tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235323792012-01-28T11:18:39.044-08:00I am a twenty-something single gal navigating my way through the crazy financial universe. Join me in my journey to achieve financial freedom.City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.comBlogger2311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-66789676654008792322007-06-13T11:26:00.000-07:002007-06-13T11:26:57.809-07:00

I ended up with a Civic. It's gorgeous and I absolutely love it. Man, I never thought I was into cars -- but this is my new toy and I haven't been able to take my eyes off of it. I think three things contributed to my love for this car.The first was the that the literature on this car catered to what I wanted. The engineering is top notch, the safety ratings impeccable, and the fuel economy is

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com112tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-76203854878041198032007-06-09T18:16:00.000-07:002007-06-09T18:16:39.375-07:00

I've been thinking about buying a car for over a year (proof is in the archives), and I'm finally ready to make the leap. Having explored a bit on both new and used cars, I've decided that I would love a new Honda Fit or Civic. Both are well designed and safe cars. The Fit is a new model that Honda introduced recently to satisfy the subcompact market. The Civic needs no introduction, especially

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-28600627880557814562007-06-07T09:23:00.000-07:002007-06-07T09:23:54.756-07:00

It's official! I gave my thirty days notice, and I will be "unemployed" starting the mid-July. That will give me two weeks to move and get settled in for school.It's looking less likely that I will buy a place before school starts. The rising interest rates are making it less likely for me to finance a home at a reasonable price/monthly payment. Additionally, I just spent a few days there to look

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-12993622999746707522007-06-05T19:31:00.000-07:002007-06-05T19:38:22.452-07:00

Today I got an e-mail from AirTran Airways trumpeting the beginning of charging for seat assignments. Previously, seat assignments were only available for regular fare or business class passengers. Those with sale or discount tickets had to wait until check-in to get a seat assignment. Now, for an extra $5 each way, you can choose a seat upon purchase. For an exit row seat with an extra 8 inches

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-73709760470422113522007-05-29T17:08:00.001-07:002007-05-29T17:22:45.063-07:00

I've decided to audit a summer class at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. Having virtually no formal training in economics or finance, I have found the perfect class: Introduction to Finance.Today we learned about Coupon Bonds and yields to maturity (YTM). YTM is essentially the coupon (interest rate) that a particular bond yields divided by the current price of that bond. For example, if

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-75773655308031772972007-05-27T11:49:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:23:24.894-07:00

Yahoo! Finance has an article on Yapta, a new tool that can detect changes in airfare on specific flights. For example, say I buy a round-trip ticket to Atlanta on airtrans.com for a July weekend. If I tag those specific flights, then Yapta will track the changes in airfare for me. If the prices tumble, then Yapta will e-mail me and include the procedures for getting a refund or a voucher. It

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-3539076704293336302007-05-25T13:43:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:21:22.161-07:00

I would really like to buy a place in Atlanta. I shake my head ruefully at the thought though, because I'd be paying the mortgage during my student years with student loan money. There is something that's just not right about using debt to pay off debt. Regardless of what I do, however, I have to live somewhere. Given Atlanta's rental rates and condo prices, I believe that owning a place there

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-59950701064980169962007-05-24T14:11:00.001-07:002007-05-28T11:20:55.319-07:00

So I finally got around to calling Edamerica to ask about their deferment policies. The rep was really friendly and knowledgeable and was able to clarify it in no time. Yes, the 1.3% interest rate rebate will be applicable to deferment and yes, the interest will only be capitalized at the end of all continuous deferment. This means that if I defer throughout medical school and residency, then

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-32523313488867746232007-05-16T15:45:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:20:55.319-07:00

With the recent student loans scandals, one realizes that one cannot trust university financial aid offices for sound financial advice. So, I've been scouring the internet for various sources of Federal Stafford and Federal Grad PLUS loans. While these loans carry fixed rates of 6.8% and 8.5%, respectively, each lender is allowed to offer additional benefits for the borrower. These can include

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-36841539012738298822007-05-06T12:22:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:23:04.283-07:00

In a recent New York Times article, certified used cars aren't what the consumer expects them to be. The certification program supposedly only certifies the best used cars and gives consumers peace of mind by guaranteeing the used car against any defects and offering a standard warranty. The article, however, points out that certifying and repairing the car falls on the dealers themselves, and

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-67663292096665274502007-05-04T14:22:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:22:54.430-07:00

Laura Rowley's column Why Smart People Make Bad Financial Moves is a very interesting read. I definitely agree with many of the points that she makes, especially "Financial mistakes have no IQ," and "[Smart people] think they'll find 'the big idea' that others overlook." The former point is exemplified by Tarek, a former contestant on The Apprentice and Mensa member. I can certainly attest to the

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-73306929990707407612007-05-03T16:43:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:21:22.162-07:00

Home prices have finally come down a bit. For the first time in Realtor's history, the national median home price has posted an annual decline. Coupled with the news of more inventory and tightening lending practices, this trend is going to cause quite a bit of confusion and panic.For homeowners who have no plans to move, watching this play is a little like the long-term stock market investor who

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-59122423909322046602007-04-24T10:08:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:23:45.861-07:00

Here's a budgeting tip that I came across while surfing the AAMC website:"The Deep Freeze"To test how well your budget works, try this little experiment. Figure out how much money you're allotted for one weekend, or two-three days. Take out that much cash. Now, put all plastic -- debit cards, credit cards, gift certificates -- in essence, anything that you can use to buy stuff with, in a bowl.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-35713092858225279292007-04-22T10:45:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:21:53.524-07:00

Well, I've calmed down a bit now that sticker shock as abated somewhat. One reason why I was so incensed when I looked at my aid package was because it was nothing like the financial aid packages that I received for college. Those were sweet -- full scholarships, or at least, major amounts of tuition covered with grants. I guess expecting something like that was too much.So, here's to loans then,

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-27415591206894302932007-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:22:02.283-07:00

You've got to be kidding me, Emory. You want me to pay$68,526for the 1st year? What ever happened to something called financial aid?

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-50272899742167221392007-04-13T11:31:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:23:59.295-07:00

Happy Friday the 13th! Hopefully, it's a lucky day!Today I want to write about a loss on the stock market. Yesterday, I made a bet on Apple. I bet that the stock on the company would rise again. The demo of iPhone looks really cool and all of my co-workers are talking about breaking their contracts just so that they could buy that phone. I mean, wow, that's a lot of buzz. The product is scheduled

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-7211444056475324072007-04-12T18:19:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:22:02.284-07:00

Last one of the bunch for now: what specialty do you plan to go into?The short answer is: I don't know and I hope my experiences during rotations will help me make a decision.Here's the long answer:I would like to practice medicine, pure and simple. That means internal medicine or family medicine. I would then like to translate the knowledge and skills that I gain by working with the general

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-17378926996162874482007-04-09T19:02:00.000-07:002007-04-09T19:08:04.842-07:00

Here's another lingering question, that I've finally getting around to answering: how did I study for the MCAT in order to get a score of 36?First off, while spending copious amounts of money doesn't hurt the process, time is your most precious commodity.The following is some basic, but crucial, advice:1. If you want to drastically improve, tackle your weak spots. In the science portions,

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-81860712522580159212007-04-05T09:32:00.000-07:002007-04-05T10:37:14.938-07:00

I'm re-phrasing Stuart's question to be a little general: "Did you go to all the interviews, and what questions did the interviewers ask?"To the first part of the question: yes, I ended up going to all the interviews that I was invited to. And, in retrospect, I'm glad that I went to all of them. There's only so much one can learn about on paper!For the second question: Most places had laid-back

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-28490340943879681272007-04-03T18:51:00.000-07:002007-04-05T10:37:14.947-07:00

I'm taking this week to wrap up loose ends in the application process. True, it's not entirely over yet, but at least things are winding down considerably. It also makes sense since it's almost exactly one year since I've made up my mind to apply to medical school.A while back, Miserly Bastard commented: "20 med schools sounds excessive (unless you are a marginal candidate for admission).

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-75457716297196639242007-04-02T18:26:00.000-07:002007-04-02T18:27:52.785-07:00

JLP once predicted that I wouldn't be around for very much longer, no doubt because of the amount of time that one has to spend in medical school and such stuff. He was almost right, as I have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a regular blogging schedule throughout this process. Sometimes it's because I've been traveling and don't have access to blogger. Other times, I've just been

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-4730340599844204822007-03-14T17:22:00.000-07:002007-04-02T18:27:32.394-07:00

Volatility is back in the economy -- and it's a good thing. It keeps us on our toes and prevents us from getting complacent about life. It provides a rigorous test to our own safeguards in the financial world, without the wilting despair that comes in recessions. In essence, the volatility of recent days has provided excitement to the market and prompted many to renew their interest and take

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-24309638933316771342007-03-12T15:02:00.000-07:002007-04-02T18:27:32.395-07:00

It's amazing to me how fast New Century Financial is imploding. Within one month, the company went from receiving upgrades from three analysts to becoming very close to declaring bankruptcy. The company has always taken on significant risk -- it is in the subprime lending industry -- which has given them spectacular profits over the past couple of years. Recently, however, homeowners have been

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-85321968997006532622007-03-08T11:46:00.000-08:002007-04-02T18:27:52.786-07:00

It's been quite a year since I started blogging. Over this past year, I've learned a lot about myself and my own attitude towards money. Some highlights:I had dreamed about becoming a doctor since I was a kid. I ended up not applying right after college, and I seriously doubt that I would have had the courage to change careers and apply to schools now if not for blogging and the support of my

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-62871045637296627112007-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:002007-04-02T18:27:52.786-07:00

It's official, I've been blogging for a year now. That's pretty amazing. I've never been able to keep a diary or a journal for more than a few months. But I have managed to keep this one alive, thanks in no small part from my readers and the community in general.So thank you all, for your support and your words of encouragement. I could not have done this without you.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-89505576023114448662007-03-06T19:34:00.000-08:002007-05-28T11:22:28.205-07:00

Yikes I've been busy. One would think that, once interviews were over and an acceptance arrived in the mail, that one would finally have some time to breathe and catch up on work. Well, in one respect, that was true. I do have more time now, but all of that time has been spent catching up on work. It's been a mixture of work work (e.g. writing reports) and application work (e.g. financial aid).

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-63213573513931565202007-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:002007-02-19T21:07:14.860-08:00

The excitement of finding acceptances in the mail has dissipated a bit. I know now that school lies ahead of me in a couple of months, and though I am overjoyed at the prospect, I have also started feeling petrified at times. It will be the first time in four years that I will live without the comfort of a monthly paycheck. Ahh, security is a wonderful thing.I've heard about people getting

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-16647227404259947082007-02-15T15:58:00.000-08:002007-02-15T15:58:04.707-08:00

Happy February 15th!I just felt like saying that.Anyways, today is Susan B. Anthony's birthday. Which is cool because the new presidential dollar coin comes into circulation today. The government has attempted to get a dollar coin in circulation since 1971, with little success. Indeed, the Anthony dollar coin was in circulation between 1979 and 1981, with a brief revival in 1999 because of a

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-70066380160515176432007-02-10T21:12:00.000-08:002007-02-08T11:32:00.338-08:00

Tax return is done! Arguably, it's not the funnest way to spend all of a Saturday, but at least now my federal tax return has been filed. I'll wait until it gets approved by the IRS before filing my California return. Thank goodness for free e-filing. It's much faster and convenient, and I save a few pennies (and trees).Next goal: nag the parents on their taxes. Once they've filed theirs, then I

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-50502318987118180112007-02-07T13:03:00.000-08:002007-02-07T13:03:33.611-08:00

The Wall Street Journal has an article on "Debt Habits of the Rich." A free version is available online, courtesy of Yahoo! Finance. The gist of the article is that rich people use debt a little more wisely than regular people, but the "merely" rich are stretching themselves to keep up with the "obscenely" rich.What they report shouldn't come as a surprise. Humans have a habit of taking their

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-16227971314595875012007-02-02T17:29:00.000-08:002007-02-02T17:29:39.331-08:00

Happy Friday everyone!I've got some good news to share: I'm going to be a doctor!!!I almost fainted when I saw acceptances to Albany AND Emory today.This is definitely worth a dinner out.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-24617764947904887872007-01-31T18:59:00.000-08:002007-01-31T18:59:20.873-08:00

One of the most popular analyst reports, the S&P STAR reports supposedly provide a reliable way of gaging the quality of a stock. Quoting the purpose of this system, "STARS evaluates the immediate investment potential of the stock it covers, with emphasis on the timing of investment decisions." In other words, it claims to provide a quick and easy method to determine whether to buy or sell a

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-41446002402827728072007-01-30T14:08:00.000-08:002007-01-30T14:08:40.961-08:00

Just about any website one goes too currently contains oodles of information about taxes and tax returns. Here are five of my favorite tips:1. This year's deadline is April 17, 2007, thus giving procrastinators an extra two days to, well, procrastinate. For me, procrastinating is not a viable option. But some sites have actually encouraged people to file later, due to potential changes on 1098

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-83005393591569225972007-01-29T12:54:00.000-08:002007-01-29T12:54:23.724-08:00

My blogging has been pitiful this month. My apologies. I really have no good excuses. Still, it is January, which is the month when New Years Resolutions are formed. Here are 10 goals that I have for this year:1. Keep blogging regularly.2. Figure out a stock market strategy for my Roth IRA.3. File all of my taxes by mid-February.4. Convince my parents to file their taxes by mid-February.5. #3 and

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1168522917480814852007-01-11T05:13:00.000-08:002007-05-28T11:22:28.207-07:00

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has enjoyed the festivities and the holidays. Over the past two weeks, I have been on the road, flying cross country to see friends and to be interviewed at three schools. Actually, I'm still on the road, currently in New York and soon to be flying to Atlanta. Since I have a couple minutes, I thought I'd share my recent experiences in buying a plane ticket. With a

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1167151434847066642006-12-26T08:27:00.000-08:002006-12-26T08:43:54.923-08:00

Happy Boxing Day! Anyone taking advantage of all the supposedly great discounts out there? I think Macy's usually has some great deals, but I was checking online at Banana Republic and Ann Taylor, and they have some pretty dismal ones. In addition, Banana Republic's sale actually started on Dec. 24th, and nothing seems to have changed post-Christmas. JCrew, on the other hand, had some excellent

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1166831657350702612006-12-22T15:54:00.000-08:002006-12-22T15:54:17.543-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope that everyone is looking forward to the family reunions and parties! Myself, I'm looking forward to a nice weekend with my mother, and then seeing some college friends over the New Year's.It makes it all the more irritating that my phone is having trouble charging; I have been "wiggling" the phone and the plug for minutes on end to get it to recognize the charger.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1166493410200564922006-12-18T17:45:00.000-08:002006-12-18T17:56:50.236-08:00

My apologies for being out of touch over the past week. I have received a couple more interviews and have been traveling cross-country for them.My first one was at Vanderbilt, and it was a fantastic experience. One of my college friends attends the medical school, and she was kind enough to let me crash at her place and give me the inside scoop on the school. The interview itself was laid-back;

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1165550252194352162006-12-07T19:29:00.000-08:002006-12-07T19:57:32.250-08:00

'Tis the season to be giving....It's December and Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. Along with much rejoicing and dining comes the headache of trying to find the perfect gift for all the family and friends. For me, it has never seemed to work out right; either I have no ideas on what to give, or what I thought was perfect turned out to be an item that sits in the basement. In addition,

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1165382776189193032006-12-05T21:17:00.000-08:002007-05-28T11:24:57.212-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that I like David Bach. His books are simple and motivating, and he's a good seminar speaker. His show on PBS is irritating me, however; he sounds like a scratched record, saying the same things over and over again. I don't mind him repeating the same concepts, but, puh-lease, add a little variety into the examples! For example, he brings up a kid from New York who

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1165167949879924302006-12-03T08:53:00.000-08:002006-12-03T09:45:50.090-08:00

Ugh. My laptop's hard drive is failing. I've been fiddling with it for the past week and the "clicks" that the hard drive is emitting sounds ominous. I can't even boot into Windows anymore and I'm afraid that further tinkering with it will destroy the file system. I find it an interesting psychological dilemma -- I know that I've backed up all of my important files, but that I hadn't backed up my

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1164647409509818802006-11-27T09:10:00.000-08:002006-11-27T09:10:11.246-08:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Mine was fairly interesting -- wedding in the morning (we had to be there by 6:30am!), afternoon nap, and Thanksgiving dinner with chicken in the evening. Usually, I'm a turkey and candied yams gal, but the chicken and the sweet potatoe pie were delicious. Speaking of which, does anyone know the real difference between yams and sweet potatoes?I ducked out

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1164037815450772862006-11-20T07:50:00.000-08:002006-11-20T07:50:15.900-08:00

Maybe I shouldn't put everything in writing. I got my first rejection in the mail from UCSF. At least they're letting me know now, instead of in March. It hurts. Why o why would you not deign to give me a secondary application? It's not like I was asking for an interview. :-PWell, it really does save me $60, which will promptly go into a battery fund for my laptop. It gives roughly 30 minutes of

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1163969416092673662006-11-19T12:50:00.000-08:002006-11-19T12:50:16.286-08:00

I can't remember exactly what I was doing because it was probably a month ago, but I ended up filling a form to get a free copy of "Navigating Your Health Benefits for Dummies." It came in the mail yesterday afternoon and, having nothing better to do now that I'm done filling out secondaries, I skimmed the book's six chapters.It's a fairly decent walkthrough of the types of healthcare available

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1163635604363514892006-11-15T16:06:00.000-08:002006-11-15T16:06:46.336-08:00

The New York Times reports that US Airways is bidding $8 Billion for Delta. $8 billion! $4 billion in cash and $4 billion in stock. Didn't US Airways recently come out of bankrupcty? And didn't US Airways just merge with America West? Where the heck did they get all that money? It can't be from their operations -- the airline industry is still bleeding through the nose.The investors may currently

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1163485270778077342006-11-13T22:21:00.000-08:002006-11-13T22:21:10.993-08:00

I have an interview at Vanderbilt! Wow. I had written off the school because I hadn't heard from them for the past four months. I've scheduled an interview for the beginning of December. Amazingly enough, Southwest is the only airline to offer a direct flight to Nashville and is currently having a promotion on most of its flights. In addition, I still have these "Tokens of LUV" coupons for

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1162947075951054792006-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:002006-11-07T16:51:23.560-08:00

Happy Election Day!Have you voted? If you're disillusioned, I tend to agree that sometimes it seems pointless. Ballots get mixed up and fraud's rampant. Absentee ballots cost 39 cents to mail and actually voting on Nov. 7 wastes time and gas money. Still, we're living in this system. Might as well do our best to make it work! Turnout is predicted to be high this time around....enjoy the party!

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1162701352808756302006-11-05T22:23:00.000-08:002006-11-06T20:24:18.166-08:00

Welcome to the 73rd edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. What I've tried to do for this carnival is to highlight a few fav's and to categorize posts in a more logical order. Without ado, here are the posts for this week:Silicon Valley Blogger has an organized game plan in his post Money 101: My Basic Financial Plan, posted at The Digerati Life. If you're new to the blogosphere or to

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1162699277514474162006-11-04T20:01:00.000-08:002007-05-28T11:24:57.213-07:00

So I got this offer from American Express in the mail:The American Express 2007 Appointment Book, valued at $27.99, yours for just a $2.99 shipping and handling charge.- also -The American Express 2007 Pocket Diary, valued at $14.99, yours for just a $1.99 shipping and handling charge.Those prices aren't too bad, if you need an appointment book and pocket diary. The fine print says that all you

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1162421331704051492006-11-01T14:48:00.000-08:002006-11-01T14:48:52.476-08:00

I'm 25! I can finally rent a car without having to pay extra "underage" fees!My boss' Halloween party was pretty cool last night. He didn't do anything too spectacular -- a couple of nice decorations and lots of candy. His next door neighbor, however, went all out and constructed a pirate ship. I guess he was in competition with the haunted house with the graveyard.Oh, and I'll be hosting the

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1162339447760167722006-10-31T16:04:00.000-08:002006-10-31T16:04:08.066-08:00

Happy Halloween! Do you have anything planned? My boss is hosting a Halloween party tonight. Since he's the boss, we all feel obligated to go. But it'll actually be fun because his house is in a neighborhood where all the kids go to Trick-or-Treat. Hopefully, the couple thousand pieces of candy that we will bring to the party will satiate the kiddies!

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1162251715568824072006-10-30T15:41:00.000-08:002006-10-30T15:41:55.890-08:00

It's been a while since I've given an application update. Apologies up front because there's nothing concrete in here about my finances. I'm being bad and ignoring the whole cost of the application process -- I'm afraid that if I tally it now, I might get discouraged about finishing the process.My MCAT scores were released two weeks ago, and since then I've been "approved" for two secondary

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1161814813758918192006-10-25T15:20:00.000-07:002007-05-28T11:24:27.696-07:00

The time has come to re-organize my computer; my files are scattered all over the place, my bookmarks have become unwieldly, and my shortcuts are pretty useless. So I'm spending the time to weed out the useless items and better categorize the stuff that I use on a constant basis.One thing that I've done with my bookmarks is to create a group of tabs on a specific task. For example, in an effort

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1161102149806229382006-10-20T11:49:00.000-07:002006-10-20T11:56:48.866-07:00

In this issue's festival, I asked if your current job will help establish your career. Here are three responses to the query.From Kira:I'm not sure if I'll stay in my current career (clinical research) forever, but this job has helped me be a more independent worker, be more assertive in order to move a project along, and basically moved me from being a timid student worker to a get-things-done

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1160056042557466112006-10-20T06:47:00.000-07:002006-10-19T22:35:27.000-07:00

Welcome to the Festival of Under 30 Finances! Apologies for not including all the submissions, but here are some tips for getting them accepted next time. Please make sure that your articles have not been accepted in another carnival and that they fit the theme of "under 30 finances." The next host is: A Penny Saved...It's been a lot of fun reading all the posts! Without further ado, the

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1161125353018125022006-10-17T15:49:00.000-07:002006-10-17T15:49:13.426-07:00

The New York Times recently published an article on "affordable" San Francisco. Honestly, I was rather disappointed with the article as a whole. From the title, I was expecting information on hotels, dining, and attractions. Instead, it focuses only on lodgings. The hotels that they list certainly are worth looking at and there is one with a one night stay as low as $55. Most of these hotels,

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1161054206099373672006-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:002006-10-16T20:03:26.243-07:00

The August MCAT scores were finally released this past weekend. After almost two months of waiting, I got to login into the website and see a 36! I am happy with this result, as it means that I won't get an automatic rejection from my dream schools. :-) Now the wait begins on the screeners and the interview invites. Oh, and I had better finish that Duke secondary....For those of you who aren't so

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1160875325456888092006-10-14T18:22:00.000-07:002006-10-14T18:22:08.160-07:00

I find it really interesting that I have now become an unofficial photographer and IT person at my work place. People come to me for candids and passport size portraits, and ask me to take pictures at company parties. If co-workers have problems with the network or can't get MS Office to do what they want, then they ask me before they call the official IT people.I do like taking pictures and

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1160431014733077412006-10-09T14:56:00.000-07:002006-10-09T14:56:55.180-07:00

Happy Columbus Day! Honestly, I don't know why we still have Columbus Day on our calendars. Old habits die hard, I suppose. But Christopher Columbus' worthiness of his own holiday is not the focus of today's post. Rather, we use it to springboard it into a more relevant discussion: immigration.America is purported to be the land of immigration, as it was founded by immigrants, led by immigrants,

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1160187862514194102006-10-06T19:24:00.000-07:002006-10-06T19:24:22.713-07:00

The Festival of Under 30 Finances is up at Debt Has Made Me Its Bitch! It includes goodies like proofing your resume, choosing dividend-paying stocks, and counting benefits that go beyond money. I'll be the next host, so if you want to submit an article, go to Blog Carnival and fill out the form. Hope to see yours!

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1160057055537504222006-10-05T07:04:00.000-07:002006-10-05T07:04:16.066-07:00

I took the red eye to Boston last night and everything went smoothly. Maybe a little too smooth. The plane landed a half hour early, which was excellent, unless you were counting on getting 5 1/2 hours of sleep and you only got 5 as a result. Still, I can't complain. It's not yet 10 am, 7 am PST, and I don't need to be anywhere until 2pm.After a shower and a facial scrub, I feel much better. I do

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1159907701605076172006-10-03T13:35:00.000-07:002006-10-03T13:35:02.236-07:00

It's been a while since I've done a lunch update.First off, I've stopped my lunch game. It was a good habit-forming experience, and I racked over a two hundred dollars off it. I've pretty much gotten into the habit of bringing lunch three times a week. Sometimes I'll do it more often, sometimes less. But it averages out. And my co-workers don't find it strange anymore. In fact, some of them

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1159399754179636502006-09-27T16:29:00.000-07:002006-09-27T16:29:14.316-07:00

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has released their 2006 Annual Employer Benefits Survey, which remarks on the cost of health insurance for family coverage. According to the survey, premiums for family care increased 7.7% over the previous year, which continues the upward trend but at a slower pace than in the past. It does represent, however, almost twice the rise in inflation and wages. So

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156816834279060482006-09-25T20:00:00.000-07:002006-09-25T20:19:23.143-07:00

Oops. I'm sorry about not posting. I can't believe that the last time I posted was the 19th! Well, a quick update is necessary. I was a bit stressed preparing a presentation for the 20th, which I think went well. On the 21st, I was walking home when I encountered a loose slab of concrete and promptly fell and twisted my ankle. Fortunately, I got out of that mess with only a bleeding knee and a

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1158705024012525862006-09-19T15:30:00.000-07:002006-09-19T15:30:24.303-07:00

The past couple of days have brought a flurry of changes at the elite universities that we call the Ivy League. First, Harvard drops a bomb and says that they're getting rid of their early admissions program, followed by Princeton a week later. In addition, Columbia has announced that it will replace loans with grants for undergraduates' families that make less than $50,000 a year.I applaud these

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1158447906584055642006-09-16T16:05:00.000-07:002006-09-16T16:05:06.783-07:00

The New York Times has been running a particularly good set of articles lately. Today, there is an article in the Business section looking at various reasons that rich people file for bankruptcy. Here is Mr. Finkel's rational: "It’s very hard to tell them 'Don’t!' because they [the stars] love the instant gratification. I think the human in general is vulnerable and whatever their weakness is

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1158362053722885612006-09-15T16:14:00.000-07:002006-09-15T16:14:13.973-07:00

A recent New York Times article on California's regulation of carbon dioxide emissions included a discussion on the use of solar power as an alternative to power plants. For support, they cite the electricity bills of person living in the hot central valley. Larry Brittain, an office products salesman with a four-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot home, was the winner at $73.27 for electricity in the

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1158124198436501162006-09-12T21:50:00.000-07:002006-09-12T22:09:58.476-07:00

Blogger seems to be giving me a bit of trouble lately....I met up with a friend over the weekend who is a chemistry graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. The American Chemical Society (ACS) is hosting their semi-annual convention in San Francisco's Moscone Center this week, Sept. 10 to Sept. 14. Now, I was a chemistry major back in college, as well as a member of the ACS.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1157861843206359802006-09-09T21:17:00.000-07:002006-09-09T21:17:23.396-07:00

It's saturday night and I'm sitting home alone with only some secondary applications to keep me company. I write this entry as I stare at this screen and look over my finances over the past two months. Obviously I'm procrastinating.But I do have a serious confession to make. I suck at investing. I could have merely stated that I don't know anything about the market, that I'm still learning about

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1157594544007371742006-09-06T19:02:00.000-07:002006-09-06T19:03:12.753-07:00

Today's trivia question from KDFC, the San Francisco classical station, asked, "What do Americans spend $40 billion/year on, which is double what they spent 12 years ago?"The answer: their pets.For reference, the US population is about 300 million (0.3 billion).

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1157504468380447762006-09-05T18:01:00.000-07:002006-09-05T18:01:27.356-07:00

After 5 years, Bill Ford is stepping down as CEO of Ford Motors. Taking his place is Alan Mulally, formerly of Boeing. I sincerely hope that Mr. Mulally uses this opportunity to focus on the most important part of Ford's comeback -- making and advertising cars that people want to buy. Ford has a couple of successes with the Mustang and the Fusion, possibly even the Focus given the number of

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1157313725619166322006-09-03T13:02:00.000-07:002006-09-03T13:02:07.273-07:00

Recently, I've heard a lot of people talking about buying hybrids. Some want to buy them because they "want to save the environment," "save money on gas," "get the tax break," or "get a nice new car." I'm fine with most of these reasons, but I do take issue with the idea that hybrids are better cars because of current gas prices.Yes, it is true that a hybrid tends to be more fuel efficient.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1157090524208870712006-08-31T23:02:00.000-07:002006-08-31T23:02:04.223-07:00

The last day of the marathon goes to Get Rich Slowly, who has posted an appropriate final question: "What Does Money Mean to You?" If you get a chance, post a response. It'll be last time for this marathon.And so wraps up the month of August, which has disappeared faster than I would have liked.Go Agassi!

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156568780764529792006-08-30T08:03:00.000-07:002006-08-30T08:19:09.246-07:00

Jeez Louise. I wake up today and I get two e-mails from JLP asking for my question. I haven't had breakfast yet!To appease the God, here's my question of the day: In the past 24 hours, what have you done in relation to money?For me, I picked up and deposited my paycheck (for some reason, EFT didn't work this month) and withdrew $40. I used the cash to buy an iced tea ($1.50) and a tuna sandwich (

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156703696736511742006-08-27T11:34:00.000-07:002006-08-27T11:35:03.356-07:00

What is it about shopping that makes a girl feel so good? Having just finished taking the MCATs, yesterday was a perfect time for me to recharge my batteries. I met up with my mother at the Vacaville outlets to get some interview clothes and replacement stuff. The zipper on my wallet of four years broke, giving me an opportunity to find a smaller one, one that will actually fit into pockets! In

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156568446039238052006-08-25T22:00:00.000-07:002006-08-25T22:00:46.090-07:00

JLP at AllFinancialMatters has organized a Question of the Day Marathon for the month of August. Each weekday during August, a different personal finance blogger poses a question for readers to answer. I'm afraid that I haven't had the time to fully participate, but here are the links for anyone who's interested in answering. Here’s a complete rundown so far this month:Day 01

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156397881132767772006-08-23T22:32:00.000-07:002006-08-23T22:38:01.146-07:00

It's time for the start of a new school year! My friend stopped by my place and gave me a few bouncy balls that she had picked up on her way to class. I didn't know that the vendors still did that, but that got me curious about my old textbook comparison site, bigwords.com. I was pleased to find it still alive and thriving, and that it was still remarkably good at finding low textbook prices.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156294694076959122006-08-22T17:58:00.000-07:002006-08-22T17:58:14.296-07:00

I had missed my chance to buy plane tickets for Thanksgiving on Southwest a couple of weeks ago. Now, the only flights left in the $99-160 range (one way) involve 1-2 layovers and seriously inconvenient departure/arrival times. Still, assuming I get the $99 tickets, total cost would be $198 + tax - $100 coupon = approx. $120. I know that that price can't be beat. Especially around Thanksgiving.On

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1156221741523070802006-08-21T21:42:00.000-07:002006-08-21T21:42:21.670-07:00

Apologies for not writing for the past week. Y'all will understand if I tell you that I had been studying non-stop. The MCAT was this past Saturday and now it's Monday, which means that I've taken the test and am done with it and won't ever have to look at it again!!! Yippee!So that means that I can focus on secondary applications, letters of recommendations, and all the other goodies that I've

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1155596009250941782006-08-14T15:53:00.000-07:002006-08-14T15:53:29.426-07:00

Today is Monday the 14th. The MCAT is on Saturday, August 19. Eeeeeeeeeek!For those who are curious about this is a test of horrors, here's a brief breakdown.1. The MCAT consists of four parts: Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, Writing, and Biological Sciences. PS includes physics and general chemistry while BS includes biology and organic chemistry. Each section except Writing consists of a

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1155336892410332732006-08-11T15:54:00.000-07:002006-08-11T15:54:52.553-07:00

I am currently a spectator in a play that my friends are participating in.It goes like this: Girl meets boy. Boy and girl hook up. Boy dates girl for a six months, moves across the country, meets new gal and then dumps girl. Girl stays "friends" with boy. Boy calls girl almost every day. (Intermission) Two years pass. Girl meets new guy, tells boy. Boy gets jealous, meets with girl, and dumps

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1155070881115687632006-08-08T14:01:00.000-07:002006-08-08T14:01:21.283-07:00

Someone had mentioned Ding! to me a long time ago, but it's only within the past week that I've tried it out. Ding! is a Southwest Airlines program that will alert you to fare specials that are currently available at Southwest. In looking through the offerings thus far, I've spied $79 one-way offers to Houston Hobby and $94 one-way offers to Pittsburgh. Now, if they'll only offer cheap fares for

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1154997098174535682006-08-07T17:31:00.000-07:002006-08-07T17:31:38.423-07:00

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has an excellent quick guide to healthcare insurance. In it, they explain what PPOs, HMOs, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. are, and provide some questions that one should ask about each type of insurance.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1154737684949841302006-08-04T17:28:00.000-07:002006-08-04T17:28:05.096-07:00

I have always thought of my Houston friend's family as rich. I envy their gorgeous spacious house, ranch with an oil well, and four cars. I accept the fact that all the kids have gone to private school and that they have membership at the local country club.So the fact that my friend consider herself "middle-class" surprised me. They lead a comfortable life, but in comparing themselves to their

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1154614565162509142006-08-03T07:16:00.000-07:002006-08-03T07:16:05.310-07:00

I'm back, safe and sound in the Bay Area. Houston has been a wonderful trip, but it's good to be home again. Some catching up in the blogging activities. JLP has created a "Question of the Day" marathon; each day in August, a blogger will ask a question about finances. Stop by if you have some time. This should be a lot of fun!August 1 (Day 1): JLP starts us off with, "If your budget required you

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1154449842964984522006-08-01T09:30:00.000-07:002006-08-01T09:30:43.210-07:00

Gas is cheaper in Houston! (no surprise) It's holding at about $2.90 a gallon for regular, $3.10 for premium. Wow. I haven't seen $2.90 gas for a long long while. Bay Area prices are still hovering around $3.10 for regular, though I have heard that if I'm willing to drive an hour, that I can get under $3.00 gas.I have always gotten regular gas, but on my current visit, I've noticed my friends get

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1154178795432230822006-07-29T06:07:00.000-07:002006-07-29T06:13:15.446-07:00

Time sure flies -- 2 weeks have passed since the Festival was born! The 2nd Festival is up and running! It's a eyeful to read, so it's been broken into two parts, Part 1 (answers to the Question "Are grades or job experiences more important?") and Part 2 (actual festival submissions). Generally speaking, everyone agrees that job experience is more important, unless you have never had a job, or if

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153888973549578562006-07-25T21:42:00.000-07:002006-07-25T21:42:53.686-07:00

Fruits are the food of the Gods. Dionysius is always depicted with grapes, and the Greek goddesses famously fought over an apple. No wonder -- fruit can cost an arm and a leg if you're in the wrong place or in the wrong season. For example, Spring blueberries in the Bay Area went for $4 a pound. Dang! Too bad I'm not in New England!What's prompting this post is absolutely divine watermelon.

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153801850273398522006-07-24T20:59:00.000-07:002006-07-24T21:30:50.553-07:00

First, apologies for not writing over the weekend. It's vacation time for me and I'm spending the week in Houston. I'll be back next Wednesday. Today's topic focuses less on medical school and more on the idea of paid application help. Do you think that it's a waste of money, or is any price worth the assurance that you'll reach your goal?The familiar names in the industry are those that help

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153527514358208092006-07-21T17:18:00.000-07:002006-07-21T17:18:34.490-07:00

The Bay Area's heat wave has caused the transit authority to declare today and tomorrow Spare the Air Days. Today marks the sixth and final day of budged free fare days. Funny, I thought that they had only budgeted for three days. :shrug: Well, I hope people can take advantage of any free fare days in their areas and, though I'm skeptical, I'm crossing my fingers that we won't have any more Spare

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153443358230621342006-07-20T17:55:00.000-07:002006-07-20T17:55:58.430-07:00

The San Francisco Symphony is offering a free concert in Delores Park this Sunday! It starts at 2:00pm and will feature works by Bernstein, Falla, and Tchaikovsky, culminating in the 1812 Overture. I hope the 1812 uses canons! This concert event is running for the fourth year and is designed to be a family-friendly outing. It is picnic-style but comes with food vendors, face painting, and

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153375814932243892006-07-19T23:10:00.000-07:002006-07-19T23:10:15.073-07:00

One of my friend's roommmates has decided to move out. He's moving because he wants to adopt kittens and the current place doesn't allow animals. I find it a strange desire. He is giving up a place that is very comfortable and affordable (by Bay Area standards) to move into a studio apartment. The new apartment allows two cats, but it also rents for triple his former payment. And, considering

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153170115107128882006-07-17T14:01:00.000-07:002006-07-17T14:01:55.230-07:00

I'm sure I've bored y'all to death with my application posts. I'm in a lull right now in regards to the applications and MCAT, so I thought I'd write on something a little different.The Occupational Handbook has a general breakdown of a physician's income in 2004. Here are the average compensation for doctors with over one year's experience in their specialty:Anesthesiology: $321,686.General

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153111773101562942006-07-16T21:49:00.000-07:002006-07-17T11:56:25.443-07:00

The Under 30 Honor Roll gets rolling! Thanks goes to Kira at Penny Foolish for hosting the very first Festival of Under 30 Finances! It's still a new concept, so any and all comments are appreciated. For those who are unfamiliar with the Under 30 Honor Roll, I'll provide a brief description.As it's name implies, the Honor Roll is a collection of bloggers who are under 30 (bloggers 30 and over

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153111228304708052006-07-16T21:40:00.000-07:002006-07-16T21:40:28.320-07:00

I completed a clean re-install of Windows XP over this past week, so I now have a spiffy working operating system again. It took up oodles of time to install, download, install, download, update, etc. You get the idea. The good news is that I now have two CD copies of all of my files and e-mailed files of the most important ones.Have you ever put a worth on your data? If you had no access to your

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1153020688550464912006-07-15T20:31:00.000-07:002006-07-15T20:31:28.703-07:00

It used to be that I would use Saturdays as my way to confess my financial mistakes over the past week. I still like the idea, but I'll admit that sometimes I just can't think of any. It's usually because I haven't done anything to try to increase my finances. While I don't think financial planning and monitoring have to take up hours everyday, I do think that the average hour or so every week is

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1152901362270422242006-07-14T11:22:00.000-07:002006-07-14T11:22:42.496-07:00

Well, so it is true! Back in March, I commented on an experience I had in purchasing plane tickets from Continental.com. There is currently an article from the Wall Street Journal on how to use timing to find the best airfares (provided by Yahoo! Finance). In it, they mention the following:Airlines monkey around with ticket prices as much as three times a day for domestic itineraries and prices

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1152896144037218112006-07-14T09:55:00.000-07:002006-07-14T09:55:44.176-07:00

Thank you JLP for letting me be AllFinancialMatters' Blog of the Week!For everyone who is visiting my site for the first time, here's a blueprint:Curious about who I am? Some information about me, my dream life, and my rather ambitious financial goals.I'm putting together a guide to buying a home in the Bay Area. Here's Step 1, a post on some soul searching.Some thoughts on eating out for

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1152855676541909822006-07-13T22:41:00.000-07:002006-07-13T22:41:16.703-07:00

The toothpaste aisle has a wonderful assortment of toothpaste, floss, mouth wash, and toothbrushes. My curiosity peaked as I wandered through this aisle. What exactly, was the difference between Crest, Colgate, and Aquafresh? Between Colgate Tartar Control and Colgate Cavity Protection? I took a look at the ingredients of the two tubes, which had lots of random ingredients. Surprisingly, the

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23532379.post-1152681451617524112006-07-11T22:17:00.000-07:002006-07-11T22:17:31.766-07:00

It's been awhile since we've heard any positive news from Microsoft lately. The software giant supposedly has developed the next generation operating system and next generation applications to go with it. With the repeated delays and competition, especially Google, heating up, can Microsoft still remain king?It's looking especially dicey given the trend towards free software that is heavily

City Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07441679799239664366noreply@blogger.com0