To be young again. It was a struggle to make it out on my own, fresh out of college and diving into the life of being a responsible citizen. Financially speaking, the starting pay which I started out with was peanuts compared to today, but the cost of living has also increased. I didn’t use online cash advances to support cost of living or rack up credit cards. I had one credit card which I saved for emergencies and held a second job until my salary could support my essentials as well as my lifestyle. It took a few years and I had to learn through some valuable mistakes. I call them valuable because, I learned my lesson quickly and saved myself from financial problems.
I remember the first summer I had off. This was a summer in which I didn’t even work my second job. It was a fun time. By the time school started back up in August, I had been added about 40,000 miles to my car and had maxed out my $1500 limit credit card. Compared to today’s household debt, $1500 seems to be quite a lame amount to worry about. I did worry about it since I refused to go to my parents for help and didn’t want to change my lifestyle. What would I do if there was an unexpected cost? What would I use if to a medical or dental emergency? Lesson learned. Now I had to create a solution to the debt problem and keep myself from making the same mistake twice.
I didn’t want to have to work another summer so I gave myself the school year to fix my debt. I started with talking to my boss from my old part-time job and see if I could get some hours. We kept it simple, weekends and to cover other people’s time off and missed shifts. I did as many as I could and cut back on my social life for a few months. I was busy. but it was good to have the work, I know I was lucky to have such an accommodating employer, but I also worked hard. No time to hang with friends or go anywhere on weekends was the regulation I needed to clear up my $1500 in debt and begin building a savings account. This was the easy part, for me at least.
A second job will curb the need for a cash advance.
My bigger problem to control fell into the time on my hands when I stopped working my second job. I had time to go out with friends again, fall back into weekend trips and all the shopping which can go along with it. I kept myself from going about $250 on my credit card, stayed away from cash advances and worked diligently to keep my savings growing.
I wish I could say that 20 years later, I was still in the same financial position. I hope to be again someday, but life is a bit tougher to control when my paycheck does not only support myself. I will get there. I will get there. I will get there. My mantra will help motivate me back to the land of being debt-free.
