I have been listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio and Suze Orman on television when Monica watches her show. They are both professionals in the finance world, and they provide, for the most part, sound financial advice to those that need it. I like to think that I'm not like some of those people that call in with thousands upon thousands of credit card debt, their home is in a state of foreclosure, or they have reduced incomes and their extravagant lifestyle is draining all of their funds. I would say I am pretty good with saving my money and only spending it on the essentials. So here is my future financial plan. I have created a budget starting this month. I am also using the envelope system with groceries. For those that don't know about the envelope system, it is where you take cash for that month and put it towards something. In my case, I am using it for groceries. I take $115 per month and stick that money in an envelope. When I go to the grocery, I ONLY use that money designated for groceries at the store. Once that money is gone, then it is gone for the month. Therefore, it encourages and incentivizes you to spend your money wisely!
Onto my own debt... student loans! Once my subsidized student loans are dispersed for the next school year, I will have a total of approximately $56,000 in student loan debt. UGH! About $24,000 of that are unsubsidized loans, which means they are currently accruing interest. My plan is to start paying those off now. Actually, I just started that yesterday. I have applied $1,000 to one of my loans so far. I have over $3,000 more that I am going to put towards my loans in the next couple of weeks. Then, HOPEFULLY each month up until June, I will have some extra money "left over" after paying for food, gas, rent, utilities, etc. The money I have left over, I am putting towards my loans! In June, I start my residency, and ALL of my "extra" money after paying the essentials is going towards my debt. I am hoping to pay at least $1,000 per month. My goal is to pay more than that.
MY ULTIMATE GOAL is to have ALL my loans paid off by mid-2013!!! That gives me 2 years...and I'm also banking on having an increase in income next year after my residency to make it easier to pay them off! Long blog post...but fun!
Until next time!!
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