Value of a Dollar

Sorry that it has been a while since I last blogged. Life has been a little crazy around here lately now that the holiday season is in full swing, and the end of the first semester at school is winding down. I was also crazy busy with NaNoWriMo last month, and as such, wasn't really able to sit down and write a blog post.

I did manage to win. It came down to the wire due to my procrastination during Thanksgiving break (SO MUCH PIE), but I finished at around 10:30pm on Sunday, November 30th. That being said, I have not finished the actual book, and so I am now trying to stay disciplined enough to actually finish the durn thing, despite the fact I can see plot holes big enough to swallow the Spruce Goose.

But this blog post is not about writing today. Instead, I am going to write about a much more mundane, though necessary topic: money. Specifically, personal finance. YAY!

To start this off allow me to give a bit of a disclaimer. My father has his doctorate in marketing and finance. He is a businessman through and through. And he did his best to teach me about money and finances. He really did.

I, however, am a notorious creature of comfort. If there is an easier, softer way, I am going to take it. Every time. And so the notion of saving, and living below your means are all concepts I understand and agree with on paper, but when it comes to implementing them, I just couldn't hang.

During my college years, and early twenties, I managed to do some serious damage to my credit and to get my self in a bit of debt. Now, I am not in as much debt as some of my friends, but I really shouldn't be in any debt, since I had no student loans.

I've been forced to take a hard look at some of the issues I've cause with my financial irresponsibility these past couple of weeks. My wife and I began to look at some homes to buy, seeing as our rent is quite a bit more than what the mortgage and taxes and fees would be for a modestly priced home. However, because of my financial irresponsibility buying a house right now is just not feasable because of my credit score.

So, I've begun a budget and a way to pay back all of the debt I owe and to raise my credit score enough that we can move into a home and to begin saving for the future.

I know understand all the lessons my father tried to teach me in regards to money, and I wish I could go back in time and slap my younger self upside the head and tell him to listen to his father and not be so damn irresponsible, but I can't.

So I have just have to learn the lessons I was taught by life and move forward from here. I will be posting updates in my financial journey here, just as a way to keep myself accountable and to keep a record of what I've done, but perhaps someone who is a similar financial situation as I am will come along and it will help them in their financial journey as well.