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Bad couple of days

September 24th, 2005 at 08:02 pm

Lots of yelling at me at work, lots of overtime. And how do I respond? I spend money and eat things that are bad for me, which is pretty typical. I'm trying to change my ways of reacting to stress, but it's a slow process.

I started an account at Emigrant Direct, like I was planning. I've decided to keep what money I have in ING there for now; I can use it to pay my January estimated taxes, and that way I won't have to worry about transfering and transfering. So by February all my savings should be at Emigrant Direct.

I've been reading a lot about mutual funds online. I've decided to start a Roth IRA as soon as I get $5000 in my emergency fund (should be sometime this fall) and an extra $1000 to start the IRA with. I just can't decide which fund (and it'll only be one at first, since I'll be starting it with just $1000) to invest in. I'm thinking either Vanguard STAR (although it seems a little conservative for someone who's 23, and who has a solid emergency fund) the Vanguard 500 index (tracks S&P 500) or the Vanguard Winsor II, which I like a lot, but has a higher expense rate than the 500 index. Well, I have to decide eventually, but I'm going to try to stop worrying about it until I actually get the money together.

Spending!!

Wed Sept 21 1.25- soda
32.50-Video game- Katamari Damacy 2
Thur Sept 22 34.82- Groceries
4.00- lunch
1.75- ice coffee
Fri Sept 23- 1.50- ice coffee
1.75- soda
2.50- frozen yogurt

Is it wrong that I really want September to be over so that I can add up all my spending and add some numbers to my wallchart?

Brunch tomorrow with the boyfriend and his family at a restaurant. I don't know if I'm expected to pay, so I'll have to bring money just in case... Plus, I have to pay for a train ticket out to Long Island. I think I can get the citypass deal so it'll only cost me $6 to get there and back.

3 Responses to “Bad couple of days”

  1. Anonymous Says:
    1127594773

    You could check with Fidelity or T. Rowe Price in order to start your ROTH. I believe they, as well as several other companies, offer an asset builder program to get started. I believe it may be as low as fifty dollars a month. You can always flip it to VAnguard in the future. Just a thought!

  2. Anonymous Says:
    1127604275

    Check out Morningstar.com for some of your research. All of these mutual funds have a ticker symbol, just like a stock does. You can see how the fund is performing, what kind of stocks are in the fund, fees, and if they have a free deal on something called portfolio x-ray, try it and see if the funds you pick overlap each other.

    The other piece of advice morningstar gives is that you have most of account in a "core fund" like an S&P index fund, and then a little bit in international, a little bit in small cap, a little bit in mid-cap...in other words, things that are a bit more aggressive and suitable for a youngun like yourself.

  3. Anonymous Says:
    1127613361

    I do the exact same thing when I'm stressed - spend money and eat poorly. We should start a club.

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