Finally free from student loans and textbook costs (until August, anyway), it’s time to start seeing some upward mobility in my net worth again. How did I stack up this month?

Change: $143 or +0.41 %

Up, but possibly not as much as I’d have liked. Although I started my on-campus job again last month, I only got one paycheck for it in April - the rest I’m getting this month. Mostly, that meant I didn’t pay as much into my credit card as I would have liked - I’ll have to make up for that this month.

I have high hopes for summer - new job, no tuition or textbooks sucking away all of my money… I can’t wait!

For a look at my assets and liabilities, check out my NetworthIQ for April. For an explanation of the categories I use, check out the bottom of my entry about February’s net worth balance.

Those of you who advised me on whether or not I should buy a bike (and what kind) will be happy to know that I bought one! I answered a listing on the Facebook Marketplace about a bike for sale, and paid $20 for a women’s bike with a bent wheel. I’m going to have to replace the wheel, which will be another $30, but I’m content with that.

I looked several places, including Craigslist, and made plans to visit some bike stores and ask questions. But then the listing for a $20 broken bike popped up on my Facebook page, so I made an appointment to check it out. I took my boyfriend, who very un-helpfully shrugged at me most of the time (even though he supposedly knows more about bikes that I do).

But the bike is in good shape (aside from the back wheel!) and looks good for what I need, so I bought it. Hopefully we’ll get it in working order before summer “vacation” hits, so that I can take advantage of a more lax schedule.

I absolutely recommend, if you’re a Facebook user already, that you use the Marketplace feature for both your “wanted” and “for sale” classifieds. I’ve bought and sold textbooks on there before, and it works pretty well. The nice thing is that it puts the listings in your area, and it pops up on your friends’ pages, so you might just be able to make a transaction with someone you already know!

I’ve got a bike!

Roll that phrase over your tongue a few times, because it sounds good: Earth Day Giveaway! (Don’t you love it when things rhyme?)

I have a $50 gift card for SmartyPig.com. What’s SmartyPig? It’s basically just a high yield savings account, but with some great features. SmartyPig allows you to set a savings goal, and receive help in reaching it. Friends and family can contribute to your SmartyPig account to help you reach your goal. There are no fees to open an account or withdraw your money. And SmartyPig is paying an interest rate of 4.30% currently - a really competitive rate!

So, I have this gift card. And you can have it. I’d use it for myself, but… it’s Earth Day. And I feel like giving something good to my readers, since you guys have helped propel me in my quest to live a frugal, financially savvy lifestyle. I’m sorry that I only have one of these to give away, but if this goes well, I’ll consider finding more things to give away!

All you have to do to enter to win the gift card is leave a comment on this post, joining the discussion about what you did on Earth Day. You can leave as many comments as you like (so feel free to have whole conversations in the comments!), but each person is limited to one entry. Please be sure to use a valid email address when you leave a comment, because that’s how I’ll contact the winner.

I’ll assign each commenter a number, and then use Randomizer.org to pick the winning number. To give some time for the conversation to brew, you have between now and 11:59:59 PM, April 30th, to join the discussion.

I know that people get a little hyped up about environmental issues (from both sides of the debate!), so please keep things civil and don’t mock anyone else’s viewpoint. If a comment is out of line, I’ll delete it or mark it as spam, and the commenter will be disqualified. This and all other aspects of the giveaway are left to my discretion. 

I’ll kick things off by telling you guys what I did on Earth Day: I strapped on some latex gloves and I dug through trash! Today I helped out with my campus’ “waste audit” - where we took all the trash from one day from one floor of a building, and went through all of the things that could have been recycled, but weren’t. It was a dirty job, but it was fun, and I got to talk with some pretty awesome people while doing it. (They also gave me some free ice cream!)

 
Left to right: Bottles and cans that we pulled out, paper that we pulled out, the rest of the trash

What did you do for Earth Day?

I’m just going to say it: Bottled water is a huge waste of money. I’ve heard every argument in the book for drinking it, and I’ve yet to be convinced that it makes any sense for a person living in America to drink it. I’m so fervent in my belief that I made a short video about it:

Although the video is pretty hokey and meant to be light-hearted, I made a great effort to fill it with actual facts about bottled water and tap water (my sources are listed at the end of this post). 24% of bottled water is just repackaged tap water, and the brands that actually come from a spring or a glacier or… whatever? They give you no guarantee of cleanliness or safety, since they’re so loosely regulated.

And the cost difference is just ridiculous. In a 1999 report on bottled water, the National Resources Defense Council found that:

A five-year supply of bottled water at the recommended intake of eight glasses a day can cost more than $1,000. An equivalent amount of tap water costs about $1.65.

My campus sells Aquafina at $1.50 for 20 ounces. That’s $9.60 a gallon, compared to just $0.002 for a gallon of tap water! And according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the average American drank 29 gallons of bottled water in 2007. That’s $278.40! And how much would that much tap water cost you? Just under 6 cents. Seriously.

Bottled water certainly has a place in this world. There are 1 billion people in this world that do not have access to a reliable source of drinking water. But those aren’t the people that are getting bottled water. For Americans who have highly regulated public water readily available, bottled water is simply a choice.

And it should be an easy choice to make. Even if you went out and bought a nice $20-$30 stainless steel or aluminum water bottle to fill up every day, you’d come out way ahead of paying for bottled water. In addition to fattening up your wallet, you’d make a huge environmental impact, as well.

Americans went through about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, 167 for each person. Durable, lightweight containers manufactured just to be discarded. Water bottles are made of totally recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, so we share responsibility for their impact: Our recycling rate for PET is only 23%, which means we pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year–more than $1 billion worth of plastic.

- (Fast Company.com article, emphasis added)

The evidence against bottled water piles up as high as the empty bottles in the landfill: drinking bottled water when tap water is readily available doesn’t make any sense, no matter how you look at it.

The video in this post was made as an entry for the Take Back the Tap video scholarship contest. And now, it’s made me a finalist! The video was a lot of fun to make, and yes… that’s I make a cameo at the end!

Sources:
“Take Back the Tap” by Food & Water Watch
“Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” by the National Resources Defense Council
“Message in a Bottle” by Charles Fishman on FastCompany.com
“Bottled Water’s Success Story Continues” by the Beverage Marketing Corporation

Budgets are the first thing people think of when I tell them that I’m “into personal finance.” There’s an assumption going around that I’m the Great Supreme Queen of Budgeting, ruling over all of the lesser peons with my Glorious Budget of Power, Puppies, and Being Awesome.

Ok, so, no one has actually worded it like that.

Confession: I don’t use a budget. I’ve tried PearBudget, the simplest of the simple, easy, and awesome budgeting software. And for budgeting software, I like it quite a bit.

But I don’t use it. Sure, everyone once in a while, I open PearBudget up and fiddle with it and put in all the purchases I’ve made since I last played with it. But something always goes wrong. An expense doesn’t fit, or my spending is too erratic from month to month to make any sense within the confines of a budget.

I’m a college student. I spend a random amount of money on textbooks three times a year. I spend a fluctuating amount of money on gas every month. My income is dependent on what part of the school year it is. Often times, PearBudget will commend me one month for spending far less than I earned! Except that the only reason that ever happens is when I know that the next month, I’ve got a lot of expenses and less income. So then budgeting software yells at me the next month for spending more than the income for that month.

Perhaps there’s a piece of budgeting software or some system out there that would work perfectly for me. But I really don’t see any need to go out and find it. I don’t need a budget.

Instead, I just track and plan. I have a simple spreadsheet I made for myself in Excel. I use it to track every single penny I spend. And every penny I earn. I also estimate my future income and expenses for the month, so that I know whether I’m looking down the barrel of a “good month” or a “bad month.” Then I plan accordingly.

That’s it. And it works for me. It’s been working for me for almost two years now. So if you haven’t pulled your financial life together yet because you hate the idea of making a budget, then it’s time to get started. Just track what you spend and what you earn, and after a while, you’ll figure out whether yoy even need a budget at all.

Twice since establishing my emergency fund last August, I’ve drained it (or nearly drained it). First to fix my car when the anti-lock brakes, break pads, alignment, and tires were shot, and then again a few weeks ago when my tax bill came due. Both times, I was extremely glad to have my emergency fund on hand!

Obviously I think an emergency fund is important for me - you can tell just from the fact that I have one and have used it. But is it really just as important for my fellow college students?

Yes.

If you own any object that you have come to rely on, but would be costly to replace or repair, then you need an emergency fund. Nearly every college student I know has a car or a computer - most have both. But very few of them could cover the cost of a major repair without feeling the pain. And while some people are currently saving up for their next computer, most of them would be screwed if their current computer gave out and they had to replace it today.

Wouldn’t you like to be smarter than that? Wouldn’t it be nice to have some cushion against catastrophe?

Sure, you might have your parents to lean on in times of crisis. Then again, you might not. What happens if one of your parents loses their job, and then your car breaks down? Or maybe your parents will decide that replacing a broken computer is your responsibility now that you’re at school. These things may not happen, but the ability (or willingness) of your parents to bail you out is not guaranteed.

Not to mention that showing some financial responsibility is the best way to convince your parents to help you out! My parents offered to pay for half of my car repair back in November, since they knew I could pay for the other half. By showing willingness to take responsibility for my car, I impressed my parents enough to get some additional help from them.

And setting up an emergency fund can really be quite painless.

Make it automatic. Figure out how much a month you can give up and have it automatically moved from your checking account to savings every month (this is easy to set up online at most banks). Even if you can only put aside a small amount (like $10 a month) it will add up. And it’s a good start, anyway - you can always increase the amount per month later.

I keep my emergency fund in a high yield savings account at ING Direct. I used a $250 student loan refund to start the account, and got a $25 bonus. You can too, using one of my ING referral links. If you decide to go that route, I suggest you start your emergency fund in your regular bank savings account, until you’ve saved up the $250 to start an ING account, and get the $25 bonus.

Define what constitutes an emergency.

I’m not going to tell you exactly what you should do with your money, but your emergency fund will serve you better if you set up some rules for it. Most personal finance books say that an emergency fund shouldn’t be for car or computer repairs - that you should anticipate these expenses and set up separate funds for them. But while I’m still in college, I find it easier just to have an all-encompassing emergency fund, and allow myself to use it for these expenses, as long as they’re necessary. Once I’m out of school and have greater income, I’ll start separate a repairs fund.

But “necessary” still doesn’t include things like say… spring break in Cancun. Rather, an emergency fund should be for if you end up stuck in the airport trying to come back from Cancun, and you suddenly need to buy an emergency ticket to get home. If you drain the fund for the trip itself, you won’t have the fund to help you if an actual emergency occurs!

The best emergency fund is one that you never have to use.

Part of your emergency “fund” should be the smart handling of objects you can’t live without. Pick up an external hard drive (or some blank DVDs) and make backups of the files on your computer. Take good care of your car - get the oil changed when you should and get it checked out regularly.

I know this is some common sense-y stuff, but the hard part is remembering to do it. When you’re in crisis mode, dealing with a dozen project deadlines and club activities and an on-campus job and… everything else… preventative stuff takes a back burner. The best thing to do is pick an hour a week, and set it aside for taking care of things that are important - but not urgent - like preventative maintenance.

Start your emergency fund now, and you’ll be miles ahead of the game.

The best part is that you’ll have that emergency fund started already when you graduate. Sure, you’ll probably need to expand it for your new, post-graduate lifestyle, but you’ll already be two steps ahead of everyone else. Most people don’t realize until years after college that they need an emergency fund, and once they do, most people still don’t make one. You’ll already know you need one, and have one started!

I know you’ll be thanking me for this later!

I spent a week last month running around like the proverbial headless chicken, managing a fundraiser for “Students for Cambodian Schools” - the club at my college that recently appointment me as president.

So, uh, what does this have to do with personal finance, exactly? Look, there’s more to money than hoarding it away in a high yield savings account or index funds. What good is money to you, if you can’t use it to do good?

So today, I’m here to shill for the charity of my choice. But really, I’d just be happy to know that you guys are donating to something that you believe in. And donations don’t always have to be monetary - clothes, time, effort… you can donate to a cause just by doing something that helps raise awareness.

That’s what I’m going to do right now: raise awareness for my cause. (The following was written with help from my good friend Sam, who founded the club at our school and was the president until I took over.)

What do you know about human trafficking in Cambodia?

[50% Off by YouTube user tomate1990]

For a text explanation, see theyoutubeproject page for the video.

Human trafficking may seem like a long-gone problem to those of us who live in developed Western nations, but it’s a problem that is all too alive and well, especially in places like Cambodia. Children sold out of their homes by parents who need the money for food. People tricked into believing that they’re getting a factory job… only to be kidnapped and sold.

The past century has taken its toll on the country; the effects of war, rapid changes in government, and genocide are still playing out on the people who live there. Children have little chance of advancing economically in their lives because they have so few opportunities.

I don’t want to be doom-and-gloomy - it’s not my style. I prefer to cowboy-up and jump into the “how can I help?” portion.

And you can help.

The Rural Schools Project

“American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC)/ Japan Relief for Cambodia (JRfC) are independent nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia.” One of the major ways AAfC and JRfC have influenced the Cambodian youth is through the Rural School Project program.

This program builds schools in some of the poorest areas in Cambodia and, in the areas they are built, has drastically cut down on illiteracy, long-term poverty, and human trafficking. In order for a basic school to be built, $13,000 must be raised. This money is matched by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and goes towards a school, teacher, and well. Additional money raised goes towards school enhancements such as solar panels and computers, books, and extra teachers.

Our club, Students for Cambodian Schools, is determined to raise this sum of money to build, support, and name one such rural school.

We’ve raised about 6% of the $13,000 needed to build the school through the Rural Schools Project. It’s a good start. If you want to help out, you can donate directly to our club using the widget below:

Raise money with ChipIn

(If you can’t see the widget, you can contact me to find other ways to donate.)

Your donation will help to fill out the bar a little (or a lot, if you so choose!). It might a lofty goal, but I am working as hard as I can to get the full $13,000 raised before I graduate one year from now - I really want to see us reach our this goal before I have to leave this school.

If you believe in this cause like I do, please tell someone about it. Whether or not you can find some money to spare for it, the real good you can do for any cause is just to raise awareness.

There was a time, a little over a year ago, when I loved the layout of this blog. Green! That’s my favorite color! And it’s the color of money! What’s not to love about this theme?

Then I looked at it for a year. And on other monitors, where it burned my eyes. I’m sure there are a lot of you reading this who hate this layout as much as I do. [Side note: if you hate the layout but love the content, you can save your eyes by subscribing to my RSS feed or getting site updates sent right to your email.]

So I’m wondering if anyone out there knows someone who’s really good at designs, and knows Wordpress really well… and works for cheap. I had someone lined up a few months ago, but he got some awesome job and moved away… such is my luck!

Another $3,301 in student loans this month, plus a nice tax bill, and I knew I wasn’t going to be sitting pretty when I started tabulating up my net worth for March. Time to check out the damage:

Change: -$3,569 or -11.36 %

Hmm… it sounds bad, but I’m actually not too disappointed. The $3,301 increase in student loans (and a $258 increase in interest on the loans I already have) was inevitable, and I knew I was looking at a tax payment this month.

A tax payment? Yep. I made some money from this blog and from my freelance job last year, but not enough to owe any income tax. But, since those are both self-employment incomes, I did owe Social Security tax and Medicare tax. So I had a $260 tax bill to pay. No biggie, though - I also knew that was coming, and was at least partially prepared for it. I took all the money I’d stashed away in my various high yield savings accounts and threw them at the tax bill.

So if you ignore the student loans and the tax bill, I actually would have gone up by $250 this month! And $190 of that was paid toward my credit card balance - so that’s where I see the silver lining on this. I’m ahead of schedule for paying my balance off in full before I lose my promo 0% APR!

For a look at my assets and liabilities, check out my NetworthIQ for March. For an explaination of the categories I use, check out the bottom of my entry about February’s net worth balance.

I got a question in the comments of another post on this site, about something annoying that happened to a reader when he filled up his gas tank:

Q. Can a Credit Card company pull more money than the purchase for a period of time?

Ex. I had 80.00 charged to my account for gasoline and when questioned the Amx guy said they always did that.

I can’t find anything to back this up other than my statement. If true could the companies be making money by holding my money for a period of time. Thanks for any comments.
Michael

Michael, the unfortunate truth is, yes, they can (and often do) do that. They usually only do this on debit cards, but if you have an American Express (Amex) charge card, I can see where they might treat that like a debit card. So what’s the story here - why do they do that, and why are they allowed to do that?

According to the MSN Money article “Hosed at the gas pump — by your debit card,” when you use a debit card at a pump that doesn’t require that you enter in your PIN, your bank can block off an extra amount of money in your account - “often $50 or $75.” Also,

That amount doesn’t “un-block” as you drive away. Instead, the hold remains up to 72 hours, until the station does a “batch” transaction that lets the bank know the actual amount, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

While the length of the hold is up to your bank, the amount of the hold is up to your gasoline retailer.

This annoying (and sometimes harmful) practice is designed to protect the oil companies. When you put your card in, they don’t know how much you’re going to pump, so they want to make sure you can pay for it before they approve you. So they “earmark” a portion of your money to make sure there’s enough in the account.

If you ask me, this is grossly unfair. If you stroll up to the pump with $80 in your account to pay for gas, and then they put a hold on your account for that $80 and then you pump $50 worth of gas - you overdraft!

And although most people might not skirt that close to the bottom of their account, I know plenty of people who do. After all, I’m in college - I hear things like “I’ve only got 30 bucks right now, and I’ve got to save that for gas” all the time.

What can you do to avoid this sticky situation?

Don’t pump with a debit card. This may not always be possible, but it’s a solution, none-the-less, and it’s the one I use. Actually, I try not to use my debit card for any purchases, for a variety of reasons. But this is definitely one of those reasons. And according to reader Michael, this also applies for Amex charge cards. Don’t use them at the pump, if you can help it.

I use my credit card at the pump - cash would obviously also avoid the problem. Cash usually isn’t as convenient, however.

If you do use your debit card, use your PIN. According to the MSN article, PIN-based transactions are processed immediately, without placing a hold on your account. So when it gives you the option to treat your card as a debit card (and enter your PIN) or as a credit card, pick “debit.”

Buy Sunoco gas. I actually noticed this a few months ago, while pumping at Sunoco - they have signs right on their pumps, that say they don’t believe in the practice of putting holds on debit cards, so they don’t do it. Kudos to Sunoco for that! So if you have the option of filling up at Sunoco, know that you can do it without facing a hold on your debit card.

Don’t drain your account down to the bottom. This might be a useless point to give to some of my college-and-minimum-wage readers, but I’ll say it for everyone else - if you can avoid bringing your bank account balance too low before you fill up, you won’t have to worry about whether you’re going to overdraft or not.

Also, keep in mind any checks that you’ve written that haven’t cleared yet, which may end up bouncing if the gas pump puts a hold on your account that lasts more than a day.

If you do get hit with a fee because of a gas station hold, call your bank. Dispute the fee, and do it right away. Politely, but firmly, explain the situation, and you have a good chance of getting the fee(s) reversed, especially if it doesn’t happen very often. This goes in line with the above tip - if holds are constantly making you overdraft, they’re going to stop reversing the fees after the second or so time it happens.

This is a slick, somewhat dirty - but mostly just annoying - practice, so I can see why reader Michael was peeved. I hope these tips help you, Michael - and anyone else who doesn’t like the idea of the gas companies latching onto an extra chunk of their money for a few days.