This is a post by Teacher Man from My University Money.  My awesome staff writer who has graduated from college more recently than me.  Enjoy!

Finding a career after graduation

If you were lucky (or smart enough) to choose a career path that was in demand while you were going through post-secondary education, then congratulations, you’re transition into the working world will be made a whole lot easier.  For those of us who chose to become “well-rounded” students and take courses of study that had a less-defined labour market (ie: we’re not really directly qualified for anything) the journey can be a little more interesting.  In my specific case I was in the position of being qualified for a very specific job (high school humanities teacher) that is not even remotely in demand.

Those Who Can’t Dig… Teach

Here is a great case study for post-post-secondary schooling.  I graduated with a B.A. and a Bachelor of Education (after 150 very long credit hours).  Several of my friends graduated with a Bachelor of Science with a major in Geological Sciences (B.Sc, G.Sc) (120 credit hours) and so I was privy to their after school plans.  I spent my whole last year in a fairly constant state of worry as more and more information and vague gossip about the job market poured into our tower of academia.  To put it mildly, the outlook was not good, specifically for someone like myself who is not bilingual, and has shied away from the sciences.  I studiously prepared for the shark tank of job market I was about to be released into (more on that later) and generally took nothing for granted.  My buddies on the other hand spent their whole last semester being wined and dined by big wigs from various mining companies.  Apparently this whole taking stuff out of the ground thing is pretty lucrative!  For them, finding a career or job after university was about choosing the path they wanted to start down within their industry.  Their options allowed them to pick the company that best fit their preferences.  As you might imagine, this was definitely different from my experience.

Wait, I Can’t Drop This and Take It Again Next Year?

The transition from being a student, to being a prospective employee was a humbling and scary for me.  I had interviewed for several summer jobs over the years, but my core identity revolved around me being a student and the subsequent structure that was a part of that life.  I knew that every fall school would commence, every spring it would let out, and in between, the exam and test dates were usually pretty similar year-in and year-out.  I figured out how to “play the game” that is post-secondary schooling, and once you have a pretty good grasp of how to achieve success in that arena, it is a pretty straight forward “rinse-and-repeat” process.  While the light at the end of the tunnel looks great when you’re striving to get there, when you’re suddenly thrown into it, everyone reacts differently.  For me, the loss of immediate control was very disorienting.  No longer was my success in my hands.  In school, I knew that if I followed a certain criteria set I would be rewarded.  This whole notion of trying to appeal to people (school principals and superintendents) that I had no connection to was not a good feeling for me.

That Shiny Diploma/Degree On Your Wall Isn’t That Unique

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Hello fellow personal finance readers. I go by the pen name “Teacher Man” due to the fact that I recently graduated from university and am in my second year of teaching high school. About 9 months ago my partner and I started a website called My University Money. It is aimed at helping young people (with a specific focus on post-secondary students) and just talking about financial and student lifestyle issues in general. Young & Thrifty was one of the first bloggers to really reach out to us and give us a little recognition when we were just starting off. When I read that Y & T was hitting a busy patch in life I offered to do a little staff writing for her, and she graciously accepted. Hopefully you readers don’t notice THAT much of a drop-off from the typical high quality posts you’ve come to enjoy here!

Since it’s Family Day in Alberta, Ontario, and Sasketchewan, I thought it would be appropriate to include a post on RESP’s!  (DEAR BC do you hear that? Everyone else is having Family Day except for us).

The RESP – An Intergenerational Gift

Over on my site we constantly talk about Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) and how they are basically our favourite economic tool ever.  I LOVE the idea of a government program that is truly a “hand up” instead of a “hand out,” and that’s exactly what a RESP brings to the table.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with RESPs, the basic idea is that the government wants to help parents to save for college.  So what they do is open up an account that is more like the TFSA than the RRSP actually.  Parents can put money away for their children’s post-secondary education (which includes a huge array of programming options), and use this account to invest the money and not pay any taxes on the investment income.  The original contribution is not tax-deductible like an RRSP, and the investment income is taxed as income for the student when it is taken out, which basically means no tax is paid, because the vast majority of students don’t earn enough to exceed the basic tax exemption.  The best part of the plan, is that in addition to this tax shelter, the government will literally match 20% of your contribution, up to $500 per year ($7200 lifetime).  An automatic 20% return on your investment (called the Canada Education Savings Grant)!  Your money, plus the government money, gets to grow tax-free in that nice little account waiting for your little one to graduate.  If they choose not to continue into post-secondary, there are several options available to switch the money to a sibling, or to move the money over to an RRSP and simple lose the government contribution.  Saskatchewan loves the program so much they are now offering their own little top-up to the plan from their own government coffers!  I love this plan because it rewards those that take responsibility for their child’s education, and offers strong incentive to invest in our futures.

Just Open An Account Already – It’s So Easy!

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Congratulations to Michael E for winning the Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel book giveaway!  I’ll be sending your book shortly (as long as you have given me your address haha).

If you didn’t win the book, don’t fret, because there’s another giveaway on this blog.  I know that basically every other blogger is giving away tax software, but I thought that if you weren’t able to get the prize there, but you certainly will have a higher chance to enter here!  I know some of you might have already started on your tax return (and boy, do I envy you!) but in case you haven’t, it might help to get some tax software help.. for free!

I have FIVE H&R Block At Home Tax Software programs to give away thanks to the lovely people at H&RBlock Canada.

I warn you though, this software only works with PCs (I’m sorry my fellow Mac friends!).  Also this contest is only open to Canadian residents.

It does up to 16 tax returns (so you can do your grandparent’s taxes, your dog’s taxes, etc.) and includes free audit assistance online in case you’re strapped.

Retail value $29.99.

Good luck and thanks as always for reading!  You can enter at the end of this post I’m going to make you sift through my PF Blog Love readings first.

PF Blog Love

• Sunil at Extra Money Online is giving away $2000 (yes, you read that right…  $2000!!) So go enter here.
• Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter wrote a cheeky post on how he’s Old and not so Thrifty
• For Valentine’s Day, Mark from My Own Advisor was very romantic indeed and asked us what we would do with $1000
• Dividend Ninja answers the question on whether you should contribute to the TFSA or the RRSP on Banknerd.ca!
• Boomer and Echo has a great post comparing whether or not to use the Home Buyers Plan or the TFSA for your down payment (I used both!)
• Yes I am Cheap has a great post on how to set up a budget so you can get out of debt
• Retireby40 has a ridiculously awesome post on whether or not to jump off the employee ship and into the entrepreneurial deep waters
• It seems like everyone is contemplating quitting their jobs…Kevin at Invest it Wiselyquit his job!  Congrats and good luck!
• Dang, Passive Income Earner‘s dividend income report is $500 per month.  That’s awesome!
• Krystal got her hostels for free in Europe.  That would be awesome and I would be sooo popular with my friends if I did the same

Enter Here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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In my 2 year blogiversary contest, a reader asked me to write about ways to save money (or share some tips about how to save money) while living in an expensive city.

Vancouver has been ranked as one of the most expensive cities to live in. In 2008, Vancouver was ranked only second to New York as the most expensive city in North America.  Vancouver is beautiful, there is no doubt about it.  It has the mountains, the ocean, the beaches, the forest.  You can go swim in the ocean or kayak and go snowboarding in the same day (it will be cold, but you can do it).

Living in an “world class” city like Vancouver has its advantages.  It is a melting pot of culture, and this results in ridiculously delicious and often cheap and good eats.   It does have its disadvantages though (other than the 300 days of rain we get here, of course).

The cost of living is ridiculously high and it can be very expensive to live, work, and play.

Other cities can be notoriously expensive to live in, namely Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, Toronto, Montreal, Singapore, Tokyo… the list goes on.

So here are some ways I thought of to save money while living life up in an expensive city:

1. Ditch the Car if You Can

The usual “plus side” of living in an expensive city is a robust and easily accessible transit system.  I live near local cheap grocery stores (example, bananas are $0.59/lb and at the local Safeway, it is $0.89/lb).  Living near a bank, a post office, and the local library can make life much, much easier.  Cycle to work, take transit to work, or walk to work if you can.  If you need a car, you can always find one of those co-op rent a cars for a short term rental (e.g. if you need to move something, or are doing a major shopping trip).

Estimated cost savings per month if you ditch the car?

• Car Insurance: $150 (approx.)
• Car Financing or Leasing: $300 (approx.)
• Gas: $50-$150+ (depending on how far it is to work and how much you drive)
• Total: $500 to $650+

2. Get a Roommate

Scary serial killers aside, a roommate can be a great way to offset the cost of living.  I know of a few people who have mortgages and rent our a room in their home to a student or someone else who wants to rent for less.  It can be a win-win situation as long as the person isn’t a serial killer.  In Vancouver, unlike renting out a basement suite, if you are the landlord of the home and are renting a room out to a roommate, you can kick them out if you just don’t like them (safety first, of course).  It is apparently much more difficult to kick out month-to-month renters living in basement suites.

However, the downside is sharing a living space.  Some people don’t mind living with others (hey, you might make a new friend, and it can be less lonely!).  I know of a few people who are renting out rooms in their homes.

Estimated Cost Savings/Income per Month:

• $325 to $500 is the monthly going rate in Vancouver for sharing a living space

3. Scope out Free Activities

Living in a big city has its perks because there are usually a lot of free events.  Free and fun events are a quintessential part of a world class city, and there is no shortage of free and fun events around town.

All you need to do is keep an eye out for bulletin boards, read the local free news paper, watch the local station on TV, and listen to the radio.  There is no shortage of things to do.  I find that the best thing to do for free in a big city is people watch and it is one of my favourite things to do.  I especially love watching couples interact with each other (though I don’t love watching obvious PDA).

Here are 25 Fun and Free things to do in Vancouver if you happen to live in Vancouver and need something free to do.  Oh, and visiting Wreck Beach is one of them (yes, that’s the nude beach we have here in Vancouver…and no, I have not visited it!).  According to National Geographic, Vancouver ranks as one of the top 10 beach cities in the world.  I wonder whether our nude beach had something to do with that….

Estimated Monthly savings:

• $100- well this is an ambiguous estimate, but lets say you spend $20 a week watching movies or eating out… you can save that amount and instead spend date day or date night doing free things

4. House Parties!

A lot of people who are new to Vancouver find it difficult to meet people and find the night life and culture lacking.  Many say it’s because most people stay home to save money and all the parties are usually at homes instead of people going out and spending big coin $$$ clubbing or spending it at bars.

Most of the socialization that goes on in Vancouver (I can’t say this for other cities because I haven’t lived in them) happens at parties hosted by friends or acquaintances.  You can host a potluck and tell everyone to BYOB.  Everyone still has a great time and you don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to entertain your guests.

Readers, can you share any other ways to save money while living in an expensive city? 

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I have been meaning to try the Mac Shack because there was so much hype about it leading up to its opening.

Whoever does the social media for this restaurant pretty much kicks butt because there was certainly a TON of buzz about this place before it opened up. Their website looks amazing, they were creating buzz and hype on their twitter feed, and they even have a newsletter (who would have thought that restaurants need newsletters?).

Creating the “brand” is very important I’m sure to ensure returning customers, but just one look at their mac and cheese dishes and seeing that delicious gooey cheese is enough to make me to buy some mac and cheese.

(one thing you might not have known about me is that I am addicted to eating cheese. Especially anything four cheese!)

The Mac Shack got my attention when they were giving away FREE mac and cheese for their grand opening. The only way you could get a free mac and cheese (worth about $7-8) is if you follow them on twitter. They then sent you a coupon to use. I of course did not take advantage of this because it was too late for me (as per usual). I instead paid like any other patron without twitter and enjoyed my meal nonetheless.

I picked the four cheese mac and cheese (very very good I might add) and picked up some Veggie mac and cheese when I visited my little sis for lunch (which is what you see in this picture).  The picture I took doesn’t do it justice and you’d best go over to look at their website for their food porn (which is shot much better than my blah picture, I might add).

The cool thing about the mac and cheese is that it comes in a skillet and it feels very “homey” to have mac and cheese served to you on a skillet.  They also have three sizes, and the 2nd size has plenty to share with just one other person, if you don’t want to do invidividual mac and cheeses.

This ain’t your Kraft dinner mac and cheese, that’s for sure.

Happy Friday! Have I made you hungry yet?

Readers, are you a fan of mac and cheese?  Do you have any good (and easy) recipes you’d like to share?

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