Budgets: who’s got ’em, who wants ’em

Ah, budgets. The salad section on the menu of personal finance: you might glance at it because you know they’re good for you, but you also know damn well that you’re still going to order those truffle fries when the waiter comes. We all know that budgets are important, but it’s so difficult to stay disciplined. With so many of us on shoestring stipends, monthly spending is likely a huge stressor for grad students. While I can’t increase all our paychecks, it can be empowering to know how exactly you plan to use that money. Below are some tips to help you get started on your budgeting journey.

Continue reading “How To Budget Your Money Without Really Trying” →

*DISCLAIMER*: This website is for educational purposes only. I am not a CFP or financial advisor. Please consult a professional before making any financial decisions.

Saving for retirement was one of the most daunting tasks for me when I was 22. I was newly graduated from college, moving to a new state, and starting a lab tech job in the span of about a week, and I had very little room in my brain to think about my personal finances. Luckily, I had just become an employee of a large institution, which meant the framework for the university-sponsored retirement account (a 403(b), to be specific) was basically ready to go with a whole team of administrative staff who could help me set things up. I told them how much I wanted to contribute from my paycheck every month and that was that.

Once I started grad school, though, I was on my own. Getting funded from a large training grant meant that there was no 401(k) equivalent waiting for me, so I could only rely on opening an individual retirement account, or IRA. Since then, I’ve learned a lot (and made plenty of mistakes), and while I’m still no expert, I hope I can share some tips I wish I had known from the start!

Continue reading “Saving for Retirement 101” →

Photo by Recha Oktaviani via Unsplash, CC0

I don’t know about you all, but I was pretty panicked when I had to figure out my taxes my first year of grad school. I had worked other jobs before, so I only understood the very basics of uploading my W-2 to a tax help website. Taxes for grad students are notoriously confusing because of our unique position as students/employees depending on the institution. As a start to the general finance side of this blog and with the tax deadline approaching in a couple months, I’ve written this guide to tackling grad student taxes. I’d like to break down the very basics of what I know about how to calculate, pay, and file taxes. We’ll use the simple scenario described below to illustrate some important points to know about the process.