If I did college again I would...

Okay, so I was thinking about this the other day. I have finished college and what would I have done if I got the chance to do it all again.

Okay so I graduated from BYUI which is a really cheap. So I wish I would have went there from the very beginning. I went to a community college to start and the costs was very similar.

Okay so I have recently learned about the potential of CLEP exams. These are exams administered by College Board. They cost about $80 to take and you can buy the review material for about $30. BYUI allows you to test out of a lot of general classes and a few upper level maths and business classes you can test out of. From what I understand this is very common across universities.

CLEP exams could have saved me a ton of money and time in college. Oh well, I'll get over it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Level_Examination_Program

These tests can be taken at most testing centers at your local University or College.

Always put a Zero on your W-4!!!

So it's tax time and this is always my favorite time to look into the eyes of people that are either extremely happy or extremely sad. Those that are getting a refund are the happy ones and those that have to pay are the sad ones.

I know what the theory says you want to get a zero dollar refund because that means you had your money the whole year. This means you could have invested it and made interest throughout the year. I'm an soon to be CPA I know all this stuff.

The problem is that nobody actually invest those few extra dollars they get through the year. Do you know what happens when I get $30 extra dollars in a week. I spend it on fast food and stupid stuff. I know you might think, I wouldn't do that, but most people do, so don't fool yourself. If you actually do invest $30 per week, you will end up spending all your money on transaction fees.

Now if I give you $1500 dollars that you might actually do something good with that. Pay a little extra on your car payment, pay some more student loans, or maybe actually invest it.

My approach to finances, is to know yourself, and know the theory then make a commitment you can actually stick with. I need the forced savings of the IRS to help me make good decisions.

David's Rants

So I decided to start a blog. This will be my place to rant and talk about whatever is on my mind. I've been married for over two and a half years. I have a little girl that's 5 months old. I love talking about finances and reality. I think that too many people get lost in the theory, they try to do what their financial planners craftily put together and then they fail. I'm going to put my 2 cents out in the Universe and I hope you'll find my rants entertaining.