Short Update

The pieces of my personal finances are slowly coming together:

1. First Credit Card! I received it yesterday, and it came with a $500 limit which is more than I expected, especially having no credit history.

2. First Credit Card "Purchase" - actually a donation to charity for $50. (The donation was to Myanmar, which is where I would like to continue to give money. I have been to the country and the people there are truly amazing and gentle but unfortunately under a ridiculously sadistic and greedy junta, not to mention the added strife/poverty from the cyclone.)

3. My emergency fund now contains $330, which will be increasing when I deposit a $50 check from my German professor for graduation. I will be putting $100 per month into it initially, starting in July when my paychecks are regular - I started my full-time job last Wednesday (6/11) but already had a flight booked home to Seattle, 6/18-6/29, to get all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. (Thank goodness I am still on my parents' insurance for the procedure!)

Those starting points above actually hit on 2 out of 3 of my initial goals of donating to charity AND opening an ING Direct Savings account to slowly start my emergency fund. There was also the unofficial "I-need-to-build-credit-but-am-scared-of-credit-cards" tidbit. Time to start working on goal #3 from below!