Great read

Link to a great article about a girl who has already figured out the benefits of a debt-free life before ever even accumulating debt. Smart girl!

http://static.dispatch.com/www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/17/hog-wildnot-this-girl.html

Debt inventory and initial goals as of 16 May 2010

As of today, 16 May 2010, I have three kinds of outstanding debt (credit cards do not count as they are paid off in full every month).

1. Mortgage at 5.00% interest (refinanced in Feb 2010): approx. $104 K
2. Student loans at 2.125% interest: approx. $18.5 K
3. Car at 4.75% interest: approx. $8 K

Total debt: approx. $130.5 K

Goal #1: Pay off car within the next 12 months or less.

Goal #2: Pay extra on my mortgage to build more equity, currently paying $100 extra each month. Just switched my homeowner's insurance policy to a new company to save approx. $130 each year.

Goal #3: Put additional money in the HSA account to fund the rest of my deductible for this year.

Goal #4: Get 3-6 months of expenses in savings for an emergency fund.

I think that's enough for a start.

Welcome

My new blog will focus on my own efforts to create a debt-free life and document my attempts to do just that. Many of you may be on the same path. By sharing my own experiences of how I am striving to get out of debt, I hope to inspire others to do the same. If you have tips and wisdom of your own to share, please do. I'm not perfect and may make mistakes along the way, but am quite certain that I will be successful in my endeavors. I still hope to create a debt-free scholarship fund at some point in the future, so look out for news about that.

Enjoy reading!