Last year I made a list of 101 Things in 1001 Days.  That is, a list of 101 specific goals that I want to accomplish in 1001 days.  Here’s my list.  It has been a huge motivator for me in the last year, and I’m definitely planning on starting another list as soon as my 1001 days are up!  (Want to start your own list of 101 Things in 1001 Days project?  Look here to get started!)

How can just sitting down and making a list of your goals really help you to start living the life you want?

Writing your goals down will help you get a clear idea of exactly what it is you want to accomplish.  Putting it down on paper or the computer will help focus your I think you’ll be surprised at how much of an effect it has on your motivation when you are always thinking about what you want to accomplish.

Goal Setting Tips

• Make your goals specific; write down  exactly what it is that you want to do.
• Make them achievable.
• Break your goals into categories.  My categories are: finances, health, hobbies, travel, work, learning, and personal growth/relationships.
• Give yourself a time frame for accomplishment.
• Set goals that YOU want to achieve.  Don’t make goals just because someone else thinks it’s a good idea.
• Keep your list handy, so you will be reminded of your goals.  (Remember: Out of sight, out of mind!)
• Revise your list if necessary.  I’ve changed quite a few of my original goals since I first made my list.  I realized that I didn’t really want to do some of them, or they just weren’t realistic goals.  Doing this is okay

How to Make Goals Work for You

• Visualize yourself achieving your goal.
• Update your progress often.
• Tell people about it!
• Map out your way to achievement.  Making a plan for your goals will really help.
• Celebrate your accomplishments!
• Just Do It.  Sometimes you just have to get tough with yourself.

What Now?

My challenge for you is to sit down and list your goals.  Make plans for achieving them, and get excited about it!  Feel free to share some of your goals here.  And feel free to ask questions.  Good luck, and have fun!

Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Popularity: 67% [?]

At the beginning of this year I opened a high-yield savings account, something that has been a goal of mine for a long time. After much research on the best high-yield savings programs, I chose to open my account with ING Direct. One of the reasons I chose ING was because of their excellent customer service reviews and their great referral program.

I got $25 free when I opened my ING account with at least $250.

Once you open your ING account, you can then get $10 for each person you refer that starts their account with at least $250.  This referral program works for either the ING Orange savings account, or the ING Electric Orange checking account.

The current APY’s are as follows:

• ING Orange Savings - 3.0% APY
• ING Electric Orange Checking - 3.40% APY

If you’d like to get a referral for the free $25, just leave a comment with your preferred email.

(Please note:  don’t type your exact email, otherwise bots will pick it up and you’ll start getting spammed!  It should look something like johndoe @ youremailserv dot whatever)

Need more information?  Check out this post at Get Rich Slowly, or go straight to the ING Direct website.

Popularity: 76% [?]

Last month I felt paralyzed by my debt. I felt like I was getting nowhere.  I was worried and stressed out all the time.  I had over $20,000 of student loans entering repayment, and a monthly budget that was already stretched to the max.  After recalculating my budget and making a few cuts here and there I would be able to make all of my minimum payments, with a measly $50 extra to put towards my credit card debt.  Things were not looking good.

This happens to everyone at some point. The situation:  You’ve been paying off as much as you can towards your debt every month, and you feel like you should be making progress. Instead, you feel like you’re getting nowhere. Like me, you feel completely defeated by your debt.

This is probably the hardest part of getting out of debt. At some point, you’re just going to want to throw in the towel. That won’t make your debt go away, and it certainly won’t help. 

Here are some ideas:

Have a goal – Want to buy a home someday? Take a trip around the world? Whatever your goal is, keep it in mind.  I like to keep pictures of my goals near my desks at work and at home.  They are a good reminder that what you’re doing today is helping you reach your goal even faster!

Visualize – Think ahead- imagine yourself as being completely debt free! Calculate how much you’re paying towards your debt every month, and imagine being able to put all of that towards your goals each month!

Reward yourself – Now, when I say this I don’t mean to go and spend $200 on a trip to the spa. Treat yourself to something small, but something that you can take time to enjoy. Important Note: this tip only works for some people. I don’t do it because I don’t have the greatest self control when shopping. 

Switch to the Debt Snowball Method – If you’re not using this method already, it will work great for boosting your confidence! How does it work?

1. Order your debts from the lowest balance to the highest balance.

2. Pay the minimum on everything except for your debt with the lowest balance.

3. Pay as much as you can afford to pay towards that lowest balance debt, and before you know it you’re wiping out one debt after another!

How does this method work? While it won’t necessarily save you the most money on interest, it will definitely give you the boost of confidence that you need! Seeing results faster really gets you pumped about paying off your debts, and keeps you going strong on your road to financial freedom!

Here is some more info about Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball Method.

Do Something Extreme to Boost Your Payments- This one is tough to implement, but will definitely have some big results.  That nice new car you got last year: do you really need it?  How about satellite TV?  Your gym membership?  I’m not telling you to get rid of everything, but some things just aren’t necessary.  You have to step back from your situation and ask yourself if you’re truly living within your means.

I realized that my plan was just not working for me. While I was spending less than I make, it was way too close for comfort.   So of course, being the silly person that I am, I chose to do something extreme.

Here’s what I’ve done in the last month to get ahead:

1.  The BF and I postponed our trip to Cali  (I was bummed, but I knew that we would end up spending more than we had saved up.)

2.  I found someone to move into my bedroom, and I will move into BF’s bedroom  (I’m fairly sure we won’t end up killing each other, and it will save each of us $115 per month)

3.  I had a rummage sale  (This was definitely a great choice.  We got rid of a lot of our junk we didn’t want anymore, and made a few hundred bucks!)

4. I canceled my membership to the YMCA (I got a good deal through work, but when I can run outside for free it just didn’t make sense to keep paying for the membership.)

And finally,

5.  I SOLD MY CAR  (My precious Honda Civic is gone.  Yes, I cried a little after I sold it, but there will be others.  The worst part was that the guy who bought it was planning on driving it to California.  Dammit!  I was supposed to be the one driving my car to California!  Boo.)

So now I regularly ride the bus for $28 per month, and use my BF’s old junker car to get around when I need to.  I didn’t get to take my nice 2 week vacation to sunny California, but I will survive.

Doing that stuff was difficult, but now I can say that it was totally worth it.  I can easily make all of my monthly payments, and now I have a lot more extra money to put towards my debt!  I paid off my auto loan, and two of my highest interest credit cards since these changes.  I’m on a roll

 I’d like to hear your stories.  What have you done to boost your debt payments?  Was it something extreme?  Let’s hear it!

Popularity: 75% [?]

I recently checked my full FICO score out, and noticed there were 2 delinquencies on my account. I’m very good about paying my bills on time, so I did some digging and found out where they came from.

What happened? Both delinquencies were from my student loan account with Firstmark Services. I have two loans with them which I pay together each month. Last year, before I was totally organized with my loans and finances, I somehow managed to have a 60 day past due balance on the account. My parents had been paying them for me during the months before. We obviously didn’t communicate very well when we made the transition to me paying on the account, and ended up with the late balance.

I realize that these delinquencies could have been avoided had I paid closer attention to my finances. It’s my mistake; one that would stay on my credit report for up to 7 years if I didn’t do something about it. Because I didn’t want that bad mark on my credit report, I decided to make a call to Firstmark.

I spoke with a very nice customer service rep named Erin, and kindly explained the entire situation to her. I also pointed out the fact that we have never had a late payment otherwise. Erin was very helpful, and they were able to retract the delinquencies for BOTH loans as a one time courtesy since my payment history has since been excellent.

So now, thanks to my 3 minute phone call and Erin’s kindness, I have gone from having 2 reported delinquencies to having zero. That was a week or two ago, and now my FICO score has gone up by 27 points! That’s enough to qualify me for much lower interest rates on auto loans or home loans.

The moral of my story is that you should always keep a close eye on your credit reports! If you see something that could be harming your credit, then you need to take action. Even in a case like mine, when the fault lies with you and not the credit company. In most cases, if you have a good payment history, they will help you out. And remember, it never hurts to try!

Popularity: 82% [?]

If you know what your FICO score is, you’re already way ahead of the game. If not, don’t worry, because you’re definitely not alone.

What is a FICO score and why is it so important?

Your FICO score is that magical 3 digit number calculated by Fair Isaac that can have a big impact on your life. Aside from credit cards and loans, it has the power to determine whether or not you will be able to get your own cell phone contract, apartment rental, or even a job. (I wasn’t kidding when I said it was important). If you have a high score, you will likely be approved for more credit accounts with much lower interest rates!

So now that you know what your FICO score is used for, it’s important to know how it’s calculated. Your score can range from 300-850; higher is better. Take a look at this chart; these are the 5 things credit bureaus take into account when calculating your score.

As you can see from the chart, all of us recent college grads are already at a disadvantage. Most of us will have lower scores just because our credit history isn’t long enough. This is why it’s important to make up for that by keeping our amount owed low. The amount owed can also be called your debt to credit limit ratio. Essentially, this is just the percentage of available credit you have used up. So if you have two credit cards with an available limit totaling $10,000 and those cards are carrying a total balance of $5,000 your debt to credit limit ratio is 50%. Some of you may be thinking ‘50% isn’t so bad,” but let me tell you the lower the better. If you can’t pay off your credit cards every month, I would suggest keeping your debt to credit limit ratio below 30% at all times.

How to get your FICO score

It’s important to know your score before you apply for any type of loans, mostly the big important ones like auto or home loans. Getting them is fairly easy, but you will need the general information about your student loans and other debt accounts (usually amounts owed or the name of the lenders).

The best site for your score is the MyFICO website. The site offers quite a few different FICO report products, so you can choose which you want depending on your needs or budget. Unless you’re planning on applying for a home or auto loan, I would recommend going with the most basic report, which you can find here: FICO® Score & Credit Report.

This one gives you your FICO score from one of the three reporting bureaus. It will give you more than enough information and tips on improving your score, if you’re just starting to manage your money and just want to get an idea of where you stand. It’s the most affordable as well, costing only $15.95.

If you’re getting serious about buying a home or a new car, then you may want something a little more in depth. Suze Orman’s FICO® Kit Platinum gives you your FICO reports from all three reporting bureaus (yes, your scores may be different!) It also includes advice on how to make buying a home more affordable, and advice on getting out of debt.

The site offers other cool stuff like score monitoring, FICO forums, and a credit education page that is super helpful. If you want to check out the site, you can find it under my ‘Useful Sites’ tab as FICO Scores/Reports .

Popularity: 88% [?]

10. Don’t waste money on long-distance calls- Before you leave for college, shop around for a cheap cell phone plan that covers all long distance calls, or get on a family plan. Or, if you’re looking for something even cheaper, you can use an online site like Skype, instead of a cell phone! You can also consider using a free instant messaging service to keep in contact with people.

9. Find free events near your college or university- There’s a lot going on, you just might not be looking for it! Most campuses have movie nights, concerts, game nights, etc. These events are usually free, and you may even win free prizes for going.

8. Pack your lunch- This can save you quite a bit of money in the long run. If you’re going to be on a meal plan, which one you choose is just as important. It may take a semester or so to find out how often you take advantage of the cafeteria, so you should remember to find out how many meals you used, and how many you had left, so you can possibly adjust to a cheaper plan for the next semester.

7. Don’t go bar-hopping- Buying drinks out at a bar or restaurant is ridiculously expensive. If you must go out, either drink when you get back or before you go out (this is obvious, but always have a designated driver). If you’re at the liquor store, go with friends and split the cost of the alcohol, or just buy something cheap.

6. Apply, apply, apply- For scholarships and grants, I mean. Believe me, in 4 years you will be so happy that you did. Don’t worry; if you’re already in school it’s not too late! Ask your financial aid office or a professor in your department about scholarship opportunities, or do some research of your own. Fastweb is a great place to search for scholarship opportunities. Remember, every little bit helps!

5. Don’t (over) use credit cards- The only time it’s okay to use a credit card is when you’re paying off the balance in full every month. I would suggest keeping a credit card only for minor purchases, just to build your credit. Use it once or twice a month to buy your groceries, then pay it off.

Also, if you have a credit card, never use them at the ATM. The interest rates for “cash advances” on credit cards are outrageous; usually between 20% to 25%. What’s even worse, if you have a balance on your credit card to pay off, they can save that cash advance so it’s the last amount that gets paid off, so they are charging you the highest interest rate on the cash advance amount for as long as they possibly can.

4. Open an online savings account- They get much better interest rates than regular savings accounts. Most of the highest interest rates can be found at online banks such as Emigrant Direct, E*Trade or ING Direct. Another good thing about these sites is that they have no account minimum, so you can start your account with as much money as you have, even if it’s only $25 or so.

3. Do NOT use your college bookstore- EVER! I cannot emphasize this enough. College bookstores will charge you an arm and a leg for a book that you could easily find somewhere else for much less. There are so many places where you can easily find your required texts for much cheaper. Some of these sites include:

Amazon

Half.com

eBay.com

Facebook Marketplace

And once you’re done with the class, resell any books you don’t want to keep using these same sites! Odds are you will make more money back then just selling them back to your bookstore at the end of the semester.

2. Go without a car- This is another important one. It will save you (or mom and dad) the cost of insurance, parking costs, and any payments you have left on the vehicle. It will also save you the hassle of oil changes and general maintenance.

Need to go to the grocery store? Walk, take the bus, or hitch a ride with a friend.

1. Avoid impulse buys- This is the one thing that really put me under during my freshman year. My $1000 in savings for “food and necessities” was wiped out before the year was over. Just remember: If you don’t need it, don’t buy it!

Photo credit: Jeff Keen

Popularity: 100% [?]

Remember to check out your local Craigslist or Freecycle site today for garage sales or cheap furniture. Odds are you’ll be able to find decent furniture for a low price, maybe even free.

I’m moving at the end of this month, and we will have furnished much of our house for a very low price. This will include two free couches from the previous renter! And I’m getting a really nice big framed mirror from my boyfriend’s roommate; he was going to throw it away!

One of the best ways to score free stuff is to just ask. You would be surprised to find how much people actually throw away because they don’t want to haul it. I remember seeing a leather couch in the dumpster one year at my college!

*Note* For those of you that are grossed out by used furniture, just pick up some upholstery cleaner. It might take you 30 minutes or so to clean it, but hey, it’s better than paying $500 or more for one that probably won’t last that long anyways.

Photo credit: khargrav

Popularity: 99% [?]

It’s that time of year again; the class of 2008 will be getting their degrees and going out into the “real world.” To the graduates, congratulations!

After years of hard work and anticipation, you’ve finally made it! Some of you will go right into the workforce, others may take time off to travel. Whatever you’re doing now is completely up to you! Isn’t the freedom exhilarating?

I graduated just over a year ago, and it hasn’t been easy. I would love to tell all of you that once you’ve graduated, life’s a breeze. But alas, that isn’t so. Let’s face it, the majority of us never had anyone to teach us about personal finance and budgeting in the “real world.”

That’s the main reason that I started this site. I had no clue as to what I should do once I graduated, and it cost me a LOT of money. I didn’t have a good paying job lined up, and had no idea where I stood with my student loans. I ended up living off of credit cards for 9 months, and I’m still trying to pay them off. If I can help others my age avoid this type of situation, then I will consider this site to be a success.

So if you’re a recent graduate, go ahead and take a week or two to gather your marbles. But have a plan. If you don’t already have one, make one! I prefer writing my plan out on paper, but if you prefer an electronic budget then Mint is an excellent tool. (Best of all, it’s free!)

Now I want to hear from you. What is your situation? your plan? your worry? You get the point; I want to make this site as active as possible.

Thanks for reading, and welcome to Money After College!

Photo credit: adobemac

Popularity: 99% [?]