Laws of Finance

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April Net Worth Update
2008-04-07 20:56:00
Once again, I'm a few days late on the monthly net worth update. But, with no further ado, here it is...With just over one month to go until graduation, I stand at -$35,073.
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March Net Worth Update
2008-03-10 20:33:00
Sorry this is a little late - but better late than never! Anyway, my net worth actually went UP this past month, thanks to that large tax return I received. Now I'm only -$34,731. Hooray!!
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Tax Returns
2008-02-19 02:34:00
I submitted my tax returns a while ago. Unfortunately, I had to wait for the IRS to "get ready" to process my return because I am taking an education credit. That said, the wait is now over and I should receive my money relatively soon. When all is said and done, I will be getting something just shy of $5,000 back this year. Too bad it is my final year of eligibility for the education credit, though...That money will certainly come in handy re - my bar trip. I'm still working on the plans. Any suggestions? I'm trying to keep the cost manageable, so let's keep that in mind with the suggestions.

February Net Worth
2008-02-01 22:27:00
February marks my final HUGE decline in net worth to -$38,712. My student loans are also now over $100k, but this should be the end of those (excluding accumulating interest for a few months).After this, I expect my net worth to be generally flat or possibly show a slow downward trend until I start my job in September. Of course, market fluctuations could also affect the net worth in the interim.
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Tax Cut? No! Wrong! Bad!
2008-01-23 17:53:00
I like a tax cut just as much as the next guy - maybe even more than the next guy - but Mr. Bush's tax cut plan is just plain wrong.It is true that tax cuts (and fiscal deficits generally) spur the economy (at the cost of some inflation). It is important to remember, though, that we are already running something in the range of the largest fiscal deficit in history as a result of the previous round(s) of tax cuts and this pseudo-war that is still dragging on in Iraq (and elsewhere). Now the man wants to cut taxes? HUH!? That's just great... Let's see if we can get the budget deficit to $1 trillion per year just in time for you to leave office. What a nice gift to leave for the incoming president in 2009. Dumb!Rate cuts, on the other hand, seem to be the way to go. I applaud the Fed for its bold move in dropping rates yesterday. While the specter of inflation (and, to be more precise, stagflation) looms in the not-too-distant future, I think preventing or helping to mute a recessi...
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It Has Been a While
2008-01-21 21:58:00
I know it has been quite some time since my last post and, honestly, it may be quite a while before the next one - though I do hope to at least get back into the habit of monthly net worth updates. At the beginning of January, I stood at -$20,108. That is a big hole, to be sure. Hopefully I can climb out of it sometime soon...

It's That Time
2007-11-04 14:10:00
The time for another monthly net worth update. When I looked at the monthly closing prices for my various ETF's, I was honestly astounded. They had quite the run up at the end of the month. They have pulled back a bit since, but they were high-flying for sure. Overall, it is those positions that led to another marginal increase in my net worth, which now stands at -$15,195.Just think, only about 6-7 months until I finish law school and 10-11 months until I start my job with The Firm. Hopefully then the net worth chart will start looking more respectable.
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Bar Review Courses
2007-10-24 03:29:00
I have just discovered how expensive bar review courses (BarBri) can be. Seriously, by the time all is said and done with the bar exam, it will cost something like $5,000 - and probably more than that. Of course, this is on top of the tuition that I paid for law school and undergrad.Thankfully, The Firm pays most (though not quite all) of my bar exam related expenses. So, while I am complaining about the cost, it is nice that somebody else is paying most of them. In that way, I guess it is something like undergrad (though I still have loans). No matter who is paying, though. It is still a big chunk of cash. How can BarBri charge $2,500 for taped lectures? Because I'll pay it, I guess...
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Yay for Net Worth!
2007-10-02 15:41:00
It went up a bit. Now I'm only in the hole $17,558. I'm happy with that. Up is good. The increase this month is mainly due to the strong performance of the equity markets, particularly the international equity markets. My positions in EEM and ILF increased dramatically this past month, perhaps due at least in part to Fed rate cuts and the precipitous decline of the dollar.So, I have more money, but I can't buy very much abroad. Sad.
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That Crazy Fed...
2007-09-18 22:36:00
So, the Fed dropped interest rates .50% today and the domestic markets soared. But all is not wonderful. The dollar fell to all-time lows against the Euro and is now almost on even exchange with the Canadian dollar (who would have thought that could ever happen?). I guess that just means my international ETF's did well today too. But, who knows, the market could just as easily be down 200 points tomorrow once people realize that a rate cut might actually signal some bigger problems economy-wide.And all this is going on while Mr. Alan Greenspan (who is clearly someone we should ignore, because the markets do) said a couple days ago that he expects interest rates to reach double digits in the not-so-distant future. So what's going on? Mass chaos? If we think that Mr. Greenspan is right, I guess that means we should start shorting bonds or moving some of that money back into US dollars from currencies abroad.Only time will tell.
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Nothing Doing
2007-09-09 16:19:00
Not too much going on in the Laws of Finance world. The markets are interesting of late, meaning that I perceive them to be somewhat erratic, with big gains one day followed by big losses the next. Only time will tell the true trajectory, I guess. Although, for my guess, I think it is generally negative for a bit.And I thought that 3L year was supposed to be a piece of cake? I guess it is to some degree, but there is certainly still a fair amount of work going on. I am just happy that my job at The Firm is set and I don't have to do any more interviews.

Net Worth - Ouch!
2007-09-01 05:48:00
Amazingly, I lost approximately $18,000 worth of value in the past month. How depressing. I miss that summer income and I really don't like paying tuition. On the bright side, though, I only have one more semester's worth of tuition to pay before my net worth stops taking these large hits twice a year. I'm almost there!Unfortunately, until I actually do get there, my net worth currently stands at -$18,770. Not so hot. Oh well. I think most third year law students are worse off, so I should be happy with my situation.
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Back to School
2007-08-26 21:14:00
Well, here I am, back at school for my final year. Just one more year of law school and I am finally finished. Then I just have that pesky bar exam to contend with. Speaking of that, I really need to get on filling out the forms and signing up for bar and MPRE classes and exams.My place is a bit of a disaster, which is somewhat odd for me. I am not a total neat freak, but I'm pretty close. In other words, this clutter is driving me out of my mind. I think I will spend the next little while getting to work on cleaning it up.I don't have much to report on the financial front. I didn't quite make it into the positives, so now it will take me quite a while to get back there. Next month's update will not be pretty - stupid tuition.
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I Accepted the Offer
2007-08-21 05:42:00
I received and accepted the offer of full time employment from The Firm. As I said before, I had a great summer and I expect only more good things from The Firm. I guess only time will tell whether that actually turns out to be the case.I hope the fact that I now have at least some kind of certain future income stream does not adversely affect my spending habits. I mean, it would be easy for me to say, "I'll have money in the future, so why not spend it now." But, since I know that kind of thinking gets people into trouble with credit cards, I should be able to avoid it. I'm still a saver. I will just have more to save in the future...
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Summer Food Costs #4
2007-08-19 04:31:00
After much delay, here is my final summer food cost update.For the fourth period, my daily food cost was $4.72. Overall, this made my average daily food cost for the summer $5.19.Not much else to report. Everything is going well. My time at The Firm is done for the summer. Now I have to concentrate on getting back to my third and final year of law school.
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New Computer
2007-08-14 16:20:00
Hello again. Unfortunately, the summer is essentially over and I need to think about getting back to school for my final year of law school. I have one final summer food cost update to do and I will post it once the tabulations have been completed.In other news, I got a new computer the other day. Mine had a tendency to lock up because it was sligtly over-extended with the amout of stuff I was trying to run. So, I picked up a new one with significantly more processing power and about 5x the RAM. Not bad - and not terribly expensive either (as was the goal).
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The Market
2007-08-07 16:26:00
The market's volatility of late gives me cause for concern. If we are, in fact, entering a prolonged downturn, that might affect my potential permanent job offer from The Firm.Based upon the way the market has been both up and down in recent days, though, my guess is that this current volatility is more along the lines of a random event, as opposed to a long-term economic indicator. Of course, only time will tell.For the sake of my job prospects, though, I would prefer that the economy remain healthy for the next few years.
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I Didn't Make It...
2007-08-02 03:44:00
My goal was to get to a net worth of $0 for this month. Unfortunately, I came up just short. I currently sit at -$831.The markets got me this month. If they had only held steady, I would have been in the positives. As it is now, though, with tuition payments coming up, I will not see the positives again for a long, long time...
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Life at The Firm
2007-07-26 02:19:00
My time at The Firm is winding down this summer. Based upon how everything has gone thus far, I am confident that I will have an offer to return within a few weeks of heading back to school. That said, who knows for sure.As far as the people at The Firm go, I have been very happy. I mean, I didn't exactly know what to expect from a firm that actually refers to itself as The Firm. But (almost) everybody has been very nice and I feel as though I would actually enjoy working with them everyday.The work has been interesting and diverse. By that I mean that I have not been doing the same type of project over and over again. I have had a variety of projects in many different practice areas. I haven't chosen a favorite practice area, but I have definitely eliminated a few.And now for the important part - the hours. As a summer associate, the hours have been very good. I generally arrive early and leave relatively early. I have only been at The Firm (working) past about 5:30 on ...
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The Magic of 10,000
2007-07-22 22:07:00
The Dow is way past 10,000. Although, I do remember when it passed 10,000 for the first time. Only vaguely, but I do remember it.The 10,000 I refer to here, though, is the number of visitors to this site. That magic number passed 10,000 a couple weeks ago. I didn't make a big to-do about it then because I was too busy to even notice. Today, however, I had some free time and checked the stats. As luck would have it, I was only slightly over 10,000.What do you think the next milestone should be? 100,000? That sounds good to me. I just wonder whether I will make it that high...
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Looking Backwards
2007-07-20 02:07:00
I started tracking my investments on August 1, 2002. Since then, I have done my best to keep good records. Since I have added money to the pool according to no particular schedule, it has been difficult to determine accurate returns. That said, I have tried to do so anyway. In general, I have counted money I deposited into my investment accounts at any time during the year as having been there at the start of the year, thereby making my calculated return lower than it might have otherwise been.Since I started on August 1, my fiscal year begins on August 1 and ends on July 31. In other words, I started keeping track almost five years ago (more on that later). To satisfy curiosity, though, here are my returns for the fiscal year ending:2003: 9.74%2004: 8.01%2005: 19.31%2006: 13.13%2007: 23.92% (through June 30)Overall, not bad returns at all. I have been very satisfied. I really started thinking, though, about where I was five years ago. I wonder a few things:1 - Did I correctly predi...
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Quarterly Statement of Financial Assets #2
2007-07-12 02:29:00
Here comes the second installment of my quarterly asset breakdown. The following information is current as of the end of the second quarter (6/30).The only major additions were to cash thanks to my summer job at The Firm. Otherwise, most other changes are due to increases in the price of my ETF's. ILF did especially well. Overall, it was a good quarter. Let's hope for another one.
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Summer Food Costs #3
2007-07-10 04:00:00
So, my food costs seem to be rising. My cost for the most recent period is $7.11/day. This also raised my summer average, but the summer average remains respectable at $5.44/day. I attribute this costly period to my extra food costs on and around the Fourth of July holiday. Hopefully the numbers will be lower from here on out.Yes, I know I still have to to my quarterly asset update. It's coming...
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More Interviews?
2007-07-07 15:51:00
Everything seems to be going fine at The Firm. In fact, I am over half finished with the summer and I think I am doing pretty well. As I currently see it, I expect to receive a full time offer at the end of the summer.But what if I don't? In that case, I should probably have a backup plan. The time to sign up for fall interviews back at school is rapidly approaching and I need to decide whether I should sign up for those interviews. I just don't know the mechanics of what happens if I sign up for interviews and then receive and offer from The Firm. I mean, would I still have to go through all the interviews? I should probably find that out...
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July Net Worth
2007-07-04 15:55:00
Paychecks from The Firm have boosted my bottom line significantly. The markets were rather stagnant this month, but it made little difference. I now stand at -$5449, that is an increase of around $6k over last month. The next update will be my last chance to see positive numbers for a couple years, so I am hoping I make it. Unfortunately, it is not looking terribly promising.I still need to do a quarterly asset breakdown. I will get it together within the next week or so.
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Firm Activites
2007-07-01 15:30:00
My apologies for the recent lack of posts. The Firm has been keeping me busy all week with various social activities in the evenings. More of the same appears to be in store for next week. At least I get Wednesday off this week. It is almost like two short weeks.Hey, it is July 1. That means I need to do a net worth update. I should get on that.

No Name Stuff
2007-06-26 03:57:00
Very interesting title - I know. Anyway, I went grocery shopping a couple days ago. While I was there, I did some price comparisons. I checked the price of the "name brand" food against the "no name" food. In most cases, I was absolutely shocked at the difference. It can be double the price (or more)! So, if it generally tastes just as good, the nutrition information is nearly identical, and it costs half the price, then the question becomes... What in the world could be name brand be charging so much for? Advertising? Maybe. Monopoly rent? I just don't know.In any case, I tended to go with the no name stuff. There were a few exceptions, though. There were some cases where I just couldn't part with the name brand (maybe the advertising works). One example was frozen waffles. There was a generic brand that was about 10 cents cheaper than the Eggo waffles, so I splurged and got the name brand. GASP!!
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Waking Up Early on the Weekend
2007-06-24 04:41:00
I must admit that this post has very little to do with finance.I have noticed a significant change in the time I wake up on the weekend. It is much closer to the normal time I get up for work than it is to the time I would otherwise get up on the weekend. I got up really early today and I rather enjoyed it because I got lots of stuff done. I guess I must be trained to get up early now. That didn't take long. Ridiculous.
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Summer Food Costs #2
2007-06-21 02:21:00
I decided to stop breaking my food costs down into breakfast and dinner categories. This is especially helpful since I have essentially stopped eating breakfast (it has been about a week). I just can't bring myself to get up earlier than I would otherwise have to get up in order to force myself to eat when I am not even hungry.So, my new plan is to do a simple "cost per day." I also added lunches I pay for into the mix.According to this new cost scheme, my original cost for Period #1 was $3.41/day. My cost for Period #2 is $5.02/day. So, my food costs have been rising, but I don't think $5.02/day is so terrible. I wonder what the trend will be after the next update...Average summer food cost so far: $4.27/day.I am learning one thing other than my food costs from this little project - it is very easy to manipulate the accounting. No wonder there are accounting scandals left and right. It is so easy and the temptation is so great. This is not to say that I condone cooking t...
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Wasteful Appliances
2007-06-16 16:12:00
I was doing some driving this morning and I heard a statistic on the radio that got me thinking. The statistic is that 40% of the electricity used in the average home is used by appliances that aren't even turned on.I'm not entirely sure, but I think that means something like your computer, which may still continue to draw electricity, even while it is turned "off" as long as it is still plugged in. I don't know all the mechanics of this process, I must admit. Hey, I'm a law student - not a science guy.It seems to me that if you want to save a good deal of electricity, you might consider unplugging some of your appliances, especially the seldom used ones, instead of just "turning them off."Food for thought.
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