I'm tiptoeing cautiously into The Financial World, as I'm going to call it. I think it's just scary enough to be capitalized. Up until last year I was living in dorms or with my parents, using my part-time summer job money to help pay for school, textbooks, my car, etc.

Last year I moved out and got my own apartment in Ohio across from BGSU, which I'm attending for a graduate program. I started having to pay rent and bills on top of grocery, laundry, and gas.



Words like "budget," "inflation," "interest," "financial crisis," "gross pay," "net pay," and the like had my head spinning so I mentally did the same thing I do when my car makes funny noises -- turn up the radio! (Read, DENIAL!)

When it came to paying bills and rent I was playing a not-so-fun game where I'd see how much money I had in my bank account, compare it to my bills, and pay the bills in the order I could afford. Then I'd freak out about rent and take up the minimalist lifestyle until that check went through. I'd get another pay check and breathe a bit (breathing as in Taco Bell, a DVD, or some shiny gadget that caught my eye). Then start the process all over again once the first bill came in the mail.



I needed to WAKE UP and figure things out. There comes a point when I can't ignore the sounds my car is making any longer. And there comes a point when I realize Holy crap! I'm going to be graduating soon and then what? Doctoral program? A job? Where will I be living? What will I be doing? Will I have to move back in with my parents?

I don't want to move back in with my parents. Don't get me wrong - they're great! I love them! And I enjoy visiting. But I was so excited and proud to move out that returning will make me feel like a whipped dog with its tail between its legs.

So in order to succeed on my own, I need to figure out money stuff. I need to make a plan...budget...

Yuck.

Since, when it comes to $$$, I'm clueless like Alicia Silverstone in that one movie, I found out about and made an appointment with Student Money Management Services on campus.

I'm already feeling a little better. The woman I met with gave me a Monthly Spending Plan to start this treacherous journey, some tips on how to get this money stuff under control, and some much needed information and advice.

I have a starting point. Now I just need to get off my ass and start...wait, hang on. That's what gets me in trouble - getting off my ass and finding things to buy.

Okay, let's try this: I need to sit on my ass and start recording where my money's running off to. That sounds like a good start.

So welcome, unfortunate soul who has stumbled across my blog, to my ever so exciting record of Where The Eff Did My Money Go?

It's going to be an enthralling (but hopefully eye opening) ride.