We all have our dreams in life go to college, start a career, get married, travel, have children, grow old with your spouse, but does it all fall exactly in place or the way we want it to be? No, not always and that's life. I've learned to take it one step at a time and if we fall to get right back up and keep trying.
Well lately I feel that I'm falling more and more than pushing onward in the right direction. Money has put a huge damper on my life at the moment. My boyfriend, Jeffrey (which you'll hear a lot about), & I have been struggling financially for the past two months. Two months ago we were over joyed with having our first apartment together, but little did we know that luxury comes with a HUGE price! We thought we had a budget planned for this luxury but little did we know that I would have to start paying car payments as my previous car puked a month ago. On top of that we took a vacation in July to visit family. So now we are in a rut. Coming home from vacation we received two huge bills that we had 1) not prepared for and 2) no extra money in our budget to pay for them. I will never forget that awful day standing there with bills in hand, arms open wide, tears flowing, and a big question of, "why?" Jeff and I just held each other crying in fear and the feeling of being irresponsible. Seemed like all our dreams were crushed that day..
The rest of July we both frantically search for better jobs and even the thought of taking up two jobs at once just to get by. With no luck we quickly go on a hunt for cheaper apartments so we can get back on track and save for those dreams we once had together. After a long two days we both decide on a place but are still unsure and don't feel comfortable money wise. So plan B was look for jobs in Michigan, where I am from, and move in with my parents while we save, save, save! But the thought of leaving South Carolina is hard for me, because I moved here to follow my dream of living in the south. So onto plan C talking to Jeff's sister and brother-in-law about what we do next. They have a lot of great financial insight as they follow the Dave Ramsey plan. So after three weeks of trying to get together last night we met and talked for hours. First we plan to pay off the gas credit card,then plan for an emergency fund, and continue paying off student loans. As for the rest of it save! But the downer is there is no way we can do any of this living where we are, nor even if we were to move to a cheaper place.. so Jeff's brother in law suggested we live with them for roughly 6-7 months to get back on our feet and be out of debt. I was relieved to hear this. We finally found an answer to where we go from here.
So now it's on to packing, throwing away, getting rid of and sell, sell, sell our stuff! We have till September 17 to be out of our apartment and I am looking forward to putting the past behind us and push onward toward our dreams and more happiness! As Walt Disney says, "The key to happiness is achievable dreams."
