Yep, it’s true.  I’m a grown ass adult and I am financially irresponsible.  What I mean by that is I do not know how to manage my money.  I know how to spend it.  I know how to spend it when I don’t have it (credit cards), but I don’t know how to budget my money and start filling in the holes of my own making that I am buried in.

It’s not something that they taught us in school and it’s not something that I can figure out on my own – trust me, I’ve tried.  I thought, when I got married that I was all set.  After all, he majored in business, he must know about managing money.  Yeah that marriage was a mistake in more ways than one, and his lack of fiscal responsibility was only part of it.  I was the one who managed the money, and paid the bills.  Listening to him is part of the reason why my student loan debt is equal to the gnp of a small country.  My retirement plan is to win powerball – seriously!

It’s not something I like, and it’s not something I’m proud of, but I don’t know where to begin to change it. Where do people learn this stuff, and more importantly, why aren’t we teaching it to kids in high school?  Seriously, there should be a series of classes called Life 101, 202, 303 and 404 that you take each year you’re in high school where you learn how to be an adult.  How to balance a check book (and write out a check) how to find a job, register a car, file taxes, rent an apartment, fill out a fafsa, do laundry, grocery shop – all of that stuff.  And yes, a lot of this stuff should be taught at home….I did learn most of that at home, but kids today don’t – neither do some adults.  I just want to be more financially responsible.