Who I Am and How I Got Here

In my first post, I really just wanted to give an overview of my current student loans and maybe that was actually more for myself as opposed to you - the readers of this blog. Well, now I am going to tell you a little bit (maybe a lot of bit) about myself.

I'm currently 23 years old, recently graduated from school last May. I currently live in the Northeast, and I will admit that the cost of living does suck here. I'm quickly approaching my first full year of working full time post-graduation! Time definitely flies...when you're having fun...when you're paying off loans. Ha ha - the complete opposite in reality, but don't get me wrong - it's not like I don't stay positive. I try to remain optimistic and enjoy myself as much as possible.

Back to my story...upon graduating, I had already accepted a job offer near my home for $50,000 annual base salary. I was very excited, as I know the job market has been really rough. I attended a private university with a good reputation, I had received a large amount of merit-based scholarships and compared to the few state schools I had looked at offered me much less so the cost of attending was 'only' the difference of a few thousand, and I figured the school's reputation would easily pay for that difference.

I may have ended up being right about school's reputation, and I don't regret my decision at all. I had a great time at college and it was a great experience. I do regret the amount of debt I have taken on, which probably could have been reduced by going to a community college for 2 years and then transferring to a state school for little to nothing.

I was one of those people that just assumed that you had to go to college, you had to get this debt and it just kind of disappears once you graduate and get a job. I just clicked through the loan application and signed my life away, not realizing the consequences. I had nobody to go to ask in my family, nobody had gone to college before me. I just pretended that the debt wasn't there as I took out another loan for each year.  I didn't realize the absolute scale of all the money I was borrowing, or the amount of interest that would be piling up!

But I don't like to dwell on past decisions, and now it's time to execute my plan from where I'm currently at. I absolutely DID want to go to college, and I graduated with a degree with Technology in Business and I'm working at a great company with great people. I hope you will join me on my adventure as I work to eliminate this debt, and maybe we can even share some tips and advice with each other.

Photo Credits for this post: anshustock @ Veezzle

Posted in About Me