So, you’ve graduated from college and you’re ready to take on the world, eh? Excellent — but there might be a few things slowing you down from doing just that. For one, you’re going to need to make sure that you have your debt under control. The nice thing about being a recent college graduate is that you have a whole network of people that will help you because they remember what it’s like to be struggling in that position.

And when you have substantial debts that need to be tamed, the time is now to build a debt shredding plan that you can actually put into, well, action. You might have gotten a lot of coddling from college officials that tell you that you really don’t have to worry about debt because it’s good debt, but don’t let them fool you. If you don’t work hard to get a good paying job that can help you pay back all of those student loans, and then you’re really going to be in trouble. You were strategic about picking your major, right?

Even if you picked a major that isn’t in as high of a demand as you would like, there are still ways to turn things around. Meeting the right people and showing them that you’re a fast learner is definitely the way to go. The last thing that you really want to deal with is feeling like you can’t move around. If you were smart enough to get into college then you’re smart enough to take control of your life and shape it on your terms, not someone else’s. After all, a lot of people are now saying that the real value of college is building connections that actually help you get other places. As long as you made some friends that had some connections of their own, then it’s definitely possible to overcome just about anything and everything that you can think of in order to get a great career that you can be proud of.

What does this really have to do with debt? Actually, it has everything to do with debt. If you have a good job that’s going to be stable, then you can actually go out of way to pay off debts without too many problems. However, the other part of having extra income is that you’ll be able to put away for the things that you want most in life instead of turning to credit. If you look at the most powerful people in our society, they are the ones that have used money and credit in order to make their lives better for the long term, instead of just the short term. When you’re charging those shoes on your credit card, you’re not building anything. However, what about those business books that you’ve always said you wanted, or a product or service that would be perfect for what you’re trying to achieve? Those are things that help you build something powerful for the long term.

You might wonder how marriage can affect your debt shredding plan. It can, in many ways. First, you want to really make sure that you discuss your finances with the person that you’re going to marry. In most if not all states, when you get married your debts are fused together. So if you are trying to marry someone that has excellent credit and you don’t, they deserve to know this up front. Likewise if it’s the other way around — you’re finally debt free, but they have debts. You want to really think about whether or not the other person is going to be just as committed to erasing debt as you are. Many times we look at couples that break apart and divorce, thinking that it will never happen to us. However, when there are critical fundamental differences in the way you approach things, it goes without saying that things can actually break down before we know it.

It’s sad to think that you can wake up and find that the person you love isn’t as committed to great personal finance as you are. Maybe they’re a spender — have you ever asked them why? They might spend a lot of money in order to look important, or feel better about themselves. No matter what, try to talk it out and see where they’re coming from.

If you’re single, then your debt shredding plan is pretty straightforward. You will want to make sure that you’re setting yourself a proper budget. If you try to be too restrictive, the budget won’t work. Far too often people think that they’re going to zoom ahead and get everything done, only to find that they really can’t handle a strict budget. On the other hand, you don’t want to be too loose — there is going to come a point where you’re going to have to give something up, no matter how unpleasant that sounds. You’re going to have to free up money to pay down your debts, or you’re going to have to go and figure out how to get more money into the door. That’s really the very core of personal finance. There’s just no way of getting around it — either save money to pay bills, or make more and use the extra to pay bills.

The final takeaway that we leave you with is that it can take time for you to work your debt shredding plan. However, the power of the plan comes from not necessarily the amount or even the time, but the consistency. You will want to pay whatever you decide to pay consistently and on time. Over time, you will see your debts dwindle down to nothing, and the collection attempts will cease as well. You can use debt consolidation to roll all of your bills into one monthly payment n order to make it easier on yourself. With tools like that, the time is definitely now to get started today!