Over the past several years, I've congratulated myself and been proud that I am good with money. I've never had a problem saving money from each check or for waiting to have the money before making a big purchase. I've never carried a balance on my credit card. And I managed to walk away from undergrad with very little debt. However, in the midst of this, I made some questionable decisions.
* Signing up for a six year car loan. It's a used car. It has great potential to be unusable before I would've paid it off. I realize that mistake and am working to fix it this month.
* Slacking on my scholarship search. I did so well in undergrad, paying my way for school about 95 percent financed via scholarships that I took being debt-free for granted. I stopped looking for graduate school scholarships. I figured taking out loans was easier and wouldn't be that bad.
* Failing to change spending habits. During graduate school, I lived like I was awarded thousands of dollars instead of keeping in mind I'd be paying back every single dollar...for years.
As a result of some of my mistakes, I have to consider some drastic measures. The idea of being in debt for the next 10-30 years is not something I want hanging over my head. So I will think about taking in a roommate, getting a second job and pairing back my spending drastically.
It's not the best scenario but I know you gotta pay for your mistakes. I'm fortunate that I can handle my financial mistakes on my own.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
She's On The Money: Bad Financial Decisions
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3 comments:
look at it this way...if you buckle down for a few years, you can get your debt down to a more manageable amount. then, you can ease your way back into a less rigid lifestyle.
make sure you don't overlook the importance of investing either. that could provide some passive income for you.
you're still young, so you have time on your side.
oh, and don't forget to take into consideration salary increases as your career grows.
you know, you could always write a book, get a nice advance and retire. :)
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