101 in 1001 #35, #36: Credit Reports, Credit Cards, and a Budget!

One of my personal goals for the next year (not a resolution, just a general goal!) is to manage my money more actively and effectively. I’ll be the first to confess, I’ve never really worried about things like my credit score or spending, primarily because I’m fortunate enough to have been debt-free and financially independent since I started working in 2011. I have healthy savings, and have always been able to spend comfortably on entertainment (um, hi, brunch). 

As I’m watching my friends make major life changes…buying real estate, for example…I’m starting to think more about things, though, and decided to make 2016 a year of active financial management for myself. I've been doing a lot of research, making and sticking to budgets, and cutting out some of the extraneous frills in favor of more careful spending and saving, and I'm really proud of myself! 

I started that off by applying for my credit score and a credit card. Believe it or not, I’ve actually never had a credit card before…I’m averse to the thought of carrying debt, and knew I could build good credit by regularly paying things like my car lease. I was completely out of my depth, therefore, when I started getting ten credit card offers a day at my apartment. Um, thanks but no thanks. Instead, I met with a Wells Fargo banker, where I currently bank, who decided that with my current financial position and infant credit, I’d be suited to their 0%-APR CashBack Rewards card. I don’t plan to use the card for anything but to pay utilities and my car payment on a monthly basis, and just transferred the auto-pays on each of those accounts over.

Along with opening a credit card, I used CreditKarma to check my credit score for the first time ever. (Again, judge away, I’ve genuinely never thought about things like this before, and I know that’s incredibly lame on my part.) CreditKarma performs “soft” inquiries to get the score, which don’t negatively affect credit, and I was pleased both to find it incredibly user-friendly and to find out that my score is, as predicted, really good. The only thing hurting it, in fact, is that (as I mentioned) my “credit age” is low. Basically, I haven’t had the luxury of time to build excellent credit for years, so the longer I maintain regular payments and manage my credit well, the more that aspect of my score will improve.

Having totally nerded out and with my fresh new plastic hanging out in my wallet, I decided to take things a step further and finally start leveraging Mint.com to create a 2016 budget! I started a Mint account a few years ago to track spending, but haven’t really used the budget tool super effectively or consistently. To maximize my use of Mint, I created different, customized budget categories for everything from rent/utilities to shopping, subscriptions, and even brunch...of course! 

My favorite feature is to be able to see where exactly my money goes every month. The image above isn't my personal budget breakdown, but shows what I see every month when I go check out how my spending is allocated. For example, looking back over 2015, the "coffee" wedge was absurdly too large...which spurred my resolution to give up "designer" coffee in 2016! Seeing things like where I've splurged too much and saved particularly effectively make me feel much more in control of the big picture when it comes to my money. 

A lot of this seems incredibly intuitive, but as I said above, I really haven't ever paid too much attention to the nitty-gritty of how I spend and budget. These small steps have been a great way to start 2016 off in a fiscally responsible way...which makes me feel even better about some of the fun spending I have coming up on travel, weddings, and entertainment! 

Interested in what else I've been up to? Head over to my 101 in 1001! 

101 in 1001 #39: Attend a lecture or seminar at work.

I rarely say this, but sometimes I do miss aspects of my old, Big 4 accounting firm job. I loved working with a team of people who were predominantly my age, it was great to be able to coach, teach and mentor on a daily basis, and the mileage reimbursements for driving to client sites didn’t hurt either. I’ve also found myself wishing that I had more opportunities for good professional development and continuing education in my current role. In public, there’s so much emphasis on continuing professional education (CPE) because it’s required to achieve a certain number of hours annually to remain an active CPA. Here, employees pretty much have to go outside the company to achieve it, or rely on a limited number of offerings throughout the year.

My new boss recommended that I enroll in a “Principles of Insurance and Risk Management” class offered every fall that he took in his early days with the company. He thought it would provide a solid foundational knowledge of both the insurance industry and of my company, so I signed up along with another new-ish employee in my department. The class met for ten Mondays from 7 to 9 am and covered fundamentals of risk and insurance, with a lot of editorializing by my professor (HA) on how it all applied and was interpreted at my specific company. I was cautiously optimistic at first, and then my attitude (and motivation) took a complete nosedive when I realized that the entire course’s worth of material consisted of information I covered literally in my first insurance-specific training at my Big 4 job.

Unfortunately, I think the selection of this class in particular for me was a mistake given the fact that I came out of insurance audit and already had close to a hundred hours of industry-specific training. The majority of my classmates were fresh-out-of-college hires participating in our company’s development program, and the class was very much geared to people who didn’t know anything about insurance in the first place. While this did mean that certain sessions bored me to tears, it also meant that I could tune out to a degree on the basics, and focus in on the company-specific information that added value for me.

We had our final yesterday morning, and while the extent of my “studying” consisted of skimming the textbook while drinking a glass of wine on Sunday night, I am thrilled to officially put this seminar to bed. I’m glad I took it for a variety of reasons…curried a little favor with the boss, met a few new people in the company, blah blah blah. I do regret wasting twenty hours of my life covering material I already knew, though, and I feel like, given the option, I could have found a much more value-adding alternative. That said though, it never hurts to try something, and if that’s the only true knowledge I’ve gained from Principles of Insurance and Risk Management, hey, I’ll take it.

Sorry for the downer post! If nothing else, I guess it proves that not all of my bright ideas always pan out into something awesome. Oops! Go take a peek at my 101 in 1001 list to find a ton of other, way more fun things I’ve done and am planning on doing before 2/11/17 here!

101 in 1001 #59: Plan and throw a surprise party!

Time to play catch-up on life lately…I’ve been way too busy having an insane amount of fun to actually write about how much fun it’s been! Between Labor Day and today, I’ve been gone more than I’ve been in the Twin Cities…two weddings out of state, a trip to Toronto for work, sneaking away to Columbus for a weekend of Buckeye football, and a work-and-play journey to Hartford and Boston!

There’s been plenty of fun back home though too…including a super-special weekend with Eva and her bridal party in late October! As I’ve mentioned, Eva’s getting married next summer, and Claire and I are her bridesmaids. Along with Kyla, her Madison-based maid of honor, we decided to take advantage of a planned bridal shopping weekend to pull off an epic surprise!

Way back over the summer we started talking about potential weekends to go shopping for dresses…both bridesmaids’ dresses and, of course, Eva’s wedding dress! With the insanity of all of our work schedules, plus the complications of college football season (of course), we landed on just one weekend where we were all free. As soon as we did, I sneakily Facebooked Claire and Kyla to propose the idea of a surprise engagement party to cap off the day. They were 100% on board, and we started planning legitimately months in advance!

The morning of our bridal extravaganza started bright and early as Claire and I headed to The Wedding Shoppe to meet Eva, Kyla, and Eva’s mom. I wasn’t really sure what to expect…I’d only been dress-shopping with one other bride, at a super-small boutique, so this was very different for me. The Wedding Shoppe is like the major leagues of dress-shopping experiences. Imagine a dozen brides, all with their entourages, packed into the top floor of an old Grand Avenue mansion that’s been converted to a wedding dress emporium. So much white, so many tears, SO MUCH ESTROGEN.

We had a fabulous time watching beautiful Eva try on equally beautiful dresses, and she ended up finding one she loved! No photos, obviously, but we did the obligatory “She Said Yes!” photo to commemorate the experience.

The bridesmaid portion of the appointment took place in the basement of said Grand Avenue mansion, and it was absolute madness. In just under two hours, we managed to go from looking at deep purple chiffon dresses to a complete 180…beautiful peau de soie in one of the prettiest colors I’ve ever seen. In the meantime, Claire, Kyla and I cycled through about a dozen dresses in various shades of Easter-egg chiffon. Hilarity ensued, and I fell completely in friend-love with Kyla (as if I hadn’t already during our months of Facebook chatting to plan the party!).

Once we settled on a bridesmaid dress color and brand, we peaced out of Bridal Insanityland and headed to a relaxing brunch at W.A. Frost! If you ever go, get the croque madame…you won’t regret it. Almost as good as Paris! After finishing up, we rocketed over to Edina for manicures and pedicures, where Eva thought our day would end with a chill brewery trip and afternoon of girl time. Little did she know that Claire was going to fake a work emergency, and she and I were going to ditch Kyla and Eva to go prepare for the party!

Here, I have to give the hugest of huge shout-outs to my amazing parents. We were tied up all day doing bridal party activities, so my mom and dad killed it in every way helping us get set up and ready. Just my luck, the elevator in my building was broken that weekend, so we were schlepping everything up and down stairs to the party room with such limited time. I get frazzled easily, but with Dick and Jodi at the helm, everything went beautifully!

We planned a purple, black, and silver party to match Eva’s initial wedding colors, which we had of course changed that morning. I’m so glad we did get purple in the wedding somewhere though…it’s Eva’s favorite color and it looked so cool in my building’s party room! I ordered personalized M&Ms with a coupon a few weeks prior to the party, which looked incredibly cute scattered around the room, and Claire and I picked up big purple balloon bouquets for the main table before the party started.

We hung a personalized banner (thanks, Party City!) above the bar and buffet…

And my personal favorite decorations? I’m really proud of this one. I snuck a few of Eva’s engagement pictures off Facebook and framed them to be scattered around the party. I had a ton of small frames left over from previous apartments’ gallery walls, though, so I decided to put them to good use as well! When we sent out invites (via email, ever-so-fancy!), I asked that anyone who sent regrets also send their best wishes for the bride and groom, to be displayed during the party and sent home with her.

I didn’t catch a picture of them, but I typed each message up prettily, added a black-and-white floral border, and we had those running down the table too! You can sort of see it in the picture up above. I loved reading everyone’s sweet words for Eva and her fiancé Josh…it’s always so wonderful to hear people talk about how much they love someone!

Oh…and one last touch, that Claire and I clearly had way too much fun with…the amazing 99-cent Party City bling. At that low, low price, why wear just one? HA!

Now…before we get into the surprise, about that cake.

Drink it in. It’s literally Barney purple. My parents went to pick it up at the delectable Farmington Bakery, and my mom called me as soon as she got a look at it to ask if I had actually asked for a neon purple cake. I was dismayed…like, beyond upset. I had called, over my car’s Bluetooth system, to ask for purple flowers, which clearly was misheard and left me with purple frosting instead. YIKES. My mom saved the day with cake toppers and decorations that (slightly) mitigated the garish error, but I was NOT a happy camper. Still, it became a running joke for the night and of course it still tasted great!

Eva and Kyla showed up for “a chill night in at my apartment” at 7, and the surprise went off without a hitch! We had around 25 family members and friends who showed up, made the maze-like hike up to the roof deck, and celebrated. From my dad’s amazing sliders to Claire’s famous buffalo chicken dip and Kyla’s adorable candy sushi, the food was fantastic…and Eva’s mom actually found wines that were named “Eva” and “Josh!” We slapped a bridal veil tiara thing on Eva’s head and had a blast drinking, playing pool and chatting. It was so great to meet her family and start getting to know some of the men and women who will be at the wedding…not to mention the shower and bachelorette party! We were honestly all so busy having fun that we only have about four pictures with guests in them...and only one of the most clutch bridal party ever! 

The engagement party was the perfect way to kick off Eva’s bridal year. As a test run of sorts for the other events we’ll be planning as her bridal party, it couldn’t have been better. It gave Kyla and Claire and I a chance to figure out logistics and, best of all, to get to know each other. I can’t wait for everything else we have upcoming…it’s sure to be a blast!

To check out the rest of my 101 in 1001 shenanigans, head here…plenty of fun coming up! 

101 in 1001 #4: Visit a new state.

I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off...or at least half my hair cut off...this morning. I leave for Connecticut in a few hours for more work travel and, incidentally, checking this guy off my 101 in 1001 list! 

From Connecticut, I'm shipping up to Boston (OHHHoohhhh!) for some quality time with Kaitlin, assorted other Irish lovers, and the Fighting Irish themselves! So excited to cross this bucket list item off with not one, but two new states in a week! 

Can't wait to: 

--meet colleagues I've worked with for 2 years and never seen face-to-face

--experience this steakhouse that everyone in the Saint Paul office has raved about to me every single day since we booked the trip

--teach some of the biggest trainings I've done yet

--eat some lobstah 

--say "wicked" more than is entirely appropriate

--tailgate around Fenway Park on Saturday

--dork out with Kait and go see Walden Pond and Louisa May Alcott's house

--do my best American Revolutionary impression all over the Freedom Trail

--sit in on one of Kait's classes at Harvard

--get some amazing friend time in!

With that, I need to run to Target, re-pack my (obscenely, excessively giant) suitcase, send five more work emails, and get the hell outta the tundra! 

101 in 1001 #49: Make a monetary donation to a cause I care about.

Every fall, it seems that I get to take a sort of mental reset around how I look at philanthropy and charitable initiatives. Last fall, I got involved in my company's Employee Giving Campaign, a role I was lucky enough to hold again this year. Our campaign just concluded officially on Friday, and we met and exceeded our corporate goals of raising over $3,000,000, earmarked for the United Ways of Hartford and the Greater Twin Cities. 

One of my favorite benefits of being so involved in the campaign is the chance to open my eyes to just how much the United Way does, and how many causes there are to be invested in. I think I have always tended to focus on the more immediate needs...food shelves, shelters, and the like...because those services and resources provide the most critical benefit and have immediate, tangible payoff. What I have lost sight of because of that approach is the second-tier needs and issues that feed into and ultimately end up causing those first-tier problems. 

The United Way, for example, runs "cause campaigns" that focus around bringing attention to these sorts of issues. Ranging from counseling for LGBT teens aimed at reducing youth homelessness, to focus on providing meals over summer break and preventing learning loss in elementary-age children, the campaigns center around eradicating issues that ultimately feed to bigger problems. I got involved in publicizing these campaigns as part of our overall giving campaign, and hope to build them in next year...we throw a campus-wide picnic, for instance, that I think dovetails perfectly with the "Stop The Growl" lunch provision campaign. Things like that get me incredibly excited about being able to spend part of my workday focusing on something so much more impactful than policy revision and risk analysis. 

Learning about the cause campaigns focused me in on areas the GTCUW really emphasized related to helping out children. Anyone who knows me knows I adore kids...all my jobs through high school and college centered around childcare, and I even went so far as to serve as the director of an elementary and middle school band program while in college. I was fortunate enough to benefit from a great education in a well-off public school system, and I had a network of amazing support in my teachers and parents. Thousands of students aren't that lucky, though, and I think that, for me, any way to get involved in changing that is becoming a focal area for my future volunteering and philanthropic endeavors. 

A woman I work with who I respect greatly serves on the board of the St. Paul Public Schools Foundation, and recently invited me to participate with her. Getting involved in something like this at my age is an honor, and I hope to be able to expand my role as time goes by (and, um, as I actually have kids in a school system). A few weeks ago, we attended the SPPSF's major fundraiser, the "Investing In Student Success" fundraising breakfast. While listening to impact speakers including the mayor of St. Paul, several high school students, and a teacher who had benefited from a foundation grant, we were served the same breakfast the foundation provides for students every day during first period...just one direct, tangible way the foundation benefits students directly. 

Our table included two sophomores at the technology magnet school hosting the breakfast, and I loved getting to chat with them. Both were incredibly bright students from backgrounds that are often traditionally considered disadvantaged, and both had huge dreams and plans for their careers as students, ultimately aspiring to work in STEM fields. Listening to them talk about how hard their school worked on their behalf left me feeling so inspired to do anything possible to help out. Needless to say, when the "monetary donation" portion of the program came around, I had no problem whipping out the checkbook. 

Although giving money was the easiest way to make an impact on that particular day, I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can do to continue advancing my understanding of and contribution to children's causes in the Twin Cities. I'm always looking for good ideas...so shoot them my way if you have them! Especially with the holidays coming up, it feels like the perfect time to do more. 

Check out the rest of my 101 in 1001 here!