Just The Beginning

Update on the personal finance front:

• I have signed up with Mint.com, a very valuable free resource where you safely plug in your account info, they have no way of moving and money btw, just monitoring it. So I have created budgets and I'm able to easily access all my assets and funds. They also send you updates when something happens such as fees, charges, or if you are close to reaching a budget.
  
• I have opened a Scottrade account and have initially invested $1,500 to work with. I'm pretty much obsessed with looking up companies and researching the first few stocks I have added to my portfolio. If I lose it all I may just throw my hands up and let my mutual funds work for me instead of aspiring to become a whiz trader.
  
• My Vanguard account is up and healthy. I initially invested $1,500 in their STAR fund which only requires a $1,000 minimum investment. But they I did some more research into the variety of their funds and decided to put $3,000 in their Wellesley fund. Both have done well in the past and these are more focused on income so they are less risk.
  
• I tried to open an Ally High-Yield Savings account to buy a 2 year CD for $2,000 with a 2.75% interest rate. But for some reason I wasn't able to open one?! I'll have to look into that further.
  

Overall I feel as I'm really starting to get a good grasp on all this financial hoopla. It's empowering to know I can be responsible and educated on these subject matters. And should really help in the future when I go to make more important decisions regarding my finances. Loans, real estate buying etc. I've taking it upon myself to educate myself on all this by utilizing the local library and pretty much getting every book I can about the economy, personal finance and real estate.