Getting Ahead

Well guys, it's happened. For the first month in almost an entire year, I did not go into the negative after paying all my bills. I cannot tell you how badly I wanted to scream because I was so happy when I realized this.

I have been working my ass off for the past year. Between a car, medical bills, rent, insurance, utilities, and all that other fun stuff, I have been drowning. I am not a big fan of talking about this to the general public because it just isn't any of their business. I don't want to be that girl that's going "Hey! Look at me! Feel bad for me!" No. I was not gonna go there. So I quietly fought through my battles, hoping and waiting for the day to come when I wouldn't go negative.

Yesterday was that day. I have finally reached the surface, and from here I can only go up. 

Now, I know I don't have it as bad as a lot of people. I don't have cancer, and I really didn't have a large amount of debt. It was less than $20,000. But when you're only 20 years old, and have rent to pay and insurance and all that other fun stuff, even $10,000 can seem overwhelming. 

Every time a piece of my car broke, or I had to go to the doctor, I was drowning. I felt completely out of control of my life, and I did not know what to do. So, of course, I started looking for a second job.

I started working two jobs about 3 weeks ago. It is kicking my ass. I work between 55 and 70 hours a week. I wake up at 3:30 a.m, go to my first job, get off at 3, and start job two at 5 o'clock. It has been exhausting, but it has definitely paid off.

I am 20 years old. I am completely financially independent, and in less than one year, I will be debt free. This, friends, is the best feeling ever. I may not be in school, but at least I have some real-life experience... A hell of a lot more than a lot of people my age do. I know how to balance a checkbook (even though I don't use checks, this might come in handy one day... ha ha), I know how to set-up and cancel service. I can apply for financial aid without batting an eye, and have somehow a midst all of the chaos, figured out how to organize my bills based on the date they're due, how much is left to pay on them, and what the interest rate is. You could say I'm pretty stable.

Now, of course, I did not do this completely on my own. I had so much support from Andrew, my wonderful boyfriend. And, of course, my family helped me out a lot too! (Thanks for buying me pants so that I would have decent work clothes!) I have them to thank for all of the emotional support they gave me when I was feeling overwhelmed or wanted to give up and just ditch the bills and fly away to another country. They kept me grounded and on track, and reminded me how happy I would be when everything was finished. And boy, am I happy.

The point of this blog is to remind everyone.. It gets tough. Maybe you don't have enough to pay your bills, or your rent, or whatever it may be. I promise that, if you really want it to, it will get better. You CAN get out of the hole of debt. The best advice I can give you? Stay organized! Don't put all your bills in the same fucking pile in the corner of your room. Organize them! Even if it's just by what company they're from, organization can go a long ways when you're scrambling around trying to figure out which payment is due next. Trust me on that one!

Thank you, to everyone who has helped me get to a point where I can finally start getting ahead. And, a big thanks to myself for working for something hard enough to actually do it.. I'm pretty damn proud right now.

UPDATED 09-06-2013 6:41 A.M.

I had a lot of questions about this blog post, but I want to tackle the most common one...

"Why doesn't Andrew help pay your bills off instead of making you get a second job?"

Bitch, please! I am not some gold-digging whore who has to rely on someone else to pay off MY debt. Yes, Andrew and I are in a stable relationship, but that does not mean that my debt becomes his responsibility.

I understand that when a lot of people become married, they start to share the bills and the responsibility, and that is great for them. It just isn't how I want to do things quite yet. I take pride in being able to say that it was ME who paid off my bills. I take pride in being independent. I don't feel like I should automatically be 'off the hook' just because I'm in a relationship with someone.

So, to answer your question, Andrew doesn't pay my bills because I won't let him. On months that he helps me, he is always reimbursed as soon as I have the money. For me, that is more help than necessary, and I am just grateful for his emotional support when I am struggling.