2012 is already here, and I’m a little behind on our financial and life goals.  I’m a little uncertain about what I should aim for, as we’re going to have a brand new baby and will have to adjust to the new expenses and life with a child.  My goals this year will be attainable (I hope!) and I am crossing my fingers for the best year ever.  It certainly will be interesting and a lot different than past years!  Here are some of the goals I’d like for us to accomplish: 1. Set up a savings account for the baby. The baby has not even been born yet and already has a stash of money.  I’m going to open a custodian savings account for the benefit of the baby.  I will also have to research 529 plans in case that’s the way we want to go.  I’m thinking it would be easier just to open the UTMA (Uniform Transfer to Minors) account and wait until the money accumulates and then go from there.  We’ll see. 2.  Figure out life [...]

Right now my cell phone is a five year old pink Motorola Razr. I bought it new five years ago and it’s served me well. However, the battery life is awful and sometimes it will tell me I am roaming when I go to answer it. So annoying! I’ve been considering buying an iPhone, but the monthly cost has been deterring me. Right now, I pay $38 a month for my cell phone bill. That includes all the taxes and fees, so I’m super happy with that! I get a 20% discount off my bill since my employer participates in a special program. I only use my cell phone for talking on the phone, and no text messaging or internet. I do have an iPod touch that I use at home to play games, but that’s about it. My husband recently got a new iPhone from his employer and they also pay the bill for him, which is nice. I’ve played around with his phone and I really like its features, especially the texting and the fact that you can [...]

The other day I asked the question: “How much money do you make?“.  That post got a lot of responses from many people who were comfortable sharing how much their annual salaries are.  I think overall more people were comfortable sharing their finances with other people than not.  I thought it would be fun for anyone that wanted to share their salary to do so here.  I’m going to allow anonymous comments so that no one has to be public with their money if they don’t want to be.  And for the people that don’t feel comfortable with everyone knowing their business, they can comment anonymously and share without revealing their identity. I’ll have to approve comments manually, so if you do comment with anonymous it most likely will go into moderation and I’ll be sure to approve it as soon as I can.  If you want to play along, please comment with: -Your annual base salary. -What state or area of the country you live in. -Your job title or position and a short description if it’s unclear. I [...]