The Skinny on Savings--Tackling Finances in 2011

by Social Media Working Girl

I'm not very good at saving money. Don't get me wrong--I try to save. It just seems next to impossible sometimes to save money as a 20-something Working Girl trying to get my career started and make ends meet.

Like many of you, I don't have tons of time to regularly stock up on grocery items and thus end up eating a lot of meals out. I tend to get sucked into sales at my favorite stores and boutiques. I always offer to drive whenever my friends or colleagues want to go somewhere. I enjoy going out and being social. I have lots of bills including rent, car payments, utilities and credit cards. And I always seem to ask myself, "Where did the money go?"

But with hopes for lots of excitement and new adventures in 2011, saving is a must. Thankfully, there are many online tools available that can help facilitate the process of saving money and making smarter financial decisions.

Mint - With more than 4 million users, Mint is one of the most popular and widely respected (and free) online budget planners. You simply plug in all of your data--credit cards, checking accounts, investments, loan information, etc.--and have the ability to set a budget and keep track of your personal financial goals.

One of the biggest perks of using Mint is the easy in use. I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to get confused with numbers. I'm a journalist by trade--not a mathematician. With Mint, you don't have to be a math whiz. Instead, it does all of the calculations on its own and you hold the reigns for setting goals and tracking success.

SmartyPig - Next up, I want to introduce you to SmartyPig. Think of SmartyPig as your free online piggy bank. Whether you're saving for a new car, your wedding, that great pair of shoes you've had your eye on, a gift for a friend or your dream vacation, this site is a great tool to help you save and reach your financial goals.

How does it work? All you do is create an account and set up automatic transfers from your existing checking or savings accounts. You can also have friends and family help you achieve your objectives by sharing your goals with others through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.

Wesabe - Lastly, let's take a look at Wesabe--a community-based online personal finance management site. In other words, you create an account and contribute to conversation, post questions and join groups regarding debt, savings, financial experiences and more. With Wesabe, it's about getting advice from people just like you.

This year, the focus must be on tackling my finances. I fully intend on using free online resources like Mint, SmartyPig and Wesabe to help me achieve my financial goals and save, save, save.

Do you have financial goals for 2011? What other online tools do you use to budget and save?

(Image via)

A New Year and a New Goal

By In Transition Working Girl

Happy New Year Working Girls. I hope you enjoyed the last several weeks as much as I have, although I am ready to get 2011 started. How about you? Its my last week at my old job and part of me still feels like its 2010, come next Monday though when I walk into my new job, 2011 will be officially here in my book.

Because of the all the craziness of the holidays, combined with a pending move, I hadn't really thought about New Years resolutions until this week. A few days, late, but oh well. Since I spent most of last year trying to figure out what the next steps were for me professionally, this years goals are simple. I have one and its to spend the next year pouring myself into work. For me this means that my new job is numero uno and everything else for the next 365 falls after.

When thinking back about what was missing from my life in 2010 and how out of balance it was, it was clearly the professionally aspect that had everything out of whack. So looking forward now that I have my dream job in hand I want to do everything to prove who I am, to not only to my new employer but to myself.

Just saying I am going to pour myself into my job is not enough and hard to measure results, so here are just a few of the things that I am going to do to attain this goal:

• Attend networking events (2-3 times a month)
• Arrive before and leave after my boss
• Bring in new clients, which is not something I am tasked with, but feel its is important for my new company
• Obtain additional education certificates/or attend trainings
• Become the "expert" on something in my new company

So there you have it, while "pouring myself into work" isn't the prettiest goal, for me its everything I didn't have in 2010 and can't wait for in 2011.

2011: The Year of Change

by Social Media Working Girl

Just as Lawyer Working Girl posted about her New Year's resolutions here, I'd like to take the opportunity this week to share some of my wishes for 2011.

To be completely honest, I hope 2011 includes a lot of change for me--both personally and professionally.

Let's dive right in and start with the personal stuff.

I'm currently in a long-distance relationship. While my man is only a 3-hour drive away, this can certainly get in the way of living the life we want to live. A lot of our free time is spent driving to see one another or cramming a thousand things into a short period of time. I'm praying that something changes here... and soon.

Of course as a working girl who has a career, I have a few prerequisites that must be fulfilled in order for that long distance to shorten (aka, one of us moves to be with the other). Note: My man is currently in graduate school for the next 3+ years and thus, he won't be the one moving.

Which brings me to the next bit--professional change.

While I have been "mostly" happy with my current job, I would love the chance to further my horizons, explore my skills, challenge myself, have more opportunities for growth and learning, and most importantly--love what I do day in and day out.

Several years ago when I began this job I was ecstatic. I saw room for upward growth and the potential to truly challenge myself professionally was easy to see. But lately things have been, well, stagnant (to say the least) and--probably like most of you out there--I'm overworked, underpaid and completely undervalued.

All of this coupled with the fact that the love of my life lives 150+ miles away makes my life as a 20-something working girl pretty unhappy. So what do I hope for in 2011? Lots (and lots) of exciting new changes.

Fingers crossed.

What are some of your hopes, wishes, dreams and goals for the New Year?

New Year, New Me?

by Lawyer Working Girl

I don't normally do New Year's Resolutions. I mean, let's be real. I figure that if I wasn't doing something on December 31, the calendar now saying January 1 isn't going to make me start doing it. You know what I mean? But I completely understand why people do them. It's not only a new day, but it's a new year! It's a fresh start! It's a great starting place to make necessary changes in your life. I just believe that you have to come to the conclusion within yourself that it's time to make those changes and not just say you're going to do it because it's January 1.

Well, with all of that being said, I know that there are some things that I need to commit myself to doing, so I'm starting now mentally preparing myself so that hopefully but January 1, I will be ready to implement these changes. So I guess, what I'm really saying is that I am doing some New Year's Resolutions this year. Go figure.

So, what are my resolutions? I will spare you any personal resolutions and go straight to career resolutions (after all, this is the Working Girl blog).

First, I plan to utilize my evenings and weekends a lot better so that I can work on my passion projects. In a previous post I shared with you all that I also blog outside of Working Girl and I am engaged in other social media. Blogging and social media have given me an outlet to pursue my passions. I don't intend to be somebody's employee for the rest of my life, so I need to dedicate myself to working on my passions so I can build my own empire (insert evil laughter...ha. Just kidding.) How am I going to do this? Well, if I want it to one day be my full-time job, then I must treat it like it is a job. I must set aside "work" hours in the evening and on weekends, specifically setting aside 1 hour each evening and 3 hours each day of the weekend where I focus on my passions. That means, shutting off the TV, putting down and phone, and carrying my laptop to my desk to work (not that kind of working, mostly watching TV stuff I do now).

The second one involves the bread and butter job. You know. The one keeping the lights on and a roof over my head. We have specific targets and goals given by the boss that we should aim for each year, but I want to set my own personal goals. This upcoming year I want to...(silence). Hmm. Well. I'm kind of at a loss for a resolution related to my job. There are some things that I want to do, but they aren't really resolutions (and I don't want to share those prematurely, but hopefully, I will be able to share them with you soon!). Honestly, I can't really think of any resolutions. There are things that I should probably do like cut down on personal stuff/Internet usage during work hours, but that's a HARD one to stick to. Ok, ok. I know. Resolutions aren't supposed to be easy. If they were, we'd already be doing them, right? Ok. That will be my resolution, and hopefully, I will truly stick to it.

I guess that's about it career-wise. Anything else I want to do is more personal, but I must say, that if I can do the personal things, I'm quite sure that I will be a better person in general, which will carry over into my work life.

Working Girls, do you do New Year's Resolutions, and if so, what are they?

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa to all you Working Girls and safe travels during the holidays!

By George, I Think She's Got It

I have been at my new job in Chicago for over a month now (almost two months, which is so weird to say because the time literally flew by).

I'm not gonna lie, this whole new job thing was a huge adjustment. Despite the fact that I grew up in Illinois, moving back and adjusting to the new(ish) lifestyle here has been hard. I still don't have a clue where I'm going...ever (north, south, east, west, WHAT?!). The L confuses me to no end, and I make a silent prayer every night that I will wake up and the straight lines of the NYC subway will have replaced those loops and turns. And sometimes, I even miss hearing the incessant police car sirens (I can't believe I just said that).

And adjusting to a new company is difficult. You have to learn the lingo and jargon. You have to memorize names and complicated webs of who manages who. And worst of all, you have to make all new friends.

Friends. Ugh. I forgot how much work is involved in this task. I mean, at my old job, I think it took me a good 6 months to make actual work friends. And while it did take me a while, I did manage to finagle myself a great core group. We ate lunch together almost everyday (except during Biggest Loser at work when I practically starved myself so I could win a spa trip...which I didn't end up winning womp womp). We would whine and complain about work. We would share useless information with each other throughout the day (and inapporiate work humor of course).

I still miss my old work friends every day. Especially since I've been eating alone at my desk everyday since I started this job back in December. But I knew I had to muddle through and make some new friends.

And by George, I think I did it.

Last week, while at the event I put on in Atlanta, I had to spend a considerable amount of time sitting at a registration desk. Mainly the desk was open for anyone who had a question during the event (you know - room issues, food issues, lost alarm clock issues), but the desk was only open during breaks so during the "off" time when I wasn't running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I got to spend some time hanging out with my co-workers who were also working the event. I also got to try out Wii Fit, which told me that I am off balance and that I need to go the gym. Tell me something I don't know Wii Fit! 

I met two people who I really hit it off with - and they share my love for cheesy reality TV (like The Bachelor). That's when you know it's true friendship by the way, when they love the same TV as you. 

And while I still haven't sat down and had lunch with either of the girls I met at the event, I do know that I'm on my way to having real work friends again.

I also learned of a clique within our company. A new friend and I have nicknamed them the High School Musical clique since they are all relatively young and of course they also love to break out into song intermittently throughout the day so the nickname was obvious. They love to eat lunch together in our little cafeteria (if you can call it that) and go to meetings in a foursome pod. 

So far I've gotten along with a majority of the HSMusical clique, but I think for now I'm going to stick with establishing my new friendships with my reality TV bff's. Because if you can't form a solid relationship around your shared love of Rock of Love Bus then what can you form a relationship around? 

*Sidenote: Thanks to everyone who voted for us in the 20sb awards! Working Girl is the new "Best Career/Occupation Blog" of the 20sb! We are thrilled to say we are among the winners, because some of our serious blog crushes are on that list of winners (you know - the kind of blogs you are scared to comment on because they are like the cool, popular senior girl in high school that you worship from afar). So thank you readers!

The Best is Yet to Come

As 2008 comes to a close, we at Working Girl have been doing a lot of self-examination. Which in more simpler and less philosophical terms means we each went through our archives and picked out our favorite posts of 2008. Read below to find out which were our favorites of our first year of blogging.

Working Girl One's Picks

Is It Friday Yet? and Surburbia is the New Manhattan

My dad loves these posts. Specifically Suburbia is the New Manhattan because he is mentioned. I love getting a peak into the day to day aspects of people's lives, so with these I'm sharing my mundane commute with you. Which reminds me, I haven't written about my new commute...

Cause I Had a Bad Day

Back on April 24th, I was barely a month into my new position as the marketing assistant and this post completely sums up how lost I felt. I was learning the ropes of the position and the department and just had a bad day. Reading this post over reminds me of how far I've come and what I've learned, it makes me thankful that I've had a lot of good days lately. It probably helps that I took a majority of my vacation days in December.

Excuse Me, Your Spanx Are Showing

What was I thinking with this outfit? Seriously? I don't think I've worn that dress since this very day.

She Works Hard for the Money
The article I referenced in this post really resonated with me. I'm so thankful for my upbringing and that my parents taught me how to take care of myself and my life.

Working Girl Two's Picks

The Best (Interview) Day of My Life: Part I & Part 2

I love reading over these posts again and again because they bring me back to those days of just being so happy. I had just met Hanson (!!!!), had a great interview, got a job offer in a city near my family, and had been admitted to Northwestern for a master's in journalism. I was elated to say the least. And these posts remind me to not take those feelings for granted and also remind me that I made the right decision - because I'm still as happy as I was when I wrote those posts.

I Feel Guilty, Oh So Guilty

This is probably the most honest post I have ever written. I was being brutally honest, something I hadn't done with myself for a long time. It took a lot of courage to say that I wasn't happy and that I wanted to move back to Chicago and this post was the first time I really acknowledged my feelings.

Reason #328 Why I Can't Stand My Job

This post is a true story account of my day-to-day at my old company. Which in hindsight just makes me laugh. Wow.

Working Girl Two and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Interview

I chose this post because like WG1 said above on her post about a bad day, it really shows you how far you have come. Reading this over, I know I made mistakes that day (like I should have known to ask who I was interviewing with instead of just assuming it was someone). But it's good to see progress in myself that I can acknowledge those mistakes and know that I have grown.

We hope all you Working Girls have a great New Year's Eve celebration filled with champagne and sparkly dresses (and no work the next day! yay!). Happy New Year!