How did I end up over $13,000 in debt?

It was easy enough, let me tell ya! I wish I had a story to tell about some catastrophe that happened to me (okay, not really), or that I owed $70,000 in student loans, or had a $100,000 mortgage. But that's not the case. I've just been living beyond my means for the past six years. Too many bikinis, numerous orders from Victoria's Secret, cute shoes I had to have, "to-die-for" purses, running up bar tabs from Lexington, Nashville and St. Louis, and obviously SO MUCH MORE!

I recall the day I opened my first credit card - October 2001 - all I wanted was a the neat UK glass they were giving away at the basketball opener! I still have that glass - it's packed away somewhere in my college boxes. If I ever run across it again, I'm going to through it up side the wall! During my two remaining years of college, I used my credit cards like gift cards. Didn't think through my purchases, I had to have my purchases RIGHT THEN (might be the only child in me, although I never thought my parents spoiled me). And I guess that is how I ended up $13,000 in debt. Throughout college, however, I just knew I was going to have a "good-paying" job as soon as I graduated and I would take care of my debt ASAP. Graduation came and went, yet I was still working part time on campus, unable to find a full-time job - let alone anything in my field. I blamed the economy (and still do), as I graduated when the job market sucked. Since then I've realized that I doubt I would have changed my ways even if I had that "good-paying" job then. I would have continued living beyond my means.

Yeah, it was fun while it lastes, but the shit's hit the fan, and now I'm ready to tackle this one my own. A part of me wishes that I could just win the lottery or take up the offers that I've had. But I know this is a learning experience for me. And I've learned a TON in the past two months.

So here I am today, working as a Non-Profit Professional (not the "good-paying" job I was expecting), digging my way out of this sea of debt. Things are going well so far, and I feel good about what I'm doing. I've given myself a goal to be debt-free by next summer. My other goal is to get out of the non-profit world and back into my love of all things fun!