Close Encounters of the Cheap Kind

If you have been on the web for more than a couple of months, you have likely seen advertisements for a company called VistaPrint (link: websites). For those of you who have never used their services, they are a provider of custom printing services, offering items such as business cards and rubber stamps. After seeing a great promotional offer on SlickDeals a little while back, I decided to give them a try to get a few things for myself and my blog.

Although I have heard a variety of things (positive and negative) about the company, overall I was very impressed with the items I received from them. Here is a rundown of the things I purchased:

• Business Cards - I ordered a box of 250 business cards from them to promote my blog. The only other cards I had were my cards from my regular job, and I didn’t want to write my blog address on those in case someone would make the assumption that the blog reflected the views of my employer. I ordered the cards with a green background with the $100 bills and kept the text very simple with the URL, full blog name, my name, and then my blog email address. The quality was excellent and even though they were the free promotional cards the VistaPrint logo was tastefully printed on the back side only.
• Rubber Stamp - I ordered an address stamp for personal use. I had one of these for one of my old addresses from another vendor and absolutely loved it and needed one for my current address. The stamp came just as I ordered and works great. These things really don’t cost much at all and are much more convenient that handwriting your address on an envelope or keeping up with address labels.
• T-Shirt - My last, and favorite, item was a custom t-shirt to promote my blog. I used one of their standard templates and put “CheapEncounters.com” in big letters with the full name “Close Encounters of the Cheap Kind” in smaller letters directly underneath. It is a good quality shirt and the printing came out better than I expected. It is a great promotional item to wear during my CVS runs.

Again, I was overall very happy with my order and would definitely use them again. If you are one of those skittish types that isn’t comfortable giving your credit card number to a company you don’t know, just use a one-time use card number offered by Citi, Discover, or Bank of America. They definitely offer some cool stuff at very good prices.

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I just wanted to take a few moments to wish everyone a happy 4th of July and share an update and some random thoughts. Sorry for the lack of updates this week, as it has been very busy with the job hunt and such. I’m also finding it more difficult to find the time to write now that I only have my desktop in my home office to work from instead of my work laptop where I could write while watching the kids or enjoying an episode of Deadliest Catch.

Today we celebrate our nation’s independence and everything that makes this country great, however it does seem like the celebration is rather subdued this year. The economy it hitting almost everyone hard with more and more people recognizing that although we may have won our independence from the British more than two centuries ago, we are losing a lot of that independence due to our dependence on foreign oil and debt. I do really worry about where this country is headed with the stupid tree-huggers preferring to have our country at the mercy of foreign nations rather than drilling for the oil we have right here in this country and our politicians continuing to spend like drunken sailors. The debt our government has racked up is absolutely astounding, and sadly the Republican Party that many thought would be the ones to bring fiscal responsibility back to government has shown in the last ten years they are little better than the Socialists Democrats. Our choices in the presidential election this year show there will be no change coming soon, as both of the major party candidates are criss-crossing our nation and showing that neither of them are fit for the job, as well as that they are both depriving some village of their idiot. It will be a house of pain whenever the foreigners that hold the vast amounts of debt this country has issued refuse to take any more and want us to actually make good on what we owe.

Anyway, so much for the anti-government rant. To update everyone, the job search is still going. Unfortunately I got word that I could scratch quite a few of the opportunities I have applied and interviewed for off of my list. One didn’t give a reason, but at least finally confirmed my status five weeks after my second interview. Another had me interview and even had me go complete a drug test only to come back and say they wanted someone with more experience, as if they couldn’t have figured out how much experience I had from my resume. Yet another said they liked me and my credentials, but thought I wouldn’t like the job because of the size of the company.

Thankfully I do still have several active opportunities here in Houston, and I also now have two active opportunities back home in Louisiana. One of the Louisiana opportunities I interviewed for yesterday and was told that they would like to schedule time with me next week for me to meet their executives at the main office in Louisiana. The other they are working to schedule a phone interview with the hiring manager for sometime this coming week. We have really been praying to get the family back to Louisiana, so our hope is that the lack of offers so far here in Houston is Heavenly Father’s way of making sure I don’t accept something here when a better opportunity awaits us back home.

Anyway, that’s what is going on around here. I will work on being a bit better with the regularity of my postings, as I have received word from my loyal readers (yes, all three of them) that they have been disappointed on a few recent visits to find no updates. If anyone has suggestions for new blog posting topics, feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

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I posted a couple of weeks ago about getting laid off from my job at one of the Big 4 accounting firms, and as you can imagine the dominant theme in my life and on my blog in that time has been related to my layoff and insights gained during my job search. As I haven’t provided much of a status update on the search, I just wanted to take a moment to share progress to date.

First off, I want to thank all the readers who have left messages of support in the comments to several of my recent postings. I am very grateful that several of you have shared your own experiences to remind me that this will ultimately work out for the best and this is just one of the unfortunate realities of today’s work environment. I am honored that so many of you took the time to share so many incredibly insightful comments. This blog may not have a great quantity of readers (we might average around 100 a day), but at least in my view the quality of my readers is second to none.

As for the job search, I have had a few interviews and have quite a few other good leads, but nothing has resulted in an offer as of yet. Here is a rundown of some of the more notable ones:

• Internal Audit Manager for a publicly traded natural gas company - This was the first lead I had and one I started pursuing well before I found out I was getting axed. Unfortunately after completing what I thought was a great second interview I have heard nothing in about three weeks. I even sent an email to inquire and to confirm my interest earlier this week without reply. At this point I am writing this one off, but I guess it is still a possibility.
• Accounting Manager for a private real estate investment firm - I did a first interview last week and a second earlier this week. The interviews went great, but it looks like the answer is no. The response I got was that they loved me and thought my skills fit the job, but they thought I wouldn’t be happy with the relatively uncertain promotion track in a smaller private firm and decided not to make an offer. They were probably right since I didn’t have a strong positive feeling about the position coming out of the interviews, but it would have been nice to have the option.
• Regional controller for a publishing company - I have the first interview for this position this afternoon.
• Internal audit manager for a public manufacturing company - I did a first interview last week, and they have been working with my headhunter to arrange a second interview. It took them forever to arrange the first interview, so I’m not terribly surprised they are taking a while to schedule the second as well.

I also have several other positions that I have submitted resumes for within the last couple of weeks I am hoping to hear back on. So I guess the message at this point is that although I have no offers in hand at this point, I feel pretty good about where we are and the prospects for being able to find a good position in the not too distant future.

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Looking for a way to stretch your grocery dollar? Extra savings may be no further away than your friendly neighborhood ghetto! Although many people assume that all stores in a particular chain in a particular area have the same pricing and specials, close inspection will find that prices can vary from store to store. I first noticed this with Kroger and their produce. When I first moved to Houston, I would shop the Kroger near River Oaks (the area with the highest real estate values in Houston) and find cucumbers were always 79 cents each. However, the Kroger a few miles away in a less fancy area (but still pretty nice) had cucumbers at 3 for 99 cents as regular price. It was amazing to me that a difference of a few miles more than doubled the price!

We soon realized that the prices on a lot of stuff that was not in the weekly circular varied between locations, but it wasn’t until recently that we realized even the advertised specials varied between stores. Now the closest Kroger to us is super-ghetto (pimps and hoes shopping together in the frozen food aisle ghetto), while a Kroger a few miles away in the other direction is solidly middle class. We get the circular for the ghetto Kroger in the mail, and figured out when we went shopping at the nicer Kroger that the things on special in our circular weren’t all the same as those in the circular for the nice store. To illustrate, notice the slight differences in these two circulars for Kroger and the notation at the bottom of the first one stating the specials are only valid at two of their stores:

Ghetto Kroger Specials

Non-ghetto Kroger Specials

So if you need to stretch that food dollar even further, take a little trip to the ghetto! Just be sure to get out before dark!

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There are ups and downs in every job, and for me it is no different. I had been with my last employer for several years before I got laid off a couple of weeks ago. It isn’t a total tragedy because I was already looking because I was just getting fed up with the BS. That was second employer, and when I think back to why I left my previous job I see a very similar pattern with regards to my phases of job satisfaction. I’m not sure if this is common, but here is my observation from both employers:

1. Uncertainty - Starting a new job is filled with uncertainty. Will I like the company? Is the job right for me? Will I like the people I work with? There are so many question marks, and for the first few months I try to evaluate the situation.
2. Acceptance - After a few months, a certain level of comfort sets in. I gain confidence in my ability to do the work, start building friendships with my colleagues, and start feeling like my company is a good place to be.
3. Enthusiasm - After a while at the same position, my abilities are noticed by those above me and I start getting excellent evaluations, which leads to great salary increases and bonuses. Not too long afterwards I get promoted to the next level, and enthusiasm is running at an all-time high. As odd as it seems, I may stay here for the rest of my career, I think to myself.
4. Mild disappointment - A few months after the promotion, disappointment starts to settle in. The job isn’t quite what it was made out to be, whether it be that the duties aren’t what I expected or I just find myself doing the same exact things I was doing before the promotion.
5. Disillusionment - This is the sign I probably won’t last a lot longer. I become completely dissatisfied with the job. I start to believe that there is little reason to believe things will improve in my current position. At this point I start my job search slowly. I find myself quoting the mutterings of Milton from Office Space, “I’ll set the building on fire”, softly under my breath throughout the day. I struggle to pull myself out of bed in the morning to report for work. I start to fantasize about the idea of working for myself so I never have to put up with a crappy 8-5 job ever again, and start quoting the Peter character saying, “I don’t like my job, and I don’t think I’m going to go anymore”. The last time around I found a new position through a friend of mine (and thankfully it was the only job I interviewed for), submitted my two weeks notice, and did a happy dance. This time around, I started the search slowly and then had it kicked into overdrive by a layoff.

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As I mentioned a few times recently, I have recently been laid off from my job with one of the Big 4 accounting firms. While the thought of an exit in this situation may evoke an image of you walking through the office with your middle fingers in the air, your exit should be a little more planned and professional than that. So based on my own experience so far, here is my checklist of things to do once you have found out you are getting let go or you have decided to leave on your own terms.

1. Apply for unemployment benefits. I’m not normally one for advocating collecting government benefits as a priority, but if you have been laid off you will need the money. Although it is not a lot of money (here in Texas you can get up to $378 per week, but I think it varies slightly by state), your employer has had to pay premiums to cover that benefit and if you were let go through no fault of your own you are entitled to it. Plus it is a nice little jab back to the employer since their unemployment insurance premium goes up based on the number of unemployment claims their employees have filed.
2. Tell your close colleagues the news personally. Surely there are people at your office that you have grown close to. Have the respect for those folks to tell them the news before you tell everyone else. I had a number of people I called to let them know what happened, and a few others I sent a very personal and candid email to. Even if you aren’t going to be working with them anymore, it is good to maintain that relationship.
3. Export your contacts and important email messages. If you are like most professionals, most of your contacts are probably tracked in your Outlook contacts on your employer’s mail server. Be sure to export those to a PST file so you don’t lose them when you leave, and make sure the important HR contacts are included in case you have to follow up on anything after you leave. Do the same with important emails you may have stored on your work computer or employer’s server.
4. Check you CPE. Do you hold a professional license or certification that requires continuing professional education? If so, make sure you have records of all your CPE completed and check to see if you have any additional requirements. Many companies/firms have training management systems that track your CPE completed and provide access to web-based training courses. If you find that you have additional requirements that will be due at your next renewal, go ahead an use the old employer’s resources to complete those. You never know how long it will take to find another job that will pay for the CPE or if the new job will give you the access to CPE your old one does.
5. Keep records of your payroll and benefit information. Make sure you have downloaded copies of your pay statements (our company provides them in electronic format only, so if you leave the company you have no way of getting the information). Also be sure to get information on your current 401k and pension plan balances and plan information you will need to access the accounts in the future. Also be sure to keep records of vacation time accrued if that is to be paid out in cash upon your termination.
6. Clean off the work computer. Just like you would never leave any of your personal effects in your old office, you should regard your computer the same way. Make sure to copy your personal files off your work computer so you don’t lose them. If you have been at the same job for an extended period, this is likely a larger task than you think. Also remember that anything you don’t clear off of your old computer may be seen by your employer at some point. My firm has a policy of imaging the hard drives of all terminated employees after they have turned in their laptops, and I would prefer not to have vacation photos and copies of personal documents floating around on my old employer’s servers. Make sure to clear your internet history and delete any saved passwords as well.
7. Get the terms of your exit in writing. Make sure you have the terms of your termination in writing before you leave. This is good to have in case there is any issue with the payment of severance due or question as to the manner of your termination (laid off versus fired can have huge implications for unemployment benefits and references for future employment).
8. Get all your final expenses in. If you incurred the expense for your old employer, make sure you don’t end up eating it! Get in all those cell phone bills, parking charges, professional organization dues, and unused airline tickets. You will likely lose the ability to charge those through once you leave.
9. Change the mailing address on stuff going to the office. Do you have stuff from professional organizations and other places that comes to your work address? Be sure to change the address to your home address so you don’t miss out.
10. Leave gracefully but visibly. As much as you’d love to, don’t tell off the boss upon your exit. Don’t send out a hateful email to your entire office talking about what a bunch of dirty bastards they are (that’s what your blog is for!). However, you should still send something out so that everyone knows you are leaving and has your contact information after you leave. Just send out a note briefly mentioning the circumstances of your termination, thanking everyone for the opportunity to work together, and provide your personal contact info. I argue you should let everyone know you were laid off to serve as a warning to everyone else. The standard MO at my firm is to act like nothing happened if someone is laid off, so you only find out through a farewell email or the rumor mill that someone was let go. Make sure everyone knows it wasn’t voluntary and wasn’t your fault so management has to deal with the questions of job security and potential future layoffs. A side benefit is that some of your coworkers may be able to help place you in a new job if they know your situation. From the email I sent a couple of days ago I have already had three people offer to help by sending my resume with a personal recommendation to contacts they have at other companies.

Of course this only works if you have some warning of your termination, so if you think you may be vulnerable to a layoff and the standard practice at your office is to get the notice and then have security escort you to the door it is probably best to do as much as you can now. You never want to look back on the situation and regret the things you should have done.

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As I noted previously, I was laid off last week from my job at one of the Big 4 accounting firms. While I won’t name it, it is a four letter name that I now regard as a four letter word. As I am dealing with the challenges of an accelerated job search, transitioning out of my old position, and saying goodbye to old colleagues, the firm is throwing another challenge my way. I have learned that I will be losing about $3500 in company matches to my 401k plan.

How is this possible? Well, the firm’s 401k plan has a five year vesting schedule for company matches. While the match percentage is not very good, you are not vested in any of the match until 2 years of service (20%), which then graduates to 40% at 3 years, 60% at 4 years, and finally 100% at 5 years. Although many companies have graduated vesting to help encourage employees to stay, most have the decency to provide for an accelerated vesting in cases where the termination of employment is not the fault of the employee (i.e., a layoff).

Unfortunately the firm is not one of those firms that provides accelerated vesting for laid off employees. In my case, although I am less than 1 year from being fully vested, the firm refuses to credit the $3,500 in company matches that will not be vested. Sadly for employees the firm’s supposed mission to be an “Employer of Choice” is nothing more than lip service. “We respect the individual”, “We are open and honest in our communication”, and “we act with integrity” are apparently all BS!

It is amazing the lack of foresight the firm has, being in a business where growth is highly dependent on maintaining good relations with alumni. I certainly know at this point that I will never give any business to my old firm.

So I guess the lesson for everyone else in this rant is to not consider that company match in your 401k to be yours until you are fully vested. Although you may strive to be loyal to your employer, if and when your employer chooses to kick you to the curb it is very likely they will keep part of your retirement savings as well.

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There was an interesting series of tips over on CNNMoney entitled Get a Financial Life. It lays out a series of tips to get your financial house in order in 7 short weeks, with one task per week. Here are their tips, and my thoughts on them.

1. Talk about your goals with your partner. If you are married or otherwise attached, your finances are a team sport. You can’t get very far if you and your spouse are running towards different financial goal lines. So talk about what you want and make sure you are on the same page.
2. Build an emergency fund. Another good tip. The recommendation is three months of living expenses in good times, six months in bad. Just remember that your living expenses do not necessarily equal your salary. Hopefully you are frugal and six months of living expenses is a much smaller number than six months of your earnings, but if you have trouble saying no this number may actually be higher than your earnings.
3. Get life insurance, in the right amount. According to the article, you should have life insurance equal to 5 to 10 times your annual salary. The more dependents you have, the higher the number should be. However, if you are single and have no dependents remember that the purpose is mainly to replace income, and if no one else is going to need that income after you die you don’t really need life insurance. Just make sure to have enough to cover your funeral expenses so that your family doesn’t get stuck with a bill!
4. Use online billpay and automatic payments. I’ve written before on the virtues of automatic payments on credit cards, and many other bills can be paid by automatic draft from your checking account or credit card as well. Just make sure you are reviewing those bills for unauthorized charges, and if the payments come from your checking account be sure to write them down in the check register and make sure you have sufficient funds to cover the payment.
5. Simplify your 401k with target-date funds. OK, this one I will disagree with slightly. I find that target-date funds typically have slightly higher management expenses than the funds that make them up. If you are willing to keep up with it, I would recommend just buying the funds individually. This also allows you to adjust the riskiness of your portfolio to suit your individual tastes.
6. Automate your investments. I completely agree. The biggest investment challenge for a lot of people is just doing something. Setting up automatic investments allows you to set it and forget it. If done in terms of dollars, you also get the benefit of dollar-cost averaging.
7. Get down to a single credit card. OK, I will disagree on this one. If you use automatic payments as noted in #4 above, I really don’t see a point to limiting yourself to a single card. This is especially true if you have reward cards that give different percentages for different types of purchases. At one point I carried one card for gas (5% reward), one card for restaurants (3% reward), and one more for everything else. Now I am mostly down to just my Citi AMEX Platinum that gives 5% on some purchases (gas, groceries, drugstores) and 3% on everything else, and my Citi Dividend card with a 1% reward for use at places that don’t take AMEX.

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As I mentioned on yesterday’s post, I lost my job to a layoff last Thursday. Although I had already started the search even before I was granted an involuntary vacation, the idea of no longer being employed has an amazing way of motivating you to shift the job search into overdrive. As the search for my first job out of college was facilitated through our career services office and my only other position was a referral through a friend of mine, the real world job search is completely new to me.

Although we are only a few days into the full job search, I have already learned quite a bit. My Friday evening was spent searching Careerbuilder and Monster for relevant job postings, and a good part of my Saturday was spent applying for the positions I found the night before. In the process, I updated my resume on both sites, and apparently on Monster I neglected to set the search preferences to private. So the bullet point list of my lessons learned so far:

1. If you are in an in-demand field (I am an accountant with experience over the last several years in internal auditing), absolutely do not put your resume in public searchable mode. I posted mine Saturday afternoon and my phone did not stop ringing all day today, not including the numerous emails I received as well. I finally took the resume down Monday afternoon because I couldn’t keep up with all the recruiters that were calling.
2. Many of the headhunters and recruiters are working the same jobs. Of the many calls I received, a couple asked me if I would be interested in a job I had already interviewed for, which was arranged by yet another recruiter.
3. Applying for positions posted by a staffing firm is a good way to get access to many different positions without having to apply for all of them separately.
4. Applications for positions through staffing firms tend to get much quicker responses than applications to positions posted by the companies directly. I guess a recruiter being paid on commission is a lot more motivated than a corporate HR rep being paid a set salary. But ultimately the process is dependent on those corporate HR reps at some point, so don’t expect to get hired overnight.
5. Track your applications and interactions with recruiters in an Excel spreadsheet. This is good to keep up with recruiter names and what companies you have applied for through which headhunter. It also serves as good evidence of your job search activities if you have applied for unemployment.

I’m sure I will learn a lot more before I eventually get hired somewhere, but I wanted to give everyone a glimpse into my job search odyssey.

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