Job postings: Show us the money

I’m starting to look at job ads again as there’s some uncertainty at work and I would also like to increase my salary eventually. (FYI, if my employer did read this, they wouldn’t be surprised: I’ve shown myself to be a dedicated employee, but we all know the situation in my area isn’t optimal and may not be for some time.)

So, is it just me, or are fewer companies including salary ranges in job postings these days?

I think it has the potential to waste time on both sides of the hiring process.

If I have no idea of the compensation being offered, and it turns out that salary is much lower than my target and I have to turn down an offer of employment, won’t I have wasted the employer’s time as well?

Why not be up front as to roughly how much money you’re willing to pay someone? Is there something I’m missing here?

I had a particularly frustrating experience prior to finding my current job, which I'd rather not repeat: I went through three pretty gruelling interviews before being offered a job at a publishing house. Salary was never so much as discussed and everyone I talked to told me *not* to ask. Finally, they made me an offer – a completely pathetic sum that was barely minimum wage (I could have made more in retail) while at the same time dropping the bomb that it was only a contract job, and I would have to work with a notoriously difficult author. And they wanted me to quit my current job immediately to start working for them - no notice.

I wanted to get my foot in the door of this particular publishing house very badly, but they gave me no choice: I had to turn down their offer. I felt it was an unethical way to treat a future employee. It was a difficult decision because I was miserable at my other job. But, my instincts were right; about six months later, they started eliminating jobs and have since folded completely.

Obviously, when it comes to salary, there needs to be room for negotiation on both sides of the table. Ultimately, I think everyone should just be above board and the whole process would be less painful and more efficient. And shouldn’t corporations be all about increasing efficiency?

Tax return: to Netfile or Not?

I have a teensy dilemma: Do I file my taxes for free using the trusty old paper and pen method, or shell out a bit of cash to Netfile, and get my refund back faster?

The average wait time for a paper refund is about six weeks. Filing electronically can apparently put your refund in your account in as little as eight days (though my experience has been about two weeks).

I'm not sure whether this is a strictly Canadian conundrum (?), but our government requires taxpayers to use special software to generate a return that can be submitted electronically. This means either pay for software or a web-based service to generate a return, or file the old-fashioned way.

This CBC.ca article outlines the various options and pricing for different types of software. Web-based services start at about $8.99 for a single return. Software starts around $19. Note: You may be eligible to generate your return for free with some services if your income is under $20,000.

So, is it worth it for me? While I hesitate to part with a single penny the government owes me - ever - I did pre-spend about half my anticipated $825.00 refund on a fancy dress. I put this on my credit card and need to pay that off ASAP to avoid interest charges.

There’s also something to be said for the OCD types such as myself who like to know that their return has been received / submitted and where it is in the bowels of the Revenue Canada machine. Just sending an envelope of off into the ether kind of freaks me out. Odd, I know...

How are you filing your taxes this year?

My subconscious likes to spend

Well, this is embarrassing. Last night, I dreamed I was in a gigantic mall with ceilings that arced endlessly into the sky. I was with a friend who loves to shop. We were swatching buttery soft eyeshadows and blushes and trying on cute little dry-clean-only dresses. Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl may have been there as well. We were eating chocolate ice cream from Laura Secord.

I think I may miss shopping more than I thought I would, seeing as I’m now doing it in my sleep.

Let me clarify that I was never really a big spender, but I was a "shopper." Typically I would dither over something and eventually…not buy it. I also went through a crazy phase of buying and then returning things. (Inevitably I’d get an item home find something I didn’t like about it – in a very Seinfeld way – and back to the store it went.)

So why did I stop shopping if I wasn't spending? Simply put, it gave me a general feeling of unease - of being unsatisfactory in some vague, indefinable way. Like a kind of perfection I could not achieve.

It would go like this: Oh I wish I had nicer clothes. I wish I were more “pulled together.” How do all these girls look so pulled together. I would be more pulled together if I wasn’t running around all the time looking for matching socks. Maybe I should colour-code? Dividers? Padded hangers for my clothes? And how do I get my cutlery drawer to be perfectly neat, like the one in the flyer for Crate and Barrel? Is there something I can buy for that, too?

I was spending my life fretting over insignificant details in a quest for material perfection, when really what I wanted was something more intangible – wholeness, happiness, fulfillment of purpose. Instead I was looking for a solution I could buy.

There’s an aesthetic part of me that craves pretty things, and perhaps that’s what the dream was about. I wonder whether it's dangerous to deny such desires entirely. Like Well Heeled was saying recently, could a small but happy-making purchase be beneficial now and then? Or will frivolous purchases put me back on the never-ending tilt-a-whirl of consumerism?

How I graduated without debt

I graduated university debt-free in 2001. Here's how I did it:

Split costs with my parents: Though my parents were in the position to pay for my education, they believed I should help pay my way. Some people are surprised when I tell them this. I am grateful: it instilled a work ethic in me. First and second year we split costs. By third year, I was by and large paying my own way. Note: I went to school out of town and had rent/living expenses to think about as well as tuition.

Started saving early: I started saving as soon as I got my first part-time job (at 15, playing violin in a restaurant). At 16, I got a job on the line at Green Giant, working 12-hour shifts in the “Bean Production Building.” Yes, it was really called that. I worked 6pm - 6am and made $6.85/hr. I saved the majority of this money for my first year's tuition. Let me tell you, standing in one spot and picking bad beans off a conveyor belt all day can really make you want a degree. ASAP.

Worked multiple part-time jobs while in school: I looked for jobs that allowed me to work early in the morning and later in the evening, in order to work around my class schedule. I took a 6am shift at the airport, and an 8pm shift as an editorial assistant at a newswire. On alternating nights I worked as a receptionist at a retirement home. Overall I worked 30-35 hours a week.

Worked summer jobs and lived at home in the summer: I started looking for summer jobs early and made sure I had some type of employment in place come May 1^st. Three out of four summers I was able to live at home, which helped me to save more money.

Freelanced in my area of study: I studied journalism and began freelancing for the local newspaper, writing fashion articles.

Lived very cheaply: I always lived with roommates, and never paid more than $500 a month for rent. I bought food staples in bulk and rarely ate out. I didn't generally buy milk or cheese (cereal with water...those were the days) and ate very little meat. I survived on a diet of rice, lentils and pasta and consumed more curry than anyone probably should in their lifetime. I had no car (still don't), and took the bus everywhere. I wore a lot of black clothes because they matched with everything.

What I didn't have:

A cell phone (for the majority of the time I was in school)

A credit card

Internet at home (except for free dial-up access)

Fancy designer clothes or accessories

Haircuts (my mom cut my hair with a pair of kitchen scissors). In fourth year I started to treat myself to a cut in a salon, on occasion.

I may have been especially frugal, but I think overall, standards were different even ten years ago. You didn't see kids toting Gucci and Vuitton (fake or not). A "brand name" was more like GAP or Club Monaco. Girls didn't come to school with fake tans and manicures. Certainly not that I recall.

Have spending standards for students risen? Is it part of the reason why they're graduating with so much debt?

My TV-less life: Week one

Yet another story today on cable TV getting more expensive.

But not for me.

I ditched my cable contract last month and returned the requisite equipment to Rogers last week. That's right: I haven't watched any seriously cute guys investigate crime and make moderately intellectual pronouncements in almost seven days.

How much will it save me this month? $43.00.

How much will it save me over a year: $516.00.

Doesn't sound like much, right? I mean why ditch the awesomeness of constant advertising and typically mind-numbing programming for such paltry savings?

Well, think about the next thirty years of your life, and do the math. $516 x 30 = $15,480. That's without inflation. And if that money were invested, instead? At a rate of 6%, that's $43,241.67.  For basic cable. And a lot of people spend double the cost of basic cable, I'll bet.

I don't know about you, but that math makes me a little queasy (math always makes me queasy, but especially so when it involves a calculation that hits you over the head with the conclusion that, hey, this is a really dumb way to spend money.)

Why is TV a dumb way to spend money? It doesn't just waste money. It wastes time and kills motivation. Sure, there are quality programs. And how often do you sit down and just watch that one program, then switch off the hopeless little screen? As I've argued already, TV steals the precious few hours at the end of a long working day, in which something productive can be done to enrich our lives and better our situations.

But, you say, TV helps me tune out and relax: There are much better ways. Trust me.

Don't those all involve being alone with one's own thoughts? Naw, not all of them. And you can always look at your Blackberry repeatedly if you feel the need to distract yourself from thinking (works for me). Also, we all die alone (Happy Tuesday).

How has a TV-less existence been so far: Honestly, I've barely noticed it. I did try to switch it on once, and spent a few minutes staring abstractedly at black-and-white fuzz.

What have I done instead: Practice violin, read two novels, work out, dance in my apartment to le techno musique (Did I just write that? What I actually meant was "stand around in my apartment looking cool"), talk to friends on the phone, make progress on my writing. And listen to one cute guy make moderately intellectual pronouncements. (Okay, maybe "smart-ass pronouncements" is more accurate.) In real life. Imagine that.

Me: One. TV: Zero.