Fellow 32K and Uppers,
If I’m going to be honest, I’m unsure of where this blog will take me. Even so, I’ve started this blog with two things in mind:
- Track my money, my debt, and my progress of paying it off.
- Assist others who are also in debt and would like help getting out of it.
The purpose of my journey is to become financially savvy and hopefully help others become the same. I was a Biochemistry major in college, so the only math I did was Calculus or in Analytical Chemistry. Never once did I think that I should take an Economics course or Business course so that I could actually understand what I would be getting myself into once I entered the working world.
If you ask yourselves questions like:
Did I understand what I was signing off on when I took out those thousands of dollars in loans to pay for school?
Was I offered a salary truly representing how much I should actually be making based off of my education and experience?
Did I understand what I was signing off on when I bought that new car and could I have gotten a better deal?
Then, this is the blog for you. I went through all of these situations, unsure of what I was really getting myself into. I signed off on the dotted line, in many of those cases, not truly understanding if I was making the right decision.
Throughout the years, I have gone through continual debt, whether it be student loans, credit cards, or car loans. So now, the journey begins to financial freedom.
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Month #1: November
I will be starting November today, but will do a full December status next month.
Where I Stand with Financial Debt
Car Debt:
I am happy to say that my car has been officially paid off as of October 2019. I first bought my car as a lease in 2013. But, after the lease ended, I decided to keep it and pay it off. After many monthly car payments, and trying to pay off more than the required amount each month, it is officially mine.
Credit Card Debt:
I am currently in debt with credit cards. It could be worse, but if I’m honest, this is pretty bad. My family had always been in debt. When I was younger, I said I would never allow myself to get in debt; however, things happen.
Instead of dwelling on how I got into this debt, I’m moving forward and setting up a plan on how to get out of debt. Head to the end of this post of you’d like to download my budget planner!
Current Student Loan Debt:
I graduated college in 2017. I have been in debt for 2 years now, but am hoping to have almost completely erased this debt by 2022, instead of the estimated year of 2027.
Where I Stand Financialy
I started saving once I started my job in January 2018. I began with $400 in my savings account and am currently saving at 25%. The rest of my monthly income goes towards the above debt.
I would like to start learning about stocks and buying real estate. Although financially, I am unable to do this currently, this is a future goal I would like to one day obtain.
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If you’re interested in downloading my budget, check it out below! The form calculates credit card pay offs and organizes your monthly income into expenses and savings.
Focus Areas for the Following Month
- Follow my budget
- Start learning more about blogging
- Learn about buying stocks
I’m looking forward on starting this journey! I hope you all will stay along for the ride.
Have a great November!
/Steph