One-Year Blog Anniversary and GIVEAWAY!

Whoa — I've been blogging for a whole year! I didn't tell anyone about this blog for quite a while after I started writing it, so it seems like it's been a shorter amount of time.

I started one year ago by writing about my debt and the steps I was taking to get out of it, and I was pretty embarrassed about the situation I'd gotten myself into — nearly $9,000 in the hole between a credit card, a student loan and some money I owed my mom.

For a long time, I had trouble admitting all that to myself, let alone admitting it to my 600+ closest friends and the vast, anonymous Internet. I was ashamed that I couldn't manage my money and I didn't want my friends to know that I had been barely scraping by before I moved back into my mom's house after college.

But coming clean — to myself, to my family, to my friends (who couldn't have cared less, honestly) and to the Internet — was a vital part of the process for me. It kept me accountable to my goals, and reminded me that all the number-crunching and budget-scribbling was important and worth the effort.

I became debt-free on July 16, 2010 — a mere six months after I made it my top priority. It could have easily taken forever — I could have been in debt for the rest of my life. I couldn't be happier that I've gotten my finances straight and am now able to be financially responsible while having some fun adventures, too.

This blog, and the support I've gotten from so many people through it, has been a huge part of that.

So in celebration of my one-year blog anniversary, I'm going to do a super nerdy giveaway: a hardcover copy of Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover.

This is a simple, straightforward book that taught me all about basic personal finance, including how to create a budget, how to get out of debt, how to build a comfortable level of savings and how to plan for retirement (it's so important to start early!). I can safely say that I wouldn't be where I am financially today if I hadn't read and re-read this book.

I've loaned my copy to several friends, all of whom have said they learned so much from it, and it's currently on loan to a co-worker who easily makes double — maybe even triple — my salary. We all like to think that the more money you make, the better off you'll be financially, but oftentimes mo' money = mo' problems, and my co-worker has told me The Total Money Makeover is exactly what he needed to read.

Enough about the book — here's how to win! 

Just leave a comment on this post by 5:00 pm PST on Wednesday, March 16, telling me one thing you'd like to do in your life. Do you want to visit a certain city or country? Fly in a helicopter or become a certified scuba diver? Whatever you want to do, big or small, let me know and you're entered to win. Even if you don't particularly want the book, you can always sell it on eBay and use the money for a few burritos from Chipotle — with guac.

I've updated the comment settings, so you should be able to leave a comment without creating an account! Be sure to leave your name so I know who to get in touch with. I'll randomly choose a winner and announce it on Thursday.

Aaaand if this prize is a little too nerdy and nobody enters? Then more burritos and guac for me!

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Back to the beginning

Last month, I used my credit card for the first time since I began to pay it off in January 2010. It had been void of any activity since May, when I paid it off completely. No purchases, no payments. Just sittin' in my wallet.

I used it for my purchases on the cruise — drinks, gratuity, drinks, gifts, drinks, etc. It all came out to about $300, and it was worth every penny.

I was so relieved to pay it all off as soon as I got home, to see that balance drop back to its rightful $0.00. It reminded me of how I started all my trouble with credit four years ago at this exact time of year.

When I began Googling around for a student credit card in December 2006, I was broke but had good intentions. I had realized that after paying for tuition and books that quarter, I wouldn't be able to afford Christmas presents for my family. (My parents would be horrified to find out that this is why I signed up for my first credit card, but if it hadn't been this, it probably would have been something else down the line.)

With a meager income and no credit history, I snagged a student credit card with a $1,000 limit and six months of 0% interest. I totally thought I would buy the presents, pay off the balance before the 0% interest rate expired and be free and clear. Ha!

My roommates and I booked a cruise around that same time so we could set sail for our spring break in March 2007. Guess how I paid for my share of the cost? Yup, with that shiny new credit card. My guess is that tacked about $600 onto my balance. Stupid, stupid.

From there, the whole debacle is a blur. I always paid at least the minimum payment on time, and I was rewarded for my good behavior with an ever-increasing line of credit. I celebrated with an ever-increasing balance to match. I figured that as long as I stayed under my limit and made my minimum payments, I was fine.

I should note here that my interest rate jumped from 0% to 19.99% after the six-month introductory period. That's when the credit card company began to make unholy amounts money off of me, and also when I began to drown.

I would use the actual money I earned at my job to buy frivolous stuff, like clothes, then use my credit card when I realized I didn't have enough money in my checking account for slightly more important things, like groceries. I was spending all the money I had, then spending more that I didn't have. And I could never make a dent in my balance that wouldn't be eclipsed by the interest that was tacked on the next month. "Vicious cycle" is the overused-but-applicable term here.

This continued until September 2009, when I moved back into my mom's house and started my first real job. I planned to throw as much money as I could toward my credit card debt (just over $6,500) and pay it off completely before I moved into a place of my own. I figured it would be a piece of cake since I would be making much more money than I had made from my part-time job in college and I would have far fewer expenses to cover.

It probably would have worked out that way if I had made a priority of paying down the card and if I had paid more attention to how much of my income I was spending on happy hours, clothes, etc. It turns out that if you don't manage your money very well to begin with and tend to spend it rather than budget and save it, having more money only means you'll spend more money. Huh.

I finally got my finances straight in January 2010, and the rest is history (you can read about it here and here). I feel like I've come full circle in that four years later, I'll be buying Christmas presents for my family with money that I actually have, and I've recently enjoyed a cruise that was funded by me, not some credit card company.

The story of how I got into debt is full of coulda-shoulda-woulda regrets and hindsight-is-20/20 "d'oh!" memories. Would I go back to 2006 and shake little 19-year-old Devon by the shoulders before she started down the destructive path of irresponsible credit use? After everything that I've learned from this experience, no.

Luckily, I never got into too terrible of a financial situation and I was able to get myself out of debt fairly quickly. I never lost a car, a home or the ability to attend college due to my debt. It didn't negatively affect any friendships, romantic relationships or my family members. And I actually have a sterling credit history, as I never missed a payment or exceeded my credit limit.

But being in debt did hold me back in some ways. When I graduated from college, I was very anxious to get a job because I knew I needed the money to make my monthly credit card payment. I didn't have the luxury of taking time off to travel, do an unpaid internship or just figure myself out before jumping headfirst into the job market. I had no savings to fall back on. The credit card company essentially owned me.

I particularly remember finding an intriguing internship with a community newspaper on Molokai, a small Hawaiian island, shortly after graduation. The six-month internship began in August and paid very little, but did provide room and board. No offense to my fellow journalism grads, but most every aspiring reporter starts out with a position in some little Nowheresville town to pay their dues. I figured why not do this in Nowheresville, Hawaii?

The editor of the Molokai paper contacted me by saying that my application stood out, and that he'd like to schedule a phone interview. But first he wanted to know: Could I not only survive, but thrive on only $40 a week on a remote island where I'm unfamiliar with the people and the culture?

The dream died at "$40 a week." Sure, I could survive on that if I only had to worry about feeding myself and such. But my minimum monthly payment alone was something like $150 at that point. Plus, my student loan repayment would kick in midway through the internship, tacking another $50 (minimum) on to the Money I Owed Other People each month. Goodbye sunshine, coconuts and sandy beaches.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

Molokai may have never happened for me anyway, or maybe I would have hated it there, but the point is that my debt held me back from a big adventure. It dictated the decisions I made, and all because I spent a bunch of money I didn't have, then had to pay it all back — plus interest! — for the privilege.

You'll notice that I've been pursuing all kinds of adventures — including some costly ones — since I've become debt-free and accumulated savings. I've been able to skydive, run races, register for a half marathon, book a weekend conference, go on a cruise, plan to buy a digital SLR camera and realistically dream about traveling to faraway places — all because I've prioritized adventures and new experiences over buying a bunch of stuff that I don't need and will forget about anyway.

I don't know if I would have realized that adventure is one of the things I really want in life had I not been hit so hard with some things I really don't want: slavery to creditors and desperation between each paycheck. No, thanks. I choose freedom, financial and otherwise. I choose the bananas.

And I wouldn't trade that realization for the world.

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Winding down 2010, gearing up for 2011

Dear blog,

I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you. But guess what? After a year and three months of living with my mom, I'm house hunting!

Finally!!!!!

When I was in the midst of paying off all my debt, I wrote a list of specific financial goals — ones that I needed to accomplish before I could move out. I'm happy to report that I have only half of one goal left to cross off, and that is moving out itself:

1. Pay off my credit card by my birthday.
2. Pay off my student loan by July 1. (OK, technically it was July 16.)
3. Move out of my mom's house by the end of January 2011 with no debt and more than $10,000 in the bank.

(A year ago, the last half of the last goal seemed impossible, but here I am. It wasn't easy to accomplish, but everything has been worth it.)

Looking for a place to live is exciting, but time-consuming and a bit stressful. Mostly exciting. I'll let you know when my future roommates and I nail down a place and get the details worked out.

Until then, posting on Answering Oliver will be light since I'm a perfectionist and like to spend way too much time writing these posts. It's a sickness.

In the meantime, you can keep an eye on my running blog, where it's much easier on my psyche to throw up quick posts that I don't have to obsess over. Plus, I'll have tons of stuff to write about there since I need to start training for my next 5K and another little race that I'm registered for...

Oh, yes. It's happening.

I'm ridiculously excited for 2011. The half marathon is just one of many adventures I have planned. Let's finish 2010 strong, and then go get it!!

G.O.O.D. Tip #1: Get organized — write everything down

The first tip in my amateur getting-outta-debt series is simple:

1. Get organized — write everything down

Find a piece of paper and a pen. Make a list of all of your debts: credit cards, student loans, bank loans, car loans, mortgages, money you owe friends or family members or dealers, etc. (Just kidding about the dealers, but no judgments here.) Once you have a complete list, do some digging and figure out exactly how much you owe on each debt.

If you're like me, you won't know this off the top of your head — I was too afraid to look at the big, scary numbers — so pull up your online records, rescue your crumpled statements from the back of a cluttered drawer, call your parents and ask how much you owe them (I guarantee you they know!), whatever it takes.

When I took this first step in January, my list looked something like this:

• Credit card: $4,700
• Student loan: $2,800
• Mom: $1,200 (for those pesky minivan repairs)

Yikes. Looking back, I recall that once I had these figures, I did not add them up — and that's a good thing. These debts were overwhelming enough individually; having the grand total burned into my brain would have only made me feel more hopeless. For your own mental health, it's best to attack each debt one at a time.

Your plan of attack will start with a written budget. At first, I created a budget in Excel (which is how my mom manages hers), but I quickly grew tired of fiddling with cells and formulas. It didn't help that I use Excel all day at work; using it at home only made me feel like I was still at work. (Also, my laptop died around this time and I lost the budget template that I had created. Blast.)

It turns out that good ol' pen and paper worked just fine for my obsessive-compulsive mind. I like to be able to scribble my budget down quickly, cross things out, highlight things, staple receipts to the paper, etc. It works for me; you can do whatever the heck works for you.

First, list your monthly non-debt expenses. These should be essential, recurring expenses that are about the same every month. For example, mine were:

• Cell phone
• Car insurance
• Gasoline
• Medical (prescription)
• "Rent" (my mom charges me $65/month to offset her food and utility bills. Yup.)
• Groceries/toiletries (I buy some of my own food, too, just for kicks)

If you're not living with your parents, you'll also need to include:

• Rent or mortgage payment
• Utilities (water/sewer/garbage, electricity, gas, etc.)
• Cable/Internet
• Home phone (please cancel immediately — welcome to 2010)

And don't forget miscellaneous expenses:

• Other insurance (if not automatically taken out of your paycheck)
• Other transportation (bus pass, parking permit, etc.)
• Anything else that I'm not thinking of!

Once you have your list of recurring monthly payments, add 'em all up. Subtract your total monthly payments from your monthly income. The amount of money you have left over is the amount you could be using to pay off your debt.

However, I had another category in my budget that was quite essential to my getting-outta-debt success:

• Going out/having fun

We've all gone on diets. When you try to restrict yourself too much, you only end up binging on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (my drug of choice) by the end of the third day. Then you feel like you've ruined your diet, and you give up completely. If you don't allow yourself to have some fun, you will probably fail.

I used this category as an "allowance" for myself. Each month, I gave myself a small amount of money to blow however I wanted. I was able to go to bars, go out to dinner, buy an inexpensive item of clothing here and there, whatever — but I only used the cash that I had allotted for that purpose, and once my cash was gone, I didn't spend any more.

You will probably be the designated driver for a while. Just sayin'.

This will also help eliminate mindless spending with your debit or credit card. That's what got me into such deep trouble in the first place — lots of little (and some big) purchases that added up over time.

Now we'll look at where you'll be throwing the difference between your income and your monthly expenses. Next to your list of debts, make note of the minimum monthly payments.

My foggy-memory version:

• Credit card: $4,700 — min. payment: $150
• Student loan: $2,800 — min. payment: $50
• Mom: $1,200 — min. payment: $0 (a mother's love!)

Along with your monthly expenses, you'll continue paying these monthly payments. But, here's the fun part! Pick a debt that you want to pay off first. Dave Ramsey suggests that you pay off the smallest debt first; this will give you a relatively quick "win" and motivate you to keep going (imagine the equivalent of losing 5 lbs. in the first week of a diet — woo-hoo!).

I followed his advice and chose to pay my mom back first. Then, I would attack my high-interest credit card. Since the interest rate was so outrageously high compared to the rate on my student loan, I decided to whittle down the balance quickly, thus reducing the interest charges as well. Last but not least, my student loan would bite the dust.

Let's say for the sake of example that I came up with $500 a month to throw at debt (I was actually able to come up with more; yay for living at home!). I would pay $150 on the credit card, $50 on the student loan, and have $300 left to give my mom each month. I would do that every month until she was paid in full. Then I would continue to pay $50 on my student loan each month, while throwing $450 at the credit card until it was paid in full. Then I would throw the full $500 at the student loan until it was paid off. This is Dave Ramsey's debt snowball plan — click to read more.

Since I knew how much I could afford to throw at my debt each month, I was able to make a "debt payment schedule" — basically, I created a chart that helped me project when each debt would be paid off. This was another motivating feature of my plan (and another Dave Ramsey trick) — I caught a glimpse of freedom in the very near future! I highly suggest you make your own debt payment schedule.

My projections were almost dead-on, too (keep in mind I get paid twice a month; my projections were based on which payday would yield the final payoff):

• Mom projection: March 15; Actual: March 15
• Credit card projection: May 15; Actual: May 15 (read about it here)
• Student loan projection: July 1; Actual: July 16 (read about it here)

These projections turned into solid, written goals. I was in a competition with myself to meet these deadlines, which motivated me to stick to my budget.

OK, that was a really long first tip. But once you have everything written down — your debts, an accurate budget and a debt payment schedule — you have a solid framework for starting to pay off your debt. It was so key for me; all I had to do was follow the plan once I had it in writing.
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The next tip will be an exciting one! Be on the lookout for G.O.O.D. Tip #2: Get angry — raise a little hell
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Disclaimer: I'm not a financial expert by any means, and the only proof I have that these tips work is the fact that they worked for me. I don't claim that these tips are new or original; I learned how to get out of debt from Dave Ramsey, and I will link to his Web site on several occasions, as well as other Web sites as needed. I simply add my personal experiences along with these tips in the hopes of motivating and/or helping others to get out of debt. Cheers!

Getting the ball rolling

I'm no financial expert, but I successfully got myself out of debt — with help, of course. Not help in the form of money, but in the form of support and wisdom.

I have to thank my mom, who sat me down and set me straight. I have to thank Dave Ramsey, whose books and simple get-outta-debt plan guided me through the process. And how could I forget my dad? His college graduation gift to me was a check for a nice chunk of money, along with two of Dave Ramsey's books, Financial Peace and The Total Money Makeover. The accompanying "Con-GRAD-ulations!" card said, "Please read the books before you decide what to do with the money!"

I cashed the check. I did not read the books until seven months later. Pretty dumb for a recent college grad with a shiny, new degree, huh?

Without all this support, I don't know if I would have had the knowledge, motivation or strength to get rid of my debt so quickly. I needed people. I needed advice.

The information I've learned over the course of this experience is simple. There is no secret method of getting out of debt. While reading The Total Money Makeover, I thought, "You mean getting out of debt and taking control of your finances is really this simple? This is all you have to do? Why didn't anyone tell me this before?!?"

(I'll say here, as I have before, that simple does not mean easy. For example, turning down a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie is a simple act, but — at least for me — it is not easy!)

No matter how simple it is,  nobody taught me how to manage my finances before I actually started earning money. Once I had my own money, I got into a bad habit of spending frivolously without budgeting or saving.

Luckily, learning how to manage your money is a better-late-than-never kind of thing. If you're in financial trouble, the only thing preventing you from getting out of it is you.

Think about it: Every month, you decide where your money goes. If you keep track of it, you can make it go where you want it to go rather than later wonder where it went.

If you're in debt and you want to get out, your priority will be throwing as much money as possible at your debt. All you have to do is decide.

For anyone that may need them, I'll be posting some tips for getting out of debt in the coming weeks. I thought they needed a catchy name, so at first I thought of "Getting Outta Debt Tips" — or G.O.D. Tips. Since I usually try to avoid a smiting from above, I went with "Getting Out Of Debt Tips" — G.O.O.D. Tips.

Whether these G.O.O.D. Tips are actually GOOD or not is up to you. If they help you or someone you know, great! If you couldn't care less about personal finance, don't read 'em.

Again, I'm not a financial expert by any means, and the only proof I have that these tips work is the fact that they worked for me. But I know from experience that when you're sitting in a hole of debt — whether you're $500 deep with a retail credit card or $50,000 deep with a student loan — anything helps, and once you decide to turn things around, the only place you have to go is up.

Before and after

Speaking of how quickly things change... this is a photo of downtown Seattle at 8 a.m. on Friday:

The city was in a cloud. I work near the top of my building, so the view outside was pretty freaky. I couldn't see a thing — just dense, white fog enveloping everything. It lasted a couple of hours, too.

By lunchtime the fog had cleared up, but it was still pretty cold out. As I walked over to the market to grab lunch, I zipped up my fleece all the way to my chin.

By the time I walked back to the office, the sun was out and I was sweating.

Welcome to Seattle.

I paid off the last of my student loan on Friday, July 16.

In mid-January, I was in an all-encompassing fog of debt. Now, six months later, the fog has dissipated and the sky is clear. I got rid of all of my credit card debt, my student loan debt and even an embarrassing debt care of the Seattle Public Library — a 60-cent fine.

It's a great feeling to transfer a big chunk of my paycheck into my savings account rather than send that chunk out to a credit card company or to the U.S. Department of Education. (I actually didn't mind sending money to the latter — it made it possible for me to go to UW and get a great education. Thanks!)

It's also strange to be completely in the clear. It's the same feeling I would get after turning in a huge paper or taking a difficult exam in college — I was done and should have been relieved, but instead felt lingering anxiety about the outcome. I had spent all that time working toward something, then didn't know quite what to do after I was done.

I've mentioned how important it is to have set goals; now I just need to focus on my new goal of saving up enough money to move into a place of my own. I'm aiming for, as Dave Ramsey suggests, enough money to cover 6 months of living expenses. That means 6 months' worth of income. That means this next part will take me a while.

My new goal is to move out in January. If I stick to the new plan, I'll have the right amount of money to feel secure on my own. I'll be able to be home with my family for the holidays, then start fresh in 2011. Also, it'll be about a year from when I started this Big Debt Payoff.

I'll look back on 2010 as the year I changed the course of my whole life. It was not always fun and not always easy, but certainly worth the relatively small amount of time it has taken to make my remaining years that much better.

Patience. Passion. A plan.

Growing food requires a lot of patience. These raspberries will someday be red and juicy, but for now we need to wait — probably several more weeks — before we can enjoy them.

Once they ripen, we'll need to cover the plants with netting to keep the birds and squirrels from getting to them first. This is a lesson learned from experience, a piece of wisdom that comes from finding that your much-anticipated fruit was stripped away before you even had a chance to taste it.

But after the planting, the watering, the waiting and the netting comes the big payoff: a bounty of fresh raspberries for the rest of the summer. There is a point when it seems like if you pick five on a Tuesday, there will be 10 more on Wednesday. A particularly sunny day causes the plants to explode with berries. It is sweet, and certainly worth the wait.

Patience is only part of the deal. To end up with the fruit, you also need passion and a plan. Your passion for fresh raspberries will see you through the days when it seems like they'll never ripen — it will remind you that everything will be worth it in the end. Your plan will help you outsmart the wily critters that are desperate to get the goods.

Patience. Passion. A plan.

I was thinking about how important it is to have patience when I realized that the other two pieces are just as crucial for achieving any goal.

Take, for example, my goal of becoming debt-free. Before I started my Big Debt Payoff of 2010, I lacked all three of these elements. I was content with living paycheck-to-paycheck, just barely scraping by — I had no passion. My debt seemed insurmountable, like it would take years to pay off — I had no patience. And I was afraid to take a hard look at the numbers, to figure out exactly what I needed to do to free myself — I had no plan.

I'm only now realizing that during these past six months, somewhere along the way, I gained all three.

As many things in life do, it must have begun with passion. I became angry with myself for letting my debt spiral out of control. I recognized that everything could have been different if only I had made the right decisions — if only I had taken the time to consider the consequences.

I was also sick of pretending that everything was OK. I purposefully blinded myself to the truth because I was afraid of what I would see if I opened my eyes. Once I got the courage to open my eyes, I came up with a plan.

Writing everything down was huge. I figured out how much I owed and to whom. I wrote down all of my monthly expenses and came up with how much money I could put toward debt payments each month. I wrote down a schedule of payments and discovered that if I followed the schedule, I would be completely debt-free in July.

Debt-free in July? I was shocked that I could dig myself out of this mess so quickly. Only six months until freedom? Yeah, I have the patience for that.

The schedule — the plan — got me through it. It was a road map to my goal. I had already done the hard work of deciding what to pay and when. Now all I had to do was do it.

Dave Ramsey, the financial guru behind The Total Money Makeover, is big on having written goals. He likes to quote Zig Ziglar, who said, "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."

Without my written road map, I would have failed. I know that because I have tried and failed before. I had no goals, I ran out of patience and my passion dwindled. I aimed at nothing, and I hit it.

Passion inspired me to come up with a plan. The plan empowered me to be patient. Everything worked together to help me get to where I am today.

I know this concept is not the end-all, be-all for achieving goals. It is simply what worked for me. Having patience, passion and a plan is not easy. You can try to have all these things and still, sometimes, your humanness will get in the way.

I struggle with being patient every day. I am good at being passionate and setting goals, but patience is not my strong point. It is essential to be patient, though, whether you're stuck in line at the post office or working on a stressful project. I try to remember that there are certain things I have to do, and I can either do them happily, with patience, or unhappily, with rudeness. It's all about making a choice.

I have been patient with my Big Debt Payoff, and I'll see the fruits of that effort in July, when my last debt payment finally shrinks to $0.00. Maybe around that time I'll be able to enjoy some raspberries, too.

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Lighter things

Last night I was going to write about patience — how important it is in nearly every aspect of life, and how I'm working on practicing it more often.

But then Losing It With Jillian came on TV. Love that show. Amazing.

Tonight I was going to write about the very, very near end to my Big Debt Payoff of 2010. I owe $685.78 on my student loan, and that's... it. But I feel like the end of that journey deserves a longer, more reflective post, and my mind isn't in that mode right now.

(I just wrote out my budget for July. It was fun. I'm not being sarcastic, either, because I actually love writing my budgets! It's just like how I love writing HTML and solving symbolic logic equations. Blame the OCD.)

Instead, I decided to let my mind take a break from numbers and from the things I want to work on about myself. I'll cover those in excruciating detail in due time.

For now, I'll settle for something that makes me smile every time I look at it, that epitomizes everything I always thought my early twenties would be, and that reminds me to savor the sweet things in life, like a long, laughter-filled evening with a good red and even better friends...

For the win

Victory is sweet.

I actually paid off my credit card in full on April 30 and made a small interest payment in mid-May ($2.40!), but this is the first time I've gotten this email alert with the most beautiful balance in the world: $.00.

I wrote here about my struggle with debt and my plan to get out of it for good. In January, I actually started being smart with my money and wrote a budget, plus a few major goals:

1. Pay off my credit card by my birthday.
2. Pay off my student loan by July 1.
3. Move out of my mom's house by the end of January 2011 with no debt and more than $10,000 in the bank.

It feels so good to cross off my first goal, especially since it means that I have gotten rid of something that has been a drag on my life for four years. After spending carelessly for so long and ignoring the mounting interest each month, I finally woke up and got mad enough to do something about my debt.

I didn't just write a budget. I crafted a plan of attack.

And although I've lived on less these past five months, I can't say that I miss my spendthrift ways. I used to waste tons of money on eating out, going to bars (yay, college!) and buying clothes (with my irresistible employee discount), and then wonder where all my money went. Now I take a small amount of cash from the ATM each payday for fun stuff, and I make it last until the next payday. In fact, oftentimes I have cash to spare when the next payday comes.

(I should note here that it helps to live 30 minutes away from all your friends and to wake up at 5 a.m. five days a week — you won't have much time or energy for expensive fun.)

I've also lost 10 pounds since January. I attribute this to the fact that I have been eating less, eating better, drinking (wayyy) less, getting more sleep and getting more exercise than I ever was during college.

Oh! And I started contributing 6% to my 401(k)! I've got 42 years of compound interest on my side, baby.

Compound interest is so sexy when it's working for you, not against you.

Aaaand I've been reading too many personal finance books. Good night.

On my 22nd year

Today I am 23 years old.

My 22nd year was such a transitional period. I graduated from college. I got two jobs, and quit two jobs. I had my heart broken... twice. I finally got rid of the debt that has plagued me for four years. I moved back home.

The whole time, I wondered what I want to do with my life and what kind of person I want to be. Still working on those ones!

I read some life-changing books. I became addicted to memoirs, continuing my longtime fascination with others' lives: Barbara Walters, Helen Keller, Martin Fletcher, Jeff Henderson, Rosie O'Donnell, Sam MacDonald, Kathy Griffin and more.

I plucked a book called The Simple Living Guide from my mom's bookshelf and it changed my outlook. It began with this quote from Henry David Thoreau:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life..."

It's all about living intentionally, with purpose — not perfection. It has helped me become at least a little calmer, a little more patient. And I appreciate the time I have alone.

Last week, on a clear, sunny evening, I walked around my neighborhood with no particular route in mind. No destination, no time limit, no cell phone. I walked to be alone with my thoughts, to breathe the fresh air and observe everything I miss outside when I spend all day on the 18th floor of a Seattle high-rise.

I wandered into an area of the neighborhood that I'd never seen before and kept walking. I said hello to couples out walking their dogs and a mom who was landscaping part of her front yard. I watched kids play basketball and skateboard. I noticed how tall the trees were, how many birds and bugs were out and about, and — to my surprise — how you can see clear out to the mountains in one area.

It may sound silly, but I felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole and ended up in an entirely new world. I headed home only when it became too cold and dark to continue.

"Each moment is truly a miracle, but this can only be so if humans are willing to slow down, to turn off the lights, to be silent, to listen, to see, to wonder... Yes, revel in the fireflies. And live calmly, so that they may revel in you as well."

—Kirk S. Nevin

Money troubles, and why I love my mom

My mom has influenced me in many ways that I'll always be grateful for. She instilled in me, early on, a lifelong love of reading. Most recently, she's given me the invaluable gift of straight talk.

In January, I mentioned to her that I would like to move into an apartment with a friend of mine in April. She sat me down and showed me how to create a budget in Excel, and how to figure out how all of my expenses would stack up next to my income. The problem was (and is) that I have a student loan. And also something that I had failed to mention to her — make that, had purposefully hidden from her — credit card debt.

Without these debts, I could have been saving up tons of money to use toward striking out on my own. Instead, I was throwing as much money as I could (I thought) toward paying down my credit card debt, while not saving anything and not really keeping track of my frivolous spending.

I broke down and told her about my credit card debt — nearly $5,000, on top of my relatively modest $2,800 student loan balance. She didn't flinch. Instead, she helped me craft a plan to aggressively pay off the debt, and immediately checked out a book from the library for me: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.

I was skeptical about this Dave Ramsey thing. I didn't want to be preached to about money (although, obviously, I needed to be). But my mom put the book right in front of me and asked me to read it. With two hours of free time each day on the bus, how could I not?