You’re so busy with classes (and a rockin’ social life), you can’t seem to get ahead in the finance field.  Sure, summer might be a great time to soak up some sun for those college students who are lucky enough NOT to be struggling with student loans, car payments, credit card bills, etc.  But for a large majority of us, summer is the time to keep working our asses off… and get paid.

If you’re stressing about debt, never fear– summer is just around the corner.  And if you act now, chances are, you can secure a summer job so you’ll be ready to pay for books, bar tabs, and fall semester housing come August.  The question is, where should you look? Read More »

Today’s Money Matters article in brought to you in part by… my recent trip to the gyno. Seriously. I was waiting to have my vajay inspected at full cost (I have no insurance, but I still gotta protect myself), and reading an issue of More magazine- a magazine aimed at women over 40. It was either that or Highlights for Children. WTF?

Anyway, More had a list of the top five growing careers out there. Yes, even the golden age of layoffs, some jobs are still safe. And it made me think back a few years, before the recession hit. When I first declared a major in English, the employment gurus were saying it was a great major, thanks to its versatility. Now, not so much. So, as you continue to rack up all of those student loans, ask yourself: is your major going to pay off after college?

Since I felt guilty about ripping a page out of a middle-aged-lady mag in the gynecologist’s office, I came home to research the most lucrative jobs, and while More only listed five, Boston.com predicts thirty careers that will flourish by 2016.  Here is a sampling of some of the careers that will get your education the most bang for your buck. Read More »

I am currently staring at four W2’s, which are piled neatly on my desk next to my laptop. My dad has informed me that two more are at my parent’s house, and I need to call the restaurant I worked at last spring because I’m pretty sure they don’t have my current address. Oh, and I’m expecting at least three 1099’s for freelance work.

It’s not that I change jobs like I change my underwear. Last spring, I waited tables and worked for a travel website on my days “off.” I also had one week in January where I was paid for work study from the Fall ‘07 semester. Over the summer, I worked Summerstock at a theater. Last semester, I had a paid internship, and I did marketing work for a parent company, so each of the branches I marketed for are considered a separate entity.

What the hell am I going to do? You might be asking yourself the same thing, even if you’ve only held a normal number of jobs (one, two… three?) in the past year. I mean, all the pointless Gen Eds they make us take, and none of them are “Filing Your Taxes 101.” Don’t worry. If the IRS expected everyone to file their taxes on their own, well… it would be like George W. getting reelected.

Here are a few resources I’ve come across as I’ve begun my slow descent into the Hell that is my personal tax season. Feel free to share any other links that you’ve come across. We all want to make it out of college without being arrested for tax fraud. Read More »

[College kids are notorious for being poor. And why shouldn’t we be? We take out student loans to pay for private universities, can barely balance a part-time job with our full-time courseload, and the only “balance” we’re familiar with refers to the number of points left on our dining hall cards. Oh, did I mention many of us tend to splurge every extra penny on PBR’s at the campus bar?

If you disagree with everything I just said, you probably don’t need this column. But if you’re nodding along because you’re officially an adult and still don’t know how to manage your money, then you might want to pay attention every week, because I’m going to (try to) get you through this, and make you a successful saver and a wise spender.]

Congratulations! You’ve got a job! You can start making money… and the government can start taking money from you!

On your first day at a new job, you’re going to get slapped with a stack of paperwork: company handbook, sexual harrassment awareness statement, and, of course, the W2 form. How many of you have snuck into the bathroom to call your parents and ask them WTF to write in this form? Yeah, me too. Here is everything you need to know:

The W2 determines how much money in taxes will be taken out of your paycheck. Typically, dependents have the most taken out, independents are somewhere in the middle, and people who have dependents have the least. Usually, college students are either “dependents” or sole “independents.” If your parents claim you as their dependent, they are basically telling the gov’t that they support you; therefore, the gov’t sees your wages as extra cash, and will take more money from you. If you are independent with no one to provide you, the tax form says (in layman’s terms) that you are responsible for living expenses (rent, utilities, tuition, etc), but don’t have to spend your money on anything else. Read More »

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I always scoffed at people when they complained about taxes. “Please,” I would say, “how do you think the government pays for things, hmm? Money doesn’t grow on trees you know. Taxes are a good thing.” This never produced the result I was looking for. Instead of applauding my common sense, or giving me a cookie in appreciation (although I did always suggest this course of action), people rolled their eyes. They sighed. They complained about youth not knowing anything these days.

Now, over the course of my employment history, I have helped 70-year-old women try on bras. I have scooped ice cream for ten hours straight. I have swiped cards at my dining hall after rugby practice lets out and the guys are pulling said cards from the sweaty waistbands of their shorts (um, ew). I fact checked articles on light bulbs and dumpsters all summer. I work hard for my money, darn it, and losing a substantial portion to taxes does not make me happy.

The upcoming election is a hot topic, and the discussion of what’s going to happen to our taxes is part of the reason. People are already paying large portions of their income to our government and it’s always scary to try and figure out just what the next person in office is going to do to your paycheck. Instead of paying for the new suit you need for work, that money just might be sucked into the oblivion of our national deficit.

So what to do? Well, for starters, look at the candidates’ tax proposals. Yeah, you might think that Democrats usually lower taxes for us in the peanuts range of the income scale and Republicans mean tax breaks for the wealthy, but in reality it’s far more complicated. Read More »

Who couldn’t use a quick buck these days? Especially college students who can barely scrape together a couple of quarters for 50-cent beer night at the pub. Sure, we have financial aid, work study, and minimum-wage paying part-time jobs, but sometimes we just need a little extra cash, stat. Thanks to Craigslist, that cash isn’t so hard to come by.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Craigslist, there is an individual site for most major cities across the US (and around the world, for that matter), e.g. losangeles.craigslist.org, boston.craigslist.org, and so on. Craigslist is basically a bunch of classified ads, and there’s a huge section of both “jobs” and “gigs” just waiting for you to stumble upon. So whether you want to splurge on a shopping spree, get your grandmother a birthday present, or actually buy your books this semester, look on Craigslist. I recommend browsing the categories “ETC” and “Event,” though if you have a particular talent or skill, you may want to look under “Creative,” “Labor,” or “Writing.”

Here are some of my favorite past Craigslist gigs:

1. Mock Juror

Listed under: Event

Paid: $60 for less than 4 hours Read More »

While at a bar last weekend, a guy casually asked me what I did for work. When I told him I was a writer, he wanted to know what kinds of things I wrote. “I mostly do technology writing,” I started to tell him. “What?!” he laughed. “You’re too pretty to be interested in technology.” I almost slapped him, but instead just said, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He didn’t have an answer for me, so I just walked away. And yes, I was a bit insulted.

Why is it not acceptable for girls to be interested in technology? Unless you’re an ugly girl with no social life and no social skills, of course. I guess it could be because there just aren’t a lot of women who work in technology jobs, such as IT, science, and engineering. But why aren’t there? Read More »

Being single for a while can make a girl think that hoping over a few states to visit an all-male brothel would be an awesome way to spend spring break.

Heidi Fleiss, the “Hollywood Madam” who’s had her share of legal woes and national media attention, is in the process of opening her new “Stud Farm” brothel in Nevada, a place purely for women and their fantasies.

“This establishment will hire men to service women” StudFarm’s website claims. “There will be no male to male sexual services offered.”

“We will hire 20 men and 10 on stand-by,” continues the information. “Lady customers will be charged $250.00 an hour that will be split 50-50 to the house. Men will be able to keep all tips. They will be charged a weekly rate for a housekeeper, room, board, and food. Weekly tests for STDS and HIV are mandatory. Employees will register for a work card with the sheriff’s department.” Read More »

Even at the beginning of my senior year, my friends and I were starting to discuss where we would end up after school.

It was a given that I would be around New York City because that is the place to go for my future career. Not to mention the fact that I absolutely love the place and had the time of my life interning over the course of two different summers. Lucky for me, a good amount of people from my school also head down there to start “real” lives.

My experience was similar to a new trend that has really started with our generation. That new fad being putting priority on WHERE you will be living, instead of WHAT you will be doing. Recent grads tend to decide what city they want to live in, and then the job comes secondary.

The job tends to be something figured out once you have moved to the chosen location, as was my experience, which made for many stressful unemployed days filled with cupcakes and wondering just how I was going to get by. Eventually things worked out and I can officially say I am employed in my chosen field and have my own apartment.

But, this ballsiness (is that even a word?) is something that our parents are not used to. Long gone are the days of sending out resumes to every viable city or town in America and seeing where you get a bite. We refuse to live in a horrible town just to have a job, which I think is a great philosophy. Read More »