Wednesday, December 18, 2013

My year long goal (hopefully shorter)

So today I thought I'd let you guys know about something that I usually don't tell others about. It's also something I'm not very proud of and that's probably why I keep it to myself, unless you are family or a really close friend, then you might know.

So what is this dark secret I talk about? Debt. Yes, I have some debts in my life that I need to get rid of soon or else they will consume my life. This has been a problem for me ever since I first got my credit card my first year of college. I was about 18-19, not exactly sure which one. The thing is, I actually started off really good at taking care of my payments on time and paying off in full the total balance. The only payments I was making were for gas purchases and maybe eating out once or twice a month, but I always made sure I paid them off when I got paid from my part-time job. I knew that I wanted credit eventually and so when I received a letter in the mail offering my a credit card in which I could choose by credit limit I was excited and sure enough I signed up for it. About a couple of weeks later I received my credit card in the mail!

Eventually I had to stop working at my part-time job, which was only on the weekends, to be able to complete a semester of student-teaching which is like an internship pretty much. Well when I quit that job I saw it as justifiable to use my credit card because it was my only source of 'money'. I was doing my internship full-time and I thought I couldn't get a job because I was too tired from 'working'. I really didn't think it was necessary for me to get a night job somewhere in town where I lived. I guess I saw it as unpleasant but now I wish I could go back and get a job so I wouldn't be in the situation I am now.
Another big mistake of mine was that my last semester of college I had only one class left to finish off my degree and I decided to stay on campus in the dorm rooms. Big mistake. What I should have done was commute back and forth from home since the class was only Tuesday/Thursday but I thought that it would be good for me to live out the college experience to the fullest. Yeah, sure, I had a good time but if I could go back I would definitely change my decision of staying there. Well, anyways, that last semester there cost me to not get my diploma  until I paid off my room/board for the last semester. I didn't have any money to pay that balance off since I was no longer on scholarship. That last semester put me at around $2,500 in debt and that's not including the credit card debt I had already accumulated.

And of course, there are other debts that I have at the moment that have been adding up and to be honest it all began that last year of college. All of this happened because I did not have common sense and didn't know how to manage my money correctly. There are many things I could have changed that last year but that is unattainable right now. The only thing I can do is to correct my bad mistakes and bad habits and learn to make the right choices when it comes to handling my money.

My goal is to be able to pay off ALL of my debt which totals to around $9,000 in a credit card, loans, and unpaid bills. I know this amount is not much to some people and you might say it's chump change. I agree it's not that large of an amount but this is something that I want to get off my chest and off my conscience for good. I'm tired of not being able to enjoy certain things because in the back of my mind my debts are dancing around reminding me that I can't enjoy life to the fullest.

I would like you to join me in this year-long process (hopefully shorter) to keep me motivated and also so you can see me progress and struggles. I know this will not be an easy thing to do and I WILL have to give up on certain things that I enjoy but in the end it will be worth it.

So please comment below and motivate! Be blessed!

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