Danielle Boler – Page 7

{Financial Cents} 4 Smart Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund

Published on February 20, 2013February 4, 2016 by Danielle YB Vason2 Comments

Have you ever gotten your tax refund and thought to yourself, it’s time to go shopping? I have. Growing up, my mom would take a large part of her refund and she and I would go on a shopping spree…even if it meant driving from mall to mall to find a wider selection or hanging out on a school night. That is how I grew up thinking about refund checks… like some sort of magical windfall of new shoes, purses, and dresses. Now fast forward to the present, I now know it’s better to try to break even than to get a fat refund. In reality, if you are receiving a large refund then you are paying too much in taxes throughout the year.

Divide and Conquer Your Money

If you are like me and you know you will be getting a refund of some sort, it is important to find a better way to spend your money than blowing it on a new tv or handbag. Before you even receive your refund, you should already have an idea of what you may be getting back. Take this time to divide your money, so when you actually received it, you will be less likely to blow it recklessly because you have already decided where it is going. For some, this will take some serious financial discipline, but in the end, it’s worth it! I plan to make my money work for me by using these four categories below to get me started.

Fund your funds. If you don’t have an emergency fund of at least $1000, now is the time to start paying yourself. You should think of this fund like those Chinese finger traps that kids used to pay with- it’s easy to put stuff in and difficult to take things out! If you already have at least a $1000 Emergency fund, then you should take a percentage of your refund and put aside for your savings account.
Pay Down Debt. This is the time to give your “snowball” effect an extra boost. Putting a portion of your refund toward your debt with the lowest APR (annual percentage rate) or lowest balance will help you pay get out of debt faster and feel good about your accomplishments. Remember, you don’t have to have thousands of dollars all at once to start getting out of debt. Every payment above the minimum helps you get closer to your goal.
Take Care of Things You Have Been Putting Off. If you have been meaning to call the plumber over to fix that leak you can’t find (raises hands) or get the brakes on your car checked out (raises hands) or even get the shoes with that weird heel repaired (raises hands) then take this time and money to do it. These are things that people put off because they don’t have the money or time. You now have the money, so make the time.
Prioritize Fun. When budgeting your money, you have to remember to prioritize for things that bring you JOY. Set a goal and when you accomplish it, tap into this category and unleash your fun fund. This could mean buying those shoes you have had your eye on, a spa day, or planning that impromptu weekend with your loved one(s), girlfriends, or even by yourself! It doesn’t have to be big, but it does help if it is something that brings happiness and drives you to work toward your goal.

How Do You Divide Your Refund?

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{Book Cents} 3 Books I Can’t Wait to Read!

Published on February 17, 2013October 31, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason6 Comments

I Like Big Books & I Cannot Lie!

I can be somewhat weird about books. Rarely do I lend them out because I’m afraid people won’t take care of them as I do. I don’t write or mark in them unless I have to; and when I do, I usually buy another clean copy. Weird, right? I haven’t even told you how I pick out books. I am very loyal to authors I like, I’m open to recommendations, but more often than not, I pick out books because I think the title is interesting. While I’m currently reading the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, I am always on the search for more books. Below are three that I have on my list to pick up.

Check them out!

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel, PhD

Cupcakes and Cashmere by Emily Schuman

Bubbly on Your Budget by Marjorie Hillis

How Do You Pick Your Next Read?

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{Fashion Cents} Budget Friendly Fashion Statements

Published on February 15, 2013July 2, 2020 by Danielle YB Vason3 Comments

Wait… what does her bag say???

Years ago, the fad was to show people “how” many things you could afford, as people would brag about how much they spent on this or that. While this is still true in many cases, I am noticing an even cooler trend that is fun, witty, and fashionable. What is it, you ask?- Fashion Statements! No these aren’t the statement shirts and bags that were super popular in the early 2000s that had quotes from people like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These are fashionable acknowledgements of the times, with phrases like, “Can’t Afford a Birkin” and “My other bag is Louis Vuitton”. Occasionally, I would see someone with a bag like this and I would always chuckle a bit at the boldness of these women. I guess I was just surprised by the fact that these women were the opposite of the masses I see rocking fake labels, act like they are real, and suddenly make others feel bad for not having what they have. I mean seriously, no one believes your Birkin is real on a $22,000 salary and it doesn’t even come in that color, and having a purse doesn’t make you better than others…I’m just saying. I think the problem is that sometimes great style is confused with a name brand. Trust me, not all designer fashion is stylish, but the examples of these awesome, budget friendly, designer inspired fashion finds below, are.

Below are a few of my favorite “Statement Looks” :

Photo Credits: Skreened, If You Seek Aimee Fashion, & Style With Benefits

Which look would you rock?

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{Smart Money} Is Education a DEBT Sentence?

Published on February 9, 2013April 19, 2013 by Danielle YB Vason8 Comments

There is a quote that states, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. Unfortunately, this quote is true on SO MANY levels. While many people associate the word ignorant with being dumb or stupid, it’s simply the condition of being uneducated, uniformed, or unaware. After graduating from Spelman College, I made both smart and dumb decisions regarding my student loan debt. I was told by my aunt that paying your student loans is a great way to establish credit. I put in an extra effort in paying Sallie Mae, so much that I had it paid more than year in advance. This was smart, ignorant, and sometimes dumb at the same time. It’s smart because I really never had to worry about forgetting to pay the bill. I felt extremely proud of myself for not being another “irresponsible” 20 something. It also revealed my ignorance because I should have been using that extra payment every month to pay down the balance NOT pay it in advance. I ended up paying interest when I could have been slaying the balance, which ultimately shortens the life of the loan. However, it wasn’t until I was in between jobs and not paying on the loan at all because the next due date was a year from then that I started digging a hole that I am still trying to get out of four years later. For one, my interest was accruing at about $8 a day, so a lot of the money I thought I was saving was now been tacked back on to the overall balance. It got worse when after the year was up, I still wasn’t working and I accepted an offer to postpone my payments for a year. That was back in 2011 and after yesterday’s phone call to Sallie Mae, my decision to postpone is still hurting my finances.
I pay about $200 a month for my student loans and recently got a series of letters saying that if I qualify I should sign up for automatic billing, which would let Sallie Mae automatically deduct money directly from a specified account every billing cycle. The incentive you ask? A .25% reduction in my student loan interest…equaling about $50 a month and $600 per year. I called Sallie Mae on yesterday, only to find out that I did NOT qualify. Apparently, if you post pone your loan at ANYTIME over the life of the loan, you lose eligibility for any interest rate reduction. Had I known this I would have been the never postponed my loan, but this secret penalty was never in any of the documents I agreed to. Looking back I would have rather roughed it out. So I guess the quote rings true. My education was expensive but my then financial ignorance could cost me more in the end.

We would LOVE to hear your thoughts?

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Fashion Cents} Brand Loyalty or Brand Validation?

Published on February 4, 2013April 19, 2013 by Femi HillLeave a comment

Danielle and I have discussed how the psychological obsession with expensive products and luxury labels can lead to financial trouble. While setting up shop for the most relaxed SMC meeting ever, we discussed our favorite brands. Danielle likes O.P.I. nail polish and has a shoe game that would blow you away. I, however, have recently recovered from a serious infatuation with True Religion brand jeans and the both of these are pricey for the types of products they are. Sometimes within one’s own living circumstances, it makes no sense to step out of one’s’ budget for the sake of feeling validated by a brand. So why do so many people do it? Which has more value, brand loyalty or brand validation?

Let’s begin the conversation by defining these terms. Brand Loyalty is your devotion to a particular brand because of its proven usefulness. This is a tried and true product or brand that has won you, the customer, over for its merit or quality. (THINK: I’m loyal to Charmin tissue because of its thickness.) Brand validation, as its name suggests, is when a product’s mere reputation trumps the importance of its merit; thus fueling one’s desire for the label more so than the product. Yep, we let a brand validate us without proving itself worthy of its cost.

Brand names and their reputations are impossible to evade. Because of this, it is almost too easy to get lost in a particular brand so much so, that we allow it to eat out our pockets. The place where both brand obsession and financial logic intersect is where I am in my journey to financial freedom….SMC too, since she has repeatedly admitted that Chanel makes her feel pretty. In no way am I discouraging splurging for yourself or investing in expensive products that will hold you down in the long run. I, for one, own expensive jeans that have lasted years. When operating on a budget, though, it is imperative to think critically about the items you choose to spend your money on, and why. Are you loyal to your brands because they actually fulfill their purpose, or are your brands validating you while nipping away at your money? Granted, there is no cookie cutter way to address the issue of our obsessions with luxury brands. However, acknowledgment of this issue is a surefire way to begin searching for smarter ways to shop for the things you love…while staying within a budget, of course:)

Have you ever allowed a brand names to validate your purchase?

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{Broke is the New Black} Are You Paying for the Fake Life with Real Money?

Published on January 21, 2013December 22, 2016 by Danielle YB Vason9 Comments

Welcome to the Good Life!

Over the past few years, social media has become a game changer. Its created jobs that did not exist even ten years ago, helped people connect who may not have had access to each other, and became a major catalyst for our cultural need to document everything. But what exactly are we documenting? – The life we live or the life we want people to think we live? All too often, I see people around me going into debt trying to rock the same fashion piece that they saw on one of the Kardashians. I asked this question a few months ago and I will ask it again, whose lifestyle are you funding? They can afford it, can you?
Fashion writer, Suzy Menkes called 2009 the “end of the statement bag” in a blurb for the 2009 autumn edition of H&M Magazine. She adds, “Insane shoes that mangle your feet, laughably expensive bags that no-one can afford; who can afford such extravagances in times of [financial] crisis?” If 2009 was the end of the expensive statement bag, then this must be the year of the appearance of luxury, where people are funding a fake life with real money. The reality is, even four years after the “fall of the statement bag”, we are still in a financial crisis.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fashion and will spend money when I have it, but I refuse to waste money staging a lifestyle for the world to see. I’m am not one of those people who are offended by the finer things in life, rather I feel sorry for those who mishandle their responsibilities in hopes of material possessions. This is not just a twenty-something problem either, as I witness people of all ages spending in excess to portray the good life…and for what? Public validation? Likes from Facebook, Twitter, and most notoriously Instagram from people you don’t even know in real life? Be yourself, rock what you love, but don’t go into debt doing so. Trust me, none of the people who “liked” your photo of those oh-so-fly out of your budget shoes, will help you save for that house you have on your vision board.

Let’s Connect!

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{Money Challenge Remix} How to Save $1300+ On Any Budget

Published on January 18, 2013January 3, 2016 by Danielle YB Vason28 Comments

Click here for the updated 2016 version!

Okay, so we are just 3 weeks in and I started falling behind for my 52 week money challenge. I decided at the start of week one to try this challenge in reverse. That means I will be saving more money at the beginning of the year and less the closer we get to the holiday season. In my mind, this worked well. In reality, it could work well. So far, though, my results haven’t been all that great and the fact that the fiscal cliff has chopped a chuck out of my check, hasn’t helped. I thought to myself…”Danielle, how can you find a way to honor the challenge in a way that will not hurt you financially?” Then I came up with the idea to create a “bingo” style format. At the end of the year, I would still end up with the same amount of $1378 and if I am having a tough financial week, I can pick a lower amount to save. I crossed off 52 on week one, and I will cross of 5 and 4 to represent weeks two and three. I decided to share this to maybe motivate someone who may have been thinking about “giving up”.

{What’s Your Preference} Numerical Order, Reverse, or Bingo Style?

Email me if you want my handy Bingo Style Sheet!

{Women, Money, & Cosmo} The Debt Crisis No One Is Talking About

Published on January 15, 2013May 25, 2016 by Danielle YB Vason7 Comments

My favorite professor and teacher of all things “deep”, Dr. Michelle S. Hite, once told me that when you are fully engaged in research, you will start to see inspiration everywhere. I was researching women and business, but more specifically the salaries gaps of women in business, when I found inspiration in an old “habit”. My name is Danielle and I am an admitted magazine junkie and Sunday evening… Cosmo was my latest hit. While reading the February LOVE issue, I came across a very informative article from Rachel White entitled The Debt Crisis No One Is Talking About! In it, White discusses the vicious financial cycle of women, higher education, and student loan debt. You see, it is easy to say that women have more debt. That’s a statement I hear all the time from men and women. It’s a blanketed generalization because the mind tends to lead one to the stereotype of women and financial incompetence not the FACT that more women now have more financial responsibilities. For example, women now outnumber men in college, which means women are more likely to start their careers in debt. In her article, White used a real life example of a woman by the name of Brenda Errichiello, who “found herself with a $947 monthly [student loan] bill and only a $27,000 annual salary”. In all, Errichiello ;graduated with a fabulous 3.9 GPA and $92,000 in debt. OMG, I thought to myself while reading this because Rachel White could have very well been telling my own story. I, like Errichiello, graduated with honors from Spelman College and thousands of dollars in debt before I even earned my first adult check.

What is Errichello to do?

She Makes Cents You might be surprised by the answer. She had actually considered going back to school with the hope that more education means a better paying job, job security, and a bump up the corporate ladder. This is something I very well considered myself, getting back on the law school grind, but I had to remind myself that money doesn’t equal love and that hard work doesn’t always pay off in the currency of one’s choosing. Is this the epitome of spend more make more? This, SMC readers is that start of the Debt Crisis no one is talking about.

Things to Consider!

Women come out of the gate making less than our male counterparts for the same positions (18% less according to the article), are less likely to ask for raises at review time, have more student loans, and generally take maternity leave to start a family. How are we going to catch up? Why isn’t anyone talking about debt? According to White, it affects out relationships or lack thereof, career choices, and forces drastic decisions that hurt us even more in the end and if you follow SMC, you have read of other real life examples that support White’s point.

Do You Consider This A “Debt Crisis”?

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{Friday Ramble} One Reason He Hasn’t Put A Ring On It!

Published on January 11, 2013February 7, 2014 by Danielle YB Vason2 Comments

The Ring Didn’t Mean A Thing!

I wonder does former Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kim Zolciak, still think that after she got hers two years ago? In fact, he put a ring on it after she stopped living off someone else and started bringing in the big bucks from Bravo. My inspiration for this post, however hits a little closer to home as it comes from a girl talk with a girlfriend of mine…let’s call her “Christine” for anonymity sake. Christine and I were catching up the other day laughing at a prediction gone wrong. You see, at the beginning of last years, either she or I made the prediction that her boyfriend would pop the question in 2012. During our girl talk, she revealed that she asked her boyfriend the money and relationship questions discussed in the post 5 Financial Questions you Should Ask Your Significant Other Today to open up lines of communication about money and their future as a couple. Our conversation then led to people who lie about their finances to a significant other.
Sure, like Christine, you and your boyfriend could have talked about marriage, but that doesn’t mean he has been secretly studying up on Tacori, now does it? If being engaged in a certain period was a similar goal and that didn’t happen, let’s examine one major possibility… a.k.a. your financial situation. While I am very open about my personal financial situation with you (SMC readers), my family, and the Mr., I know that everyone is not so comfortable talking about money. Many people were raised to think that frankly, discussions of money are just plain rude. Although I must agree with financial journalist, Jean Chatzy, who advised in article for the Winter 2013 edition of Martha Stewart Weddings that you should “never STOP talking about money”. People list money as the top reason they fight and they confess hiding financial information from their spouse, but if you are planning on a successful marriage and not just a wedding, then you should be able to talk about anything- especially money!

Things to Consider:

Know You Before He Can Know You. This is the epitome of money and relationship advice. On the financial side, you can’t share accurate information about your finances, if you don’t know your current situation. Check your credit score. Keep track of your debt. He can’t know your debt until you know it, just like he can’t fully know you until you know yourself.

Be Open. You may be fluent in your love language, but how is your financial fluency? One thing I had to learn with the Mr. is to truly engage in communication you have to be willing to talk as much as you listen. Give as much as you ask and be prepared to hear things you may not like. Relationships thrive on open lines of communication. Again, if you plan on jumping the broom, you have to be ready to talk about everything, including those stupid financial decisions you made in your early 20s that you are still paying for…literally.

Great Expectations. The 6 carat dream on the .25 carat budget. I have another friend whose boyfriend told her, he was not proposing to her because he couldn’t afford the rings she was pinning on Pinterest. Does she really expect a celebrity ring? No. Does her boyfriend have a point? Yes…well, maybe. Yes, he has a point because he doesn’t want to disappoint you. Maybe, because Pinterest is like an online vision board of awesomeness where you group images that you like that lead to articles that you love (follow SMC on Pinterest). Why not pin pretty things?

Tick Tock, Gotta Beat the Clock. I’ve heard women say, including myself, that they want to be engaged to be married by [insert date/age here]. For many, the race is more so against the clock than against the Joneses. How many of you put a similar emphasis on paying off student loans, credit card debt, protecting your investments, or living debt free? Maybe he is not ready. Maybe you both aren’t ready as you think you are. I will say that you need to make sure your ducks are in a row. Wouldn’t it be lovely, when the time comes, to go into a marriage with no financial surprises. In my opinion, that is WAY better than a ring…but that’s just my two cents.

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{52 Week Money Challenge} The Easiest Way to Save $1,000+

Published on January 3, 2013December 28, 2018 by Danielle YB Vason15 Comments

Click here for update and a “remix” to this MONEY CHALLENGE! Can we say…so much easier to save, than the original!!

SMC- 52 Week Money Challenge

Today I was introduced to the 52 Week Money Challenge by a fellow blogger, DLWinfrey from Pretty Girls Rock Dresses (PGRDresses). The challenge is to make a weekly deposit that reflects the number of weeks of the year. For example on week one you deposit $1.00 and on week 27 you deposit $27.00 and so on. It sort of reminds me of when I was little and my big brother would give me money that corresponded with my age ($5.00 for my fifth birthday and $10 for my tenth birthday). This is week one of 2013, so if you are interested, you better put your dollar to the side. I plan on using the money saved throughout the year for holiday purchases and paying down credit card debt. Just think, by this time next year, I could have saved $1,378 just by participating in this challenge. While I don’t know who came up with this challenge, I do thank them. It’s easy, it’s fun, and it won’t break the bank. Plus the remix of this money challenge makes it so even easier.

52 Week Money Challenge

What Will You Do With Your Savings?

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