Personal Finance Links ? New Apartment Edition

by Andy Hough on December 17, 2012

I moved into my new apartment this week. My apartment is in the same complex that I lived in three years ago before moving away from Kansas City. Since I already knew the complex, I didn?t bother looking at the apartment before renting. That was a mistake since the apartment complex has gone downhill in the last three years. I could have had an apartment in a nicer complex for just $25 or so more a month. I?m not going to worry about it though. As long as the apartment remains pest-free it will be good enough for the next few months.

The apartment does have some pluses. It is within 10 miles of all three of my jobs. It is probably the cheapest apartment I could have found in the area. It is within walking distance of a drug store, dollar store, grocery store, movie theater, library, and lots of restaurants. That should help me keep my gasoline bill low. Also, my utility expenses were very low when I previously lived in these apartments. I expect that to continue since I haven?t had to use the heat yet even with some fairly cold nights.

I?m not sure if I have written about this yet, but I have two jobs that are scheduled to start in January. One is with a local CPA firm doing tax returns and the other is with a major tax preparation firm doing tax law research at their corporate headquarters. I?m planning to work one full-time and the other part-time and keep my current part-time job as well. One potential monkey wrench in the plan is that the companies may have some policy disallowing working at a competing company. If that is the case I will choose which job to keep. One job pays $20 an hour and the other pays $15 an hour so I would most likely keep the higher paying job. Both of these jobs pay much more an hour than I have ever earned before. It has been a long time since I have had a substantial income and I?m looking forward to making enough money that I can save most of it.

Here are some recent posts that I like:

Living Well on Minimum Wage Challenge at Saving Advice. My expenses should be around the minimum wage level in 2013 and I expect to live pretty well. I make up my own challenge based on this.

Credit Sesame Free Credit Monitoring at Bank Bonuses. I haven?t tried the free credit monitoring, but I have gotten my free credit score from Credit Sesame and am happy with the service.

My Plan for Early Retirement at The Outlier Model. The plan is pretty simple, but actually living on 25% of one?s income would probably be difficult. I like the idea of retiring early, and I?m making that one of my main goals. Although I?m already pretty old, so I won?t be retiring too early.

Retirement and the Fiscal Cliff at My Retirement Blog. It is hard to know what the outcome of the fiscal cliff negotiations will be. It is prudent to not be overly dependent on Social Security and Medicare for your retirement plans.

Save Money by Cutting Your Own Hair at Free in 10 Years. I?ve been doing this for years and have saved hundreds of dollars. In addition to saving money, it is also much more convenient to cut your hair at home.

Source: http://tightfistedmiser.com/2012/12/17/personal-finance-links-new-apartment-edition/

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