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She has a good income, heinous debt, she's planning her wedding and -— oops! -— her fiancé just quit his job. Danielli wants off the financial rollercoaster, but how? Read her story.
My name is Danielli. I'm 29 years old, living in Florida -- and on paper I look great.
I have a master's degree, a full-time job and an above-average yearly salary (about $60,000). But underneath the "You go, girl!" exterior lies a bumbling financial idiot.
As I write this, I only have $30 in my savings account; I'm late on three of my monthly bills and I have over $60,000 in debt (yes, that would be the same as my yearly income).
I suppose it could be worse, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to make it better. I'm bipolar when it comes to money management -- great one month, absolutely pathetic the next.
I want off the roller coaster.
I'm not looking to be a millionaire -- I just want to have the financial freedom and stability to pursue my goals: Start my own business, have kids, have the ability to feed those kids something other than ramen noodles ... .
This month my plan is two-fold. First, I need to learn where I stand. Ignorance may be bliss but it doesn’t get you very far.
Second, I need to set some (realistic) goals, both long-term and short-term, and determine the actions necessary to achieve them.
I'm supposed to be saving for my wedding -— but I also need to kill off some of my debt.
Taking stock of my financial status has been a brutal experience. Organization and prioritization are important now more than ever -— but those are still scary concepts for a girl who once bought a Nintendo Wii in lieu of paying rent. Here’s what I've done so far:
- Calculated my regular monthly expenses. These are bills that I have to pay every month: rent, credit cards, gym membership, student loan, mobile phone, etc.
- Calculated my variable expenses. These are monthly expenditures that occur quasi-regularly but can vary in cost. Think groceries, dog food and supplies, household supplies, oil changes, etc.
- Determined upcoming expenses. These expenditures crop up occasionally, but they always throw me out of whack when they come up and I haven't prepared or saved. These include doctor appointments, vet visits, travel, etc.
It has been hard enough to admit how much I REALLY spend, but what makes it worse is that my fiancé is, um, on unexpected work hiatus: i.e. he quit his job. We live together, so my next goal is to make sure my income will cover all the bills.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I (wo)man up and draw some lines in the sand, setting concrete limits, goals and plans.
As silly as it sounds, I’m terrified. I’ve always viewed achieving financial stability as unattainable, almost myth-like. Then again, really working towards it is something I have never tried. Until now.
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