Financial Freedom

When I graduated school May of 2011, I had $57,676 in student loan debt. I was lucky that I found a job in Southern California that paid me about $30,000 a year. I lived on an extremely tight budget. Even if I hadn't have been saving to pay off debt, I wouldn't have had much extra. I tightened my budget and was able to pay roughly $100 extra on my loans. 

Today, 1 year and 4 months later, I have paid of 9,520 of that student loan debt. This doesn't include not working and paying off about $2,000 in credit card debt. (I would pay a lot down and then would need it for something like a plane ticket home, or an oil change).

It is still crazy to think that here I am over a year later, and I have only paid off that much. My income did come up, I make a bit under $40,000 now. Cost of living is a little higher. But it feels great to have the ball rolling and to see some income. Its only going to go faster now. My projected pay off date is Fall 2015. But, I think I can do it sooner. I paid off my $3500 loan today. Tomorrow I start work on my next smallest, $6754.54.

When I do pay off my loan. I will be having a huge party that everyone is invited to. I don't care if we never have met, I want to celebrate the fact that I have become debt free and can begin to acquire wealth!

Thanks for everyone's encouraging words through out this time!

I hope that you all can be inspired or motivated to try this out for yourself and choose one small debt and decide to pay it off and get it out of your life. 

Let me know how it goes for you!

My Visit With Grandma and Grandpa

My family is huge. On both sides. They are a loud, opinionated. passionate, loving, and a little crazy bunch, but I love them all dearly. I have family spread out all over the west coast, from Southern California all the way up to Washington, where my parents live. I don't get to see the family that lives far away that often.Usually only when babies are born, graduations, weddings, and the occasional reunion or vacation. But when we do get to see each other it is a great time.

Tonight I got a surprise call from my Grandparents from Santa Rosa, CA. They were down in LA for the night and wanted to know if I could go see them. It was such a great surprise at the end of the day to get and to have the opportunity to spend some time with them before they headed back north. I drove down there after work and met up with them at their hotel. We went to dinner and talked the night away and were able to catch up on our lives.

I think the best part about seeing them, for me, is realizing how the relationships change with adults as you become one. Sometimes I forget that I am not a little girl anymore. That my parents, friends, grandparents people in general see me as an adult. Well, maybe not people in general, or people who just met me. I know I look really young, and act even younger so I am sure people think I am an immature high schooler sometimes, but aside from that, people do see me as an adult. That honestly brings a bit of responsibility and scariness that I am not ready for.

I can't wait around to get into something that I really want to do. Or wait to pursue my dream until I'm older and wiser, because I get the feeling that there is no magic age where you feel grown up or where you decide that you know enough. I feel like these grown ups that I have been looking at my whole lives for answers are just guessing too. They know what they did and what worked for them and try to give you the best advice they can. I guess that that is how everyone is, just guessing, making the best decisions they can with the information that they have. Thats normal I feel.

But how can you be an adult if you don't feel like that? I mean it is easy to feel like "Well, I am paying off my school loans then my life will start!" Or "After my long distance boyfriend and I get married, my real life will begin." Or even, "I'll be responsible and start living my life and accomplishing things when I am a grown up" I guess it just reinforces that you need to seize the day, live your life, and start working towards the things that you want to accomplish, because you are a grown up. I am a grown up.

I am a grown up.

Yikes.

I am a real person?

My Brother is graduated from High school. 

Yikes. 

I remember when I graduated from High School. It was not that long ago. I wanted to be anything and everything. I had like 5 potential jobs for my life. They were all grand, let me tell ya.

I was going to be a writer, own a book shop, a historian and part time archaeologist, I was going to see the world, probably join the peace corps and definitely win the Nobel Peace prize...or a tony.......

I had great dreams and was so free. I wanted to do everything that I could and wasn't about to let anything get in my way. 

When I look back on these 4 years since high school. I have accomplished a few of my goals, I got to see Europe, (though all that trip did was make the list of places to see grow even longer), and I have continued to write (the book has never been finished, but i do practice on the internet every now and then)...

And my list has definitely changed and matured, I mean I want to find a good job, I get to move out and have my own place, and I moved to California. I have grown up a lot in the past four years. A lot in two years and then a lot more in the next two years. 

I hope that in the next 4 years of my life, I will continue to grow but also not forget the dreams that I had when I was younger.

Being on this side of graduation I want to stress to all the younger people in college or heading there; don't waste time. Do exactly the things that you want to do. Don't worry about what people will think or if you will like it, or if you are nervous. The worst that can happen is that you fail at it. But at least you tried there are times that i look back at school and think what if? I am happy with where my life is, but there are other choices that i could have made in college that i wish i had, because when i look back i realize what i was afraid of really isnt a big deal.

So congrats all you high school grads. You are about to head out on the great adventure towards adulthood. =)

well, awesome

So I just checked my email. Its been a weekend of craziness and fun, and no homework. As my free monday rolls around i decide to check my email. I have a research paper peer review due. Fan-freakin-tastic. I am sure that all my readers (my mother included) that if i was to tell you how long i had had this assignment (since February) and the amount that i have done (a very very rough outline) you would be disappointed. Hell, I'm dissappointed in me. Now i could just start writing it right now. But Hulu and Blogger are so much more interesting. so Here is my semi public vow to start after my meeting, errands, dinner and hanging out. Then i will get right on to that paper so that i can have SOMETHING to turn in and get some sort of a grade on.

hahaha we will see how well that goes.

motivation

Well, It has been a long time since i have written anything. My life has been crazy! I have been working on this internship, my classes, my two other jobs then, of course, managing a very healthy social life. It is exhausting, but someone has to do it. Today though, I end a mini journey that has been nothing less than an adventure. I have meet a few famous people, learned a lot about script writing and how the whole process works, I have learned how to fake working while spending 99% of my time on facebook, collegehumor, youtube, cracked.com, and obviously stumbling. haha

It was so hard to sit for 8 hours a day and just read a script then write coverage on it. It was hard for me not because I dont like reading, or because I don't enjoy writing (im a half hearted blogger, i obviously enjoy it). I just cant sit and do the same thing for 8 hours with no real break and not even be getting paid for it. Sure i get school credit, but anyone who knows my school ethics will know that credit doesnt really mean much to me as far as motivation goes.

So as i sit and waste the last 3 hours and 30 minutes (thank you God) of this Journey, i hope to reminisce and day dream about what i will be doing with my spare time. In my mind I plan on doing the far fetched: taking a pilates or yoga class, getting into Pottery or Painting, buying a sewing kit and making myself a new wardrobe. probably buy a puppy named fernando and then study german. I could go on and on, the most far fetched would be inheriting a gold/diamond mine (I'm not really picky) and then traveling. But as my mind runs wild and my eyes start to droop i realize what i really want most is to sleep. I probably will spend my first month off sitting in my bed all day i may even get out on a really nice day and head all the way downstairs to plop my butt down on a pool chair and work on that tan. By the time that I am ready to stop lazing and start actually doing something it will be May 13th and then I will graduate and need to start working full time.

I can pretend that that wont happen, and maybe i can pledge to do at least one productive thing each day...but that probably will fail too......ugh motivation....at least I graduate soon.