If you’ve never been afraid to check the balance on your bank account, navigated Walmart aisles in what seems like a hopeless search for a particular food item or poured some thought into how your next paycheck corresponds with your next rent check’s due date, this column might not be for you.

But if you’ve done any of those things – or think you might sometime in the near future – I’m here to share stories from my experience, or inexperience, to be more accurate.

Hi, my name is Marianne, and I’m an adult. Well, sort of.

Being 21, I technically reached “grown-up” status a few years ago, but it was this past summer in Bowling Green that really threw me into the throes of adulthood.

It was my first time living in Bowling Green without living on campus. I mastered the art of boiling water, and therefore the art of making pasta; I became the proud owner of a toaster and made my first big furniture purchase: a bed.

I also left my debit card in the ATM, not once, not twice but three times. I accidentally overdrafted my bank account on a McDonald’s purchase and made a few not-so-great cooking choices that left me with some not-so-great leftovers, which I eventually pitched to my trash can.

So, I’ve made a few mistakes, but maybe you can learn from them.

If you stick with me this semester, you’ll find out what to do when your bank account reaches the Big O – you know, overdraft – and maybe even how to prevent it from making it there. I’ll also take you through some other banking and finance basics and maybe even share my culinary adventures with you.  And of course, we’ll cover the F-word: future. I’m allegedly on track to graduate in May, so I’ve been thinking about mine an awful lot lately.

You might be thinking, “Who is this punk kid, and why does she think she’s the source on becoming an adult?” Well, you’re probably right about one thing. I am sort of a punk kid who still enjoys jumping on the aforementioned new bed and celebrating my small adult accomplishments, such as culinary successes, with victory dances.

But this punk isn’t just going to tell you stories about the woes of paying rent and cooking dinner. I’m going to hook you up with advice from experts through my column. I’ll do the reporting if you do the reading.

If you’re having any adulthood dilemmas, questions you want answered or topic suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. Just shoot me an e-mail at [email protected].

But for now, I promise to take you, Herald readers, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, ‘til graduation (fingers crossed) do we part.