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| Not sure you can read this. It says I owe $9,000 This is just one loan. |
If you read my memoir it talks about my first and only real home getting repossessed because my mother stopped making payments. After it happened, I made a promise to myself then and there that I would do whatever it took to not be like her. I would always have a roof over my head, always have food to eat...and just...take care of myself. Then, when I stole Baxter back from my aunt and uncle, I swore to him that he'd have a better life with me.
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| And now we go on adventures. |
However, this day and age makes financial stability difficult. The last summer I spent in North Carolina, I worked three jobs: 1) Kitty Hawk Kites, an outdoor recreation company who specializes in Hang-gliding but also offers lots of other fun stuff, 2) Front Porch Cafe, a coffee shop run by evil, evil people (good coffee, horrible job), 3) Meineke Car Care, an oil change place that allowed me to sit a lot, and once almost blew up the engine on my car.
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| Put too much oil in AND left the gas cap off |
Even then, working 60-80 hours a week, I was broke 90% of the time.
After getting my taxes done for the 2011 year, I made another promise to myself; I would start to pay back my student loans. At least some of them. Well, it's October now (actually September when I'm writing this, but by the time it greets your eyes it'll be LATE October). I made my first student loan payment today for $96. I get paid Thursday.
...And I won't have money to eat.
The bills I've incurred in my adult life are made up of the following:
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| My storage unit. I die a bit each time I see it |
Car Payment-$230
Car Insurance-$85
Storage Unit (very important. I have a lot of crap)-$40
General Credit Card-$50
Credit card so I could get my wisdom teeth removed: $75
Hospital bill from my knee surgery: $61
Student loan: $96
Cell phone: $90
So....let's see what the total of all of that crap is:
$1,127
Ugh.
That means each month, on my paycheck that usually gets less than $600 every two weeks, I'm supposed to be able to afford gas, food for Baxter, vet visits for Baxter, heartworm prevention, flea and tick treatment, and food for me...then do it again.
Thankfully, Winter is just around the corner. (Mmmmm. Winter. Snow....snoowww.) And I'll be back to working two jobs. In 6 or so months, the Wisdom Teeth Credit Card should be paid off (exciting), but the others...will plague me for many many months. And I just had yet another bill go to the collections agency. Ugh.
It's gotten to the point I regret my knee surgery, regret getting my wisdom teeth out, regret going to college. But at the same time, I'm keeping faith. Because life is hard. But it has to get easier, right?
On a happier note, I went to the mailbox and received this from Laura:
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| The message reads: Lynn(e), Sell the shit outta those YA Novels. (And then send me some cash monies). LaUra |
Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm trying to take it one day at a time :)
DeleteI've been there! (Am there most days.) Hang in there and read that book so you can land a six-figure publishing deal! :)
ReplyDeleteSix-figure, that would be amazing :) Thanks for the support!
DeleteI wish I could tell you that it gets easier. I really wish I could.
ReplyDeleteWhat I can tell you is never respond to a collection agency. At all. Never even tell them you are who you are. Collection agencies are not technically legal organizations. Once the original holder of your loan has written it off, you are under no actual legal obligation to pay a collection agency. They work off of fear and their ability to influence your credit report.
Just sayin.
That fear seems to work (I'd like to buy a house some day), but the collections agency is pretty nice. They've been working with me, and my payments are pretty low considering how much I owe them...
Delete