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For the most part, I have completely embraced the concept of living like no one else.  I don’t feel envious when my neighbor across the street comes home with a brand new Mercedes SUV, and I don’t mind not having the newest clothes or shopping with coupons, even if some people don’t think its ‘cool’.  I feel enlightened and like I am making the ‘right’ decisions in a society while a lot of American’s make the wrong ones when it comes to money.   But, despite all that, there are still just a few people out there in the world that I want to Impress, and for some reason that includes making them think that I have Money.  (more…)

Frugal Dad asked his readers whether we would sell all of our stuff to be debt free.  My assets don’t add up to anywhere close to what I owe, so that question was a no brainer for me- bring the Uhaul and load it up and write me the check!  However, this got me thinking about just how far I would go to be debt free… (more…)

A lot of people that I know are struggling.  They are in their mid-twenties, with college degrees (from good 4 year colleges) or higher.  Some live at home with their parents.  Others live paycheck to paycheck with no health insurance.  None of us are married, none of us own houses, and a lot of us don’t know exactly what our career paths or future goals are.  Compare this to our parents… almost all of our parents were married and homeowners by the time they were our ages; in fact, most of our parents were younger than we are now when we were born.  A lot of people from this baby boomer generation don’t seem to understand what is wrong with us- why we can’t get our acts together, settle into careers and follow the accepted ‘path’ along life’s road.   (more…)

When you are a long way from getting out of debt, like we are, then it can seem like an insurmountable task.  When I look at my progress bars, and see I am less than 25% of the way through paying off the smaller loan, it is frustrating.  Especially when I consider how much money I am throwing at this debt.  It starts to seem like I am never going to get out.  So, how do I manage the frustration, and keep myself from giving up on my debt repayment plan?   (more…)

The New Year is quickly approaching.  It is a time for making New Years Resolutions, and evaluating the resolutions we made last year to see how successful we were.  Although it is somewhat arbitrary to pick this date in January to do it, setting goals is always a good thing, and so once again this year I will be making my mental list of things to accomplish over the next twelve months.   (more…)

Although frugality is becoming a bit more common, what with the Economic Collapse of the entire U.S., there is still a large camp of people who think that it is strange to be extremely frugal.  There are people who look down on coupon-cutters (my most hated CVS cashier included) and those who will make comments about driving really old cars or shopping at thrift stores, or some of the other tactics that allow us to cut our budget.  Even one of my own relatives has come right out and said that he thinks me and DF are ‘weird’ about money.  And, quite frankly, I am very proud to be weird! (more…)

Inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Poem The Debt, Talk About Debt held a contest a little while back to find this centuries Debt Poem.  Although I’m a little late to enter the contest, I was inspired by reading some of the many great entries over there, and so I decided to write my own little ode- A Law Students Lament.  I hope you enjoy! (more…)

In many ways, I am lucky, because my DF is completely on the same page as I am about getting out of debt.  We both want to pay down our loans aggressively, and we are both willing to make the sacrifices necessary to do so.  However, even if you don’t have a supportive partner or if you aren’t married, it is much easier (and more fun) to accomplish your debt repayment or savings or other financial goals with someone else.   (more…)

My debt consolidation officially went through, so now all of my student loans are with 1 company except for 1 private loan.  It’s a little scary to see such a huge number in my consolidation account ($113K).  It seemed a bit more manageable when it looked like $8500 there and $10,000 there.   (more…)

When I see how much money DF and I owe, sometimes it is really easy to have regrets.  Neither of us are using our advanced degrees, so when we make $1000+ payments every month, that fleeting thought goes through my head that it would be so nice if that money could go toward a house or a savings account or something that will give us more value now.   (more…)