As you’ll recall, my grandmother unexpectedly sent me money recently. The gift inspired me to set savings goals. I hoped writing them down would give me a concrete plan I could adhere to, but instead it left me confused and overwhelmed.

I decided to turn to experts to help me prioritize and focus.

Here’s what my original list looked like:

My grandmother recently sent me a chunk of money—of the five-figure variety—in the mail! I was definitely surprised. 

She explained that her financial advisor had suggested she send my sister and me our inheritance now as a way to ensure we don’t pay huge taxes on it after she’s gone. It’s sad to think about, but couldn’t have come at a better time.

What do you need to do to manage your student loans right? Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid web resource FinAid.org and scholarship-matching service FastWeb, has five recommendations:

1. Get Organized

Put all your paperwork for each loan in a separate file folder labeled with the name of the lender, loan ID, date borrowed and original loan balance. Flag payment due dates on your calendar at least a week in advance.

2. Don’t Miss Payments

It’s been three months since I started this blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far.

When I wrote my first post, I was looking forward to starting to save (and to making up for all that I didn’t put away in my 20s). But then a project I was working on didn’t pan out and left me trying to quickly drum up some new income.

It’s tough to be in my 30s and thinking about making coffee at home because spending $2 at the deli isn’t in my budget. I’ve already been through this phase (a few times)!