February 23, 2017 Reflection (Personal Finance)

I'm not in class today, but I am getting a taste of real-world budgeting and finance. I'm in the US for a college visit. Visiting the university that I would like to go to has helped me understand the value of personal finance. To me personally, financial aid is very important because it will help offset the cost of my college education. Visiting the college in person has shown me the value of being able to save money so that in the future I will not have student loans.

So far I have enjoyed the budgeting exercise. I like it because I am able to see exactly what I have spent my money on. In the future, when my friends might post on facebook something about them being a broke college student, I'll be able to show off my budget and handy dandy saving skills. I might be a poor college student, but I won't be broke. I think what we're doing is relevant and helpful.

It's Time to CarGO: Leadership and Initiative Blog Post

The Marketing, PR, and Sales team is a cargo ship. We take the product (in this case, our book), and provide it the avenue by which it can be sent out into the world. Just as a ship can carry parts of a product or a whole, marketing works in two ways: we can broadcast specific parts of our book by posting our cover on Goodreads or our title on Facebook without having the entire product, or we could publicize the entire book by selling it in bookstores. 

In short, our purpose is to ship our book out to the public.

While it's somewhat our job to make sure the book is appealing to readers, the idea of aesthetics and a coherent book falls to the design and editorial teams, respectively. We're here to take what we have and sell it. We're mainly the ship, but we're also the colorful cargo containers that house the product.

As of now, we've been able to load a few parts of our book into the cargo hold. But first, we created a list of nearly everything we need to do as team (along with deadlines). Even though I'm not the official leader of our team, I've made an effort to lead without overshadowing the official leader. I assigned roles and tasks for our class's team, and the other class's Marketing, PR, and Sales team assigned their own roles. Even before taking the initiative to assign roles, I suggested the idea of (and went on to create) our class's email address: atwritingseminar@sas.edu.sg.

Currently, I'm the liaison for the SAS Communications office as well as in charge of contacting Kinokuniya. I've already created a class Goodreads account and added our unpublished book to the website. Now that we have a title, I'm soon going to update it, but without a cover it's still difficult to get attention. One way we've gone around that roadblock is by writing a Journeys article (I wrote one half, Chloe wrote the other). It will be published as a part of a feature on AT courses. Because AT courses are relatively new, I think concerned parents will be trying to do as much research as they possibly can on the program. The feature will serve two purposes: publicizing our book, and assuaging parents' worries and fears.

(Update: I attempted to change our title, but Goodreads is preventing me from doing so for some reason. I sent a message to the Goodreads librarians asking for help.)

A ship can't leave the port without what it came for, and our team can't leave the publishing dock without the parts of other teams. We rely on the work of other teams to help get our project out on the sea: Design's cover page, Event Planning's dates, times, and venues, and Editorial's final version of our short story collection. There's a lot we're waiting for before we can go on to contacting bookstores and creating hype for our book.

Right now, we're waiting in the harbor. We're anchored down, so our main purpose hasn't been fulfilled quite yet, but we have enough slack on the rope to move around, enough time to refuel. Just enough to prepare for the real cargo.

February 21, 2017 Reflection (Personal Finance)

In the previous blog post, I addressed the three banks I researched for our Savings Account assignment. These three banks were Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo. As I wrote in the previous post, I think that I'm going to be choosing BofA. The reason for this is that it's convenient: when I turn 18, my minor's savings account will be converted to a regular one automatically. BofA is also the bank that my parents use, so they know more about BofA than about other banks; I know that it works for them.

In addition, I'll earn a 0.01% interest with 0.01% Annual Percentage Yield. So far, according to my February budget, I have about $50 saved up. Because I will need $25 as a minimum opening deposit, I'll be using half the amount I've saved to open the account. I can't wait to go to the US after interim! Even though I'll be missing class (and definitely missing out on some new financial insights), I will be able to set up my account and get started saving.

I think setting up an account in the US and starting to save there is a great idea. I won't be able to access that money while I still live in Singapore. (Well, I suppose I can, but it wouldn't be very convenient). Because of that, the money I deposit will have sat for a little bit. Besides, I don't think that when I move there for college, I will withdraw that quickly.

February 9, 2017 Reflection (Personal Finance)

Personal Finance is such an applicable subject. I really enjoyed the savings account exercise - it was really helpful. Of course, without doing the research, how will we know which bank and savings account works for us? I looked up US banks, because when I go to the US for college it will be most useful. The banks I researched were Bank of America (BofA), Wells Fargo, and Chase.

When I visit the US after Interim, I'm planning to head to BofA to set up my savings account. I chose BofA because it is the most convenient, and also because it has the most attractive benefits. I only need an initial amount of $25 to create my account, and I have saved more than that through budgeting. Speaking of, budgeting is really helping. I set a very lofty goal for myself by cutting my spending by half. I spent $300 in the month of January, and so am trying to spend only $150 in February.

(This is also because my dad only gave me $150. He wanted to see how long I'd last.)

It's not easy. I spent almost a $100 this week alone. It seems like I'm spending on average $80 a week, which multiplied by 4 weeks gives $320. There are some things that I can definitely cut back on (taxis, etc.) but also some things that I need to continue spending money on. Taxis are the biggest sink of money, I'm finding out. I've taken 2 cabs in the past week and the cab total has already become over $40.

In the event that I can't reach my goal of $150 a month, I'll set my goal back a little bit - maybe to $250. Keeping my fingers crossed, though! Hopefully I can become thriftier as time goes on.

February 7, 2017 Reflection (Personal Finance)

There's something so relaxing about reading for 25 minutes. I've started reading a new novel - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. It's essentially a murder mystery taking place in a 14th century monastery. Eco writes in long sentences, and while the words he uses aren't difficult, there's something about the way he writes it that forces me to pay attention, or I'll miss something. The book explains a lot about Christianity during the 1300s, and while I normally don't like overly religious books, I'm enjoying this one. Perhaps it's because one of the main characters, though a monk, doesn't allow his religion to drive all his actions. 

By the way, Mr. Bisset, could you get a couch? It was kind of uncomfortable to sit in that chair when reading. I'm slouching and sometimes the way I sat made my back hurt. If not a couch, maybe a sturdier chair with armrests?

Anyway. I got my parents to give me the total amount of money at the beginning of the month! I recalculated, accounting for a couple of new factors. At the beginning of our month, my family still had a car. But because the car's 10 years were up, it was sent to the junkyard at the beginning of our budgeting period. When I calculated the total for the month, I multiplied by two the amount I'd spend in 2 weeks (which was how long we budgeted for). Because of that, it made it seem like I'd spent twice as much on cabs as I actually had. Now that we don't have a car until the end of the school year, I think I'll be able to spend a lot less taking the school bus and public transport.

February 3, 2017 Reflection (Personal Finance)

Today's class had a lot of discussion, and it's this kind of discussion that keeps me continually interested in personal finance. We started by examining two points from an article - these two points stressed the importance of reading and using time wisely. I completely agree with the first point. Reading allows us to learn new things, think critically, and open up our minds. I'll admit, the past few years haven't really been a good time for me to read, which is why I really enjoy our fifteen (today's 20) minutes of reading every class.

As for the second point, I agree, but to an extent. Of course, using time wisely allows us to effectively use it. Just like money, we should make sure our time is going to the things that matter. However, there's something about the argument of the internet being a distraction that I don't completely agree with. Obviously removing the productive aspect of the internet leaves nothing but distractions, and so I'm left to wonder what the point of the internet is when one isn't doing work.

One could argue that the purpose of the internet when one isn't working is entertainment. My question stands as such: after a productive day at work (using the internet), what's wrong with using the internet as a method of relaxation? From the article you showed us this morning, Mr. Bisset, it seemed like there were compelling statistics that showed nearly 70% of people using the internet recreationally. Here's where critical thinking comes into play, too. While I'm inclined to believe the study, it's hard to do so when I don't even know what the study is. Who was the audience of that study? How can we be sure that the 70% of people waste their time on the internet without using it productively as well? Who conducted the survey? What was the sample size?

Speaking of stats, when you asked students in class today about using Facebook as a method of networking, I'll argue that the sample space isn't representative of most students. Many of us are second semester seniors with more time to spare. Plus, Facebook was meant to be a general example.

I think it's impossible (and incorrect) to generalize use of the internet as inherently wasteful of time. To which you might say, Mr. Bisset, that not all internet use is wasteful, which brings me back to my earlier point: either something is a waste of time, or it is not. I've found that these two attributes are often mutually exclusive. Once you remove the productive parts of the internet, of course you're going to be left with the distracting, time-consuming part of it. 

It might just be because I'm a child of the internet age that I'm defending my use of it, but I also have another question: when relaxing, when doing something "meaningful" for self-betterment, why can't I use the computer? For example, I tend to browse the personal finance subreddit. I love to write, so I write. I keep in touch with family on social media; I talk to people at Caltech on Facebook because I think it's worth me knowing who I'll be living with when I go to college. I listen to fictional podcasts on the bus home. All of this is not work-related, but it's still productive. And I'm still using the internet recreationally.

And I'm sure that when you made your statement, it wasn't directed at every one of us; it was merely a generalization. Which, in itself, isn't right (and I'm sure you'll agree). I'm guilty of wasting time on this internet. I'll be the first to admit it. But I think labeling my generation's use of a valuable resource as a seduction is inaccurate, and frankly a little insulting. I think I speak for most of my peers when I say that none of us want to end up living in our parents' basements.

Anyway, this turned into a blog-post thrice as long as it needed to be, but I wanted to get my thoughts down. I'm eager to see your response!

February 1, 2017 Reflection (Personal Finance)

We got back our quizzes today, and I know how to correct my mistakes. A few hours after I turned in our quiz from last class, it suddenly hit me how to do the last problem. I'm disappointed that I didn't get it right when I was taking the quiz, but at least I know how to do it now. As for the other question I got wrong, I should have trusted my judgement. I was inclined to choose the right answer (although, I must confess, I didn't know why) but chose a different one instead. I like this exercise of correcting my mistakes, because it means that in the future, I'll know the right answer. But most importantly, I'll know why it's the right answer.

After correcting our quizzes, we discussed budgeting. I really liked the idea of asking my parents for a fixed amount of money per month and then not asking them for money again. It will force me to budget properly as well as know how much I spend. Speaking of budgeting, I don't think the way I've been doing it this past month will work out. I'm continuing up until January 31 to remain consistent, but starting from next month I'm going to change the way I budget. I hope that's okay, Mr. Bisset! Still trying to figure out which way is best for me.