Mo Money Mo Problems

Okay, I'm joining the blogging trend. My goal is to be as open and honest and interesting as my lovely friends Britta and Michelle, which means fighting my instinct to relentlessly self-censor rather than saying something potentially embarrassing. I mean, people can read this stuff! But nevertheless, here goes.

I decided to make the leap because Britta made an interesting post about the challenges of living at home, which in turn made me think about how quickly my personal finances have become central to my thinking. Sure, in college I watched my money, but I was lucky enough to be supported by my parents - my meager work-study income went directly to food and beer, and if it proved insufficient, I knew my parents would have my back (to a point - I wasn't going on spending sprees either). As long as my account balance was positive and my credit card was paid off, I didn't have much to worry about.

Now, though, I think about my personal finances at least once per day. I greedily pinch pennies - I don't buy that coffee on my way to work because I tell myself those little purchases add up, I think about trying to convince my roommates to cancel the cable because in my money-saving tunnel vision, that extra $30/month seems indefensible. I stress about what I will do for the four months this winter when my LSAT teaching job will go into hibernation, leaving me income-less unless I can find something else. I still have my safety net - my parents certainly aren't going to let me starve - but now I'm motivated as much by pride as anything else. When I vaguely thought ahead to my future, the plan was to be completely independent as soon as I graduated, and it's hard to accept anything less. (Okay, full disclosure: my parents still pay my cell phone bill. I think that's okay for now, although I do plan to start paying my portion after I get a more steady source of income. But at what point does that stop being okay? Doesn't it sound kind of weird to be 25 and have your parents still paying for your iPhone?)

Also, when it comes to charitable donations, now it's time to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. When I was in college, I felt slightly guilty donating to charities because technically I was probably just donating my parents' money, but I felt totally comfortable thinking that everyone should aspire to donate a large percent of their income - and, accordingly, I felt comfortable judging the posters on the personal finance blogs I read who admitted to donating less. Now that I am a real working human being, I realize that donating 10% of your income - which always sounded like a good goal to me, regardless of whether you're religious - is a lot. I mean, if you're making $30,000 a year after taxes, that means you should be donating $3,000 a year! And suddenly I find myself struggling with whether I should be putting myself first - should I be donating if I have an unsteady and uncertain source of income? Should I be donating if it means saving less money for my (admittedly distant) retirement? And if I can make these excuses to allow myself to donate less, shouldn't I revise my blanket assertion that others should make donation a priority too?

This is a really fascinating time of life, from a purely abstract perspective - I feel like I was in training to be an adult for a long time, but now I really am one (or so they say) and I have to figure out what that actually means for me. That's what I love most about reading my friends' blogs - we're all doing different things and it's so interesting to read what others are thinking during this transition period - and I hope that my blog will offer another source of insight.