Republished from Latino Lubbock Magazine, March 2018 Issue.
“Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” [Quote by John L. Beckley] Your financial life is no different. You must have a spending plan or else you will fail. Tell every dollar you receive what to do. The first time takes only 30 minutes. After overcoming the learning curve, it should take only 10 minutes.
Hi everyone,
Handrio got accepted into a Ph.D. program at Boston University. We will be moving to Boston in late August. I’m excited because the sky’s the limit for my future income! Lubbock’s low and stagnant wages means I work four jobs right now.
While I’m excited to finally move to a large city, I’m also anxious about how we will afford this. To put the cost in perspective, right now we pay $420.00 for rent in Lubbock. We researched rents in Boston the past two days. Every place is at least $1,500. The only difference is the amount of space that price will get you, which varies by neighborhood. For $1,500, we get a 297 ft2 studio across the street from BU.
We can bring the rent down to $1,000 by sharing a 2BR with a roommate. The problem is that most ads for single room occupancies state “No couples or families.” That’s made the apartment hunt very difficult for us.
“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin was right, but he never said you must hire a third party to do your taxes. According to the IRS, the majority of Americans do not do their own taxes. Instead, they use professional accountants or software programs.
I used to be that American. I handed my W2s to my parents, which they passed to their accountant. I never understood taxes because the professionals took care that. I never met their accountant either so I couldn’t ask questions. I didn’t know the difference between a W2, 1099, and 1040. What’s a deduction? Is that the same as a deductible for car insurance? Taxes were like a confusing, jumbled knot I didn’t want to untie. It’s embarrassing, as it’s an area of personal finance I knew I should learn about but avoid anyway.
My mindset changed last year. In the 2016 fiscal year, my parents no longer claimed me as a dependent. Because of that, they used their accountant to do my taxes and then handed me an $85.00 bill. That’s the first time they made me pay. I didn’t like it. If I had known, I would have tried doing it myself first before opening my wallet.
