places you might otherwise not have a reason to visit.

  General advice on the process

1. Run your own race (even though it is not really a race). Try very hard not to get sucked into the negativity that is all too easily found all over the student doctor network (would suggest avoiding this website like the plague). The amount of advice out there is overwhelming, and there are endless services willing to take your money to edit your essays and tell you all the right things to say. Frankly, there is not one right way to go about this process. Don’t feel like you need to do something just because someone else did it that way. Trust yourself and do what makes the most sense for you.

2. Be organized. This is easier said than done, but it is imperative to stay on top of the application (particularly the secondary process). Pace yourself, prioritize the schools you’re most interested in, and keep all your logins / passwords / deadlines all in one place. Use excel to track your progress. (Happy to share my nerded out and color coded tracker if you’re interested).

3. Know when you’re done. You should absolutely have people read your essays and provide feedback on how to improve clarity and check for typos. However, too much input is also a terrible and frustrating thing. At some point, enough feedback is enough. Make it clear if/when you want someone to read only for grammar and punctuation rather than style or content and don’t feel the need to make everyone happy. Your own opinion is the one that matters most.

Interviews

I will keep this brief. In retrospect, I found this part of the process to be the most humanizing, and even enjoyable. The hard work is done, and at this point you and the school have a chance to become better acquainted to assess whether you are the best fit for each other. There are a million practice interview books out there, and you can get lost in trying to prepare a response to every single possible question, but ultimately there are 3 things you need to know well.

1.Your application. Know this backwards and forwards. What you say needs to be consistent with what you have written that got you the interview in the first place.

2. Why you want to be a doctor. This should be obvious, but it is actually not the easiest question to answer succinctly. Practice this and know it cold.

3. Why you want to go to X. school. Again, obvious, but you should have a few points prepared that are unique to your own background and experiences.

Oh, and don’t forget the thank you notes.

In sum, keep the big picture of all your motivations for pursuing medicine in mind, and try your best to enjoy the process – you’ll have much more success if you do! I’m happy to try and answer any other questions about anything along the way.

[baldwinscholars]

Leadership Vision

Leadership Vision – What is it, Where to find it

Laura Welch, Class of 2008

As a second-year Tuck MBA student with a solid work history, academic background, and active extracurricular involvement one might expect that (like many of my Tuck colleagues), I am confident that my professional future is bright. This would be a rational assumption from the outside looking in, but if you asked MBA students directly, you might get a very different response, and unfortunately, I am not excluded. Somehow, the advent of my second year and being one year closer to the very permanent nature of full-time employment has not instilled the type of confidence and clarity that one might imagine. Instead, this time has been marked by fear, questioning, and bearing witness to the “herd” mentality – as evidenced by the astronomical number of students applying for a limited number of consulting positions at McKinsey, Bain and BCG. While I (thankfully) did not jump on the ever-popular McKinsey, Bain, BCG bandwagon, I cannot say that I am immune to this form of career myopia.

In a particularly low moment of career angst, I paused and asked myself a few fundamental questions - given the tremendous opportunity and possibility that a top MBA program affords, why do so many budding MBA students think that their professional future is limited to the fields of consulting, banking and general management?  How did the makeup of post-MBA career “success” become so limited? Where are our examples of those shining MBA graduates who actively sought out careers that matched their skills with their passions, instead of falling into jobs whose recruiting process, promotion cycles and total compensation were just “too good” to pass up? And, most critically, will I graduate as someone who actively pursued a career that spoke to my interests, passions and skills or will I fall in line with the rest of the troops?

I recently received a sage piece of advice from Mark Ranalli, a serial entrepreneur and Tuck alum who visited my Strategic Leadership class. Mark noted that it is no more risky to start a new venture than it is to join a big company. I will extrapolate Mark’s conventional wisdom to say that it is no more risky to pursue a job you are excited about than it is to pursue a job that is attractive (largely) based on compensation and a straightforward recruitment process.  A fellow Tuckie, Joya Zuber (T’13) was recently featured in a BusinessWeek article about MBA grads switching careers and is an excellent example of someone who had a vision for her post-MBA career, a passion for a certain field and the chops to back up her case for employment.  Joya, who had extensive experience in banking and hedge fund management prior to Tuck, moved to San Francisco in June 2013 without a job but with a clear vision for her career – she wants to manage a team of engineers at a tech startup and notes “I’m willing to be patient if it means coming out of school with a job I love and not just a job.” 1

Career & Leadership Vision

Joya’s words, “coming out of school with a job I love and not just a job” deeply resonated with me and helped to provide the necessary perspective to get me out of my career “rut” and fiercely committed to finding a job that inspires, challenges and excites me. Stew Friedman, a management professor at Wharton defines one’s personal leadership vision as “a compelling image of an achievable future.” 2

According to Friedman, a personal leadership vision should:

·       Focus your attention on what matters most; what you want to accomplish in your life and what kind of leader you wish to be

·       Is rooted in your past, addresses the future, and deals with today’s realities

·       Represents who you are and what you stand for

·       Inspires you, and the people whose commitment you need, to act to make constructive change towards a future you all want to see

In moments of angst and confusion, I now draw from the aforementioned inspiration and remind myself of the many leaders, some of whom have MBA’s and some of whom don’t, who used their personal leadership vision (which I have expanded to include “career vision”) to shape their next job / opportunity instead of letting it be defined by someone or something else. I humbly offer my leadership vision below; in hopes that it might help others further clarify theirs:

·       What matters most (in the near term) is that I obtain a job in the next year in an exciting industry, within an organizational culture that aligns with my values, working with leaders who will groom and develop me and most importantly, that allows me to solve interesting business problems that are at the intersection of organizational behavior and strategy.

·       With the changing demographics of today’s global population and the rapidly changing labor market it is more important than ever that companies are nimble, creative and strategic when it comes to developing their talent – I want to be at the forefront of helping companies shape their talent agenda.

·       At my core, I am someone who is most fulfilled by the process of value creation – for individuals teams and institutions.

·       I am inspired by the ability to transform organizations by helping leaders (and their organizations) reach their fullest potential.

Putting my leadership (and career) vision on paper has given me a sense of peace and restored the confidence I had when writing my MBA application about the type of leader I would like to become and type of career I would like to pursue. I gained inspiration by moving beyond the realm of professional possibility to thinking more critically about personal integrity the requisite passion to make my dreams come to fruition. 

 1 http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-18/more-mba-grads-are-switching-careers-as-job-market-improves

2 http://blogs.hbr.org/2008/08/title/

[baldwinscholars]

Shopping for a Professional Wardrobe on a Budget

Swathi Padmanabhan, Class of 2010 

Eventually, you will all hear the words, “Congratulations, you got the job!” And congratulations are in order, because everyone knows how hard you worked to get there. But there will probably come a point—well after the excitement has worn off and you start thinking about the logistics of moving—when you open your closet and realize that while your wardrobe is great for the college/graduate student that you are, it isn’t going to cut it in your big girl job.

  The goal of this article is to help you prevent the “WHAT DO I WEAR?!?!” panic attack that would otherwise cause you to pay full price for clothing you don’t love to fill the void in your closet. By giving yourself time to search for the perfect pieces, doing research in advance of a shopping trip, carefully assessing the fit of a garment, and being creative with the options available to you, you can feel as great in your suit as you do in your jeans. After all, just because you’re becoming a fully-fledged grown up doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with fashion, be comfortable, and still look professional.

  The basics:

  ü       Tip #1: Care about your appearance.

  By now, it’s no secret to you that women in the workplace are judged on their appearance more often than men are. For example, the statistics say that a tall woman achieves more success than a short one. But for many of us, that ship sailed years ago. The good news is that how you dress—along with the stellar, confident attitude you have gained through being a Baldwin Scholar—can help offset this so-called deficiency, and any other you may have heard of.

  Why? Because when you look pulled together, it enhances your confidence, and your superiors see someone they can bring to a client meeting on short notice and represent the firm/company/office well. Of course, this is just one of many factors that determine whether you will climb the corporate ladder. But given that there are so many you can’t control, why not outperform on the ones you can?

  You don’t need to go from being a complete tomboy to Elle Woods. Far from it. But putting a little thought into the image you want to present can be helpful to you.

  ü       Tip #2: You MUST set a budget and STICK to it.

  Once you’ve decided on the image you’re going for (i.e. your professional style preference), the real challenge will be to find clothing that fits within that framework while still being affordable.

  Perhaps this goes without saying, but regardless of whether you are shopping at H&M or Neiman Marcus, you MUST set a budget and STICK TO IT. I can’t emphasize this enough. Image is important, but it is not worth losing your financial security to attain it. Shopping can be dangerously addicting, and building a professional wardrobe over a period of time (as I suggest below) can result in the need for Shopaholics Anonymous.

  So my advice: be smart and set realistic style goals and know that you don’t need a complete wardrobe immediately. If you are pressed for time or are worried you won’t be able to contain your urge to shop too much, buying the basic essentials for fifteen outfits will tide you over as you continue to responsibly shop for affordable pieces.

  The following blog posts on one of my favorite fashion blogs, Capitol Hill Style, indicate the fifteen foundational pieces of every business casual wardrobe and give suggestions on how to mix and match these items to make a variety of outfits: http://caphillstyle.com/capitol/2013/05/08/building-a-wardrobe-15-easy-pieces.html and http://caphillstyle.com/capitol/2013/05/09/building-a-wardrobe-outfits-from-15-pieces.html.

  So, if your budget is limited, focus on acquiring these fifteen items. As you become more comfortable financially, you can start expanding your closet.

  So, you’ve decided on your style and have set a budget. Now what?

  ü       Tip #3: Know Your Office Dress Code.

  Workplaces can range from business formal (suits and hose. All. The. Time.) to casual (flip flops and t-shirts are staples at Quinn Emanuel, a California law firm). So, how much you need to overhaul your closet depends on (1) the type of clothing you like to wear in your personal life, and (2) the dress code your office enforces.

  ü       Tip #4: Be Creative With Your Existing Wardrobe.

  As Duke women, you are probably all fashion savvy. Chances are, at least some of the pieces in your college/grad school wardrobes can easily be incorporated into your professional wardrobe.

  So, before you start shopping for new clothes, go through your closet and try to re-imagine your favorite pieces on a pencil skirt or dress pants. If you need a little help, consult fashion blogs. My favorites are Extra Petite and Wendy’s Lookbook. But others I’ve found helpful are Alterations Needed and Capitol Hill Style. Several of these blogs target petite women, but the pictures alone can be instructive, whether you’re 5’10 or 5’2.

  Make a list of what you have, what you need, and if your budget allows, what you want. This will give you a more targeted approach to shopping and will help you avoid unnecessary spending.

  ü       Tip #5: Give Yourself Time to Build the Ideal Wardrobe.

  Ideally, you will love every piece of clothing you buy. It will be versatile, durable, chic, comfortable, and within your budget. And if that sounds like wishful thinking, I swear it is attainable if you give yourself time and wait for the right sales.

  If you start this process at least one year before you need a professional wardrobe, you can take advantage of fantastic end-of-season sales.

  Given the need to avoid compulsive spending (which happens a lot when I’m constantly looking at affordable pieces on sale), I often find myself going through the following decision tree (Yes, PPS 55 IS actually useful!) for items that are within my budget:

   “Is this something I can wear BOTH at work AND in my personal life?”

If yes: is it similar to something I already have in my closet?

·      If yes: don’t buy

·      If no: will this be a versatile piece I can wear with a large number of items in my wardrobe?

If yes: buy

If no: put it on hold (or leave it in the shopping cart and come back to it a few days later and reassess)

If no: don’t buy

  I can’t stress the importance of putting things on hold or leaving them in your online shopping cart for a few days. It is one of the best tools I’ve learned to stem impulse buying. If you truly love it, you won’t be able to get it out of your mind. That’s how you know that it will become an integral part of your wardrobe.

  ü       Tip #6: Become acquainted with the types of sales each store you’re targeting has.

  Two fashion blogs, Corporette and Alterations Needed are my go-to resources for weekly sales roundups. This is a good starting point if you have a list of stores that you know fit your style and body type well. Monitoring these sales can help you take advantage of big savings opportunities. An extra bonus: both blogs also provide coupon codes you can use.

  Having been at this for two years now, I can tell you the following:

  o   J. Crew: The best sale I’ve seen at J. Crew is an extra 50% off sale items during the winter-to-spring transition in January and February. Typically, though, anywhere between 30-40% is the best it will get, so if you see something you like, go through the above decision tree and assess whether it fits your needs.

  Note that J. Crew lists its coupon codes as applying to Final Sale items only. This is not true. The codes always work for sale items, whether they are on final sale or not.

  o   Ann Taylor: Ann Taylor routinely has 40% off sales and is known to permit the use of stackable coupons when shopping online. So if the company advertises a certain percentage off WITH NO COUPON CODE REQUIRED, you should go to Retail Me Not or other coupon hubs online and search for additional coupons. This will enable you to get 40% off plus an additional X% off because of the coupon you were able to stack.

o   Banana Republic: Banana Republic typically hovers in the 30-35% off range, though if you shop in store, they will give you coupons for 40% off one full price item every Wednesday of the month. You can use these in-store and online.

  o   Nordstrom: Nordstrom has a little known but quite phenomenal price-matching policy. They will basically match the price of any online retailer, whether it is a direct competitor (i.e. Saks, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, etc.) or not, provided the item on that website is available in the same size and color that you wish to purchase from Nordstrom. I use the policy to take advantage of Nordstrom’s superb return policy (any time, anywhere, for any reason).

  o   Saks Fifth Avenue: Saks has its best sales on Black Friday and December 26th with sales of up to 80% off. However, their end-of-season sales do often have items that are 60-70% off.

  ü       Tip #7: Shop with a critical (but helpful) friend.

  Building a professional wardrobe requires knowing what types of clothing flatter your body type. Many women struggle with this, so don’t panic if you’re not sure what works. The problem with mass clothing production is that nothing fits anyone perfectly. The key is to find those pieces that fit the best, then visit a tailor to further customize the fit (see Tip #10). So, I suggest shopping with someone who will give you an honest opinion while you’re in the fitting room. Alternatively, ask sales associates to help pick clothing that they think will work for your body. This is part of their job description, and chances are, they will be helpful.

ü       Tip #8: Ask for discounts, always.

  I always ask for discounts when I go shopping. I used to feel weird about it, but the worst sales associates can say is “No,” and sometimes, they surprise you.

  o   J. Crew offers a 15% discount in-store for students. They say this is for full price items only, but I can’t tell you the number of times they’ve given it to me for sale items, even when I was already using the extra X% off discount, just because I asked.

  o   Banana Republic also offers a 15% in-store discount, but they are much more stingy, and typically won’t let you combine your student discount with any promotions. It’s worked for me a few times though, so I still recommend asking.

  o   Ann Taylor and Loft offer 20% off for students on all full price items. I have never been able to get them to apply the student discount to sale items.

  o   Macy’s offers an 11% discount card for foreigners visiting the US. So, for those of you who live abroad, you can pick one up at the store’s Visitor’s Center.

  o   Many outlet stores offer an AAA discount. I’ve used it at the Banana Republic and Ann Taylor factory outlets before. Most outlet malls also have a coupon book you can collect at the Visitor’s Center for free if you are an AAA member.

  ü       Tip #9: Use online tools to notify you of sales.

  o   Shop It To Me (www.shopittome.com) is one of my favorite services. You can set your size and brand preferences, and it will email you a certain number of times a week (you get to choose the number) indicating which stores have items in your size on sale, along with prices and special coupon codes.

  o   Shopping Notes (www.shoppingnotes.com) can allow you to flag specific items while they are regular price. It will automatically email you when that item goes on sale.

  o   Brand/store emails: If you find yourself returning to the same stores repeatedly, consider signing up for their mailing list. I would exercise caution here, however, because these stores have a tendency of blasting you with enticing emails that can promote impulsive shopping. If necessary, keep a separate email account for these emails; you can access them if necessary without having to see them every day.

  So, what do you do if your budget just doesn’t enable you to pick up an entire wardrobe from Banana Republic, J. Crew, or other more mainstream professional wardrobe destinations, even if you stalk the sales?

  ü       Tip #10: Buy clothing from discount retailers like Nordstrom Rack or Loehmann’s and find a quality tailor who will alter them to fit.

  The fit of your clothing ultimately determines how put together you appear. You can spend $3,000 on an Armani suit and still look like a little girl playing dress up if the proportions are off. Conversely, you can buy a $50 suit from the clearance rack and look great if your suit fits as it should. So, regardless of your budget, I recommend finding yourself a quality tailor.

  What Constitutes Quality: I’ve found that the best tailors are those who custom make menswear (i.e. suits). These tailors have the best understanding of how garments are constructed and are better able to take clothing apart to make the necessary adjustments for your body.

  How to Find a Quality Tailor: Yelp is a helpful tool. I also ask the tailors at Nordstrom and Saks whom they recommend for custom jobs. Also, scour fashion blogs for suggestions. When deciding on a tailor, always ask to see examples of previous work, and ask lots of questions about their background and experience.

  If you keep these tips in mind, stay calm, and give yourself time, you should be able to create a fabulous wardrobe that is within your budget and makes you feel good about your appearance. Good luck with this process, and above all, remember to enjoy yourself! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 

[baldwinscholars]

Why I'm Not Ashamed (Anymore) About Living at Home

by Shari Baker, Class of 2010 Baldwin Scholar

Laura Welch (hey Laura!) touched on this topic two months ago. From the moment I graduated from Duke, I moved back home. At the time, I thought this move was temporary and I was determined to move out as soon as I got my first teaching job. Well, PG County did not hire me until a week into the school year, at which point I was scrambling to put together units and purchase supplies for my classroom. I did not have time to think about moving. A few months into my first year of teaching, I started to get the hang of things and started up my apartment search. I quickly realized there were no apartments that I could afford in any area that I would want to live in. Being the child of a CPA/CFP, I have no debt, I have never lived beyond my means, and I was not about to start making insane financial decisions now. I sadly resigned myself to the fact that I was not leaving the nest anytime soon. I described my  “basement apartment” to my students, co-workers, and basically any other new person that did not already know my shameful living conditions. 

 Ultimately, I realized that many other 20-somethings are living at home and that they are not (all) freeloading, lazy offspring that cannot keep jobs. After some reflection, I also realized that it is a very Western concept to move out of your parents’ home for no apparent reason other than “freedom” (I majored in Culanth by the way!). In Trinidad, for example, most people live with their families until they are married (unless a job, education, or other opportunities require a move).  Sony, one of my best friends at work, is two years older than me and also lives with her parents. She is Indian and for a while even Sony’s older sister and kids were living in the parents’ house as well.

To make a long story short, I am writing this from my condo in Isla Verde, Carolina, Puerto Rico. It is one of three places my boyfriend Michael and I are renting as we explore the island and learn Spanish. We are here for 6 weeks and one reason I can afford it is because I don’t have to pay rent back in the states while my boyfriend and I are living here. The money I would normally spend in rent-about half my monthly take-home pay working as a public school teacher-I put into my ING account. How many 24 year-olds do you know with 40K of their own money in the bank? That’s what living with your parents for 3 years can save you! Whenever I am ready, I will have a solid down payment on a house, a good budget for my wedding, or enough capital to globe trot for 6-8 months! Beyond that, I still save $150 each month for big purchases I may want to make in the future. The rest of my take-home pay goes to my car note, car insurance, gas, cell phone bill, food, and fun (Don’t worry Kelley, my pension is taken out of my paycheck automatically and I put a couple grand into my Scottrade account annually!).  Water and utilities are free (and I’m not gonna lie, my mom buys most of the food. If she is feeling extra generous, she even fills up my tank when she borrows my car!) Also as Laura mentioned, I get to spend my money on experiences. I probably went to the mall 6 times in the last calendar year and I’m not planning on shopping at any malls here in PR either. But I went to St Maarten, Miami, Key West, and the Bahamas last summer, you already know where I am now, and Michael will spend Christmas and my birthday in Trinidad with my family and me!

Are there annoyances associated with living at home? Obviously! I don’t throw parties of any sort. Aside from VERY CLOSE girlfriends, I don’t invite anyone over, and when my boyfriend visits, he has to sleep on the couch. When I am at the point of storming out the house and signing the nearest lease I can find (and there have been several of these moments!) I log on to my ING account and stare at my savings and all is well. Knowing that I have more cash in my bank account right now than most middle-aged, middle-class adults will have in their lifetime calms me down and makes me grateful that I have a mom who lets me live at home for free. If you work anywhere near your parents' (or aunt’s or cousin’s!) house, take an honest look at your bank account and budget and consider whether moving back home is worth your while. It definitely is for me! 

[baldwinscholars]

Finances and Living with a Partner

by Brittany Hesbrook, Class of 2010

  In the summer of 2012, I moved in with my significant other of almost 2 years.  

The most common reactions and advice I received included: "don't fight over the little things," how to "live with a dirty, icky boy," and how to get used to having the other person around "24/7."  What no one talked to me about was how to work out finances with my new roommate/boyfriend. 

Those of you who have lived with roommates/housemates might think that living with a significant other is the same as living with a roommate.  My experience is that it is very different, in a lot of good ways, but especially when it comes to finances!

With a roommate, the lines are automatically clear. Yours. Mine. With a significant other, everything is OURS. The house or apartment is ours, the utilities are ours, the internet and cable are ours, the groceries are ours, and, if you're like my boyfriend and myself, we picked out the furniture together, so the furniture is ours.  I even think of the money each of us earns as "our money" as opposed to "my money" or "his money."

How do you split the expenses evenly if everything is shared without keeping constant tabs? 

Obviously, it is a given that communication is key.  Communication is a key pillar to all good relationships and so it makes sense that this is no exception! 

When talking about money, I offer a few helpful suggestions: 

Come to the table prepared-

The most important thing I think you can do before talking about finances with a partner is figuring out how you see and feel about money. As I said earlier, I think of the money I make as "our money."  I stopped thinking about it as "his money" or "my money" when we moved in together because in my view, everything goes to us so there is really no need to differentiate so much. But this is not the right attitude for everyone! Not to mention some take the attitude of "money is ours" to the point of having joint bank accounts or credit cards where as Alfred and I do not.

Think about how you value money. Is money for security? For adventures? For a rainy day? Is money to "treat yo self?" How do you feel about debt? Student loans? Credit cards? Are you ok with being in debt and if so, how much debt? Are you ok with not keeping tabs/not splitting everything 50/50? Do you like to be in control of money? Would you rather be the one owing someone or having someone owe you?

Finally, after doing some financial soul searching, and before talking to your partner, decide what you want to discuss.  Do you need to decide who pays what bills or how you split the bills? Do you need a budget? Are you trying to save for a trip, an event, or an item? Is there a problem with a bill, the landlord, or with any current financial agreements between the two of you? 

I am a goal oriented person so knowing what I want to talk about and what I want to get out of the conversation really helps me. It also makes the conversation go faster and it helps to feel like I've accomplished something when the conversation is over. Talking finances can sometimes feel like a dark, bottomless pit but having a specific goal in mind makes it seem a lot more manageable!  

Part of coming prepared is also bringing any bills, bank account statements, paycheck stubs, loan disbursement or repayment information, credit card information, and any other financial information you may need to be well informed. There is no point to sit around and guess at your finances. 

Finally, bring a pen, paper, calculator, and any other device like a computer or phone that you may need. We have a big white board we like to use and I use the budgeting device from LearnVest on my phone. 

Set the mood-

Talking about money can be really stressful, but it doesn't have to be, and creating a good atmosphere is a key element.  One of the most important things I've learned is do not talk about money when you are already stressed, don't have time, angry (particularly if you're angry at the other person!), sad, with friends or parents, a little or a lot tipsy, tired, or hungry.  Seriously. Don't talk about money when you're hungry.  It's bad news.

It may or may not be worth putting more mental energy or time towards, but for some of us who really like planning events, thinking about where to talk (the living room, outside, the bedroom... :-D) or what snacks to make or movie to watch after talking finances can be fun and helpful when creating a nice environment!

Play to Each other's Strengths-

Alfred and I have a lot of strengths both as individuals and as a couple ("when our powers combine"). I am very good at organizing and time management. Alfred is detail oriented, event driven, and a very calm person. However, we also have weaknesses. I tend to stress and then cry. Alfred tends to run late.  

So, when deciding how to pay the bills, instead of splitting each bill 50/50, we decided each person would be in charge of certain bills. I am in charge of electricity and gas, and Alfred is in charge of the internet. We each end up paying more or less the same amount each month (gas and electricity range from $80-$100 and the internet is $90).  This makes it to where we can each pay the bills we are responsible for whenever we want. If I am late paying the bills I am responsible for, then I pay the late fees and vice versa.  

The benefit to this plan is that it eliminates stress, nagging, frustration, and anger about the payment of bills. We also play to each other's strengths by giving me multiple bills because I am good at organizing and giving Alfred a specific event to focus on by paying one bill.  We also chose not to focus on Alfred's habit of running late. He runs late and some of his bills are late; it happens, and when it does, he pays the late fees. The good news is that it does not cause us to fight, it doesn't cause me any stress, and I am not micromanaging him or nagging him to pay bills. For us, it's a win/win!

Be Honest-

Part of living together is deciding what expenses to take on.  Cable and internet are examples of expenses that people can have or choose not to have.  When grocery shopping, there are a lot of choices which can raise or lower a bill.  Honesty is essential to making decisions like these. 

I like TV, but I didn't want cable. It's expensive, I am in law school and don't need to be watching TV, and most of the shows I watch, I watch online. To me, we didn't need cable and just needed internet. I assumed because Alfred had a big TV and had cable at his old place that he would want cable. Wrong! He was on the same page I was and didn't want cable. It was important that I spoke up and was honest about how I felt or else we might have cable that neither of us wanted. 

Grocery shopping is another example where honesty helped us to manage our finances.  When we first started grocery shopping together for our new home, I wanted to shop at an organic food store, buy all local and organic produce, grass fed meat, hormone free milk, and free-range eggs.  We went to the grocery store and spent $250 for three days worth of food. I REALLY wanted to buy organic food, however, Alfred had to be honest and tell me the hard truth--we could not afford it. And then I had to be honest with myself, we could spend over $500 a week in groceries (and literally not be able to pay our rent after one money of doing that) or we could make a Plan B.

Being open to a second option, or Plan B, is always a great attitude to have when discussing finances. Yes, doors will close, we couldn't afford to buy organic food, but that doesn't mean that it's over and we should just eat at McDonald's every day!  We had to put a little more effort, but Alfred's Mom helps us buy produce at local farmers markets, we have been able to find organic products at commercial grocery stores, buying items in season or on sale in bulk helps, and we prioritize having certain organic items over others. 

Write it down-

Writing down financial goals, budgets, and responsibilities helps to make it clear and keeps us on track.  We have a large white board which we write down our chores, grocery list, daily or weekly schedules, appointments, bill due dates, and also our budget. When we pay a bill, we check it off. It's a good way to not be late on bills but also to remember which bills we are responsible for and it is clear to the other person. Additionally, when a goal is written down, it is much harder to forget about or ignore. And finally, writing down a grocery list keeps us on track. We buy what is on the list, not what looks good in the store. 

Reevaluate-

Finally, do not be afraid to revisit your finances or budget.  When we moved into our house, we had a VERY limited budget and lived off of student loans. However, this summer, I have a paying job! This called for a reevaluation of finances and made us realize it was time to create a budget.

Before this summer, as crazy as it sounds, we didn't have a budget.  Why didn't we have a budget? We didn't have any money! In a weird way, when you have no money, a budget isn't very helpful.  Our money was easily allocated (read: already spent) to our rent, bills, and food. We had no extra money and so we had no reason to create a plan on how to spend it on extra stuff or activities. 

However, now...we have some money! And there is something very true about that saying "more money, more problems." All the sudden, we can DO things! We can go out to eat, go see movies, maybe take a trip, buy some new clothes or shoes, it's bathing suit season, Alfred's gym shoes are worn out, ohhhh we can join crossfit, and because we are joining crossfit, then Alfred should go to the doctor for his shoulder and complete physical therapy, we should also buy supplements and vitamins to help, maybe some protein shakes, and we can finally buy all organic food (see above). And that was just a short list of things we thought about buying! So we had to prioritize and budget...big time!

We decided to wait until after I had gotten my first pay check (to see how much money I really was going to be paid after taxes, social security, retirement, etc.) and then make a budget from there using the above tips! Once I got my first check, we sat down to talk about what we wanted to prioritize, what we really needed to spend this money on, and also how much we wanted to save.

I am happy to say we are doing crossfit, I bought a bathing suit, Alfred is going to the physical therapist twice a week, we saw the new Star Trek movie, and went out for sushi to celebrate my job! The rest is going to have to wait but we now have a plan to save enough money for us to make it through an entire semester. 

Having a partner to help with finances is amazing! It is nice to not have to shoulder all of the burden as well as to have someone help realize what's important and who brings creativity to solving problems!

I hope you all found this helpful!  Please feel free to email me with any questions at [email protected] or comment with your own advice for finances and living with a partner!

Thank you!

[baldwinscholars]

Financial Decisions I Wish I Made

by Laura Welch, Class of 2008

You’ve decided to take the leap.  Congratulations! I’m thrilled that my fellow Baldwin Scholars will join the ranks of great doctors, lawyers, businesswomen, professors, researchers, etc. who will shape the future of this great nation. I have no doubts that each of you will make an indelible impact in your chosen field. However, if you are anything like me, I am not as confident that you will make sound financial decisions prior to graduate school.

As a bit of background, I am a first-year MBA at Tuck focusing on general management and organizational behavior. I have had a phenomenal experience in business school thus far – I visited South Africa for spring break, joined the campus band, attended my fair share of costume parties, ski-trips, formals, and the list goes on. I have a summer internship in hand and I’m ready to conquer the universe. Well, that’s the good news. What is the bad news? Well, it is the dirty little secret that flashy grad-school marketing pamphlets fail to disclose – an MBA, MA, JD, PhD, and MD, all come with hefty price tags.

So, unsurprisingly, when Colleen asked if I would be willing to write this month’s column on financial literacy, I immediately knew what to write about (drumroll….please) – the financial decisions I should have made prior to attending business school. I will preface the following statements by saying that my insights are largely based on my personal experiences and that of my classmates. These suggestions will have varying degrees of applicability based on a variety of factors (e.g. the type of graduate degree you plan to obtain, current financial situation, current job, projected financial aid).

Five Basic (Yet Imperative) Financial Decisions (I Wish) I made prior to Tuck

1)     Save. Now.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of saving RIGHT NOW. I don’t care if you are two months away from attending grad school or plan to graduate from Duke next month. Getting in the habit of putting a fixed percentage of your salary in a savings / investment account is a sound practice whether you ultimately decide to attend grad school or not. I would also recommend that the amount and rate at which you save should be based on the assumption that you will have to cover your graduate degree expenses out-of-pocket. Is this realistic? Maybe not, but doing so will force you to think critically about how much money you actually need to foot your tuition bill. I also suggest that you allocate part of your savings to a “rainy day fund,” ideally, using a high-yield savings account. This type of account is deal for this purpose as it offers competitive interest rates and quick access to liquidity. Another tip is to open a 529 Plan. This is a tax-sheltered account designed for college savings. However, these types of accounts can (generally) be used for graduate school, too! Finally, there are a number of educational tax credits that are worth looking into as you prepare for this financial investment. Please reference the “helpful sites” section at the end of this document for more information.

2)     Live within your means

A second and interrelated piece of advice is to live within your means. One of the biggest mistakes I made immediately after graduating from Duke and moving to New York was living above and beyond what I could actually afford. I lived in luxury apartment buildings, bought designer bags, took cabs everywhere, ate out frequently, and treated myself to vacations “just because.” Unfortunately, all of these bad financial habits took a toll on my savings account and forced me to “start over” when I realized how out of control my spending had become. Finally, as a general rule of thumb, I recommend that when you decide to make a large financial purchase, you choose experiences over things. While I still have some pangs of regret over purchasing a $600 bag I have never regretted my trip to Spain with my best friend.

3)     Don’t be afraid to live with your parents

I know, I know – you worked very hard to not have to live with your parents post-Duke, and I know how incredibly annoying your parents can be, however, this is a wonderful, short-term way to pocket your hard-earned cash! This is a particularly viable option for consultants or Baldwins who frequently travel for work. If the idea of living with your parents for a year or more is utterly reprehensible, consider living with them for the 4-6 months leading up to graduate school. Imagine – if you are paying $1500 per month in rent, after six months of living with your parents you will have saved $9000!

4)     Deal with Undergrad Debt

Given the (constantly) uncertain economic outlook, I would strongly suggest that you begin to pay down some of your undergraduate debt. Also, when you matriculate in a graduate degree program, you should commit to paying interest on some (or all) of your college loans. While you are able to defer monthly student loan payments in graduate school, the interest on these loans continues to accrue. Therefore, it is immensely beneficial to help shoulder some of this financial burden as the interest accumulates.

5)     Rent Don’t Buy

It would be wonderful if each of us had a crystal ball that allowed us to know the exact city, profession, earning potential, and partner etc. we could expect after finishing graduate school, right? Unfortunately, so long as this crystal ball is still being developed by engineers at Google – it probably makes sense to rent an apartment instead of buying a home. Renting vs. buying is a very personal decision but is no longer the “clear path to building wealth” given fluctuating home prices and interest rates. All too often, the cost of owning a home – including the taxes, interest, maintenance and miscellaneous fees –significantly outweighs the cost of renting. Secondly, many of my fellow MBA classmates who do own homes must deal with the hassle of tenant concerns and unexpected repairs / damage to their home while out of state. Building on this point, a very practical reason to rent instead of buying is that many of us have no idea where we will end up for graduate school. As such, do we really want to purchase a home in Minneapolis only to move to Palo Alto for the next 2-6 years for our graduate degree?

While I hope you will heed some of the suggestions above, I should also note that the period leading up to grad school is an amazing period for self-discovery and is a critical time to invest in yourself. Do not become so pre-occupied with achieving “financial fitness” that you neglect other areas of your development. Learn how to scuba dive (or code), travel to a foreign country, take a fun class a community college, quit a job you hate and find another one you love, go on a cross-country trip with your best friends from Duke – these are the experiences that will shape who you are, where you are going and who you will become and trump any good or bad financial decision during this period.

With that – I wish you all the best with your upcoming academic and personal endeavors and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any further questions!

Signing Off,

Laura Welch Duke Baldwin Scholar, Class of 2008

Helpful Sites

http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=mba_paying_feature

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/alpha-consumer/2008/04/07/can-a-401k-pay-for-grad-school

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/19/want-to-get-an-mba-buyers-beware/

https://blog.wealthfront.com/how-to-pay-graduate-school/

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Five-Ways-to-Offset-Education-Costs

http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/plus

[baldwinscholars]

Working in a Male-Dominated Environment

Merri Estren, Class of 2009

Hi Baldwins!  I have been loving these columns on financial literacy and thought perhaps it might be interesting if we broadened the columns to include our experiences in the workplace and what we’ve gained from them, so we can all potentially learn from each other.  As an up-front disclaimer, I by NO means claim to be an expert on the topic of working in large groups of men.  Every time I think I’ve got some aspect of it figured out, I run into new challenges and end up feeling frustrated but ultimately also learning something new.  For those of you who read this, I would love to hear your opinions on what you think of these tips (feel free to disagree) and to offer your own, because I could certainly always use advice for dealing with men in any sort of situation. (For. Real.)

 I’ve worked with groups of guys ever since I was an engineer at Duke, but my idea for this column was mostly brought on by my experiences working on an all-male team on an airlines project (the airlines sector at my firm is completely male dominated) in Manila in the Philippines last year.  This was an extreme example of a “work with all men” situation, as not only did I have to see them for minimum 10 hours a day just for work, but I basically lived with them, traveled with them, and went out with them, as we were in a very intense environment and all living away from home.  So, a lot of things got amplified and at times I thought I honestly couldn’t handle it, but when I look back on the experience, I realize how instrumental it was in shaping my views on how to work with guys (for better or for worse).

 So, without further ado, here are some things I’ve learned that hopefully will be helpful if you are ever in a male-dominated work situation…

Set boundaries inside the workplace from the beginning of the project

This is really important to do, and really important to make clear from the start.  In my situation, I was actually more senior than any of the other guys, and because sometimes I tried to be their friend rather than their superior in the workplace, I often was disrespected.  Particularly if you are managing guys, make sure to pull them aside at the start of your project or piece of work with them and lay down some rules about how you work, how you like to be reported to, how you expect communication to go, etc.

Do your best to not take insults or crude remarks personally

This is really hard for me.  I am of the opinion that if you’re offended by something, you should speak up.  However, when you are the only female surrounded by a group of men, it’s more than likely that they will feel the need to make crude jokes, insulting remarks about women in general, or share generally disgusting stories about themselves (eg, let’s all discuss the weirdest places we have peed) just to see how you will react.  I know for a fact (as they told me this was on purpose later in the project) that a lot of the time, a guy may just be saying these things to try to get a rise out of you.  I’ve found that the best reaction to utterly absurd remarks is to raise an eyebrow or give them a short disbelieving stare but not react more than that, and definitely not to start arguing back or yelling at them.  (Particularly if these remarks are actually occurring in the office itself.)  By basically ignoring them when they tried to get under my skin, I’d find that they soon stopped with the crude jokes…at least for the day.

Another thing you may have to deal with is casual insults that subtly undercut your ability.  In my project in Manila, we were a very junior team where I was essentially the most senior person aside from upper management.  Towards the beginning of the case, almost every day, one of the guys would make a remark something along the lines of “Man, I really wish we had more experienced people than you to manage us.”  I initially took this really personally and was quite hurt, but by the end of the project, I would typically just respond with “Well we don’t and I’m confident in how well we can work together as a team, so let’s think about how to do X” and then change the subject.  It’s amazing how much better men respond to you when you are matter of fact as opposed to emotional.

However, know your limits as to what kind of behavior you will and won’t tolerate, and plan a response for comments or behavior that you find to be unacceptable

I would like to reframe the above by saying that you definitely should not be afraid to get mad if something truly awful is said.  The guys that I worked with did indeed say some truly awful things about women (girls they were dating / cheating on or crude remarks about their female friends) and this was usually not in the actual workplace environment, so I would respond differently if I was really offended.  Saying something like “You know, that’s a really sexist remark” without laughing and just staring them down goes a long way.  If things got really bad, I would remove myself from the situation to ensure I didn’t say anything really mean that I’d regret later.

If you are frustrated or upset, leave the situation temporarily to get some space and gather your thoughts before coming back to the work environment

So yes, that leads right into my next point.  I haven’t read Lean In yet (my copy is being shipped all the way from America so is taking a while), but apparently in the book Sheryl Sandberg asserts that it’s sometimes ok to cry in front of your colleagues.  I adore Sheryl and she is my idol but I may have to politely disagree with her on that point.  I would sooner have hurled myself out a window than cry in front of the boys that I worked with in the Philippines.  Unfortunately, there are many men that will absolutely see crying as a sign of weakness.  Although it unsettles them and in some cases may result in them feeling bad about something they’ve said or done, ultimately, I think it is negative for your working relationship.  As a really emotional person and as someone whose job basically controls her personal life, I am still learning how to process my emotions when my job is not going well.  The best action I know how to take for myself is just to say you need a minute to think things through and then either go to the bathroom or better yet take a quick walk outside.  After five minutes of alone time, I can almost always gather the strength to go back and face the situation.

Outside the workplace, decide on how friendly you want to be and think through how this will affect the workplace environment

Once you’ve figured out what your working relationship is like, try to then think through similar boundaries for an out of office friendship.  Sharing every little detail of your personal life with them probably isn’t the smartest idea.  But going out for drinks and sharing stories about other people at the company or people you have in common is obviously fine.  I am not the best at boundaries (aka, I would be happy to tell someone I’ve recently met most of my life story), so if you’re at all like that, think through what you say before you say it!

Except in very rare situations or circumstances, do not hook up with your male co-worker(s)

This seems obvious, right?  Wrong.  The real question for me is why wouldn’t you want to hook up with a male co-worker?  After all, they are the most accessible population, and if you are in a company where you work long hours, you will be seeing a lot of them, and they probably have the same interests as you and understand your lifestyle, etc etc.  But as someone who has made this mistake, seriously…don’t do it.  It won’t ruin your career, but it will more than likely make you feel horrible for quite a while afterwards.  Even if you are the type of person who can separate physical from emotional intimacy, it is much, MUCH more difficult to do when you have to see the person every day and work with them and act like nothing has ever happened.  If you must do it, I shall support you (because it’s fun and daring), but choose wisely – aka, hooking up with your direct manager or someone you are supervising takes all of the aforementioned and makes it far worse.  If your target is in your peer group or in a different department, that situation is certainly far easier to navigate.  Oh, and hooking up with multiple guys in the same office?  Don’t think for a second that people will not talk about you behind your back, because they will.  Choose one target if you must, and for goodness sake be discreet about it.

Accept that (particularly if you are managing guys younger than you or close to your age), you will not always be liked

We’ve all heard it before – men who are assertive go far, whereas women who are assertive are seen as bitchy.  I love and need to be liked.  I am only just starting to accept that not everyone who I manage will like me.  I would love to be seen as that awesome smart cool manager who’s my friend but also does such a great job at everything, but we can’t always be everything at once.  The best response to obstinance or a bad attitude is a calm and collected front.  When I was confronted with annoyed responses such as “This is an impossible task” or “I will not be able to do this” I would say something along the lines of “I know this is really difficult and I’m sorry, but we have to make our best attempt before going back to the manager so we can say we’ve tried every possible path of research”.  Don’t apologise too much, but a well-placed “I’m sorry” when a team has to work late or do something unreasonably annoying (as is the case in consulting at least once a week) can definitely show your team you do care. 

Learn to strike a balance between having fun and being professional

This was all just really serious.  Please don’t think for a moment that working with an all-male team is not heaps of fun, particularly when you are all in a foreign country getting $20 bottle service at a club followed by free room service when you get back to your hotel.  One of the aspects I love most about my job is that many of us hang out outside the workplace frequently and some of my closest friends in America are the people I started with at L.E.K.  (Ok so they’re mostly women but that’s beside the point.)  Working with an all-male team in such an intense environment turned me into a more spontaneous and fun person, so don’t be afraid to have a good time outside the workplace.  Just keep in mind that sometimes the female-male dynamic can be delicate and be aware of your surroundings and the attitude of your male co-workers. 

I am (mostly) convinced that the key to success in an all-male environment is being sure enough of yourself to stand up to them when you need to, be their friend when you can, and soak up both positive and negative aspects of the situation to make yourself a better professional in the future!

[baldwinscholars]

My friend, SmartyPig

Colleen Scott, Associate Director

If you can withdraw several thousand dollars on a whim to take a European vacation, this column is not for you.

I am the type of person who worries on a constant basis whether I have enough to retire.  Enough will never be enough because what if ______ (fill in the blank) happens?  So I would never (read: NEVER) take money out of my savings for something so extravagant.

Then I read about SmartyPig.  It is an on-line savings program where you set a goal (trip to France, wedding, home improvement project, etc.), target date, and the goal amount and it takes money out of your checking account on a monthly basis.  I started small ($100/month) and I truly don’t miss this money.

Your account is interest bearing and FCIC insured.  There is no cost to establish an account and no fee to withdraw the funds.  You have flexibility so if you need to stop saving and regain access to this stash, you can.  When your target date arrives, you can either have the money transferred back to your checking account, or applied to a debit card or variety of gift cards.

It’s an almost pain-free way to save up for something that seems out of your financial reach.

Nice piggy.

[baldwinscholars]

Using Personal Finance Software

Sarah (Gordon) Komisarow, Class of 2008

I have been using personal finance software – i.e. the help of a computer program – to track my spending and saving since I was 14 years old.  When I was younger, I hated doing this.  My parents forced me to track my spending (it was part of the responsibility that came along with having my own debit card), but I was lazy about keeping track of receipts, never reconciled my accounts, etc.  I found it frustrating – mostly because I let receipts and bank statements pile up for months on end – but now I find it liberating.  I know where all of my money is at all times, I know exactly how much I make after taxes and how much I spend each month, I never worry about whether I’ve paid a bill, and I can make long-range decisions about my saving and spending with just a few mouse clicks.

The main benefits of personal finance software – as I see them – are control and the peace-of-mind that comes with knowing where all your money is going.  It can also help you organize bills, stay on budget, track expenses (by category), manage debt, and watch investments grow.  Importantly, developing a routine with personal finance software also provides you with the opportunity to be honest with yourself about your spending and your financial choices.  To me – in addition to feeling organized and in-control – this has been the greatest benefit. 

Below I outline what I consider to be the essential elements of successfully using personal finance software:

  Step 1: Invest.

When I use the word “invest” here I am not talking about the stock market or your retirement.  I am talking about devoting money and, more importantly, your time to learning (and using!) some form of personal finance software.  I currently use Moneydance – a program developed by a company called the Infinite Kind – but in the past I have also used Quicken.  There are many flavors of personal finance software out there, but I recommend using a program that requires YOU to do the work.  Some software (or online versions of it) gives you the option to import data on debit and credit card transactions from your online banking, but I strongly discourage this route.  Yes, importing data saves you time (especially in the beginning when you haven’t developed an efficient routine), but it also makes it easy for you to mentally check out.  Clicking “import” doesn’t force any internal conversation; your eyes simply roll over the screen without much thinking.  There is nothing like manually entering 4 Starbucks receipts in a row to remind you that you’ve overindulged in frivolous spending this week…

 Whatever program you choose, the important thing to know is that it will take you some time to get up and running.  Even once you get all your accounts set up, it still takes dedication and patience to learn the ins-and-outs of entering receipts, entering paid bills, and reconciling your accounts (the most important step!).  Be realistic.  Know that learning-by-doing will be a part of the process.  Happily, some initial investment will allow you to develop an efficient routine that will help you reach your ultimate goal of being in control of your money.

  Step 2:  Resist Automation

As I mentioned in the previous section, I strongly believe in using a program that forces you to manually enter your receipts.  This is one reason that I have resisted using Mint, for example.  There’s nothing like a big pile of fresh receipts to make you come to grips with the realities of your spending.  I credit my Moneydance routine with breaking me of my coffee habit.  Physically sorting and entering all of your receipts provides you with a built-in reality check every few days – no need to wait until the end of the month to figure out whether you’re over budget.

  Step 3: Keep your documents safe

This is a somewhat technical point about keeping documents on your computer safe.  Since I am not comfortable with the idea of a computer thief being able to access my financial history, I use one additional layer of security to keep all of my financial statements and my master Moneydance file safe.  I use a program called Knox (company: Agile Bits), which is an encryption software that creates secure, password-protected segments of my computer hard-drive for document storage.  This is where I save all my bank, credit card, and financial statements.  Even if you are not into the idea of personal finance software, you might want to think about how you store important documents on your computer (particularly those with your SSN, bank account number, transaction history, etc.).   

  Step 4: Wallet.   Inbox.  Envelope.  (Repeat).

This section is the meat-and-potatoes of what using personal finance software is all about.  The bottom line is that you need a routine.  Your routine needs to be manageable and efficient.  In the beginning it might take you hours, but after a month or two, you can vastly improve your speed.  I typically spend about 20-30 minutes each week entering receipts and reconciling my accounts.  The time spent doing this allows me to feel in control and be worry-free.

 Here is the basic outline of the routine I have developed:

Keep all of your receipts!  A small caveat here is that I do not keep cash receipts (mostly because I never use cash). To avoid needless spending, I only withdraw cash from the ATM for specific purposes (usually taxis).  When I enter this ATM withdrawal record in my Moneydance file, I write myself a note about how I used the cash. 

Every night I take all the day’s receipts out of my wallet and put them in my inbox (i.e. the small shoebox lid on my desk).  I do this every single day.  Additionally, if any bills come in the mail, I open them (quickly give them the once-over to make sure there isn’t anything insane or unexpected) and then put them in my inbox with my receipts. 

When the pile gets large enough (usually I do this every 5-10 days, depending on my schedule), I sort receipts by account type, make a pile of unpaid bills, and start entering.  Once I have entered a receipt into my Moneydance file, I put the original into an envelope (each envelope corresponds to one bank statement and is clearly labeled with the dates).  When I get my monthly bank statement and reconcile my accounts (fancy way of saying that I make sure everything is accurate), I close the corresponding envelope and put it into a small box next to my desk.  This keeps me organized and makes it super easy to find all of my receipts in case I need to return something.

Every month when my bank statements are available for download, I save them to the encrypted portion of my hard drive and then reconcile my accounts.  This means checking every transaction (that I have already entered into Moneydance based on the original receipt) with the line-item on my bank statement.  This may sound time-consuming, but I can usually do my checking account and credit card statements in under 5 minutes. 

  Conclusion:

The benefit of doing this routine is that I am in control of my spending and saving at all times.  I never worry about overdrawing accounts, missing bills, or running out of money before the end of the month because I check-in with my financial self every week.  This is the big picture of what personal finance software can help you achieve.  Good luck!

Please feel free to contact me with additional questions or comments. 

My email address is [email protected].

[baldwinscholars]

Budgeting Basics

Kelley Akhiemokhali, Class of 2008

Just got paid/Friday night/party hoppin’/feelin’ right

I was singing this song to myself (and my mom) after realizing that, indeed, I had just gotten paid. Although it wasn’t a Friday night in New York City (my adopted city for the time being), but a Thursday afternoon in Houston, Texas, I was happy to know that my bi-monthly salary had been direct-deposited into my account. As my mother prepared to shuttle my grandma to after Christmas sales, I logged into my bank, Sallie Mae, and LearnVest accounts and began to review my December budget.

In all honesty, I was expecting to discover (or more like confirm) that I had indeed torpedoed my December budget. With Christmas and a ridiculous amount of stress from the J-O-B, I could sense that I was spending more than I should. I am an emotional spender and tend to find myself “just poking around” Target or eating out after a particularly strenuous day, budget be damned. I was happy to see that with four days left in December, I managed to stay within my budget’s parameters. This leads me to January’s Baldwin Financial Literacy Topic: Budgeting.

My first year out of college I didn’t have a budget at all. I was blessed (and cursed) to work at a place that left me with enough disposable income to allow me to, falsely, believe that a budget was not necessary. One lost job and a second unexpected $10,000+ pay decrease later, I now am committed to budgeting. There are a few pointers that I have picked up on since choosing to really take control of my finances. Some of the information provided here comes from the LearnVest website (I’m a big fan) and/or a LearnVest seminar I attended in the Fall.

1. Backwards Plan/Set Financial Goals—As an educator I constantly hear the mantra to start with the end in mind. The same goes for a budget. Where do you want to be financially? What is your ideal financial situation? What do you want to do with your disposable income? Travel? Shop? Pay off student loans? Knowing what you want will help you to structure your budget and spending habits. Be specific with these goals (i.e., SMART goals). The goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (e.g., I want to pay off my student loans vs. I want to pay off 25% of my total student loan debt within the next year).

  2. Know Your Take Home Income—Those pay stubs come in handy!  After taxes, dues, pension payments, and what-have-yous,  a person’s paycheck may not look as sparkly as once expected. It’s crucial to know how much you really earn in order to create an accurate versus an inflated budget.

  3. Employ the 50/20/30 Rule as a Guide—50% of take home pay goes to essential expenses (housing, transportation, utilities, and groceries, that’s it); 20% of take home pay is allocated for Financial Priorities/your Future (retirement contributions-- the younger we start out the better—, savings, and debt repayments); 30% max of take home pay goes to lifestyle choices (restaurants, personal care, shopping, etc…). Lifestyle Choices are the last part of your take-home pay that gets divvied up. I suggest using the 50/20/30 rule as a guide because everyone’s financial situation is unique and that’s OK. For me, when alarm bells went off about how much my rent was eating up my take home pay I moved to a studio apartment that I adore.  My budget is also skewed slightly more towards Financial Priorities due to student loan repayments. In other words, make the 50/20/30 Rule work for you!

  LearnVest Article about the 50/20/30 Rule.  

4. Pay Yourself First aka Save, Save, Save—Saving should be a part of your budget. Period. As nice as it would be for an emergency to put its knuckles on your door and tell you in advance that it’s coming, we know that doesn’t happen. When I unexpectedly lost my job, my emergency savings coupled with unemployment kept me on time with all of my bills and food in my fridge. My savings ran out at the exact same time that I got my first paycheck at my new job. Although people will tell you anywhere from 10% to 20% of your take home pay should be banked, especially since women tend to live longer than men, it’s OK to start small and with a rate that makes you comfortable.  It may be hard at first, but I find that saving really helps my peace of mind. Automating payments to a separate account helped me to save before talking myself out of putting money aside for a rainy day. Furthermore, a separate account at a different bank meant that it would take at least two business days for my savings to show up in my primary checking account. Thus, I really had to think before I touched my savings.

5. Know your Spending Triggers—As alluded to before, I tend to be an emotional spender. A link to an article about various spending triggers (e.g., social spender, compulsive spender, “it’s on sale spender”) can be found here. If you know what causes you to spend money, you know what can cause damage to your carefully crafted budget. Then, you can try to avoid those triggers.

6. Keep Track—Document where you spend your money. This is one area I am still working on myself.  Whether you write down every purchase, keep all receipts in an envelope and tally them all later, or use an automated, online system like Mint.com or LearnVest.com, tracking your spending helps you to identify your spending patterns. I love to eat out but when I finally saw how much my “small, quick bites” were costing me, I decided to really try to reign in on my eating out. The numbers don’t lie! As time goes on I find myself asking less and less “Where the hell did my money go?” and instead thinking that Applebee’s (or Target) won’t get me again this week because I already strolled in there last week!

7. Finally, try to let go of any taboo or shame surrounding money. I think this series is wonderful because it’s allowing us to discuss an important topic. I am used to not going into depth about finances with anyone except a select few, but we have to empower ourselves by speaking up and learning. No shame, no judgment, just growth.

To Financial Empowerment, Ladies!

[baldwinscholars]

How to Buy a Car

Rachel McLaughlin, Class of 2008

For 27 years, I made it through life without a vehicle. In fact I hated the idea of car ownership: no transparency in pricing (where’s the Amazon of car pricing?), maintenance, the constant fear of hitting something or someone, traffic, insurance haggles, city PARKING, and the worst – gasoline.  The frugal part of me also didn’t want to invest money in a depreciating asset, especially when there are so many countries and places to see, food to eat, and so little time. I also have a sweet bike.

The unfortunate reality: enjoying life in California requires a vehicle. Not willing to miss out on hikes and trips to Sonoma, my boyfriend and I decided that we would buy a car when our Zipcar bill exceeded our highest estimate of a car’s cost - $250 for parking, $200 for insurance, $200 for gas, and $400 for a car payment or a whopping $1,050 per month.

Two new jobs – his in Oakland and mine in Sunnyvale – and a busy month of trips out of the city meant it was time for us to get a car.

I found this article after I bought the car and it sent me into a panic that I did EVERYTHING wrong. Here are more general rules from the Internet:

1. Set a budget – You want to go into a dealership knowing the car that you want, your budget, and what you do/do not want. This allows you to stand your ground with a dealership that’s trying to define what you want vs. you defining what you want.

2. Do your Research (this goes hand in hand with number 1 and 3): Determine your needs – do you need it to get to Tahoe for skiing? Commuting? Weekends? Everyday? Driving around your six closest friends? This will help you narrow your vehicle choice and understand the going price BEFORE you go to the dealership. Try to focus on three cars in your target vehicle class that deliver the most value. Know these cars in and out before visiting a dealership.

3. Allow Time, Don’t Rush – You are more likely to get a bad deal when you rush the purchase. Take time to test drive a few cars and get a few offers. If you are buying new, you can play dealerships against each other (like job offers!). You do not need to buy it today!

4. Buy used – Cars depreciate about 15-20% as soon as they drive off the lot and then continue to suck up money. Every financial advice website will tell you to invest the time (haggling, even more research) to get a used car.

5. Order of Operation: Car dealerships will ask you “what you want to pay a month” and other metrics to avoid negotiating on the actual price of the vehicle. Always negotiate the vehicle price before doing anything else!

Step 1: Negotiate the price of the new car

Step 2: Value the trade-in vehicle

Step 3: Arrange financing/leasing

6. Finance or Lease: Most websites will recommend that you lease if you know that you only want to have a car payment obligation for a short period of time (due to life uncertainty, etc.). With the exception of that situation, most recommend that you buy the car in order to avoid higher insurance payments (leasing requires a different level of insurance), mileage limits, and the fact that you will have a car payment forever vs. driving one car into the ground. This is a depreciating asset after all – you want to spend as little money as is possible for your lifestyle’s demands.

7. Cash or Financing: It’s a nice position to be in if you’ve got the money in the bank, but a car may not be the best way to deploy that money. What interest rate can you get on the financing? What term? What return can you get in the market if you invest that same amount of money? Do you have an emergency fund? If you can get a competitive interest rate, it might make sense to finance the vehicle and keep your liquidity.

8. Know your credit score: If you plan to finance the vehicle and you want to get the best rate possible, follow Roshen’s previous advice on keeping your credit score in check.

9. Arrange financing before you buy: Most websites tell you to get loan offers ahead of time through a credit union so you have leverage when negotiating finance terms with the dealership. Also, before signing the dotted line, READ the contract. Take the time. And ensure that you can a) pay off the loan early without fees and b) that when you pay off the loan early, you will pay less interest. Watch out for the Rule of 78 if you want to pay the loan off early.

10. Don’t co-sign for another person: This comes from Suze Orman who in all of her books has told me not to put my credit on the line with a person I am not married to EVER. Thanks Suze.

  This is what actually happened:

Since neither of us needed a car 100% of the time, we decided to split it. My first car buying sin violates Suze Orman’s rules.

We only had one Sunday to dedicate to buying a car, so we also set out for the day with the intention to bring a car home that night. This is another car buying sin.

Then there’s compromise. I wanted a used car with good gas mileage or a new Prius C. Mike wanted a German car that drives well. He also refuses to drive cars with automatic transmission; I can’t drive stick in a city with hills. When we put together our list of our driving needs and the cars that corresponded to them, the only car that overlapped was the VW Golf Diesel. So, we settled on getting that car new. Mike vetoed my used car idea, pointing out that time is money. Did either of us have the time to do the research to buy a used car? Did we have the time to handle the maintenance if it acted up? I vetoed manual transmission.

On the day when we were going to buy the car, I panicked about the availability of diesel in the city and the price of the car. We took one more look at hatchbacks and added one more car to the list: the Subaru Impreza. I liked its 38 MPG and PZEV status. Mike liked its AWD for Tahoe. We visited both the VW and Subaru dealerships.

We ended up buying an Impreza, new, $2000 under dealer invoice (via a deal from Mike’s company), and with a 2.9% APR for six years.

Lessons Learned:

1. Time is a consideration

2. Check to see if your companies or affiliated institutions offer a discount program (ours was the Subaru VIP)

3. Don’t settle for a car you don’t want. Mike and I visited one dealership where they had the Impreza, but with features we didn’t want and in a color we didn’t like. I called another dealership and they had our car on the lot. We went there and made it clear that we would take it home that day if they met our demands. They did.

4. I should have read the financing contract, but by that time it was 7 PM, they were closing, and I was exhausted. The next day I panicked about a few terms in it. Luckily I sent the contract to a lawyer friend and we are fine, but this could have been bad. CA has strong consumer protection laws and requires a standard contract, but some states do not.

5. Decide before you go whether you want the extended warranty and maintenance plan. The finance guy did a hard sell on this when we were signing the contract and it made me very flustered/confused. Research all of this before you go.

6. Bring a loan calculator on your smartphone or computer (bankrate has one). I tried to calculate total amount of interest paid, etc. with a calculator when we were deciding between options, but inevitably got some of the calculations wrong.

7. Bring multiple financing options. I didn’t have time to do this before we went. It seems unlikely that we would have received a better rate than 2.9%, but who knows.

8. In order to drive the car off the lot, you need insurance. If you want to get the best price, you should also research this ahead of time and have the whole thing ready to go when you get to the dealership (only adding the actual vehicle information vs. imagined). This added another hour to our car buying experience.

Good luck!

Rachel

Resources:

Watch for These Sales Pitches

Narrowing the Field to Three

The Rule of 78s

Bankrate.com

[baldwinscholars]

Moving - Baldwin style

Pallavi Kansal, Class of 2008 Moving to a new city can be tough (trust me, I've done it 4 times within the past 4 years). It can also be expensive and definitely put a dent in your budget (or in some of my moves, obliterate it completely). My biggest lessons learned below. Hopefully they will help you if you are considering a relocation in the near future.

1. Plan ahead. Pretty obvious, right? But can be extremely difficult. Many of you might be moving away from college and into your first job. It's a pretty exciting time and you want to go out and celebrate with your friends. That signing bonus is looking pretty tempting right about now, isn't it? Well, if you did get one - don't touch it! There's a reason companies give you some money ahead of time. Try and start a moving fund and set aside a little bit every month. You never know what sort of miscellaneous expenses will crop up and you'll be glad to have a little bit of breathing room. And if you have any money left over (unlikely, but possible) you can always go out and celebrate and get to know your new city a little better :) 2. Take advantage of every single deal you can find. When I first moved to Atlanta, I barely had enough money saved up to cover rent and moving expenses, let alone furnish my apartment (never mind all the other expenses that come along like paying back student loans, gas, electricity, food, etc). I'm not usually one for loading up on credit card debt (infact, I never do) but I found one credit card company that was willing to give me a new account with a 6 month payback limit. Since I knew that the money crunch was temporary (I hadn't gotten paid for my first month yet) I loaded up everything on that one card. This kept me from going into my reserve fund and having to borrow from the Bank of Mom & Dad. I eventually paid off everything before the six months and closed the account when I was done.

3. IKEA is your best friend. Consider any furniture you buy a sunk cost. You will more than likely not be able to get rid of it when you move again even if you give it away for free. Since I knew that I was only going to be in Atlanta (and now Boston) for a short amount of time, I gave myself a budget of no more than $1000 to furnish my entire apartment. This meant that you have to learn how to prioritize certain items that are more important. I'll admit that my living room was sparsely furnished but I did splurge on a nice arm chair that became my go to spot when I came home. I did the same thing in Boston. Find one piece of furniture that makes you happy (in my case a leaning bookshelf now) and you can learn to love the rest later. 4. Think about your expenses holistically. Moving to a new city usually means a lot of different types of expenses such as a different cost of living, grocery bills, car maintenance, etc. Instead of trying to optimize one thing, try to think of it as a whole set of numbers. If you get that cheaper apartment but now have to drive everywhere, is the money you save on rent really worth the extra  you'll be spending on gas. And even if you have to pay a little extra to live closer to a place you can go out and shop and eat, maybe you won't need a car at all (which eliminates a ton of expenses like car insurance, parking, gasoline, maintenance, etc). Also, living closer to a place where you can buy groceries regularly will help keep the amount of food you have to throw away because you didn't get to it fast enough (because you have to load  up on groceries on the weekend because you live too far away) way down. 5. Do your research. Again, pretty obvious. But as Baldwins, you'll have access to an amazing group of friends who have lived in probably most parts of the US. They can give you tips on neighborhoods to avoid, a sense of what your monthly expenses will look like, and even people looking for roommates. It's also a great way to make new friends in the city. You might even have a place to crash as you look for suitable housing - which brings me to my next point... 6. Start looking early, and look often. Moving to SF (even if it was for just a summer) was probably the hardest move in terms of finding a place to live. For those of you moving to cities like SF or NYC, start looking early. You don't want to find yourself in a position where you are so desperate that you'll sign the first lease that you can find. Try to get a feel for the rent in the neighborhoods you are interested in so you can get a feel for if the place you are looking at is a good deal or not. For smaller / less dense cities, you have a little bit more lee-way but it still took me a good two months to find a nice place in Atlanta that was close to work, a nice neighborhood, offered the amenities I was looking for (e.g. having a washer/dryer in unit - apparently next to impossible now in most cities), and within my budget. Be careful with sites like Craigslist. In SF it's totally legitimate to find a roommate through Craigslist but less so in other parts of the country. Even in places like SF, have a local friend go and check the place out before you write any checks. A few of my friends had their deposits stolen via Craigslist scams. Not only did they lose their money but then ended up with no place to stay a few days before they were planning to move to the city.

[baldwinscholars]

Saving Money, Time and Energy While Finding and Moving into an Apartment

Kamaria Campbell, Class of 2008

Hi Baldwins,

I want to share some of the things I have learned as a result of moving to multiple apartments while living in Michigan. Here are twelve tips that I hope will save you money, time, and energy if you are looking to move or in the process of moving in to an apartment:

Determine how much space you need and how much you are willing to pay. Multiple factors come into play here such as the amount of space you want, your roommate preferences, and the frequency with which family and friends visit. Based on these, you could be interested in getting a 1 bedroom apartment or a 2+ bedroom apartment. Figure out your basic needs as it relates to space and make sure the units you are assessing meet them. Also, based on your income or other funding sources, make a budget or monthly spending plan so you know how much you can afford to pay for housing.

Create an apartment checklist/comparison chart. It’s important that you do some preparation before viewing potential apartments. Create a checklist/comparison chart that has all of the criteria you seek or details you want to know about the apartments you are considering as well as blank space to fill in notes about all of the apartments as you visit. Some things you might want to know are:

How and where do I receive packages or newspapers/magazines? I order things online a lot so I want to know if packages will come to my unit directly or to a leasing office. Similarly, I subscribe to newspapers and magazines occasionally so I want to know if these will be in front of my door or if I should plan to go somewhere else to get them each day.

Can I paint? Sometimes apartments will paint for you or allow you to paint the apartment so long as you return it to the original color before you leave.

Where are the mailboxes? These could be in the leasing office, outside your unit or in another location. Think about your daily routine and how far you will need to go to get your mail.

Who do you call for maintenance or other apartment issues? My apartment manager is really responsive and almost always available for any apartment issue. He will also change lights for free since I have high ceilings and changing them requires a ladder. Understanding who to call and the range of what they will do will pay off if you find yourself needing assistance with your home.

Where is parking/bike storage/public transportation located? Regardless of your transportation, you will want to know how far you need to go to get on your way each day.

Once you have your grid set up, you can fill it out as you visit all of your potential apartments and you will have detailed information to base your final decision on at the end of the process. *I highly recommend including points 4, 5, 6, and 7 below in your comparison chart.*

Recruit assistance. Having other people assist with your apartment search can save you time and money. For example, you might need to move to a city that you’ve never been to for work or school. In this instance, people already living in that area are likely willing to help you by checking out any potential places or connecting you with people who live in the neighborhood you are considering. When I moved to Michigan for graduate school, the staff in the office I was planning to work in offered to look at the main place I was thinking about for me in the Summer since I wouldn’t be in the area until the Fall. I wish I had taken them up on this offer as the place I chose was not a good fit and I ended up moving into a different place shortly after I arrived. Even if you are moving to a city you know or currently live in, read ratings and reviews for apartments online and ask current tenants what they like and dislike about the building.

Reflect on any safety concerns. We all have a different level of comfort with things like walking or running alone when it’s dark outside. Make sure you visit the apartments you plan to rent at night as well as during the day so you can get a feel for what the area will be like if this is a concern of yours. A friend shared this tip with me when she was searching for apartments and I was so grateful because it gets dark in Michigan early in the winter so I can expect it to be dark as soon as I leave work. Depending on the apartments you are considering, you might be more comfortable with one that allows you to park directly in front of your unit versus in a separate isolated lot or even an unattended parking garage if you will be coming home when it is dark often. Similarly, if you like to exercise in the evening, you might want to choose an apartment in an area that is well-lit at night or has a fitness center/gym.

Ask what’s included in the rent. Some apartments will include the cost of things like utilities, water, or cable and internet services in the basic rent. If this is the case, you might be willing to pay a little bit more for rent than you intended since you will save in other expense categories. On the other hand, some apartments will charge for things like parking or sewage/trash removal so you will need to determine whether the value of these services to you is worth the amount you are paying.

Ask about the security deposit. Many apartments will charge you a security deposit in addition to your first month’s rent. This could range from a couple hundred dollars to a full month’s rent or more. Your apartment will hold the security deposit until you move out and return all or a portion of it to you based on any expenses incurred during the apartment turnover. For example, if excessive cleaning or repair is required when you move out, the cost of this might be deducted from your overall deposit before it is returned to you.

Ask about the renewal rate. If you plan on staying in an area for a long period of time, find out if you are expected to pay the same amount each year or if a regular increase is likely. You might be able to negotiate a fixed rate or a fixed increase rate. For example, my lease states that my rent can increase by no more than 5% each year. The key benefit of this is it helps me determine how my budget will change each year.

Calculate convenience costs. You might be willing to pay more for things that will save you time or energy such as a convenient location or building amenities. For example, many apartment complexes in my area offer covered parking to shield cars from the snow in the winter. I don’t have a car, but seeing the amount of effort required to scrape snow off of one, I would certainly be willing to pay a bit more for covered parking if I did just to save myself the effort of having to do this each morning before work. Similarly, my current apartment offers a washer and dryer in each unit which is really important to me because I can do my laundry whenever I want in the comfort of my own home. My first apartment had a laundry room that residents had to go outside to access which meant I dreaded doing laundry in the winter as it is both dark and very cold in the morning and after 6p when I get home.

Plan for start-up costs. In addition to your monthly budget, plan to set aside a pool of money for the initial costs associated with your apartment. Essentially, this is money flagged for one-time fees such as your security deposit, paying for internet/cable installation, your first year of renter’s insurance, or turning on water/electricity. You might also have to buy things like shower curtains, a plunger, trash cans, a vacuum or mop, and other household items that you typically only purchase once.

Buy refurbished electronics. You can get great deals on electronics like TVs if you are willing to buy a refurbished model. This term can encompass a variety of scenarios. For example, my TV was returned by someone after a short period of ownership and did not have a box or remote but was otherwise fully-functional. Other TVs in the section might have been returned with minor scrapes or were retired floor models. So long as the store will still provide you with a warranty, this is a way to save while still getting a good deal for your money. Also, in some instances, the refurbished device may be larger and cheaper than a newer full-priced model.

Buy the floor model. This lesson comes from my experience moving into my first apartment when I was determined to have all IKEA furniture. While I love IKEA, I struggle when it comes to putting furniture together and sadly I had many pieces of furniture that did not look at all the way they looked in the store when I got done assembling them. As a result, when I moved into my second apartment, I was looking to avoid the frustration and time lost putting furniture together. When I came across a TV stand that I really liked in a different store, I was excited to learn that only the floor model was available and my only option was to take it as it stood, already put together. The store clerk was eager to get rid of it and even offered me a discount. This serendipitous event encouraged me to always ask if the floor model is available as it is already assembled and typically, stores are happy to give it to you at a discount if it is the last one or they need to make room for another display.

Buy for your actual needs. It is easy to purchase items for your home that you do not really need and that you will not use very often. For example, as a single person with no roommate, I really only need a few plates, bowls, cups, and silverware for dining purposes. While I do have friends and family over occasionally, this is not enough for me to justify buying a 10-piece dinner set. Similarly, I stick with pots and pans, a crock pot, and a hand mixer since I truly don’t cook that much. I love the idea of having fabulous fancy plates, multiple specialized appliances (Fondue Pot, Bread maker, Panini Press, Quesadilla Maker), but I know that I would only use these once a year so I focus my funds on other priorities right now. One day, I will splurge and buy kitchenware Martha Stewart would envy, but for now, I am content with just the basics.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or additions at [email protected].

[baldwinscholars]

Travel like a !!!RO€K$TAR!!! on a ---r0ck b0tt0m--- budget

Andrea Dinamarco, Class of 2008

Many friends ask me how I have managed to travel to some of the world's most beautiful and exclusive venues like, Koh Phi Phi, Bocas del Toro, Carnival in Rio, Vieques, Dubai, London, Istanbul, Tashkent and Paris, when I was still either a full-time student or more recently, boggled down with student loans and the high cost of living in New York City. The truth is, travel does not have to be an additional cost on your already fabulous lifestyle! With some easy steps and helpful tips, you can sail away to a top destination with only a pocketful of cash. Plus, if you're really clever, you may even find yourself saving money while sipping poolside on a fresh lime margarita.

1. Experience the Culture. Living in the USA is generally more expensive than most other cities across the world, since the American standard of living is arguably among the highest. I know some people who lived in Edens or in the East Village may disagee, nonetheless, most people who live in America have cars, a nice spacious apartment, cable television and many other amenities that make daily life very comfortable. When you plan your next trip, try to distance yourself from all of these modern amenities and experience a different type of lifestyle. For example, when traveling to tropical places, pick hostels that offer rooms with a fan or big airy windows instead of three-star hotels that offer air conditioner. Consider campsites, shared rooms and maybe even squatting if the opportunity arises. Forget about room service and maids! 

2. Street food is good food. A lot of restaurants that look like good options are actually westernized tourist traps with bad food and sub-par menus. Before you make the decision to sit down at the closest spot along the tourist trail, consider places that look small, uncomfortable and cheap. Most of the time, street food offers the most delicious and authentic dishes. If the locals are eating it, chances are it is safer than a place packed with westerners.

3. Facebook It. The key to uncovering a city is to find a local guide to show you the ins and outs. What most people do not realize is that you most likely have someone in your network that is either living or knows someone who is living in your featured destination. Do not be shy! Use Facebook and other social media to reach out to these people and ask to spend the night in exchange for a few goodies from America. Many times, friends of friends will take you all over the city and save you mega bucks and time wasted on taxis, lodging and food, by sharing their local knowledge. On a recent trip to Istanbul, I reached out to an acquaintance from law school who was Turkish and we spent four days exploring the narguilleh bars and art museums through a much cheaper local scene. Sinem was able to get me into the hottest nightspot along the Bosphorus (a place called Angelique) without having to pay the usual cover charge. Sin, as I nicknamed her, is now one my favorite people and stays with me in NYC every time she visits!

4. Make even more friends. Another common misconception is that foreigners are foreign and speaking to them is dangerous. When you travel to a different country, where you are the foreigner, you should not be afraid to interact and trust the locals. Always use your judgment about people's intention and your own vulnerability, but overall do not be afraid to strike up conversation with a restaurant waiter, a person in the subway or another traveler in your hostel. Ask people for their advice and help, and you may surprise yourself with people's generosity. One a recent hike through the world's most bio-diverse ecological park, I encountered a group of British hikers on a remote path in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. I asked them about the trail ahead and sought their advice because I was worried that I had not packed enough food for the trip. Right before their bus back to the city pulled away, one of the hikers offered me a bag full of almonds. The almonds provided me with breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days!  

5. Discounts and Miles. When booking airfare, always start by looking for cities that are major transportation hubs as they tend to have more airlines competing for price advantage.  Consider alternative flight options like extending a layover so that you can visit two places at once, or flying out of a further airport and taking a train into the city to save money. Never book roundtrip tickets unless you expect to stay in only one location. Roundtrip tickets do not always offer the best rate, so if you buy two international one way tickets, you can spend your time moving along in one direction. 

6. ABC: Airplanes, Buses and Cars. Probably the easiest way to save loads of money is to avoid airplanes, always take buses and only ride in cars if it’s a free ride. Airplanes are "fast" but sometimes going to the airport and going through the check-in procedure is timely and pricey. In most cases, an overnight bus will get you to the center of the city safely and earlier than a morning flight. Plus, you save double since you are also not paying for a hotel room! As an added bonus, bus rides allow you to see the terrain of a country and interact with the locals who are also traveling. When riding a bus, always pack a neck pillow and a sarong to use as a blanket. 

7. Do not plan everything in advance. While I recognize that planning is important, I strongly believe that some things can and should be decided at the last minute. How will you find the cheapest hotel option if you are limiting yourself to hotels with English language websites that accept reservations over the internet? Sometimes, showing up to a place without reservations let's you see what is available and you can make a decision on the spot. Don't feel the need to book tours and buy tickets for things in advance because you may not know that better options exist until you arrive closer and can benefit from local knowledge. Part of traveling is being open to the unexpected and to breakaway from the choices and routines of our daily lives at home. I encourage you to arrive at a bus station at 8 PM one night, find the next bus heading somewhere interesting and just hop on. Let life take you for a ride. I promise you can find a cheap room and a plate of food in even the most remote areas of the world without much of a problem. 

8. Do not buy presents. You pay a price premium for every souvenir purchased near a tourist location and I guarantee everyone, including you, will find that frog-shaped croaking rattle tat really tacky and annoying within one week of your arrival. Save your money for better things, like concert tickets and Mojitos. Instead, try bringing back a picture of something significant, coasters from a fun bar, or feathers found along a hiking trail as memories from your awesome vacation.

9. Stop overpacking. Once you've been on the road for a few days lugging all of your possessions on your back, you will realize that you need just a few basic items and not much else. Try to control your urge to buy American goods to bring abroad like lotion, shampoo, suntan lotion, sunblock, facewash, food, or other items in fear that you won't be able to find them anywhere in your destination. If you pack wisely, you can bring a few essentials and leave the rest behind. You do not need hiking boots, a rain jacket, two new bikinis, a sun hat or five types of bug spray. Most of the time, you can manage with what you already have and you don't need new gear to be in a new environment. I've slept comfortably among the howling monkeys in the Amazonian rainforest in my old Saks Fifth Avenue linen pants and running shoes with a small bag of toiletries. No rain jacket or explorer cargo pants needed for a close-up photo with a caiman.

10. Share. A lot of women are afraid to travel because they do not want to travel alone and feel like the costs are augmented when you can't split everything in twos or threes. The easiest solution (besides finding a friend who can travel with you) is to buddy up with someone when you are en route or arriving at your destination. Do not be shy to start conversation with a person standing in line for a taxi or sitting across the boat from you as you ferry over to the Greek islands. Always smile and offer to split a hotel room or a cab, even when you do not know the person. Learning to make connections to mutually benefit two people is a business skill that will benefit you in your career so you should practice problem solving at the airport in Saigon! 

If you have any questions or are interested in seeing photos from my trips around the world, please feel free to send me a message and I will share stories and pictures from my favorite places. I would also love to start some discussion on women's experiences traveling alone or abroad, so please share comments! Remember to always travel safe, smart and fearlessly!