Well, I had another great holiday season, which is the good news. The bad news is that when you compare the holiday season to the crapheap that is reality, reality will kick you in the nuts every time. Such is the case this year. I had an awesome Christmas and birthday, made possible because of my family and friends, as usual. I received some practical gifts as well as a few surprises that made me remember for a brief moment that life isn't all rotten apples.
And then...it ended.
I was feeling pretty good until today, Tuesday, of this week. I got home and relaxed a bit, had a few extra days off (yet still managed a full paycheck thanks to holiday pay) and all in all thought I was finally managing to inch my way out of the hole I'd dug for myself with my credit cards and cell phone. The hole isn't that deep, by the way, compared to most, but for a working class stiff like me, it's seeming pretty insurmountable.
I checked my Capital One balance to find that they'd slapped me with an "over limit" fee, forcing me to make a payment TODAY or face more fees and thus more mounting debt. So I made that payment. I checked to see if my other card had gone through and, thankfully, it had, so that's a small bit of silver lining there. I now have to resume payments to my tickets that I received months ago, and at fifty dollars a month, I should have them paid off in close to two years. Great. My Firestone card has about the same amount of debt resting on it, thanks to some car repairs I needed made. At least that one only goes up by $15 each month, so I have a better shot at paying it off without much trouble.
The real problem is my bank balance, which is now showing me a bright, shiny, red number to the tune of 250 dollars. My check will, if I'm lucky, be about 200 dollars. Great. I run the risk of missing payments on essential bills because I don't bring in enough cash, and there are little to no jobs to be found in this shithole of an economy. I suppose maybe I shouldn't be too upset. After all, my bank balance has been there before and I've always come back. And my tax refund will be coming, giving me (hopefully) the boost I need to take a huge chunk out of at least ONE of these damn bills.
Failing that, I've got to wait until either I find a second job or Daphne finds a job period. I can't ask anyone for help because they aren't able to lend me any cash, and I'm not able to pay any back, so that makes loans a definite no-no.
What is a cash strapped guy to do...?
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