QuarterLife Finances

Who are you?
You can call me QL. I’m 25, graduated from college 3 years ago and have been working full-time since. My only debt is student debt (about $30,000 $28,000 now!), and a $12,000 car loan.

I do love shopping, but I always buy on sale, so I think I’m too cheap to be considered a huge threat to myself. lol. I have a particular weakness for shoes! I carried a balance on my credit card once…and that was a mistake. I did the math wrong and they charged me interest on $2 I forgot to pay.

Where did your blog name come from?
I had honestly never heard of the term “quarterlife crisis” until a year ago, and much less the TV show that was soon to be released called “Quarterlife” (that was cancelled not too long afterwards. Never saw it.) I had been working for a year when I went home frustrated one day with so many things going on in my life…questioning who I am, what I’m doing, who I’m supposed to be with, all for the rest of my life (in other words, typical questions). I thought to myself (being the practical being that I am) “there has to be a name to this affliction of mine!!” So I googled (I know, seriously) “20-something midlife crisis”. I think I was led to Wikipedia or something similar…and that is how I learned about the “Quarterlife Crisis”. When I finally came up with the idea to start a blog, I wanted to center it on being a 20-something female and money…and so QuarterLife Finances (and QL Girl) was born!

So….what do you do for a living?
Without giving away too much, I graduated from a great engineering school and I am currently working in a related field of study, although I’m no longer doing any design.

Where did you get your financial “cents” from?
I grew up in what I thought was a middle-class family. While my parents never really spoke to me about money directly, I guess I started to learn indirectly from them early on. I’d say my mother taught me a lot, but I learned plenty about money mistakes from my father. We struggled a lot financially, and continue to struggle…..my parents are great people, but in a way my motivation for becoming organized with my money was so that I could get as far away from those struggles that I could.

How has your relationship with money evolved?
I started to become more concerned about money in middle school, when I’d save my lunch money in order to buy my first CD player (I didn’t get an allowance, and my parents wouldn’t get it for me). That’s when I started to realize that money had “power”. In college I became obsessed with money, or the lack of it rather. Looking back, I realize this was a pretty dark time in my life, but I’m not sure I’d change anything. My outlook is so much better now, and I’m more proactive about things rather than complaining and becoming bitter.

Whats going on?
After three years of living with my parents, I finally moved out!! While I thought home ownership was the only way for ME to go, I ended up changing my mind, and finding a rental that I totally love now. I wouldn’t change a single thing. I have been with my boyfriend for 5 years 6 years now!, but that’s a whole other story as well….

Any future goals?
Right now I’m trying to bulk up my emergency fund, since my future employment is slightly questionable. I’m very close to $9,000 regarding my emergency fund, but I also have my former downpayment fund, which I’m trying to preserve in the event I’m back on the housing market in a year or two. I’m hoping to max out my Roth IRA this year, and would like to continue to do that every year. Other eventual goals are to pay off my car loan (currently at 4.8%), as well as save up enough money to have Lasik surgery.  I also have about a dozen other miscellaneous funds, like my travel fund, gift fund, dance fund….all of which I try to add to whenever I can.

Any other questions for me?
Email me! [quarterlifegirl at gmail dot com]