I guess I WOULD like a real job in 10 years…

I’ve officially decided against doing a MD/PhD. After a long discussion with my boyfriend, who is a pre-med himself, I think I managed to take the financial blinders off and realize that even though I like doing research, I don’t LOVE science. At least, not in the way that (I think) MD/PhD’s are supposed to love science, which is the “can’t think about anything else during the work day” type of love. It was certainly an alluring possibility while it lasted, and I think the reason that I liked the idea so much was that you get PAID to go to school! But now that I am fully committed to going the regular MD route, I think that the huge financial burden is a good wake-up call in terms of making sure that this is something I really wanted to do. I guess I should think of it as deciding on whether or not to buy a nice house in Bellevue (the suburb of Seattle in which I graduated high school and where Bill Gates lives), which is roughly the amount of debt I’ll incur as a student.

Oh, and another reason why I haven’t been updating (besides laziness ) is because I just came back from my first trip to New York! And really, the first trip out of the Pacific Northwest since moving to Seattle 7 years ago! My boyfriend had a medical school interview there, and we decided to turn it into a mini-vacation (~7 days) while we had the chance, although I *might* have told my boss that I was going to look at med schools myself Maybe more on that later…

 

Purge

Well, that was a disgusting little purge of my financial history. I’ve decided that I don’t want to do that ever again. Sneaky update: ING account is being consolidated into my other savings as we speak.

In addition to my full time work at the lab, I’ve taken a part-time job working as a certified chemistry tutor at Tutor.com. It really keeps me on my toes! I’ve definitely had to refer to my MCAT study books a few times, but for the simple things, it’s no problem. They pay a nice little $10/hour

I gave my lab meeting presentation for the quarter today, and it rocked!  I had so much data to present, and I didn’t feel stupid (often) trying to explain what I was doing.  I love doing real assays now instead of just working on trying to clone shit.  Having fun in lab is actually making me think more seriously about doing a Md/PhD, instead of a straight MD degree.  After all, I can graduate debt-free, with two graduate degrees that are pretty valuable.  And I love doing research, so why not?  Also, the PhD years would probably be the right time to have kids, if it ever came to that point.  This is assuming that I don’t have one of those cutthroat crazy-ass PI’s though O_O .

 

Financial Lowdown

Luckily, Quicken will make this post relatively easy to write.

Savings: I have 3 savings accounts. I’ve been meaning to consolidate them, since I never intended to have my money scattered around various places like this.

1.) Bank of America: This was my first savings account. It has one of the worst interest rates ever, something like 0.5%. I don’t know why I kept my money in here for so long (oh wait…I do, I’m pretty sure it was laziness…). It’s also the account that I had hooked up to my direct deposit at work, which happened 4 years ago, when I started my first job at the University as a student helper in a research lab (read: cleaning slave). Current balance: $5582.06.

2.) ING Direct: This is kind of a funny story. Soon after I started at my current job, and when I started reading personal finance blogs, I came across the $25 referral bonus offer that ING Direct offers for new account holders. So I try and open and account…and it turns out I supposedly already had several accounts with them. WTF right? Well, long story short, my mom had opened these accounts using my name a long time ago, and had never told me about it.There goes my referral bonus, haha! So she transferred her balance out of the Orange Savings account, and I transferred mine in. It sports a interest rate of 4.1% APR, which has shrunk significantly from previous years (due to interest rate cuts). Current balance: $2041.45.

3.) Washington Mutual Online Savings: Thanks to Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity (http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/), I read about a promotion through WaMu where opening a No-Fee Checking account online with a Online Savings account will get you an interest rate of 5.0% on the Savings account. Crazy good interest rate, right? And the free checks don’t hurt, either! One downside of this account is that you are only allowed 3 free online transfers between savings and checking. Whereas you could do this free of charge, for as many times as you like, through Bank of America. Also, the interest rate has since dropped to 4.75% APR. Current balance: $3532.42.

Checking: I have 2 checking accounts.

1.) Bank of America: The original MyAccess Checking account that I opened before going to college. This is the main account that I use to pay rent, bills, and my credit card. I’ll close this out and use WaMu as soon as run out of my cute, animal-themed checks Current balance: $1602.06.

2.) Washington Mutual No-Fee Checking: Used rarely, opened just for the high-yield savings account. Current balance: $10.00.

Credit cards: I also have 2.

1.) Bank of America Visa Gold Credit Card: My first student credit card, with a paltry $2000.00 credit limit. It took me a long time to use this card, since I figured it would be easier to use my debit card. This was before I discovered the beauty of rewards-based credit cards.

2.) Chase Freedom Credit Card: After a lot of research around the PF blogosphere, I settled on this one with the most relevant rewards program. For those that don’t know, Chase Freedom gives you 3% cash back on your top 3 purchase categories of the month (i.e. groceries, utilities, entertainment…). The best thing is, the rewards rotate for whatever top purchase categories you have for the month, and you’re not restricted to having rewards only attached to gas, or plane tickets, or whatever. Anyway, I just got this card, so I’m super excited to use it and see what cash back I can get!

Stocks:

1.) Sharebuilder: I opened an account at Sharebuilder when I saw a $50 sign-up bonus offer at Young Money (http://www.youngmoney.com/). I have 4 securities, bought in increments since September, and I’ve actually had a lot of fun tracking my stocks every day. Current portfolio value: $3626.03

I have a 401K split 50/50 at Vanguard and Fidelity, but I just started contributions to it, so the balance is pretty small currently. However, the match program at my University is quite good–for every 5% of my paycheck that I set aside in my 401K, they match it with an additional 5%. This match level is based on age, so as part of the lowest age bracket, I get to contribute the lowest amount. No worries there…believe me, I can definitely find ways to treat myself occasionally instead of making that extra contribution!

 

Welcome to a Kitty’s World!

Introductory posts are always weird to write. Luckily, since this blog actually has a theme, it should be easier this time! I’ve been reading personal finance blogs for awhile, and thought it would be fun to write one from the perspective of a recent graduate working in science.

A little about myself:

I graduated from a top public university on the West Coast in Spring 2007, with 2 bachelor degrees (in Biology and Biochemistry). After a brief summer hiatus to study for the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test), I am now working full-time as a research associate in a research lab on campus. The lab that hired me was the same one that I had been working in for the past 2 years as an undergraduate, which have both its pros and cons.

From a financial perspective, I really could not have it better. I was blessed to have parents that were able to pay for all 4 years of my college’s tuition and board, which was in part subsidized by scholarships that I received upon entering school. So, in other words, I have no college loan debt. I was also somewhat cautious of how I spent money during the school years, and have been continuously working at various jobs since summer of my freshman year. I have no car, live in an apartment that is 15-20 minutes walking distance from my work, and am also the bill-payer and financial head of my apartment (whom I share with 2 roommates).

I have 2 dreams: to go backpacking on a round-the-world trip, and to go to med school. Both of which require substantial amounts of money, unfortunately! Hopefully this will be an interesting way to chronicle my adventures in working towards these goals.

I can’t wait to start writing! Let me know about stuff that you are interested in for future posts!