Starting now I refuse to be “normal”.
Sadly, in my past I was normal. I went to college for a Graphic Design AA, and spent a good $45,000 on student loans. I was able to land a great job in my field and make $47,000 a year, but I still only make minimum payments.
About a year ago, I was super-gun-ho about getting rid of my credit cards. I had about $10,000 in credit cards and lines of credit and got rid of $9,000 in one year. I lived in a corner of my friend’s house for $200 a month, commuted to my job by train every day and cut almost every extra I could. I didn’t even have a room, I had a curtain and lived at the top of the stairs. That’s dedication. I was always the “harry potter” joke, and was teased about living under the stairs for cheaper rent.
When I got to the last $1,000, I got sick of my lifestyle, moved into a small studio apartment for $1,300 a month (right next to my job) and transferred the last $1,000 into an interest free credit card (for one year). I though I could easily pay it off in one year. I payed off $9,000, so $1,000 would be no problem. I even had a $1,000 emergency fund just in case.
I was wrong.
My apartment is too expensive for my budget, and every month I depended on my credit cards to pick up the difference. Parking alone at my building cost me $195 a month, and even sales tax was more than where I was living before. I spent my $1,000 emergency fund in two months of over-consumption, and cleaned out the little extra in my checking account that I used for padding.
Now, that credit card that had 0% Interest and a $1,000 balance is now two weeks away from being 2509349575643% interest with a $2,800 balance. I’m scared to see the charges on January 1st. Happy New Year Mother-tucker.
So my life Broke, now I have to fix it.
Here are my numbers, even though I really don’t want to see them.
School Loans: $43,358
Credit Cards: $7,862
Medical: $940
Total: $52,160