a trendy name

Last day to file taxes0
chris lin posted in Finance, Personal on April 15th, 2008

I never understood why people always wait til today to file their taxes. I mean, from what the news indicates it seems to be a majority of people always waits until the last week to file their taxes. Once I recieve my forms from my employers, I like to file for taxes right away. There is less stress on me, I get my refund within 2 weeks and I do not need to worry about April 15th. I also understand those who do not receive their forms due to their incompetent employers but it still seems like a lot of people just like to wait until the last few days to do their taxes.

I procrastinate on anything except when it affects me financially. Maybe my prospective will change once I have a family to take care of.

Citi’s Driver Edge Credit Card is Awesome0
chris lin posted in Finance, Personal on April 11th, 2008

So I was going through my finances like I do every few days, since I don't really keep an actual written budget (more like its in my head, I am pretty good with that sort of stuff) and I noticed I got a DE SERVICE CREDIT on my credit card in in the amount of 50.xx. After thinking about it, I remember it was probably due to the service rebate form I sent in two weeks back.

First of all, how it works is basically any kind of car service you perform on your registered vehicle on the card, as long as you fill out a form and send in your receipts (which you'll never get back), they will credit you for the full amount sans tax. Basically, free car service. In my case, I got an oil change and it came out to be 53.xx with tax included. For some reason, i thought they would only refund a certain percentage but apparently they refund you the whole amount and I cannot find any sort of maximum cap anywhere.

Next time I go get my 15k or 30k service, I am definitely charging it onto this card. Plus, the 6% gas rebates for the first year isn't as bad since I use gas so much.

Yay, tax rebates!1
chris lin posted in Finance, Personal on February 11th, 2008

Congress approved the 168 billion last week, so I can get extra money this year :D.

I also just found out that I will be getting 600 dollars back from the government this year. That in addition to the 600 dollar rebate will net me around 1200 dollars in returns this year. Rather than go on a spending spree, that money is going straight into savings until I need to start paying off my college loan. Oh god, the day that happens.

Finance and tumbles1
chris lin posted in Finance, Personal on January 4th, 2008

For the last few months, I have been keeping up with a number of personal finance blogs since they tends to keep me on track financially (which is to stop spending so much). You figure a college student, making barely any money, loaded with debt that this would be the last thing too worry about. But these days, everyone is starting to invest early and seems to be what most PF blogs lean towards. I have been for the last several years looking at my spendings but as I earn a bit more here and there, I spend a bit more so my spending/earn ratio never really changes.

I noticed over at An English Major's Money about a website that keeps track of your net worth. I thought that was a neat way for me to keep track of how much I was worth since numbers and graphs are so appealing so I went ahead, registered and posted my net worth(a surprising negative amounts due to the student loans). Hopefully, with its monthly reminders, I can keep track and hopefully see my net worth rise. But knowing me, it probably won't until I work full time and have the ability to live like I live now while saving money.

Link to my net worth

Everyone always calls me cheap/frugal but I figure if I save some here, I can splurge on something else which is what ends up happening. By the time I get a full time job, if I can make sure my spendings doesn't increase with my earnings, I can pay off my debt quickly and start putting money away for investments/a house. Everyone wants a house.