Financial Fitness

I know I have done a couple posts concerning money, but this is about some big time budget control.

Like most recent grads, I have student loans. For those of you who are fortunate enough to not have to deal with this kind of debt coming right out of college, I hope you realize what a tremendous blessing it is.

Well, get ready...I have a whopping $30,000 in student loans (promised to be honest and upfront with my life on here). The sad thing is, that this is actually pretty low for most college grads! I went to an in-state school and received several scholarships.

I've decided to put on my big girl pants and take control of this situation, and I know that there are several of you who are in the same boat as me, so I thought I'd share what I've been doing.

I realized that if I cut off a ton of spending and budget extremely well, I could have all of this paid off in two years (maybe less if I'm really good!). Debt is bad news bears and I don't want any part of it.

I've recently been reading Dave Ramsey's book 'The Total Money Makeover.' Talk about a wake up call about spending and saving money.

What's so funny is that its so simple, but it's all about changing your own behavior. Its a lot like wanting to lose weight. We all know how to do it: eat less, exercise more. Money works the same way: spend less, save more, its all abou putting this into practice and changing your behavior.

I would strongly advise this book to anyone, especially those of us who are entering the real world. I'm striving to get it right the first time and not the second or third time around.

There are budget sheets you can download from his website. Click here to view them! I downloaded the monthly and Quick Start Budget form .

I don't have this best track record for saving and spending money wisely so we'll see how this goes.....

Anybody else swamped in student loans???

xo,
eMr