ASSETS
Bank of America Checking - $3,293.64
Bank of America Saving - $9.00
E*Trade Saving - $1
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $11.08
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $420.37
ShareBuilder Brokerage - $145.83
Alliant Credit Union Saving - $1,125.13
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,850
Total Assets - $15,756.41
LIABILITIES
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
Total Liabilities - $11,030.78
August Net Worth: $4,725.63
July 19 Net Worth: $3,542.80
June 10 Net Worth: $2,206.81
May 2 Net Worth: $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth: $290
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
July Net Worth Update
ASSETS
Bank of America Checking - $2,106.13
Bank of America Saving - $9.00
E*Trade Saving - $1
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $11.08
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $423.50
ShareBuilder Brokerage - $146.74
Alliant Credit Union Saving - $1,125.13
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,850
Total Assets - $14,573.58
LIABILITIES
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
Total Liabilities - $11,030.78
July 19 Net Worth: $3,542.80
June 10 Net Worth: $2,206.81
May 2 Net Worth: $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth: $290
Bank of America Checking - $2,106.13
Bank of America Saving - $9.00
E*Trade Saving - $1
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $11.08
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $423.50
ShareBuilder Brokerage - $146.74
Alliant Credit Union Saving - $1,125.13
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,850
Total Assets - $14,573.58
LIABILITIES
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
Total Liabilities - $11,030.78
July 19 Net Worth: $3,542.80
June 10 Net Worth: $2,206.81
May 2 Net Worth: $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth: $290
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Net Worth Update
If I were to guess whether my net worth has increased or decreased since last month, I'd have to go with increase. No major bad things have happened, if anything I just came across a plethora of opportunites to gather up some extra cash.
ASSETS
Bank of America Checking - $437.15
Bank of America Saving - $398.95
E*Trade Saving - $0
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $9.52
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $477.98
ShareBuilder Brokerage - $146.23
Alliant Credit Union Saving - $1,116.76
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,750
Total Assets - $13,237.59
LIABILITIES
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
Total Liabilities - $11,030.78
June 10 Net Worth: $2,206.81
May 2 Net Worth: $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth: $290
April - June NET GAIN: $173.41
Good news I suppose, obviously more would be better. Unfortunately Notorious BIG was wrong because in my eyes, more money means less problems. The Personal Belongings category is obviously an estimattion, but I rccently began cleaning my room and uncovered what I like to call a heap of used textbooks that is worth at LEAST $250, and those are the only ones I've sold so far. Speaking of textbooks, it's pretty ridiculous to try to sell them back to the Textbook Annex at my school because they literally offer you chump change for something that someone somewhere put their heart and soul into. I came across Book Scouter (www.bookscouter.com) which is a PHENOMENAL website. You type in the ISBN number of the book and it gives you quotes from 30 different companies that buy books. Usually I choose one of the top three (pay attention to the consumer reviews) and compare that price to what I can get on Amazon Marketplace. The benefit of using Book Scouter is you don't have to compete with other sellers and wait around for someone to buy the book, and you also don't have some third party (Amazon) skimming a commission of the sale.
No song or quote today because, well, I'm just feeling that lazy. Lo Siento.
$$$ChangeForA20$$$
ASSETS
Bank of America Checking - $437.15
Bank of America Saving - $398.95
E*Trade Saving - $0
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $9.52
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $477.98
ShareBuilder Brokerage - $146.23
Alliant Credit Union Saving - $1,116.76
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,750
Total Assets - $13,237.59
LIABILITIES
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
Total Liabilities - $11,030.78
June 10 Net Worth: $2,206.81
May 2 Net Worth: $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth: $290
April - June NET GAIN: $173.41
Good news I suppose, obviously more would be better. Unfortunately Notorious BIG was wrong because in my eyes, more money means less problems. The Personal Belongings category is obviously an estimattion, but I rccently began cleaning my room and uncovered what I like to call a heap of used textbooks that is worth at LEAST $250, and those are the only ones I've sold so far. Speaking of textbooks, it's pretty ridiculous to try to sell them back to the Textbook Annex at my school because they literally offer you chump change for something that someone somewhere put their heart and soul into. I came across Book Scouter (www.bookscouter.com) which is a PHENOMENAL website. You type in the ISBN number of the book and it gives you quotes from 30 different companies that buy books. Usually I choose one of the top three (pay attention to the consumer reviews) and compare that price to what I can get on Amazon Marketplace. The benefit of using Book Scouter is you don't have to compete with other sellers and wait around for someone to buy the book, and you also don't have some third party (Amazon) skimming a commission of the sale.
No song or quote today because, well, I'm just feeling that lazy. Lo Siento.
$$$ChangeForA20$$$
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A Bit More on Investing
Quote of the post: "Never spend your money before you have it."
-Thomas Jefferson
Song of the post: Brand New - Luca
It seems as though I can't get enough of the stock market. The first thing I do every morning is turn on CNBC (Literally open my eyes, roll over, hit the power button on the remote). The fact that everyday is different, and there is so much uncertainty makes it almost addicting. I always seem to find a new stock that I get wicked pumped about and want to buy but I obviously (and unfortunately) cannot buy as compulsively as I'd like.
I've got my eye on Merck (MRK). Merck has been around for quite awhile and makes some of the most commonly used drugs known. The price per share is almost half as it's 52 week high making it a phenomenal value buy. I did a few more in depth analyses but I feel like I need to explain what they are at some point before I just throw them out there. Not to mention Jim Cramer threw it out there on Mad Money a few weeks ago, his (good) reasoning being that recession or not, people are going to buy their shingles and cancer drugs. I like to think of Merck as a life-preserver in the healthcare sector which is something I've been avoiding at all costs.
Also, I came across a really sweet website (www.Mint.com). In addition to being my favorite color, Mint links ALL of your finances (checking, saving, brokerage, credit card) and creates personalized budgets. You can see where all of your money is going and helps you set benchmarks for certain items. Apparently I spen $228 on alcohol last month (probably par for the course for a college student) which really makes you think twice before you head to the bar for a pitcher or two when you're bored on a Sunday afternoon. Either way, check it out (it's free, obviously.)
And my favorite find of the week is SoGo Trade (www.sogotrade.com) who have dubbed themselves the 'Deepest Deep Discount Broker' and rightfully so. They charge $3.00 per trade!!! This beats Sharebuilder's $4 Tuesday trades plus there are no account minimums, and they give you 25 free trades, AND for more frequent traders you can pay $10 a month and get $1.50 trades. I have yet to find a single catch in all of this which leads me to believe this really is as good as it seems.
And I'll conclude with...vehicles are a liability in college, a big one. Parking tickets, speeding tickets, drunk driving, friends wanting to borrow it, getting towed, GAS, vandalism = a huge pain in the ass. I was towed for the 3rd (and final) time on Friday night and have now decided I am not using my car at all unless it is to drive home. So much for that +601%.
$$$Change for a 20$$$
-Thomas Jefferson
Song of the post: Brand New - Luca
It seems as though I can't get enough of the stock market. The first thing I do every morning is turn on CNBC (Literally open my eyes, roll over, hit the power button on the remote). The fact that everyday is different, and there is so much uncertainty makes it almost addicting. I always seem to find a new stock that I get wicked pumped about and want to buy but I obviously (and unfortunately) cannot buy as compulsively as I'd like.
I've got my eye on Merck (MRK). Merck has been around for quite awhile and makes some of the most commonly used drugs known. The price per share is almost half as it's 52 week high making it a phenomenal value buy. I did a few more in depth analyses but I feel like I need to explain what they are at some point before I just throw them out there. Not to mention Jim Cramer threw it out there on Mad Money a few weeks ago, his (good) reasoning being that recession or not, people are going to buy their shingles and cancer drugs. I like to think of Merck as a life-preserver in the healthcare sector which is something I've been avoiding at all costs.
Also, I came across a really sweet website (www.Mint.com). In addition to being my favorite color, Mint links ALL of your finances (checking, saving, brokerage, credit card) and creates personalized budgets. You can see where all of your money is going and helps you set benchmarks for certain items. Apparently I spen $228 on alcohol last month (probably par for the course for a college student) which really makes you think twice before you head to the bar for a pitcher or two when you're bored on a Sunday afternoon. Either way, check it out (it's free, obviously.)
And my favorite find of the week is SoGo Trade (www.sogotrade.com) who have dubbed themselves the 'Deepest Deep Discount Broker' and rightfully so. They charge $3.00 per trade!!! This beats Sharebuilder's $4 Tuesday trades plus there are no account minimums, and they give you 25 free trades, AND for more frequent traders you can pay $10 a month and get $1.50 trades. I have yet to find a single catch in all of this which leads me to believe this really is as good as it seems.
And I'll conclude with...vehicles are a liability in college, a big one. Parking tickets, speeding tickets, drunk driving, friends wanting to borrow it, getting towed, GAS, vandalism = a huge pain in the ass. I was towed for the 3rd (and final) time on Friday night and have now decided I am not using my car at all unless it is to drive home. So much for that +601%.
$$$Change for a 20$$$
Friday, May 2, 2008
Net Worth Update
I have been, and still am super busy so I don't have time to write an all out post. However, I will be giving my monthly net worth update (and I'm sensing a good result.)
Assets
Bank of America Checking - $857.50
Bank of America Saving - $42.65
E*Trade Saving - $1,317.19
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $9.52
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $285.96
Sharebuilder Brokerage - $150.36
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,500
Total Assets - $13,064.18
Liabilities
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
May 2 Net Worth - $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth - $290
April-May Net Gain - $1,743.40 or +601%
...before you get too excited-I haven't paid my credit card bills yet and I recieved a $500 check for my Massachusetts Bankers Internship (more on that later).
$$$Change for a 20$$$
Assets
Bank of America Checking - $857.50
Bank of America Saving - $42.65
E*Trade Saving - $1,317.19
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $9.52
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $285.96
Sharebuilder Brokerage - $150.36
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,500
Total Assets - $13,064.18
Liabilities
Stafford Student Loan - $11,030.78
May 2 Net Worth - $2,033.40
April 3 Net Worth - $290
April-May Net Gain - $1,743.40 or +601%
...before you get too excited-I haven't paid my credit card bills yet and I recieved a $500 check for my Massachusetts Bankers Internship (more on that later).
$$$Change for a 20$$$
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Investing Basics
Quote of the post: "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."
-Jim Rohn
Song of the post: 50 Cent - I Get Money
I'm currently interning with the Massachusetts Bankers Association and it is my assignment (along with 3 others) to provide some sort of event or seminar to instill financial literacy in my peers at the University of Massachusetts. At a seminar the other night, someone asked how to get started investing...so that's what I will discuss.
1) Decide how much $$$ you would like to invest.
Ideally you want to decide on an amount of money that you can do without for a little while. Also, consider the idea that this lump sum may dissapear for the most part, or multiply quickly. I currently have approximately $1,000 invested in the stock market.
2) Find a broker.
Buying and selling stocks is actually very similar to buying things online. Considering the fact that we would want to conserve as much $$$ as possible, we want to pay as little commission as possible on our trades. This is why I highly suggest using an online discount broker as opposed to a large investment bank. Unless you have a great deal of money to invest, the large banks will charge around $25 to make a trade while online brokerages charge $5-$10. I reccommend three:
a) E*Trade: E*Trade is pretty sweet...they have relatively low account minimums and give you free trades for the first month. And then $9.99 per trade thereafter, also very easy to use.
b) Sharebuilder: A subsidiary of ING, Sharebuilder is flippin sweet (better than pretty sweet) because not only do they have $4 trades on Tuesdays, but they also allow you to buy fractions of stocks (if a stock is $300 you can buy a third every month). AND, if you leave me your e-mail at the end of the post I can send you a referral and Sharebuilder will give you $25 for opening an account...FREE MONEY.
c) Also, there are other discount brokerages like Zecco which is currently offering FREE trades every month. Do a little research, find the best one, or open a few (I have all 3).
3) Do some research!
The beauty of the internet is that you can pretty much learn anything you want somewhere in it the vastness of cyberspace. I prefer Yahoo Finance (www.finance.yahoo.com) or MSN Money (www.moneycentral.msn.com) which are both good.
So, this is a very very very basic introduction into trading stocks. I wouldn't throw your life savings at E*Trade and go buck wild simply based on this post. However, I would suggest checking it out, and fooling around with your account which is the best way to learn the ropes. Buy a share of a company that you buy products from like Nike (NKE) or Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF).
I think the next post will be on ways to save money, and where to get some FREE MONEY.
$$$Change for a 20.
-Jim Rohn
Song of the post: 50 Cent - I Get Money
I'm currently interning with the Massachusetts Bankers Association and it is my assignment (along with 3 others) to provide some sort of event or seminar to instill financial literacy in my peers at the University of Massachusetts. At a seminar the other night, someone asked how to get started investing...so that's what I will discuss.
1) Decide how much $$$ you would like to invest.
Ideally you want to decide on an amount of money that you can do without for a little while. Also, consider the idea that this lump sum may dissapear for the most part, or multiply quickly. I currently have approximately $1,000 invested in the stock market.
2) Find a broker.
Buying and selling stocks is actually very similar to buying things online. Considering the fact that we would want to conserve as much $$$ as possible, we want to pay as little commission as possible on our trades. This is why I highly suggest using an online discount broker as opposed to a large investment bank. Unless you have a great deal of money to invest, the large banks will charge around $25 to make a trade while online brokerages charge $5-$10. I reccommend three:
a) E*Trade: E*Trade is pretty sweet...they have relatively low account minimums and give you free trades for the first month. And then $9.99 per trade thereafter, also very easy to use.
b) Sharebuilder: A subsidiary of ING, Sharebuilder is flippin sweet (better than pretty sweet) because not only do they have $4 trades on Tuesdays, but they also allow you to buy fractions of stocks (if a stock is $300 you can buy a third every month). AND, if you leave me your e-mail at the end of the post I can send you a referral and Sharebuilder will give you $25 for opening an account...FREE MONEY.
c) Also, there are other discount brokerages like Zecco which is currently offering FREE trades every month. Do a little research, find the best one, or open a few (I have all 3).
3) Do some research!
The beauty of the internet is that you can pretty much learn anything you want somewhere in it the vastness of cyberspace. I prefer Yahoo Finance (www.finance.yahoo.com) or MSN Money (www.moneycentral.msn.com) which are both good.
So, this is a very very very basic introduction into trading stocks. I wouldn't throw your life savings at E*Trade and go buck wild simply based on this post. However, I would suggest checking it out, and fooling around with your account which is the best way to learn the ropes. Buy a share of a company that you buy products from like Nike (NKE) or Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF).
I think the next post will be on ways to save money, and where to get some FREE MONEY.
$$$Change for a 20.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Premier Post
SO...after spending the last month or so compulsively checking personal finance blogs like some sort of junkie, I've decided to begin my own.
The name 'Change for a 20' (aside from being painfully clever) originated from the fact that I was 20 years old when I first conceived the idea to begin a blog. It also has a blatant monetary connotation- "Do you have change for a 20?", but for the most part it represents my reaching the age of 20 and deciding to take control over my finances.
As of April 1st, I am 21 years old.
I am in my junior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
I am double-majoring in Real Estate/Entrepreneurship & Political Science.
I love money...and by 'love' I mean-borderline manic obsession.
The following compiles a list of all of my assets, and all of my liabilities, and finally my approximate current net worth.
Assets
Bank of America Checking - $60
Bank of America Saving - $35
E*Trade Saving - $304
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $787
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $178
Sharebuilder Brokerage - $150
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,500
Total Assets: $11,915
Liabilities
Stafford Student Loan - $11,625
Net Worth: $290
Thats pretty rough. My goal...Add 4 zero's in 15 years.
The name 'Change for a 20' (aside from being painfully clever) originated from the fact that I was 20 years old when I first conceived the idea to begin a blog. It also has a blatant monetary connotation- "Do you have change for a 20?", but for the most part it represents my reaching the age of 20 and deciding to take control over my finances.
As of April 1st, I am 21 years old.
I am in my junior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
I am double-majoring in Real Estate/Entrepreneurship & Political Science.
I love money...and by 'love' I mean-borderline manic obsession.
The following compiles a list of all of my assets, and all of my liabilities, and finally my approximate current net worth.
Assets
Bank of America Checking - $60
Bank of America Saving - $35
E*Trade Saving - $304
E*Trade Brokerage (Cash) - $787
E*Trade Brokerage (Portfolio) - $178
Sharebuilder Brokerage - $150
ING Orange Saving - $1
2004 Toyota Corolla Type S (Trade-In Value) - $7,900
Personal Belongings - $2,500
Total Assets: $11,915
Liabilities
Stafford Student Loan - $11,625
Net Worth: $290
Thats pretty rough. My goal...Add 4 zero's in 15 years.
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