As a recent grad with student loans, you probably already know your repayment is just around the corner. I encourage you to take advantage of your grace period and not wait to get your first bill before making plans for repayment. Here are a few tips I thought I’d share to help you tackle your student loan debt head on.

Debt can often have a negative connotation, but there are plenty of good reasons to have it – for example, using student loans to increase your earning potential, funding an entrepreneurial venture with a small business loan or going to the “Bank of Mom & Dad” to pay for a move across the country for a great job.

More good news on the financial education front! The Council of Graduate Schools is pushing for universities nationwide to step up when it comes to financial education for students. Fifteen institutions are taking part in a 3-year project to “enhance the financial literacy of graduate and undergraduate students.”

Remembering back to when I graduated college, there are many things I wish I could go back and tell my younger self. Some are truisms that you can carry through life – like avoiding debt -- and others are more palpable at the moment – like hard work trumping your piece of paper.

I knew nothing about managing money when I graduated college and, sadly, I believe I was not alone in that experience. Most graduates – and there were 2.85 million in 2013 – are focused on getting a job, moving to wherever that job is and living in the real world – not financial literacy.

With that in mind, here are four basic financial steps you should take as a newly minted college graduate. If you're still looking for a job, these steps can still be implemented on a smaller scale.

If I could go back in time, I would do certain things differently. I'm not saying I have a lot of regrets. But when I was younger, I tended to have myopic vision. For instance, it was hard to imagine that one day I would be older. Even today, sometimes I look in the mirror and wonder, who the hell is that?