The job search is still on! Here’s a few things I’ve been itching to do, but am putting off until I have employment (and paychecks!):
1) Get a Bank of America Savings Account with Keep The Change. I already have a checking account with them, but their savings accounts require either a fee or a $25 a month automatic transfer from your checking. I’m not comfortable committing to that transfer until I have gainful employment. However, the whole point of it is to take advantage of the tasty Keep the Change deal. After some good money accumulates in there (between the Keep the Change and the automatic transfers), I’ll move the money over to my Emigrant account to get even better returns.
2) Apply for a card with a 0% interest rate on balance transfers for one year, roll my debt onto it, and pay it as fast as possible. Pretty self explanatory. There’s two reasons I’m waiting on this: first of all, to be able to fill out the “Employer” section on the credit application will make me feel a lot better, and probably improve my chances of getting the card approved at a large enough credit limit. Also, I want to make sure that I’ll have enough money coming in to pay off the balance before the 0% rate expires.
3) Buy some DevaCurl products. Ok, first of all, this is my little treat for getting a job. Secondly, this might save me some money in the long run, according to English Major. Most of all, I want to see if I can’t just find some better products for my curls!
4) Take my car to the mechanic. Alright, I’ll admit it: I’m driving around with the “check engine” light on. But the mechanics didn’t find anything wrong with it when I had it inspected, and I haven’t had the money to fix it, if there is something wrong. If I want to keep whatever job I get, I’ll need to keep my ride in ship-shape… er… car-shape?
5) Get this blog a domain. It’s only $10 a year. And I think the poor girl (get it? “Poorer Than You” – “poor girl?” Hahaha, I’m so easily amused) deserves to start spreading her wings a bit.
Yay, curly girls! I think you’ll love DevaCurl, and if you have any “shampoo withdrawal,” you can try their Low-Poo or No-Poo, which let you scrub your scalp with less or no sulfates–it’s like stepping down.
Also, I use (and love) Keep the Change. It’s great for me because in my accounting I round up, anyway–I hate complicated numbers. So, with Keep the Change, I can see that margin accumulating, and the bank matches 100% of the first three months (only 5% after that, but they’re still going to end up writing me a pretty substantial check).
And actually, I have an automatic deposit set up to keep the account free, but I just transfer it right on back to checking–my real savings happens at ING. Bank of America’s intra-bank transfers are basically instant, so it doesn’t interrupt my financial life too much, and it makes my savings account free! But yeah, totally wait to open an ING account until you have $250: then you can get a $25 signup bonus (remind me, and I’ll send you a link for that).
Hey if you want a new domain, and you’re looking for a nice host, check out my post here.. I have this awesome promo that I found on the net.
http://millionster.com/articles/new/dreamhost-promo-code-super40/
Btw let me know when you get your new domain! =) Good luck with the job search!
1mil (Juan)
English Major: Thanks =) I noticed that CurlMart has a “choose three” pack going for DevaCurl for a pretty good price, so I’ll probably get one of the Poos, the conditioner, and the gel – might as well go with the whole package!
1mil: Thank you very much for the offer, but I have a friend who runs several servers, and has offered me free hosting for a while – I just have to talk to him after I register my domain. But if for some reason that falls through, at least I have your link as a backup!
You don’t need to wait to start the Keep the Change account. After your monthly transfer of $25 to your saving account is made you can transfer it right back to your checking account. I’ve been doing this for over a year and haven’t been charged any fees. I think I have about $7 in my savings account right now.
Tight Fisted Miser: I could do that, but I only have $27 in my checking account right now, and that’s cutting it too close. I’m waiting until I have a significant cushion in my account, which will probably occur when I have a job.
But thank you for pointing it out – I hadn’t actually thought of just transfering the money right back! (Blonde moment, I suppose).
Howdy, Az sent me here when I asked for good blog links!
Good list of things, and I’d add one other which sounds crazy at first, but believe me this is 25 years of experience talking:
Live COMPLETELY debt-free. I know what you’re thinking – this guy’s crazy – but we have found it to be generally true that if we can’t pay for it up front, we either don’t need it or it can truly wait.
This automatically sets you up for success in case the business cycle (and accompanying job) goes down the tubes for a while.
This is 25 years of debt-free marriage talking here. We survived a FOUR YEAR unemployment stretch because our debt load was virtually nonexistent. The only exceptions: Go into debt ONLY when you owe less than it’s worth. (Remember this when it comes time to buy a car, or a house, or…)
It’s OK, we all started where you are – but please learn from the mistakes most of us have already made and you’ll have a great foundation for doing well.
Cheers!
I know I’m getting in on this conversation rather late but hopefully my post finds you with a job and the better part of the year under your belt as far as the 0% card goes. As always I enjoy your blob….
~Larry