New Job=New Life=New Budget

My decision to leave finance for journalism has made me reevaluate my life priorities and goals. But now that I am off "the track" (prep school, Ivy League college, investment banking job), I have also been forced to review my spending habits. While recognizing that I needed to keep better track of my finances, I cringed at the thought of saving receipts and creating ugly, cumbersome Excel spreadsheets. But at the suggestion of one of my co-workers I decided to try Mint.com, free online software that tracks your money for you. Mint couldn't be easier-- you simply log into your bank accounts and credit cards through the site, and the application downloads and categorizes your latest transactions. Before Mint, I knew that I was using roughly half of my salary per month post-rent, but didn't know what I was spending it on. Now thanks to Mint, I have a detailed pie-chart breakdown of my monthly finances and can track which areas I should cut back on. I've come up with a list of ideas to decrease my spending by $400-$500 per month:

1) Eat cheap/BYOB: I only dine out about once a week--so how am I spending 20% of my income on "restaurants?" Easy. Big group dinners=lots of wine=hefty bills. I've decided to scrap $60 plates at the Spotted Pig and Union Square Cafe for inexpensive eateries (think tapas and dimsum). New York magazine has posted this helpful list of affordable BYOB restaurants (complete with a list of nearby liquor stores) that I intend on taking advantage of.

2) Lunch with Leftovers: Spending $10/day on lunches really adds up--but the last time I tried to pack turkey and cheese three days a week to work I ended up bored and uninspired. I've decided to give the brown paper bag lunch another go, but focus on bringing dinner leftovers instead, and mixing up my sandwich selection with pasta salads, wraps and quesadillas. I got several creative ideas here.

3) Learn to Say No!: My friends know that I am always up for anything, anytime, from movies, to concerts, to charity events. But while I've certainly had a lot of fun, this care-free attitude has drained my savings. I've decided to reduce my "entertainment" budget by cutting back on $12 trips to Kips Bay Theatre and shows at the Fillmore for less expensive options--$5 comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade, museum exhibits and--when it's nice outside--walking tours through unexplored New York neighborhoods.

I'll post updates on my (in)ability to stick to my budget!

Eight Recession-Friendly iPhone Apps

Here is the first post I wrote for FiLife:

Many computer programmers are quitting their day jobs with hopes of striking it rich developing iPhone applications. Not tech-savvy but want to cash in on the iPhone jackpot? Leave the programming to the geeks and invest in these eight apps to save yourself a bundle:

Budgeting

1) iXpenseIt: View your monthly budget against daily expenses from groceries to gas to utilities, store phone receipts, and view graphical reports of your spending.
Cost: $4.99

2) BillMinder: Helps to eliminate late charges by alerting you when bills are due. Also manages bill information, including paid/unpaid, amount, date, account number and confirmation number.
Cost: $1.99

3) PocketMoney: Track your cash across multiple accounts, including credit cards, savings and checking accounts. Download the data into Excel and charts to visualize categories of over spending.
Cost: $9.99

Shopping

4) SnapTell: Take a picture of any book, video game or DVD with your iPhone camera-- the app will produce a list of vendors that sell the product so you can compare prices. Also includes links to reviews from Google, Wikipedia and YouTube.
Cost: Free

5) Grocery IQ: Spare yourself the headache of forgotten groceries by organizing your food shopping with an electronic list. The application was recently purchased by Coupons.com, so expect electronic coupons integrated within the platform soon.
Cost: $0.99

Lifestyle

6) Cheap Gas: Find cheap gasoline while on the road, as well as GPS-routing to the station's location. Works in both the U.S. and Canada.
Cost: Free

7) Wi-Fi Finder: Locates the closest free or paid Wi-Fi hotspot to where you are, and provides directions on how to get there. Includes over 200,000 locations in 135 countries.
Cost: Free

8) Stanza: Forget expensive hardcovers and purchase cheap electronic books with this e-Reader. Offers New York Times bestsellers, contemporary titles, and free classics.
Cost: Free

Me, A Personal Finance Blogger? Ha!

I've recently become a contributor on FiLife, a personal finance website and community. While I am in no position to be doling out real financial advice based on my own spending habits (think "confessions of a shopaholic"), I'll be researching some of the newest tech products to help you save, as well as other topics of interest to me (education, travel, dining and entertainment). Check out my articles here. In the future I'll be posting some of them to this blog.

Banker Chick No Longer...

As of last week, I am no longer a poor banker chick! After several rounds of interviews, I've been offered a position as a financial journalist covering M&A. I gave my two weeks notice last Friday and will be starting my new job at the end of April. Yet despite my career shift, I don't regret my decision to work as an analyst this past year, as everything I've learned about finance will undoubtedly help me to become a better business reporter. I'm also looking forward to more normal hours, the ability to actually make (and keep) social obligations and a casual work environment (hello American Apparel jeans, goodbye Express Editors pants!). The only foreseeable downside? A major pay cut. While I may no longer be a poor banker, I'm now just...poor.