See Jane Get Rich

Its mid-November and in Law School land its time to eliminate all distractions and buckle down to the task of preparing for exams.   I nurse no dreams of being a top 100 PF blogger with thousands and thousands of readers waiting breathlessly for my next post thus, my blog has to revolve around my life. 

This sabbatical from blogging will last the next three weeks and I will be back to blogging on Monday, December 14th.

Update December 14: Okay, I am back.   After I got done with my final exam, I drove straight home.  The next morning I started my holiday job.  I am dead tired and very short on time these days, but the money will help.  I look forward to catching up on some of my favorite blogs.

Last night I came across a really good article on NY Times about the practice of exchanging work to travel the world with sailors.   Sometimes I come across articles and websites that make me go “Whoa, this is awesome!” and this is one of those “Whoa” articles. 

According to Sailing the Caribbean, the Frugal Way, a great way to travel the Caribbean (and the world) is to search for sailors looking for crew members.  In exchange for your work you get to sail around the Caribbean for free.  There is no need to have experience sailing because you can work as a deckhand or a cook.   There are sailors out there who will take unskilled people and teach them the basics about sailing.  If you can’t find one of these then an alternative will be to work and pay a small fee to the boat as the author Matt Gross did.  He paid $55 a day to work a few hours for the boat S.V. Illusion and had a great low-cost vacation.  Another option in addition to the S.V. Illusion is the  Karaka.  The Karaka’s  shared expenses total about $150 a week.
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Personal Finance Lesson’s Learned from my Chaco’s Sandal

It took me a while to learn the importance of buying quality items rather than the cheapest.  My pair of black Chaco’s went a long way in helping me learn that lesson. 

In 2005 I bought the most expensive pair of shoes ever: a black Chaco’s sandal for close to $100.  I needed a pair of sandal’s that I can wear that was comfortable and stayed on my feet.  Previous to my Chaco’s purchase I have never been a label worshipper and I didn’t stay loyal to brands rather  I went for whatever looked good, felt good and doesn’t come with sticker shock.  But, now I am a Chaco’s customer for life. 
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Today, I’ve been the victim of Burger King’s “Would you like that to be a medium or large today?” second generation corporate strategy to nickel and dime its customers.

There is a Burger King on the way to school that I have been avoiding like the plague for months because fastfood is not good for me and I shouldn’t eat it often.  Second, the guy at the window always tries to flirt with me.  First, he would have this cheesy smile on his face.  I avoid looking at him.  Then when I reach for the receipt he withdraws my receipt.  I think he wants me to engage in some kind of cat and mouse game with him for the receipt and I refuse to do so.  I have on my “I am not amused” look and get away as quickly as possible. 

Since it is November and close to exam time I have been slacking on cooking.  So, I stopped by BK for a quick lunch.  I always order #4 the Jr Whopper Burger with no cheese that costs $3.99 which comes to $4.32 with taxes.   But, today the total came to be $5.04. 
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Actually, not free.  I’ve been dying to write a headline like that.  This is a post about my adventures with laptops and how I ended up with a $350 Sony Viao laptop.

Laptop Love

I love laptops in the way someone who never had a desktop would.  I just can’t imagine life without one.  I like the way it sits just perfect on my lap when I am in bed doing work and I can adjust it to the perfect degree for optimum view of the screen and the least amount of stress on my neck.

My First Laptop was an IBM (used) & then a Toshiba (used)

I got my first laptop when I was a senior in high school.  The black IBM was a used one that was bought for around $700-$800.  But, overheating and other complications lead me to buy a used widescreen Toshiba from my friend for around $600.  The Toshiba was a beauty because it had that dark blue glossy color.  But it was a heavy laptop and I felt as if I was chugging it everywhere with me instead of the more delicate act of merely carrying.   

Toshiba Died Due to a Paper Cut

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I occassionally like to head over to NetworthIQ to see the kind of money young lawyers are making.  After all, I am about to graduate in mere months.  My soon to be peers, it appears, have really nice incomes and a whole lot of student debt.   In fact, the average networth of a young lawyer between the age of 25-29 is rather low.    

I first focused on the legal sector, then narrowed it down to those with their doctorates so as to exclude paralegals.  Then I gathered all the data for the 25-29 age group.  I came up with 20 young lawyers between 25-29.  They all have decent to really good incomes.   Of the 20 young lawyers, 9 were making six figures.  The highest income was in the $250,000+ range while the lowest was in the $40,000-49,000 range.  And the average networth was…drum roll please…   -$22,651.  Yes, that is a negative netowrth.     Yikes.  Only 4 out of 16 or 20% of attorney’s actually had a positive networth. 

• Total young attorney’s with debts:  16 of the 20 or 80%
• Average Income:  Between $101,000 and $126,499
• Average debt: $84,942.93
• Average networth: -$22,651

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A lot of my friends have rent envy. 

When my friends and I compare our rents I come in on the lowest of the low spectrum with $750.  DC is one very expensive place to live if you want to live without a bunch of roommates/housemates.  AfterCollege.com put the average rent for a one bedroom apartment at $1,469 and Rent.com put that figure at an unheard of $1,100.  Most students and professionals who wants to live in a decent area that is close to the metro pays that much for a studio. 

 My Cali Friend’s rent is $1,250 for a studio while my New Mexico friend’s rent is $1,350 for a studio.  They both rent directly from condo owners which makes their rent lower than the typical apartment rates.  My Richmond study buddy pays $1,450 for a studio and she lives in an apartment.  They all live in a very nice area that is very close to the metro with a stone’s throw from a gym, grocery store, banks, restaurants and other convenience. 

 I pay $750 for a Junior 1 Bedroom.  I live in (ahem) a less-than desirable area of Washington, DC.  It’s the kind of place that I never would have lived in the first time I got to DC.  But, let’s just say my standards have changed and I have toughened up.  
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As of November 1, 2009, I earned close to $4k  in Amazon sales.  I have been selling my textbooks online through undergraduate, graduate and now law school.  I have been having a blockbuster year this year because one of my friends seeing how hard I was trying to sell my books online just gave me her books from last semester.  Which was super nice of her.  I have put most of the money that I made this year aside in an account I have designated my “fun account.”  I have $1,300 in it now. 

I can spend money from my fun account without guilt such as buying nonessentials or use it for travel.  One of my friends will be going to Senegal in March and I am thinking about joining him on the trip.  My fun account balance of $1,300  won’t be enough to cover the trip.  But, I won’t have to pay for lodging for one thing since we are going to visit my friend’s friend.  And I am pretty sure there won’t be another chance for me to go to Senegal.  I am really thinking about this. 

2009  1,406.92
2008   460.62
2007   320.35
2006   685.28
2005   384.91
2004   45.47
2003   461.13

Total: $3,764.68

Food can be one of the biggest expenses after housing.  This is especially true if law school (job or family) takes up most of your time (check) and you are not very good at cooking (check).  My twin goal every month is to keep my food expenses low and try to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen.  I want things that are simple to cook, relatively healthy and filling.

 You know my penchant for free food usually in the form of free sandwiches, free chipotle burritos and free pizza from school.  But, a girl can’t keep living on just the free stuff.  To keep my food costs down and my tummy full, there are a few items that I routinely eat:

 Rice

Basmati rice is my favorite kind of rice due to its unique texture and because it isn’t sticky.  It is also super simple and easy to make.  I cook white basmati rice in a rice cooker.  This will usually take 15-20 minutes.  I will make more than I need so I will have rice to eat for a few days.  You can pair rice as a side to almost anything.  Also basmati rice packs a good nutritional punch because it is a good source of iron, selenium, thiamine, and niacin. 

Spaghetti/pasta

I have a lot of spaghetti, pasta and macaroni in my cupboards because it is cheap and filling.  I usually like to make spaghetti and meat balls with melted cheese on top or have it with just the sauce.  Pasta is an excellent complex carbohydrate with almost no fat. 

 Eggs

I love eggs.  They are such a great source of cheap protein, and if you throw away a few of the egg yolks then you can lower the fat content as well.  The only downside with eggs would be the sodium content.  I like to make French toast or scrambled eggs for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. 

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Boo-rito Goodies

Chipotle’s Halloween Boo-rito Promotion!

My friend and I had a great time participating in the Halloween Boo-rito promotion at Chipotle where you get to have a free burrito (or another Chipotle product) if you dress up like a burrito.  All chipotle products are wrapped in foil so people just wear foil to get a free burrito. 

From what I read on the web, people interpreted the “dress like a burrito” part very liberally.  But, I made sure to have foil head to toe.  First, I folded a length of foil and wrapped it around my head like a small hat.  Then, I made a wrap around top and skirt held together by tape.  I then had some foil around my arms and my legs.  I looked like an aluminum foil power ranger. 

My friend was the one who was driving and he wasn’t willing to go all out so he only had some on his arms and his head.  We walk into our first Chipotle and there was a huge line as expected, but most of the people did not have much foil on.  There were people with barely a bit on their arms, one with a small piece around their wrist, there were lots of aluminum foil ties, head bows etc… But, no one with as much foil as me.  I got a lot of looks.  But, as we progressed through different Chipotle’s we were able to see people with very creative costumes. 

We went to six Chipotle’s!  Yes, six!  The picture shows all the goodies that I got.  I got burrito’s, taco’s and a bol.  I ate the taco’s and one burrito yesterday.  I had a burrito for brunch and another one for dinner.  That means I have two left over for tomorrow.  And so far I am not sick of Chipotle! 

Did you miss out on Boo-rito this year? You can unleash your creative aluminum foil skills next year because Chipotle does it every year and its a nationwide event.