Mai

I could do much better at this! I save a considerable amount of money, but it almost is negated by my lack of control. I think I forget I set aside to save, then I overestimate how much I actually have.

So here’s some full disclosure..
After taking out 401(k) and savings, I have $750 to live on every two weeks.

There’s a big payment on both of those two weeks. There’s a $300 student loan payment and a $350 rent payment. Then of course, there’s a cell phone bill and car insurance due on one of those weeks ($150) and an internet access bill and an electric bill due on the other week($75).

So that means:
for the first paycheck of the month I have: $300.
for the second paycheck I have: $325.

And that is going to cover groceries and gasoline plus any unneeded spending.

But also consider that I am putting away about $460 for 401(k) and $510 into savings.

The problem is that I blow those savings because i overspend. So the goal is to truly learn to live on the $1,500 I earn, and not even ack $970 I am putting away.

My challenge is to payoff my student loans by the end of 2008. That gives me 16 months. It’s quite ambitious.

I owe about 14,837. According to the calcuator, I would have to pay about $958 a month.

But I gave myself a good out. If I don’t pay it back by the end of 2008, I would have to charge myself the interest on the loan. As in I will have to set that money aside. At that point, it would be a pretty small number, but any sort of saving is good. So either way I win. If I pay it back then I’m done, but if I’m don’t, the punishment provides small benefits too.

I am a writer currently. I work for a newspaper. I did freelance for a few publications when I was unemployed. But it was hardly enough to live on. The goal is to get to the point where I can.