I have started reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover this past week and I think I am going to give it a try.

Step #1 involved making a budget and saving $1000 in a small emergency fund.

I had already started working on a budget the past few months. This morning I did a little tweaking to it to make sure every dollar is accounted for (this is what he recommends). I have a little wiggle room in some of the categories so if something unplanned for comes up I should still be OK.

I also already have about $2000 in a savings account. I plan on taking $1000 of that and put it into a new savings account so it will be seperate from the rest of my money. I have already setup an account for irreguar bills (registration, insurance...). I am thinking of setting up a third for Christmas/Birthdays... how many savings account does a person need? Maybe I will just use my exising account at my credit union for this.

The next chapter I am going to read is about snowballing debt - which I pretty much know the concept of anyway. When doing my budget I realized I will be able to put more towards debt than I originally thought I would. So maybe this won't take as long as I had thought.

Also today I went online and paid my credit cards for the few christmas presents I purchased online. I wanted to start 2007 with nothing on my CCs and keep it that way.

I also took the leap and paid off my school loan - just over $600. I recieved a little extra money for christmas through presents and my xmas bonus so I just decided to go for it.

I am on my way!