With every post I write, I realize how clueless I am. I know that I need to set some goals to make sure that I am making good progress towards getting out of the red and into financial stability, but I really have no clue where to start. I’m going to put a few ideas out there and hopefully get some comments on how they can be improved.

1. Create a challenging but realistic budget, and stick to it.
   • Track my spending as accurately as possible. WORKING ON IT!
   • Use my spending information to reduce unnecessary expenses.
2. Pay off credit cards (intelligently and as quickly as possible).
   • Pay off cards with the highest interest rates first.
   • Try to negotiate lower rates with all cards.
   • Try to re-open cards that were closed while I was in college due to missed payments. This will lower my ratio of used credit to authorized credit… BECAUSE I WILL NOT BE SPENDING ON CREDIT AGAIN!
   • Repair my credit score / record.
3. Put together an emergency fund.
   • I don’t really know how much I’ll need, but the general word is about 3 months worth of living costs. I guess that means about $5000?
   • I need to really get a grip on how I am going to decide when to save and when to pay down debt.
4. Start saving for retirement in a Roth IRA (my employer does not offer 401k).
5. Start saving / investing in other mediums that fit my financial situation.
   • Sharebuilder?

Okay, hopefully that will be a good start and I can start addressing each of these rather quickly!