Green Minded Wallet

As I was walking to the bus stop this afternoon I started pondering some of the similarities between grad school and personal finance, and how to make the most out of both of them. Here are a few examples that struck me.

Big goals, a ways off. I think the case can safely be made that saving for retirement and writing a thesis are both two very large tasks that take a concerted amount of resources and dedication for years. Like a thesis, retirement is a huge goal that can often seem insurmountable. If you look at other people’s theses or retirement portfolios, you may find yourself wondering, “How am I ever going to get there?” Yes, they are big goals, but they can be conquered!

What helps me: I set small goals, sometimes I have to set tiny goals. Instead of saying, “oh, this person have 317 references for her dissertation”, or “my friend already has $350k saved toward retirement”, say “I will read and outline 5 articles this month”, or “I will save an extra 25 dollars this month”. No in the scheme of things, these are just tiny drops in the bucket. But remember every drop helps. Just ask these guys.

I also find making a list of accomplishments helps, sometimes being as detailed as writing down what I’ve gotten done each week. Then when I’m feeling stressed out, I go back and look at what I’ve already accomplished. Maybe you haven’t fully-funded your emergency fund or you still have over 900k left you want to accumulate in your retirement portfolio. But haven’t you reached 50% of your emergency fund goal and paid off one of your credit cards? To reach the top you have to build up over time. No one (I hope) sits down in a weekend and reads 317 papers. There are probably very few people who save up $1 million over three years. Take your time and appreciate the progress that you’ve made so far.

Things do not go as planned. Today I spent about 20 minutes explaining to one of the other graduate students why the experiment that he wanted to do would not work the way that he wanted to set it up. While I’m sure it was a rather frustrating experience for him, we were able to come up with some potential ways around the problems. I can’t say right now how it will all work out, but in the end there is a good chance that he will be able to find the information that he needs even if his original method might not work.

What helps me: Remembering that things often don’t go the way that you would like them to. If you’re flexible and willing to learn from your setbacks and failures, it is possible to still get where you want to be even if it takes you a little longer to do it. The advantage in personal finance is, a lot of the same temptations and challenges will show up again, but you’ll already know how to handle them.

Got nothing done. Okay, some days I come home and I’m just not sure why I even bothered to get out of bed, because I accomplished nothing. Similarly there are times when it feels like my net worth is in a holding pattern, or there are continuously unexpected little bills that thwart me from advancing my savings.

What helps me: I evaluate the situation and see if I really didn’t get anything done or if I’m actually experiencing more of a latent energy situation? If it’s a latent energy situation, I try to come up with a tangible goal that will help make things seem like I’m making progress. For example, sometimes I need to read really long dissertations that are very dense, but are important to my research. So my plan of attack is to read a chapter or two here and there, but set a goal of when I want the have the whole paper read. While reading a chapter doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment sometimes, I know that once I’ve finished putting it all together, it will really help me move forward. The same thing can be said in personal finance, especially since I’m currently at a point where my net worth (a common measure of personal finance gain) seems to be crawling along. I’m good about saving, but since much of what I save goes back out in a short time-frame towards school and other expenses, the net worth ticker doesn’t move very fast. However, I know that this experience should positively affect the rest of my career life and knowing that I’m not going into debt for it, I have to take heart. And in the end, I should still be able to hit one of my major personal finance goals by the time I finish grad school. (Woot!)

If I’m in the situation where I truly haven’t gotten anything done, then I remind myself that each day is an opportunity to make progress, and each day that I don’t take that opportunity I lose it and it doesn’t come back (the same can easily be said about incoming monetary funds). So since I don’t like to waste opportunities, I rarely have more than one dead day for a good stretch of time.

So why bother with either grad school or personal finance? Well for some people grad school is worth it and personal finance is important for everyone. It may take a long time to get where you want to be, but the feeling of success is great. If you’ve ever gotten the signature of your final committee member or paid off a student loan or car note, then I think you’d agree with me that the time, effort, and frustration were well worth the outcome.

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I recently got back from a professional conference. I had a great time hearing details about some of the current research on pressing environmental concerns such as biofuels, stream restoration, and nutrient management. Our group also had a chance to hear Former President Clinton speak. It’s pretty cool to be in the same room as someone who was once a world leader! We were even allowed to take pictures (though the lighting from where I was sitting made most of my pictures rather fuzzy). All this to say that I’m pretty wiped out; I hope to get a real post up in the next day or two once I am fully rested and back into the swing of things. Hopefully we won’t have any more tornado sirens to shake things up again; what a week.

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People often talk about how having a roommate can save you money because you split rent and utilities and things of that nature. But today having a roommate saved me money if a different way. We currently have street parking for our apartment and we have alternate side of the street rules. Well, for the first time ever I had forgotten to move my car. So my roommate, who happened to be working from home, called me up to remind me. While I have a spare set of keys at home she can’t drive stick so she picked me up (I ride the bus in) and brought me back home. I moved my car and fifteen minutes later I was back on the bus. If I hadn’t of had a roommate (which I didn’t until this month), I would probably be out 30 bucks or so, or however much parking tickets cost. So there’s another great way roommates can save you money.

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Do you ever feel as an environmentally conscious and/or frugal person that you break social norms? Do you ever not do something that you think is the best choice because it would seem too “outlandish” or perhaps even unprofessional?

One of the great things about being a grad student is that the social and financial expectations are fairly low: while you are expected to be clean and tidy, it pretty much ends there. No one has a problem with thrift store clothes, or with you not checking your email at night because you don’t have DSL at home. Cars are not required and if you bring a lunch of rice and beans, no one thinks it’s weird. Roommates, used furniture, and mason jars as drinking glasses are all perfectly acceptable. I love it.

I think being a grad student is great because I can focus on doing something that I love without having to worrying about appearances. If my work is outstanding that is what people know me for, not my trendy clothes or Crate and Barrel furnishings. However, I do wonder what is going to happen when I get out. Somethings I know will have to change: no more sweatshirts or fabric patches on my worn jeans. But what about the other stuff: can I still bring beans and rice to work for lunch? Am I expected to wear makeup and have my hair professional styled? Am I going to have to buy a kitchen table and real bath mats?

Even with the “real jobs” that I’ve had, people always considered me as starting out and made allowances for such things, will they continue to do so? How much should I care (i.e. how much will it affect my career)? Have you ever struggled with this? Has it made you pick one job/career over the other? Do I just need to get with it and buy some new pants?

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A blog examining some of the aspects of day-to-day life as I struggle to find a balance between financial and environmental stewardship. Oh, and the (occasional) ranting about stuff.

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