If a single word were to cause someone stress, it would be “budgeting.” Aye. What a stressful topic! Rarely do people like to talk about money, and budgeting seems boring and restricting.

Yes, it can definitely be stressful. And may feel restricting now, but it will lead to financial freedom down the road.

I may only be 21, but budgeting actually makes me quite excited. I love setting goals, and consider myself to be quite determined so paying off debts is actually fun!

I graduated from Corban University in 2015 with my bachelors degree in business accounting. I then got married that summer in July to a hunk of a man named Jacob. Jacob and I met in college. He graduated in 2014 with a bachelors in business management and marketing. We absolutely love Corban! It’s a small Christian school in Salem, Oregon. We had an amazing experience of integrating faith with academics, met life long friends, and found each other of course!

But with an amazing private school education comes a large price. We both graduated with about $40,000 each in student debt. That’s $80,000 total. Gulp. What a way to start off your marriage feeling like you belong to Wells Fargo.

After graduation, this number felt monstrous. Especially when you don’t have a job. How was I ever going to pay this off? Will I be paying loans until my own kids go to college? Talk about stress…

After college, I got an entry level accounting job in Portland, Oregon. Entry level jobs obviously don’t pay the big bucks, but through budgeting, Jacob and I have paid off almost $30,000 in debt in 9 months.

We obviously still have a long way to go and are not money pros, but we’re learning and taking steps to financial freedom each and every day.

We are learning that budgeting obviously entails living within our means, but also means that we can’t forget to enjoy life and give to others.

I know many college students who graduate and make minimum monthly payments on their loans, meaning they are in debt for decades, and end up paying almost twice as much as what they borrowed due to interest. It doesn’t have to be this way. I just want to encourage friends at this stage in life with tips and tricks that have worked with us to kick those loans sooner rather than later and be on the road to financial freedom. Also, I’d love to learn from others how they were able to achieve their financial goals!

Jacob and I dream of the day where we are debt free and don’t owe anyone anything! What an awesome day that will be. We will have a party and everyone will be invited. 🙂 I hope that anyone feeling discouraged by debt will look to the future and work hard to reach their goals.

Now, I am an accounting major and never thought I would start a blog. But when it comes to finances, saving and spending tips, I feel that I have a few things to share; even including planning a wedding on a budget. That’s definitely something we worked hard at and I’d love to discuss.

I am a huge advocate for our generation as millennials to work for what we want rather than have it given to us. I will be the first to admit I am guilty of this, but our generation has the tendency to want that our parents have now, forgetting how much time and work it took for them to get there.

Let’s step it up. Work hard. Enjoy life. And become debt free. One day at a time.

Blessings,

Marissa