If it's a fairly consistent recurring monthly expense, rotating a bill between people works well. Or, set up a joint bank account for all of you, and pay from that.
I've had a Chase Freedom card since I turned 18, and it pretty consistently gets rated as a good non-airmiles card. I've never had any problems, and 1% back on everything plus quarterly bonus promos is pretty good I think. It's an old post, but this (http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/09/09/credit-card-basics-how-to-choose-a-credit-card/comment-page-2/) has good card-choosing ideas. (In fact I recommend GRS in general, it's the only personal finance blog I follow.) The trick to rewards cards is that you have to pay them off completely every month; interest charges negate any sort of rewards benefits you accrue. You should also find one you like and get it before you graduate, to see if they have any sort of promotion for college students, which are usually pretty good.
By travel I meant long-distance, but yeah. Perhaps find some sort of ride-sharing deal where you drive with somebody else and pay your share, instead of being the car provider. My car insurance (which I understand to be very cheap for a 5-year-old car with an under-25 male driver) is a little over $100 a month. I'd think yours would be somewhat similar, depending on the car obviously, but I don't know. Part of it is that I'm on my family's insurance, which I think is a big benefit, single-person insurance is more expensive.
Basically cars are expensive. It's the sort of thing where a thorough cost-benefit analysis vs. public transport and mooching would be well worth it.
Desktop vs. laptop is mostly a question of use, I think, because you pay a lot (in both money and performance) for portability. The way I use a computer, and the way your mom uses her computer, stationary 95%+ of the time and only occasionally needing portability, for me means desktop plus an old but still functional laptop (plus my iPod, actually). Performance-wise, you use a lot of programs simultaneously, which I think means you could make good use of a desktop, especially with multiple physical screens.
I agree with whoever above said don't put your emergency fund in a CD; that's too difficult to access. Mine is in a plain ING Direct savings account, although it sounds like they're getting sold off soon so I might have to change that recommendation. Having a credit card is part of the emergency system; use credit (or general savings with a debit card) for an immediate emergency, and transfer from the emergency fund to pay it off ASAP. (I use my credit card for nearly everything anyway, so it wouldn't require any thought if I ran into any emergency.)
I'll get that email to you sometime this week. My system and philosophy and whatnot will require some untangling to turn into words.
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I've had a Chase Freedom card since I turned 18, and it pretty consistently gets rated as a good non-airmiles card. I've never had any problems, and 1% back on everything plus quarterly bonus promos is pretty good I think. It's an old post, but this (http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/09/09/credit-card-basics-how-to-choose-a-credit-card/comment-page-2/) has good card-choosing ideas. (In fact I recommend GRS in general, it's the only personal finance blog I follow.) The trick to rewards cards is that you have to pay them off completely every month; interest charges negate any sort of rewards benefits you accrue. You should also find one you like and get it before you graduate, to see if they have any sort of promotion for college students, which are usually pretty good.
By travel I meant long-distance, but yeah. Perhaps find some sort of ride-sharing deal where you drive with somebody else and pay your share, instead of being the car provider. My car insurance (which I understand to be very cheap for a 5-year-old car with an under-25 male driver) is a little over $100 a month. I'd think yours would be somewhat similar, depending on the car obviously, but I don't know. Part of it is that I'm on my family's insurance, which I think is a big benefit, single-person insurance is more expensive.
Basically cars are expensive. It's the sort of thing where a thorough cost-benefit analysis vs. public transport and mooching would be well worth it.
Desktop vs. laptop is mostly a question of use, I think, because you pay a lot (in both money and performance) for portability. The way I use a computer, and the way your mom uses her computer, stationary 95%+ of the time and only occasionally needing portability, for me means desktop plus an old but still functional laptop (plus my iPod, actually). Performance-wise, you use a lot of programs simultaneously, which I think means you could make good use of a desktop, especially with multiple physical screens.
I agree with whoever above said don't put your emergency fund in a CD; that's too difficult to access. Mine is in a plain ING Direct savings account, although it sounds like they're getting sold off soon so I might have to change that recommendation. Having a credit card is part of the emergency system; use credit (or general savings with a debit card) for an immediate emergency, and transfer from the emergency fund to pay it off ASAP. (I use my credit card for nearly everything anyway, so it wouldn't require any thought if I ran into any emergency.)
I'll get that email to you sometime this week. My system and philosophy and whatnot will require some untangling to turn into words.