I am struggling with the weird sensation of having done a grown-up thing today. Today I experienced my first all-by-myself visit to a financial planner. My three-month probationary period of my new job is up this week, and so benefits kick in and pension plan and other deductions start as well. My head's pretty much been swimming in numbers and planning for the future. Oh dear. This for the girl who can hardly plan her meals for the next day, let alone retirement planning.

On the bright side, I did leave feeling confident that I'm not doing too badly financially, and I might even be able to start putting away a little bit, all while keeping my bills and loans paid, and maybe even having a bit left over to buy things for me!! No doubt I could use a little tightening of the pursestrings (eating out seems to be a curse), but all in all, I think I'm doing okay. Short-term - get a budget in place, medium-term - pay down debt, get my own place, longer-term - buy a car, even longer-term - well, we won't go there just yet. Baby steps, folks, baby steps. I have a follow-up meeting in a month or so, and here's hoping I'm doing even better by then. No matter what they say, money does seem to influence what direction your world takes, for better or worse.