mjswin added an entry about pay off my student loans : feeling when you see that balnace “paid in full”. A great step toward building positive financial net worth.

pandorathecat added an entry about pay off my student loans : I thought that the last grand total I had seemed wrong… Now that I am COMPLETELY done with Grad School, I went ahead and added everything up. Even though I worked full-time through college and graduate school, and took out the minimum amount possible, I still have $64,045.14. That’s the current grand total. And that’s EVERYTHING . I’m in deferment (since I JUST graduated), so that number will probably jump up once the loans start collecting interest. I am going to try to pay them down some before the interest starts, pay extra each month, etc., etc.

Financial skills building classes or workshops for a low-income person with crappy money management skills? I have demonstrably terrible money management skills - constantly overdrawing my bank account, the beginnings of credit card debt, etc. I'm a single parent and about to become a full-time student, and I'm expecting things to get worse. But I want to head off further problems at the pass. I know that there are non-profits that help low-income people manage money better, and I think I need the help of one of these organizations! I'm willing to take a class on the topic - better yet would be some individualized coaching and support.