21st Century Adult

My life is nothing like what it was the last time I posted a blog on here. I started that nanny job in July 2009 and hated it. I quit/was let go two weeks later. I loved back to Austin to resume living with my parents and working at Cafe Monet. I also started dating Ross as soon as I moved back. I unofficially moved in with him in about September/October and officially started paying rent there in January. I was working at Cafe Monet as well as being Roman's nanny and also a chauffeur for some kids until March, when I got a job as a receptionist at a law firm in downtown Austin. The new job was a real blessing because I was at my breaking point working so much and still making so little. I started running March and completed my first 10k in May and then started training for a half-marathon. I got up to 12.1 miles before getting injured and having to throw in the towel for this race. I still plan to do more races in the future. I have decided to go back to ACC to get my paralegal certificate starting in January. This is not ultimately what I want to do with my life, but it's a good starting point for now. I will be able to bring up my GPA and make some good money and then one day I think I'd like to go back to school to be a dietitian. I am still working part time at Cafe Monet but that will stop once I start school in January. Ross and I have been together for almost a year and 4 months. We're ready to get our own place now and have started to really plan and budget for it. This is where I am now.

I am so very ready for Ross and I to take the next step together and I am also ready to not have so many roommates. I am very anxious for us to get our own place so I can have my own space and Ross is willing to do whatever he can to make this happen quicker so I will be happier. I've started reading Dave Ramsey's book More Than Enough: The Ten Keys to Changing your Financial Destiny, and unfortunately it's made me start thinking smarter. Ross and I set a move out date for February 1st but that is not a smart, realistic goal for us. I have a lot of debt at the moment ($74,000 in student loans and $3,500 in credit cards). I have an expensive car tune-up that's just around the corner, plus paying for school and Christmas. These are all things that I can afford but paying for them will not allow me to save for moving out unless I put some of it on my credit card or take out another small student loan ($1,000-$2,000). That amount seems really small and insignificant compared to the large sum that I already owe but it really is in my best interest to stop living on credit and just start living within my means. Unfortunately, this will significantly push back our move-out date but I know that it's really the right thing to do. I will feel so much better about myself having paid for these things with cash rather than credit. It is also a good idea for me to have a good amount of savings before Ross and I move out. It's going to be tight for me financially once we move out so I need to have a cushion to fall back on so I don't have to use my credit cards as cushion any more. I'd really like to cut them up (all of them).

Ross and I sat down over the weekend and looked at my budget and all of my debt and we both got really overwhelmed. To only be 24 years old and already have so much debt seems unreal and completely unfair. I feel like I got tricked in to it somehow. I knew that taking out loans would mean I'd have to pay them back later but it was so incredibly easy for me to get the loans and I didn't realize how much I'd borrowed until it was too late. And the interest is outrageous!! After looking at all of this, the two of us were just at a loss for what to do. I am so glad that we talked about it together because I think it really brought us closer together in a way. Ross even said, "This isn't just your debt, this is our debt" even though he has no credit cards, no loans, no debt at all. I don't want him to be responsible for my debt but it made me feel so much better to know that he's there for me and supporting me and that we're in this together. I was really feeling quite lost, helpless, desperate, trapped, etc. until I talked to Elaine the next afternoon and she told me about Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University. I talked about it with Ross and I think it's something that we're going to do together. Before we take that step though, I went to the library and checked out his More Than Enough book and started reading it. I also put myself on the waiting list for his The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. I think it would be very beneficial for Ross and I to take his 13 week class together but I honestly can't spare the money for it right now without putting it on my credit card. Rather than being impulsive like I usually am I decided to try and learn what I can from him by reading his other books and start making some changes now. I am very optimistic about our financial future now and I no longer feel trapped and like I'll never be able to have a life. I am also excitedly anxious to start investing my money!!