Wednesday, October 25, 2006

What Now ?

I received a call from a headhunter two days ago. Here are my issues (well, some)...I had the preliminary screening interview yesterday and now they are going to set me up with an interview with the company.

Now, yes...the job I have now does not pay as much as I would like, but it is great experience. I do web application development and we get to keep up with new technologies, etc. For my first year here I was the only developer. Now, I have a Jr. Programmer under me. That has to be good, right? This is also a very stable job. I was planning on brining up the compensation, etc. with my boss on my year review. The review is in a few weeks.

Now, if this other company would want me...starting out I wouldn't be as high up of a programmer as I am now, but they said they have plenty of opportunity to move up. I just need a little more experience with that particular language first. This is a bit less stable of an environment, but the company has been around for 17 years. The instability is more in the tech market...I think things will be fine for at least a few years.

Ok, the money question. I have been asking myself. How much would I need to leave this job? I am thinking around $10,000 more a year. Then I think...well, I should stick it out here for another year and then I will have that much more experience and will have completed a few big projects...which could help me get more later.

Wow, it really helps to type all of this out. I am still a bit up in the air...but it seems that maybe sticking with my lower paying job may be better for now. I can hope for a bigger raise next year?...I guess...

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Debt going down and Efund going up

Slowly but surely. I have 2,500 dollars left to pay on my Jeep. Me being quiet doesn't mean I haven't been working hard. The past few months I have been paying $1,000 a month towards that debt. Soon it will be gone and I will move to putting $1200 a month into our savings. This will go towards our emergency fund and our house fund.

We already have roughly $7,000 in our emergency fund. I would like to have 15,000 for our emergency fund. This would cover a job loss for a few months.

I would also like us to have $25,000-30,000 down on a house. My partner will be out of school and brining in more income soon. Maybe we can sock away a little more. For now I will say we are looking at around 2.5 years. I hope houses don't go up too much more :(

I keep going back and forth on buying sooner and financing more or buying later and having house prices go up and up. Austin will be sure to go up in prices. Who knows.

The dog is coming along well in her training. I could not be happier with that whole situation.

Well, this is the state of my state. Over and out.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Dog training and more of the same

I haven't written in a while....well, because everything is just trucking along. Every month we just shove money aside and try to live off the remainder. We don't get to go out and eat and drink as much as we used to, but at least we know we are saving for a house. Once recent cost we acquired was dog training. It usually costs 120 bucks a session and we are getting it for 30 bucks. She likes us and our dog and can tell that we are going to work with her. Sooo, same ole same ole around here.