Four Months Later

I know that most of my readers for this blog are my Facebook friends. If so, you guys have seen my posts about my bills, budget plans, and everything else monetary. I think it's time to update my progress.

There are so many people out there who are drowning in debt. I was drowning in debt earlier this year, and I'm only 20 years old. Not necessarily the way you want to be at such a young age. I had medical bills, credit cars, a car loan... The list goes on. Part of me wanted to say "fuck it all!" I was drowning, and my monthly payments added up to more than my monthly income. But instead of throwing in the towel, I did something about it.

I've been working two jobs for almost four months now. I work between 60-70 hours per week, depending on if I pick up any shifts at the restaurant that I work at. To many, this may seem like it sucks. It does. I threw my social life out the window in hopes of becoming financially stable. And guess what? It paid off.

When I started working my second job, I was making payment to 15 different companies, NOT INCLUDING rent and utilities. And now, only 4 months later, I am down to 4 payments, rent, and utilities. I am now making more than what my bills add up to, and am putting every penny to these last few things, in hopes of getting everything out from under me within the next 6-8 months.

I am in a place where I could quit my second job, but right now, I don't feel like it would be the smartest decision. I would rather work my ass off now, get everything paid off, and then party hardy when it's all said and done. A lot of my friends have said things to me like, "You're only young once, why waste it?" I'm not wasting it. You're right, I am only young once. But I would rather be young, work hard, and have a good life for my future family, than party all the time, throw my money out the window and screw over my future children. Don't you see? I'm not living to party. I'm living to have a family one day. And I want to be able to give that family everything that I have.

I don't want to make it sound like it's all rainbows and glitter and happiness working two jobs, because it's not. I am exhausted, and I miss my friends. But the thought of being out from under all this debt keeps me going strong. I have Andrew's support in all of this as well. He keeps the house clean and the animals taken care of, which has helped my stress levels go down considerably.

I guess the reason why I broadcast my financial status is because when I started getting all my bills, and realized how much debt I had to pay off, I felt extremely alone. While all of my friends were going out to dinner, and getting their hair and nails done, I couldn't even afford to help with the groceries. Once I started telling others about my debt, people started coming to me, asking for advice on how to get their debt paid off. I realized that I wasn't alone after all. Just because it seemed like everyone was doing alright, didn't mean that they were. I realized how much it helped others to see that they weren't alone, either. It makes me proud to know that I helped encourage them, and showed them that it IS possible to get out of the hole. And it showed me that I had so much more support than I originally realized.

Now here I am, only four months later, and I'm almost finished with my goal. There is hope, whether you're 18 or 80. And I encourage anyone who is feeling overwhelmed to tackle things head-on. You'd be amazed at how fast you progress.