From our Puerto Rico trip
Hi, I'm Michelle and I graduated in May of 2010 with a lot of student loan debt. I currently work full-time in the financial services industry while also attending night classes for my MBA. I own a house with my boyfriend and we have 2 dogs (who are our babies).
I hope that sometime soon we will be able to travel all over the world, but first I need to start saving money. We have never really been too detailed with our 5 year plan, but we do have a somewhat-general idea of our salaries, living situation and life. Me and my boyfriend (together for over 5 years) are always thinking about retiring young and traveling (I have an extensive bucket list), but that seems unattainable right now because of how young we are and the debt we have (mortgage, student loans, car loan).
Today I'm writing about where I think I'll be in 5 years and how I'm getting ready for it now. My 5 year plan is to be out of student loan and car loan debt. I will be done with my car loan next year so that will be a nice relief. I also hope to be in a bigger house. My house right now is fine, but 5 years from now I know I will want something bigger and a bigger yard. I don't plan on having children until I'm around 30. I know children don't always go along with a plan, but I'm definitely not ready right now (and I don't think I will be soon). I also hope to be the Vice-President in my company or at least close to it.
I also hope that I will be able to travel more extensively. I've done a lot of traveling this past year. I've gone to Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Puerto Rico, Dallas, Los Angeles, Kansas City, DC, but each was for only around 4 days (and some were mainly work trips) and I would like to go somewhere and spend maybe around 2 weeks and really get to know the place.
I'm preparing myself for all of this by getting a good education, having a good mindset, and being willing to try anything. Having my MBA will help me a lot in my field, as people will stop looking at my age (hopefully) and will take me more seriously. Being open to everything and anything is also helpful. I try to say yes to new things so that I can gain new perspectives.
Saving money and being frugal is a BIG way for me to attain my 5 year plan. Once I graduate, I hope to start aggressively paying off my student loans and my goal is to pay around $1,000 to $1,250 every month. At this rate, I should be able to have my loans paid off in around 3 years since I will owe around $40,000 (including my 2 undergraduate degrees and my MBA). I have made a grocery budget on ourselves of around $300 a month and we are trying to limit our entertainment budget so that when the time comes, we will be ready.
What's your 5 year plan? How are you preparing yourself?
Hope you enjoyed reading this! You can read more about my life at Making Sense of Cents.
2 comments:
I really dont have a 5 year plan as I feel I cant really even plan for tomorrow let alone 5 years down the road! When I was in college my plan was to get a permanent job right away. Then after that my plan was to be able to buy a house by age 30. After that my plan was to pay off the house by age 50. I've accomplished those 3 milestones thankfully. My plan now is just to be as healthy and financially secure as I can for as long as I can, and that's good enough planning for me.
my 5yr plan includes going off the grid and living completely independent and self-sufficient lifestyle. It would be nice to retire and just focus on what I love to do most - gardening and cat rescue, but reality is that we have to work to pay for bills so retirement will have to wait a lot longer.
Post a Comment