Tag: employment
There are 15 entries that are tagged employment. Now displaying reults 1 - 15.
Page: 1
What Financial Turmoil?
Posted on September 30, 2008 by Him
We're finally back from 2 weeks of a Mediterranean honeymoon, and apparently our country's, even the world's, financial foundation is in deep trouble. Admittedly, it was disconcerting to hear about the economic turmoil when we were abroad.
But here at home, things couldn't be better. We've received a generous gift of a student loan payment. We have received a boatload of cash gifts from the wedding. We're enjoying wines and other delicacies from our honeymoon.
When we returned, I looked at our account and noticed that my most recent salary deposit was higher than the previous ones. While we were gone I received my yearly salary adjustment - a nice increase of 9.5% For those of you who are counting, my salary has increased by 72.5% in just 4 years!
In the upcoming weeks we're going to work on a new budget and some new goals now that we're officially married. Exciting times are coming!
Job Security?
Posted on April 10, 2008 by Him
In the news as of late are talks of a recession, whether we're in one, and what that means. One of the more common benchmarks that I see is lob losses. As our economy worsens, there is less money available to pay people, thus companies are forced to lay people off.
When I read that and compare it to both Her's and my job situation, I'm flabbergasted. Both of our companies are on hiring rampages and have doubled in size since we've started. To add to that, both of our companies don't show any slowdown of hiring new people or obtaining new projects. We have recently received more responsibilities, bonuses, and pay raises.
We're extremely lucky to be in the fields of work that we're in and working for great companies. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that we can get out of this economic downturn in a better position than how we entered it.
How is your employment situation looking?
Reimbursed Vacation
Posted on October 25, 2007 by Him
photo: Davide Schiano
Since Her and I graduated from college, we've never taken a "real" vacation together...something about paying off debt got in the way. We could never justify spending a lot of money to take a nice real vacation together.
I've mentioned a few times that I get to travel for my job, and that I usually get put up at nice hotels. This past summer, I was offered the chance to go to a pretty nice location for work to attend a conference. I was going to be there for a few days and would have a lot of downtime. I thought it would be perfect opportunity to have Her come along and have a fun vacation on the cheap. Here's how we did it.
When I signed up for the Citibank AAdvantage card, I was entitled to received a free companion ticket. I made the reservation for both of our tickets with American Airlines; my ticket would get reimbursed, and Her's was free with the exception of taxes (which amounted to about $20).
Our company generally reserves hotel rooms only a few weeks in advance of travel. Because of this, many of the hotels near the convention center were already booked. We ended up booking a room at a hotel that was a little farther than walking distance, but happened to be the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. It might as well be the nicest hotel I will EVER stay in. We arranged a 4 night stay, but since I was doing work on only 3 of the days, we had to pay 1 night out of our own pocket. Since I was there for a conference we got a reduced rate on the room for all of our stay. We could have probably stayed somewhere cheaper for that 1 night, but all we could find were hotels that were far away from the convention center and hotel we were arranged to stay at. We decided the hassle wasn't worth the $50 we'd save.
Since we were more than walking distance to the convention center, we needed the use of a car. We rented a car for the full 4 days we stayed there, but paid for 1 day out of our pocket. We got a phenomenal deal on the rental through the travel agency that my work goes through, so we ended up paying $15 plus gas for the rental car.
Whenever I travel, all of my meals are reimbursed as well. On the non-business day we were there, we ate pretty frugally - living in Chicago has given us an astute sense of where the cheap, but good eats are. Some of the days we ordered room service for 1 - the portions were so large that it easily fed both of us. Other meals weren't extravagant, but weren't all at at Subway, either. We saved a ton on food - so much that I didn't mind the incredible pain in the ass it was to file the expense reports, separating our meals.
A lot of the stuff we did for fun was free or cheap. We're not really into touristy stuff, and much rather prefer to go on self-guided tours and get a feel for the culture of the place we're visiting. We did do 1 touristy activity and got tickets from the hotel since they offered discounts. I guess that is one of the perks of staying at a super-nice hotel.
After I was reimbursed for everything, our total out of pocket costs for the vacation was approximately $400. Not bad for 2 roundtrip flights, 4 nights hotel, 4 days of rental car, 4 days of meals, and entertainment. Oh yeah, and we got rewards for ALL of the vacation. The only downside is that I actually had to work on two of those days; although if it weren't for my job, we wouldn't have been able to have our first "real" vacation together.
Handling Work Expenditures
Posted on September 19, 2007 by Him
Money Under 30 just wrote an article on how he handled work expenses, along with great tips on how you can do the same. The article had me thinking about the evolution of how I handle my reimbursable work expenditures and how it fit into our finances.
When I first started at my company, we didn't have much money stashed away in savings, and I had balances on (high interest rate) credit cards. There was no way that I was going front any of my own money in hopes of getting it reimbursed. I knew that other people had company issued credit cards, so I would have to ask them to purchase something for me. At first it was only under $50 items I would ask for, but then when it came time for me to make arrangements for my first business trip, I felt bad asking them to put $1,000+ on their company credit card and then have them deal with the paperwork associated with it. After that, I asked for my own company credit card.
Things went pretty smoothly after that. I put all work related expenses on the company credit card, saved receipts, and did all of the paperwork. During actual business meetings, I would always bring $100 in cash with me for the little things like cab rides or tips, diligently saving all of my receipts. Remember, with anything reimbursable, RECEIPTS ARE KING.
Fast forward to a few months ago. We have no credit card debt, and we're now using rewards cards that we put mostly everything we buy on, and then pay off each month. We even have a substantial (for us) amount of money in savings. All of these things allowed me to cover a lengthly business trip in which I incurred ~$1,800 in expenses. The credit card bill came before the reimbursement check, but we were able to pay with bill without much financial hardship. When the reimbursement check came, we deposited it directly into savings.
By having our own personal finances in order, we were able to not freak out about taking on a relatively big expense, all while earning rewards for business trips that I'd have to go on anyway.
How do you handle work expenses? Has it ever been a drain on you personal finances?
Another Raise: How Bitersweet It Is
Posted on September 14, 2007 by Him
This past month marks the third year I will have been working for my company; it also marks the date of my annual salary adjustment. When I opened up my pay stub I was pleased to note that my salary has been increased by 10.5%. I certainly have nothing to complain, as that is well above inflation and is pretty generous considering I got two raises last year.
I now earn 57.5% more than when I first started my job three years ago. While the per-paycheck net take-home pay increase isn't that significant, if we're careful the extra cash can certainly go a long way.
With this raise, though, comes a saddening realization: I now make what I consider more than an entry-level salary. Why is this sad? Because for the first time in my life, I feel locked in to this one job in one particular niche field for financial security. In the past few months I was lightly considering a career move into a related field, but in order to do that I would have to start at a near entry-level position, presumably with a salary to match. Before this raise, the financial hit, if any, wouldn't have been too severe. What this raise has done has, in effect, limited my career options.
Thankfully, I really do enjoy my job and the people who I work with. My job also doesn't demand too much of me outside of regular work hours. Not to mention the nice perks that we get. My life outside of my job remains fulfilling and joyous.
But now I am beginning to realize the whole depth of the term "financial freedom." It really all boils down to having choices and options. It may take us a long time to truly achieve that freedom, but in the meantime I hope I can have a fulfilling life so that I can be most happy with the options and choices that I'll have when I finally get there.
Expensive Taste And My Job
Posted on July 10, 2007 by Him
Yesterday Jim put up a post on how he developed an expensive taste for bottled water because of his work environment. I can definitely relate - when this blog still had that new blog smell I wrote a post detailing the great amenities that my job as to offer. Fortunately for me, I don't drink soft drinks and I loathe the idea of bottled water. Many-a-co-worker has looked at me strangely for drinking tap water instead of grabbing a bottle from always stocked refrigerator. We do have other nice perks though.
I get the chance to travel about a half-dozen times per year for my job, thus the ways in which I have developed expensive tastes are travel related - dining out and hotels. When I travel it is usually for conferences, so I generally stay at one of the hotels associated with the conference; most of the time it is a 4 star hotel. In the last few years I've gotten used to the comfy beds, large rooms, and all of the little things that a nice hotel offers.
The other thing I get to do for my job is take clients out to dinner, and when we do we generally spare no expense. I've been to some of the best restaurants in the nation, all at no cost to me. Since the care and pampering of our client is top priority, the wine generally flows, appetizers are plentiful, and dessert is divine. If there is more than one person from my job traveling with me, we generally dine somewhere nice, but not at elite caliber restaurants.
All of these things are paid for by my job, but since we've gotten rewards cards I am now putting these charges on those and getting reimbursed. Therefore I am getting rewards for what I do anyway.
Has this translated into non-job expensive tastes? Not yet, at least. Except for one less than frugal non-work dining event, our dining bills align with our budget. That doesn't mean I don't look longingly at other, more upscale places. Also, we haven't taken any real vacations, but I'm thinking that we're probably going to look for more budget-friendly hotel options so that we can spend our money doing other vacation things.
The good life is nice, but I know I won't be at this job forever. Until then, I'm enjoying it very much.
What are your expensive tastes?
Can You Find Work In A Smaller City?
Posted on July 24, 2007 by Him
...oh right, we still have a blog. That we need to write stuff in. Yeah.
Anyway, one of the main reasons we haven't written is that we're both pretty busy with our jobs. While we both put in some long hours, if you speak to either one of us we'd happily tell you the there are many more pros than cons about our jobs. I firmly believe that by choosing to live in Chicago we exposed ourselves to the opportunity to work at the best places in the country, even the world.
I often wonder what our lives would have looked like had we stayed in small college-town USA. Our cost of living would definitely be lower, that's for sure. J.D. recently had a guest post about relocating to a small city, and followed up with small town personal finances. FMF is a huge advocate of moving to lower to a cheaper city to lower costs.
In that small college town we lived in, there was an abundance of culture, community, and social groups that fit our every need. The cost of living was cheap, the transportation was acceptable, and everyone was friendly. We often talk about maybe retiring there one day. The only problem with the town is that there aren't great jobs for us to pursue.
Her and I are both ambitious people when it comes to our jobs. We both love what we do, and are highly competitive in our respective fields. The jobs that we both hold now have opened many doors for our career in the future. These future opportunities could not have been realized in the town we were at.
Also, my job in particular is very specialized and tend to be near large urban environments. Thus, no matter how bad I would like to live in a smaller town, the opportunities to do what I'm doing now are virtually non-existent.
What about your job? Can you work just about anywhere, or are you somehow geographically limited?
Promotion and a Raise!
Posted on September 08, 2006 by Him
A few weeks ago I was promoted! There were a hints dropped by my supervisor, as well as rumors from the higher-ups at my company. Hey, when you work at a small company of 30 people, word tends to travel pretty fast. It was pretty awesome to get a new batch of business cards with my new title on it.
With the promotion came a salary increase. In fact, this would be the third pay raise in a little under two years. Since I've started, my pay has increased by 42.5%. This year alone my pay has increased twice, I got a bonus for referring a co-worker, a summer bonus, and I'm expecting another bonus in the winter. Including all of these bonuses, Her and I will breach a six-figure gross income this year. Whoa.
The downside to all of this? I haven't checked to see how these pay increases will affect the amount that I owe on taxes. I'm going to run all of my numbers through the IRS Withholding calculator and see how I'm doing. I'll provide an update on Monday.
Help Your Child Choose a College and Career
Posted on June 14, 2006 by Her
Most would agree that college is a good investment. But as with all investment vehicles, some perform better than others. The same is true for choosing a college and a career. No matter who pays for your child's college education, you can help your child make an informed decision.
First, talk with your child about choosing a major. What are they interested in? What kind of careers are they thinking of pursuing? Sketch out some possible career options they might follow. Have your child go to salary.com and look up the average starting and peak salaries for each career option. Also have them research what degrees are necessary for each career.
Next, compare financial packages at the schools your child is applying to. Help your child calculate the total cost of their four-year degree, plus any additional degrees they will need for their career choices. You might want to exclude any financial aid that is contingent on maintaining a certain GPA, since many freshmen struggle with the transition and lose their scholarship.
Talk with your child and clearly define how much (if any) financial assistance you will give them. Help them calculate how much loan assistance they will need to cover the entire cost. Help them calculate how many years that debt will take to repay and how much the monthly payments might be.
Finally, put it all together. Compare their potential salary with their potential debt service. Most kids haven't dealt with such large dollar amounts before, so help them relate it to your own family expenses. If you have a family budget, share it with your child. Discuss how a salary must cover the basics of food and shelter, plus debt service. If there are big financial differences between several schools or careers, talk with your child about the lifestyle they will be able to afford immediately after graduating, and ten years after graduating. Discuss the trade-offs of each option, such as stress, freedom, and fulfillment. Keep the conversation friendly and work as a team - remember, the goal here is just to become informed.
This is not meant to say that anyone should choose a college or career based solely on the financial rewards. However, this exercise can help your child make an informed financial decision when choosing between several school and career options. Sharing your life experience and gentle guidance can help your child make the best choice.
My Bonus...Isn't?
Posted on June 17, 2006 by Her
Yesterday at work I got a performance bonus, except it wasn't a bonus. Huh?
Usually when my company gives a bonus, they hand out a paper check and the stub is clearly marked "bonus". It is also taxed at the high bonus rate, so I take home just over half my bonus. But yesterday's bonus was equal to one paycheck, and it was treated exactly like a regular paycheck. It was direct deposited first thing in the morning, and the pay stub says I worked 80 regular hours. They took out regular taxes rather than the high bonus taxes. My company is calling this a "salary adjustment based on performance" rather than a bonus.
Anybody ever have this happen to them? It seems very odd.
The Many Perks of Overtime
Posted on May 15, 2006 by Her
For about a month I've been working toward a huge deadline at work and have been working about 20 hours of overtime each week (which is also why I haven't been posting as frequently). It has taken a toll on my personal life (no time to connect with Him, exercise, grocery shop, or sleep) but there are some great perks as well.
The best perk is overtime pay. I get paid overtime (1.5 times my hourly rate) after working 40 hours per week even though I'm a salaried employee. I will only be eligible for overtime pay until my next promotion, which I expect will be in a year or two. So I'm glad to have the overtime work while I'm getting paid for it!
The second-best perk is the extra cash in my 401K. I put 6% of my pay into my 401K and my employer matches it with a 40% matching contribution. My overtime pay increases both my contribution and my employer's match. It's like getting two bonuses!
Another nice perk is all the free food. My supervisor is doing a great job of keeping our team motivated. She has brought in all kinds of snacks and even expensed us some pizzas for lunch since we were too busy to leave the office for lunch. Every night she also orders dinner for us from some area restaurants. Since we work in the city there is a nice variety. So far this week I've had Thai, Italian, Chinese, and Mexican.
With all my overtime pay, Him and I sat down and discussed where it should go. We don't want it to disappear in our general expenses. We decided that our recent raises would go entirely toward debt repayment while my overtime will go into our wedding savings account.
What I Learned From Our High School Intern
Posted on April 20, 2006 by Her
This year my office hired a high school intern as part of a program to expose inner-city youth to professional careers. He’s an uber-talented kid with a lot of confidence and perfect grades. He just got accepted to three Ivy League schools. Here's how:
The top guy in my office is a mega honcho. He's been featured numerous times in big magazines, has books written about him, and is world famous. When our intern was applying to colleges, he walked right into Head Honcho's office, sat down, showed him his work, and asked him for a recommendation. AND HE GOT IT. In my field, that's like applying for college with a letter of recommendation from Jesus.
In comparison, I have two Master's degrees, have worked at my firm for almost two years, and have never even said hello to Head Honcho. Life lesson learned, now it's time to make myself visible to upper management. Thanks for the education, intern.
Do You Slackers Actually Work At Your Job?
Posted on April 18, 2006 by Him
Since I've been on my couch recuperating from my surgery, I've been watching vapid daytime television and have been reading the never ending barrage of new blog posts. During the average workday, there are about a bazillion posts that are added a day to pfblogs.org. In addition to those people posting, there are even more who are commenting on said posts. Obviously, your place of employment is not one that actively restricts your internet usage, but it may be monitoring your online activity without you knowing.
We try to only post when we're at home because we do not want our employers to find out what we're doing. We don't directly reveal our income so technically we wouldn't get fired for breaching non-disclosure agreements, but we still don't need our IT departments to know everything that we're up to.
I do believe that employees are entitled to some breaks at work, and what is done on that time should be within work standards. It is when I see blogs with multiple posts during the day in which I think that there is some abuse of the system going on. No matter how much your job sucks, it is unethical and immoral to be getting paid to waste time.
Please humor me, bloggers, personal finance or otherwise. Here are a few questions for you to ponder:
- How many of you are posting at work?
- How many of you are commenting at work?
- Would you mind if your coworkers knew about your blog?
- If you were an employer, how would you feel if you found out an employee was surfing the internet 3+ hours a day for non-work related purposes?
Please feel free to comment anonymously if you feel you'll get in trouble, slackers.
I Hate Working Overtime...
Posted on March 15, 2006 by Him
...because I don't get paid extra for it. I am salaried.
She gets time and a half for overtime.
I get...a pat on the back, if I'm lucky.
Do you work overtime? Do you get paid extra for it?
Employee Benefits
Posted on February 13, 2006 by Him
--Roast chicken with olive tapenade marinade, corn and green chile bisque, smoked ham and mozzarella stromboli
--Grilled habanero pork chops with apple chutney, cole slaw, and herb-roasted Yukon potatoes
--Grilled petite New York sirloin seasoned with Creole spices and Crescent City steak sauce and served with organic onion rings
Valentine's Day dinner? Nope. According to an article at wired.com, these are some the menu items you can expect at lunch if you work at Microsoft, Electronic Arts, or Google. Gourmet lunches are only one of the perks at working at an "Ivy League Employer" - others include foosball, an in-house chiropractor, on-site auto service, or laundry service. According to fellow Chicagoan PF blogger Young and Broke, benefits can go a long way when deciding whether or not you have a good offer for a job.
A cute story of ours is that we both interviewed for our current jobs on the same day, even the same hours. When we were finished, we went out to lunch to discuss our interviews, and more importantly, the benefits that are offered. Here's a list of cool benefits that my company offers:
--Free beverages, from bottled water to soft drinks
--Free lunches, in the form of Lean Cuisines or frozen personal pizzas
--Mostly everyone gets an office with a snazzy Herman Miller chair
--Winter and summer parties at major sporting events, with free booze and food
--Sick days don't count towards vacation time/other time off
--Free CTA (public transportation) pass (which has allowed me to sell my car)
My base salary is lower compared with others in my field, but when the benefits are added up it exceeds the average. How do your benefits stack up?
Page: 1
