It seems like every year we are left uncertain about our summer plans. Guess that's what we get as a teacher and student.

So next week I'm interviewing for a full time summer job. Tomorrow I'm going to talk to my adviser about the position and see if she thinks I should continue. I only applied on a whim. If she agrees, then I will have to get permission from my boss to take summer off. He will probably agree with my adviser.

If I do take the summer job, that leaves no time to take a vacation this summer. If so I need to talk to DH about transferring our vacation funds to our savings. If we do that, then we will probably be able to start trying to have a baby in August as we hoped.

Other money factors:
- DH's school is debating taking a grant to extend the school day (extra hours) and give every teacher a bonus. This would also put us on track to start TTC in August.
- If I'm working full time over summer, I'll be paid more than I am currently. This would also put us on track.

So basically there are three ways that will get us on track for our Baby Fund:
- No vacation/Transfer funds
- DH's bonus/extra hours
- My summer job

Out of all these, I think the summer job is my favorite.

So imagine you could go back to just before you got your first real job. Your expenses were low because you've been living off parents, pizza delivery, etc. Imagine you could stop yourself as you began that job and give yourself some financial advice. Here is the advice I would give myself:

If your employer offers a retirement plan, sign up to put away 15%. You won't miss it. If they don't offer one, plan to put this same 15% into a Roth IRA and reduce your Net Pay by this amount.

Expect to pay anywhere from 15-50% of your salary in taxes. Do this:

Approx tax liability = Federal tax bracket + state tax bracket + 10%

Now let's calculate your Net Pay:

Net Salary = Gross Salary * .85 * (1 - approx tax liability)

Monthly Net Pay = Net Salary / 12

This may seem a little depressing. Get over it. This is your annual salary for all intents and purposes.

Now let's make a budget:

Housing = Monthly Net Pay * .25
Other Needs = Monthly Net Pay * .25
Wants = Monthly Net Pay * .2
Savings = Monthly Net Pay * .3

Now you may be a bit overwhelmed by how "little" you have for expenses. It is around 45% of your gross pay. Get over it. You didn't even have this much money last month.

Think about it this way. If you are only spending 45% of your pay and saving 15%, you can retire in around 30 years without a problem. Ask your parents if they wish they could have retired before 55. They probably wish they could have.

In addition, you are saving 30% of your take home pay! You can pay down your student loans in a matter of months, not years. You can build a 3 month emergency fund in 7 months! You can save to buy a house or to pay cash for a nice car! Think about bragging to your friends that you did that!

It may be hard. You will have to fight the feeling that you need stuff to grow up. It's not true. Try this instead. Be a grown up and keep your house clean. It will impress your friends and family much more.


What do you wish you could have said to yourself upon getting your first real job.

So I applied for a summer job today. I'm hoping that my boss will let me take the summer off while I work at a local foundation. It's not like we do all that much work over summer anyway. So hopefully I'll get paid a bit extra and try out a possible career path. If not, I've still got my usual summer job.

But working full time would be really nice for my goals.