Hello from FL!

**MelissaMarie** · 07-20-2006, 12:18 PM

Tell us about yourself. I'm 23 years old. I will be graduating on August 12th with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. I intend on going to grad school a few years from now, just want to take a break and pay down as much debt as I can before I take the graduate school plunge. I work part time for a medical equipment company and will start working full-time upon graduation with the same company. There are no benefits which worries me, but I'm going to look to getting self-insurance. I have 4 credit cards, 3 of which have balances (400, 600, 3800). I have paid those down considerably over the last few months. I also have student loan debt (11,000 dollars worth) that I consolidated last year at 2.875%. Might not seem like too much, but at 23 years old (and I imagine at any age) debt can be overwhelming. I get depressed a lot because I've had a lot of medical problems, but I have paid for all of that on my own, even just making (now 9 dollars an hour) but I used to make only 6.50 an hour. (I am going to negotiate a raise when I start working full-time next month to hopefully minimum 11 dollars an hour, plus commission). My rent is only 300 dollars a month, utilities roughly 185 a month. My car is paid for 100% and is pretty economical... it's still rough though. My boyfriend, whom I have been with for over 2 years and lived with for 2 years isn't bothered by debt. I see this as a potential problem if we ever got married and pooled our finances. This might be an area of my life I have to let go of if I want full financial freedom... we shall see in the coming months.

How did you hear about frugal village? Came up after googling "Big Lots" (one of my favorite stores)

What interests you here? The articles and forums, budgeting. Is interesting to read up on how others are managing their debt and saving money.

Do you know any other members here? No.

How many kids? Ages? None.

Do you own any pets? A dog, shepherd/rottie mix, technically not my dog, but lives with us (boyfriend adopted him 4 years ago, before we met). I also have 5 betta fish. My boyfriend also has a hamster. (We've lived together for 2 years)

Married or single? Committed long-term relationship. It feels like we are married though, have financial problems, have a house we have to upkeep, etc.

Interests and hobbies? Right now, my biggest interest is paying down my debts. I actually have a lot of fun balancing my checkbook. I grew up on thrift stores and the like, and I find that a lot of fun. I buy things all the time at thrift stores for cheap and sell them on Ebay and Amazon (a good example is a tshirt I bought for 3 dollars and sold for more than 100 dollars, a book I bought for 50 cents and sold for 65 dollars). I had two credit cards that were at over 1,000 dollars which have since been paid down to 400 and 600, and the other was maxed out (over limit) at one time at 5,052 and is now down to 3,800... I do this with money from my job and money from Ebay/Amazon.

I look forward to reading about everyone on these boards. It seems as though there are a lot of people here that have some great advice and I look forward to following lots of it!

Hopefully I will be able to pay down even more of my debts when I begin working full-time. I am also considering getting a part-time job ontop of working full-time and also continuing with Ebay and Amazon.... should be pretty hectic, but hopefully will be worth it in the long-run.

**Darlene** · 07-20-2006, 12:28 PM

Welcome Melissa Marie! (that's my fav sis's name

)
Your a smart lady thinking ahead about those potential future money problems with your boyfriend. Marriage is so much easier when you both have the same money outlook. I think your going to be really surprised how you'll be able to knock out that debt quicker than you think. Looking forward to cheering you on.

**baxjul** · 07-20-2006, 01:23 PM

Hello and Welcome, I live just north of Tampa!

**Lorelei** · 07-20-2006, 02:12 PM

Welcome MelissaMarie!

**Mom23boys** · 07-20-2006, 05:33 PM

Hello and welcome Melissa Marie.

**Kitten20** · 07-20-2006, 07:41 PM

Hi & welcome to FV!

**waterlover** · 07-21-2006, 08:19 AM

Welcome to the Frugal Village

**MelissaMarie** · 07-21-2006, 11:22 AM

Thanks for the welcome, everybody!!! I'm kind of shy so I don't know if I'll post much, probably will lurk more than anything, but I'll be around!

**Buckeye5** · 07-21-2006, 04:28 PM

Hello Melissa and welcome. You are already ahead of others your age because you are aware of debt and frugality. Sounds like you are doing a great job with your debt reduction goals, keep it up. You are on the right path.

**MelissaMarie** · 08-17-2006, 02:15 PM

Have made a lot of progress since I joined this site. It hasn't even been a month... hehe. Paid off the two cards with the balances of 400 & 600 dollars, and have paid down the 3,800 card to a little more than 3,300. Closed the account of the card that had a zero balance because I'd never use it, it had a high APR and really didn't have a high available credit line anyway. Intend on keeping the remaining 3 accounts open, and after the last one is paid off I don't plan on using credit cards much again (and if I do, I'll have them paid off each month).

This site really motivates me to keep on track. I think twice about every purchase, even if it is just a dollar or two. It's great.