Carolina Alumni Review - July/August 2007

Eliza Peebles ’06, left, lives and works in Washington, D.C., where she and Beth Hawes ’06 share a townhome with another friend.

house outside Washington when Davis taught school in Fairfax County and then selling it several years later for a good price. “That has been a great boon,” he said.

Banks often offer special no-money-down mortgage programs for educators, he pointed out, and it was one such program that helped make their house purchase possible. “Look for that kind of thing,” he recommended. “I think there’s a similar type of thing for nurses. That helped keep our living expenses lower. Apartment rents anywhere near my school

were $800 to $1,200 for a very small space, and that’s [comparable to paying off] a pretty significant mortgage.”

Davis, who was 24 when he and his wife bought their house, says he was terrified. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something stupid,” he said, so he did what all academics do: “I looked for a book, a personal finance book for people in their 20s. That helped a lot.” Even in his research, he was frugal — he didn’t buy the book but visited a bookstore and took notes.

recently cut off and you’re trying to prove to your parents and yourself that you can do this.”

Money Management 101

It helps that Peebles isn’t a big spender and doesn’t yearn for things she can’t afford. “If I do, I can save up for it. I just had my first vacation where I paid for everything, a Caribbean cruise, and it felt great.”

Linda Conklin, the GAA’s manager of alumni career services, offers these tips for first-time budgeters:

Lucky to have finished college without student loans, Peebles does plan to establish credit soon by getting a credit card. And she’s just beginning to make long-term financial plans, including establishing a retirement account through her firm.

■ Stay out of credit card debt.

“If you’re in it, pay it off as soon as humanly possible or it could ruin the rest of your life. It’s the top priority, even before savings, because of the high, high interest rates.”

Like Peebles, Richard Davis ’01 (MA) finished graduate school without debt, thanks to a college fund set up years ago by his father’s aunt. But he understands how hobbling loans can be because his wife needed to take on a lot of debt to finish college. The couple got out from under those payments by buying an inexpensive

■ Insure yourself and your stuff.

“Get health insurance. If you’re renting, get renter’s insurance.”

Save for the unexpected. “Rainy days will happen,” Linda Conklin says. “If you have no money set aside, you’ve just eliminated a lot of your options.”

don’t have the money in the bank, you aren’t. Ask yourself if you really need something now or if you can delay gratification a bit.”

COURTESY RICHARD DAVIS ’01 (MA)

■ Find money. “People say, ‘I don’t have any money to save.’ Keep track for a month of what you spend. If you can find $3 a day, times 30, you have almost $100 a month. Do you need all those magazine subscriptions? Can you walk instead of taking a cab? Do you need every toy, every innovation that comes along? Be ruthless.”

■ Save for emergencies. “Rainy days will happen. You’ll get laid off, get sick, get really bored with a job. If you have no money set aside, you’ve just eliminated a lot of your options.”

■ Get creative “Think how you can have the essence of what you want. If you think you need a place at the beach, do you? Or do you just need a long weekend? In the city, go for a walk in the park and have an ice cream cone instead of a five-course meal.”

■ Educate yourself. “Take a course on managing your money, maybe at a local community college.”

■ Save for your future. “Start contributing to your 401(k) or some retirement account. If you start in your 20s rather than your 30s, you’ll have a big advantage.”

■ Negotiate your benefits package. “Do your research and find out what’s important to you. If you’re a brand-new grad, a sign-on bonus can help you move and set up a place to live.”