Almost Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! I hope it's been a good year and that the next one is even better :)

Down to business

Alright so one big tip I have for recent college grads even for students still in school...

Budget.

Boring as anything but it really helps to start getting an idea of how much you'll have going out and how much coming in before you have to actually pay the bills.

For most people it's pretty scary when you add up the amount of loans that were taken out to pay for school not mentioning any personal loans that may have been added to the pile. I know I personally freaked out.

I was blessed to have a Mom who was a fiend at budgeting. Ever since I got an allowance I was told to budget it. While at times it didn't seem like a blessing, now that I have a mound of loans to pay back it really has helped with the itty bitty income that I have.

This was the general rule when I was growing up:
10% To Charity
20% For Savings
20% Rent
50% Spend

Now obviously there's some adjusting to do now that actual bills need to be taken into account.
For those who have the money to spend I recommend Quicken (image from quicken.com):

This version has a budgeting system put into place so all you have to do is put in the average amount of income, scheduled bills (such as loans), and other categories you'll be spending in (like groceries, rent, auto stuff etc). Then it'll average out the miscellaneous income that you have left to spend (other wise known as discretionary income), and TA DA! You have a budget. But the key to this is that you have to input your spending data so you can actually see how the budget is working for you and if your overspending in certain areas and where you need to cut back. It takes some time, but it is definitely worth it.

For those of you who don't have the money to spend on the program here's a worksheet that is helpful that I found on about.com:

http://financialplan.about.com/cs/budgeting/l/blbudget.htm

This will provide you with the same basic idea, but it won't automatically tell you, like Quicken, where things need to change.

So while budgeting might be a pain in the butt and no fun (unless you're a dork like me and like to play with the numbers), it will be very helpful when the bills start coming in so you don't feel completely lost.

Looking at the postive side

Hi everyone. So for the last two posts I've focused on the negative aspects of the job hunt and the very realistic side of graduating from college. But for this post I decided to be a little more positive.

First, I am thankful that I have a nice part-time job that, while it isn't much, is getting the bills paid if nothing else.

Second, I have a place to live. While after college it's really difficult to move back home, at least I am not out on the street.

Third, college was a great experience and I learned a lot. Although I wish they had told us Freshman year how hard it could be to find a job after graduation.

That's my post for the day. I have some future plans for the blog that will be more than me just rambling and musing. :)

There is life after College

I haven't posted in about a week, obviously. I work at a little retail store and the Christmas season is upon us. I'm working a lot of hours so my posts will most likely be spotty until after New Years.

Well to continue a part of the story from my last post...

I happened to see the mother of one girl that I had graduated High School with over the summer in the store that I work. Her husband happens to be a Graphic Designer (which is what my degree is in). She mentioned to me that they knew someone who graduated in 2007 in that field and how much trouble he had finding a job. Apparently he applied to over 1,000 different positions before he even got one call back for an interview. (Sadly the husband wasn't looking for any new hires, or else I would have jumped right on that).

How's that for inspiration?

Now, it's not that bad for everyone. Just for the majority of us.

Currently the two positions that I'm hanging hope on are on a hiring freeze until after the holidays. So I will not even have a glimmer of an answer until mid-January at the earliest.

I need to continue searching for jobs, but I haven't been able to keep up with it this month. So come January I'll restart my goal of applying to 5 new positions every week.

If I don't post again before Christmas...have a merry one :)

4 Years of My Life

You always hear "It's the best years of your life, enjoy them."

And believe it or not, those who said it are correct. You have little responsibility beyond keeping your grades up in order to graduate and freedom (if you're living on campus) to do what you want and not have parents there to tell you no.

This is the first blog detailing the life of what a college graduate may experience following the end of those "best years."

Four years of my life were spent at an institution where it was instilled to learn, work hard, and do well. Do these things and you'll find success in life.

So far I have applied to over 30 jobs around the country and have had 1 interview.

This is just the beginning.