How Not To Retire By 40 - Part II: An Ode To Emergency Fund

Family, Money 16 Responses »
Mar 042011

This post was included in Carnival of Personal Finance #299: The March Break Edition as one of  the Editor’s Picks!

Family History

I was raised by my mother and my grandmother. An emergency fund was non-existent in our family. I don’t think that growing up I even understood what it means. Neither my grandmother nor my mother discussed family financial matters with me. Even when I graduated from the University and got my first job, no one ever told me: save up Aloysa, spend less than you make, think about retirement.  Read more...

Posted by Aloysa at 6:00 am Tagged with: , , ,

My Life Without Christmas

Family 36 Responses »
Dec 132010

We did not celebrate Christmas in the Soviet Union. It all started with the revolution. Vladimir Lenin eliminated Christmas. Under Stalin‘s regime the Christmas tree was outlawed. This was always difficult for me to imagine – December with no Christmas spirit and no tree. But understandably, Christmas had no place in the atheist society.

Later, Stalin lifted his ban on Christmas tree and declared the New Year’s a national holiday which eventually became one of the biggest holiday’s of the year.  Read more...

Posted by Aloysa at 10:24 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

How I Got Overeducated and Loaded with Debt

Debt, Education, Family 6 Responses »
Sep 152010

My first culture shock was when I got admitted to an American University. It was not an Ivy League school, not a private college. I got admitted to a small town University with a good name and decent reputation. I came as a foreign student on a scholarship. The scholarship that I was awarded barely covered half of the cost of the tuition. It did not cover textbooks. As a foreign full-time student my tuition was a little over $4,500. The scholarship was a little bit under $1,500. The first year in school my stepfather generously covered the difference. He also bought me the textbooks.  Read more...

Posted by Aloysa at 1:58 am Tagged with:
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