Moving, has it’s financial set-backs
The way I see it, I’ve earned it. I moved to North Dakota about two years ago. I’ve moved more than 20 times, and every time it has been a financial set-back. So I expected it. This time, I managed to get a job – granted, a low-paying one – within a few days. But just 16 months later I was laid off. I have a doctorate degree and tons of work experience, but it took me more than six months to find another low-paying job. Still, I made it. And I made it just in time. Real estate taxes are due this week.
I live hand-to-mouth, so it’s not saying much to say that I did not incur any debt while I was unemployed. But I did manage to stay in the black. The fun stuff I do is free. I don’t spend any money on entertainment. I don’t even spend money on the new “necessaries” like television and internet or cell phone service. So I made it through unemployment with my mortgage current and without any of my utilities being cut off. But I made it by the skin of my teeth, and now I’m feeling the effects.
I can pay my real estate taxes, almost to the dollar, with the pay check I’ll get today. But I have no financial cushion and all my utility payments are due. Toward the end of my unemployment, I was having to push all my utility payments – gas, electric, phone, water and trash — to the absolute deadline, and now they’re all one payment behind and it won’t be long before I start getting cut-off notices.
I’m lucky I got a job just when I did
When you have no other source of income and no financial cushion, unemployment has a cumulative effect. You’re okay for the first couple months, and then money gets tighter and tighter. I was hanging by a thread toward the end of my unplanned vacation, and now, a month and a half later, I’m feeling the effects. Then there’s the mortgage and car insurance due next week. I’m pretty good at robbing Peter to pay Paul, but I’m tired of this. And really, I’m worried about eating for the next month.
I’ll admit I’m a little skeptical about getting a payday loan. But I know that it costs $39 to bounce a check or make a debit charge on insufficient funds. And I know that within a month, I’d really be struggling not to do that. I also know that the only way I can make my mortgage payment this month is to pay it two weeks late and take a $25 late fee hit. I’d also have to pay my mini-storage bill two weeks late and take a $10 hit there. I’d have to pay my car insurance a few days late, to the tune of $10 again. The poorer you get, the poorer you get! So I’m going to pay for a loan rather than pay late charges across the board. I survived unemployment, and it’s time to get this monkey off my back.
