All Posts By

Nicole

Money

A Primer on Personal Finance Resources

Knowledge is power. And when it comes to money, that statement could not be more true. As I go through my journey to pay off my student loans, I try to think of it as a learning exercise as well. There’s a lot to know about student loans and personal finance, so I want to know as much as I can.

Since knowledge is power, the more I learn about how to manage my money, the more control I feel that I have over my situation. With money, however, there is always going to be something new to learn. But to learn, you have to start somewhere. Throughout my own personal journey, I’ve turned to a number of resources to learn about personal finance: books, websites and podcasts. Below you’ll find a breakdown of some of my go-to sources as well as some personal finance resources that are on my to-read list.

March 31, 2014 by Nicole

Money

Online Tax Filing Review: TurboTax, H&R Block & TaxACT

It’s that time of the year again: tax time! I spent a large portion of last weekend preparing and filing my taxes. This was my first year trying out online tax software, so I figured I would test the waters at each of the big online tax software websites and see which one was most appropriate for me and my situation. And now I’m sharing it with you, so if you’re not sure where to start, you have a concise overview of the options available to you.

I think it goes without saying, but I’m no accountant. While I do have some experience preparing tax documents for a former part-time job, I’m certainly not an expert and nothing below should be viewed as tax advice. My goal is to provide you information about the different online tax filing websites to help you figure out what might be a good starting point for yourself.

I reviewed three popular tax sites: TurboTax, H&R Block Online, and TaxACT. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of what I found, let’s take a look at who the contenders are.

March 11, 2014 by Nicole

Money, Student Loans

My Student Loan Story: Follow me from $90K to $0 Before Age 30

If you’ve been hanging around Living in Flux for any period of time, you know that student loans are one of my topics of interest. I’ve talked about why I pay extra on my student loans each month. I’ve talked about what I think could help solve the student loan crisis in the United States. I even won the MyMoneyAppUp Challenge in 2012 for my app design concept to help student loan borrower more easily manage their student loan debt.

And while I’ve skirted around the topic on this site for over a year, I haven’t fully shared my student loan story.

That is, until now.

February 6, 2014 by Nicole

Goals

New Year, New Directions: Goals for 2014

I’m squeaking in at the end of January with my goals for 2014. It counts as long as you set your goals before January is over, right?

I’m going to be honest: last year, my goals for 2013 were a mess. I didn’t even take my own advice of crafting S.M.A.R.T. goals when I came up with them. There were too many. Things came up that made some less of a priority (ahem, running in races). The path to achieving some of the goals was nebulous (“become a better writer”).

Well, I’ve learned my lesson for 2014. I will have fewer goals this year. I will also have more defined goals this year. Ultimately, I want to look at a goal and say, “Yeah, I met that goal, no doubt!” or “Wow, I didn’t meet that goal, but I know what I would have needed to specifically do to meet it.”

January 28, 2014 by Nicole

Goals

2013 Yearly Review: What Did & Did Not Go Well

After my not-so-brief hiatus, I’m back in the game. Although I’m a few weeks late, I’m taking stock of last year and the upcoming year in my first couple of posts in this new era of Living in Flux. Last week, I went back to analyze my goals from 2013 and how I ended up doing. I came out of the year with a surprising 4 of 10 accomplished.

Today, I want to focus on my 2013 yearly review. If you’re interested in seeing last year’s review, I covered 2012 in the same what went well/what didn’t go well fashion.

January 21, 2014 by Nicole

Goals

Better Late That Never: My 2013 Goals Wrap Up

This is the fourth of four check-ins for the 10 goals that I made for 2013. Be sure to check out my original post for my 2013 goals and my first, second and third goal update posts for more context.

Howdy. It’s been a while. Well. The last time I posted, I did my third yearly goals update. Much time has passed since then, but honestly, not a lot of progress on my goals has been made. I’d hate to leave loose ends, so I’m going to put these goals to rest today!

January 16, 2014 by Nicole

Goals

2013 Goals Update #3: Almost to the Finish Line!

This is the third of four check-ins that I’ll have for the 10 goals that I made for 2013. Be sure to check out my original post for my 2013 goals, my first 2013 goals update and my second 2013 goals update for more context.

I say this all of the time, but time really does fly. This quarter’s goals update really snuck up on me. I had to take a moment to realize that it was indeed time for my last update before the end of the year.

October 4, 2013 by Nicole

Goals

August & September 2013 Monthly Review(s)

Hello, people of the Internet! It’s been a very very very long time, but we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming. At least for monthly reviews, that is.

October 1, 2013 by Nicole

Food, Life

Savor the Last Bit of Summer with Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Looking for a way to hang on to summer as fall moves in full force? Make some homemade peach ice cream!

I made this ice cream a while ago, but as you all know, my life has seriously gotten in the way. Making homemade ice cream was one of the things on my 26 Things While 26 list. I thought it would be a fun, yummy and potentially cost-saving endeavor. Ice cream in the grocery store? Expensive! This ice cream? Not necessarily cheap, but it’s organic, free of preservatives and the like, plus I made it myself!

Making homemade ice cream is deceptively easy. The hardest thing you’ll need to do is scald the milk, but other than that… it’s pretty easy to do!

September 25, 2013 by Nicole

Life

Annnnnd… I’m Back!

Long time, no talk, people of the Internet!

Life has been moving pretty fast lately and, instead of posting here, my time has been consumed with some of the following things:

Moving
Adjusting to a new home
Figuring out cohabitation
Painting lots and lots of walls
Cleaning and organizing
Preparing and packing for a two-week trip out of the country
Flying across the ocean
Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower (see photo above)
Staying in a castle
Exploring Barcelona
Flying across the ocean again
Surviving jet lag

The good news is that I’m back and eager to share all of the life, money, career and travel goodness of the past few weeks! Keep your eyes and ears open for some posts coming up soon.

Au revoir!

Nicole

September 18, 2013 by Nicole

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