September 2007 - Posts
I keep hearing about how if you don't want to get all those useless credit card offers, you should call or go to
optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (which is 1-888-567-8688). I'm thinking I've found another good reason: I got someone else's mail. Basically, within one credit card offer, there were two offers. One for me, and one for someone in my same town. I called them to complain, and the guy said "oh, sometimes our machines can get a bit sticky". He didn't want the name of who else's offer I got. "We send out plenty of mailers, she'll be sure to get something else". Yeah, that's the excuse I heard!
In other news, I got an email from
LazyMan in response to a comment I posted on his
health blog. He saw that I'm looking to officially start a personal finance blog. He sent me a
link to an advice list on how to start a personal finance blog. It references quite a few other blogs, and so it's something I'm thinking I'll be referencing a decent amout while working through my blog.
Okay, I swear I'm going to blog about my trip to Nicaragua soon!
[Edit: I've started blogging about my trip to Nicaragua on my new site,
http://graduatedlearning.wordpress.com/. Check out Day 1 of my trip
here. Check out Day 2 of my trip
here. Day 3 is
here and Day 4 is
here. For a recap of the whole trip, and advice for traveling (especially to Nicaragua) click
here. I've also stopped updating this site for the most part..., so please check out my new blog!]
I realized that my
original "About Me" page is from 2005, so I should probably post an update, seeing as I've changed my blog from a "how to survive MIT" blog to a personal finance blog of sorts.
I'm an MIT alum, living in the greater Boston area. I started reading personal finance blogs earlier in 2007 because I realized I still had a lot to learn. I've
read a few books about personal finance, and more websites that I can count. I'm trying to balance having an emergency fund, 401(k), Roth IRA, and student loans while still enjoying the life of a young Boston-area professional.
This blog is a work in progress, and I hope to be moving it to somewhere other than the MIT servers sooner or later. I welcome questions and comments, both through
email and the comment form. I also have ING referals (checking and savings) available if you're looking to open an account and earn $25 for free.
Email me for those, as well.
I hope you enjoy my blog!
So, I realized that getting your haircut can be a lot cheaper if you don't care that much. I asked around with friends to see what was good/cheap/nearby and got some good recommendations. I suppose this post will be extra helpful for anyone living in the Davis area, since that's where some friends were living. So, I think these are probably all good places to go, if you trust my friends! I got recommendations for
Salonika and
Salon Femia in
Davis Square,
Salon CU and
Amal Niccoli Salon (ask for Julie, according to a friend) in
Ball Square, and
Supercuts in
Porter Square.
I ended up going to Supercuts, believe it or not. I got a pretty darn good haircut! Compared to the $35 or so that most of the salons were charging, I paid $19 (including tip) for a hair washing and a cut. And I desperately needed a hair cut. I was going against all those rules of getting it cut every 3 months or whatever it should be. Oh, and don't worry, I had gotten a haircut within the past year, it was back near my family's house. That's where I had gotten my haircut all through college. I didn't really trust the place in the student center, and so I'd just get my hair cut whenever I went home for a vacation. I got it cut around shoulder length this time around, which will hopefully make me look and feel a lot less dumpy. The people there were really nice, and, really, I didn't need anything fancy! So, the moral of this story is, you don't necessarily need to go to a fancy salon. I might end up going to one of the other places some time, depending on where I'm living, and what I'm looking for with my hair. I probably would have gotten more attention, and a thorough blow drying (you pay extra to get your hair washed and/or blow dried at Supercuts) had I gone to one of the other places listed. And I'm guessing people have horror stories of both the really cheap places as well as the really expensive places. So, if you're on a budget, and you're not willing to spend more than you have to to get just a basic cut, go for the cheaper locations! If you have difficult hair to work with, or you've found a place you like, I'm not saying you shouldn't go!
Well, hopefully that came through with enough of the "go for cheap if you want" without hurting anyone's feelings (hair stylists, big spenders).
I do want to update soon about my recent trip to Nicaragua (quick preview: That place is AMAZING!), and hopefully soon switch over to a new blog (I'm thinking of going to
wordpress) but I'm still stuck on a good name for my new blog. So, please give me a recommendation for a good blog name! I really appreciate the comments I've received, by the way, and hopefully you'll keep reading my site (and letting me know what you think)! Thanks! And thanks also to those of you who have emailed me about getting an ING savings account or ING electric orange checking account referalls. I hope you are enjoying your new account! (and your $25 bonuses!) Anyone interested, please do shoot me an
email!
Wow, too many exclamation points! This is what happens when you're writing a post after midnight.
[Edit: I also saved money by signing up for their email program. Yes, it's another email clogging up your inbox, but I got a $2 coupon, and they're going to send me coupons every few months, along with a reminder that I might need another haircut]