The Internet is wonderful!!! A plethora of resources and information, if you just know where to look; it’s great! So I was thinking about the future today (I do so often) and also about a part-time job I’m thinking of taking on in September. I want to make a budget for myself because I plan to go to graduate school Fall 2007, and I need to save money, so I’ve recently been calculating expected costs. Such as, if I make this much money I’ll be able to spend this much money and still have this much saved up for next year. I stumbled upon the salary wizard created by collegegrad.com (under the heading “salaries”) that allows one to calculate entry-level salaries based on the location you live in (you can also search by a ton of other job categories.)

What is also great is that the website provides a nice parabolic graph listing the lowest entry-level salaries, the average entry-level salaries and the highest entry-level salaries for the job in question. There is a tab that factors in bonuses and benefits and you can get an even more detailed personalized calculation by including your background information, such as your experience and educational information, (although this requires a profile on the website). Quite useful information if you want to know what salary you need from a particular job, especially if you’re like me and have to start paying back loans soon!

Another gadget on the same website is a “cost of living calculator,” which I had a lot of fun with. It takes your base salary now, where you live and work, and where you are moving to, then calculates what you need to earn in your new location to “maintain your current state of living.” Also complete with nice graphics comparing the cost of living between the two places, say between Raleigh, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois. The gadget even tells you how much higher, or lower, the living costs are between the two locations. Then there’s the stuff just for fun such as the job assessor, salary timer and millionaire maker, but I won’t ruin it for you.