By Girls Meets Debt
I’m going to let you in on a secret that’s probably not such a secret since my name is Girl Meets Debt, but before I started this blog almost a year ago, I was miserably living paycheck to paycheck. Not only was I living paycheck to paycheck but I was living well beyond my means, hence the $12,000 credit card debt that I only got rid of in September.
paycheck
What was it like living paycheck to paycheck and knowing I had over $57,000 in total debts to pay off? Terrifying-mind blowing-unreal. So terrifying-mind blowing-unreal that I completely ignored it, choosing to believe that as long as I made slightly more than the minimum payment each month, then it would all be paid off “one glorious day.”
Every 2 weeks I would get my low-income paycheck and within a few minutes and a few clicks of my mouse, my money was gone because I had to pay rent, bills, and money I owed towards student loans and my various credit cards. It was depressing. I usually only had a few hundred dollars left to last me until my next paycheck.
It’s ironic to think that a few hundred dollars now is more than enough money for me to spend, but back then when my financial habits were reckless and irresponsible to say the least, I would usually spend that few hundred dollars in a week and then rely on credit cards for the next week until I got paid again. Living paycheck to paycheck had become my normal lifestyle.
It didn’t help that I was a shopaholic and felt that I needed to have more “pretty things” because I “deserved” it. Low-income was not going to stop me from financing my Carrie Bradshaw Sex in the City lifestyle.
Credit card companies loved me because I constantly carried a high balance but in 12 years I never missed a single payment. Not only did I not miss a single payment but I paid slightly more than my required minimum payment every month. I was responsibly irresponsible. Perfect prey.
Read the full article from Girls Meets Debt.
