The Scary Side of Debt and How We Made It through Part 1
Almost a year ago I was going through one of the hardest times of my life. We all have hard times periodically in our life, right? But a year ago about this time, the clouds started to part and lots of fist pumps were going on. We survived.
You never think it’s going to be you. You don’t really wish it upon others either. You see it once in a while happen to a friend, or an acquaintance and still- you say to yourself “well, that’s not going to happen to us. We are too hard of workers, we are nice people, we have done all the right things in life, served our friends family, community….. Everything will work out because we have worked too hard for it to not work out. Then, it happens to you.
We go to college and graduate school to set our self apart, to get ahead, to secure our self a future. A job, a house, maybe a family, traveling, a good life, right? You start school thinking that future is SOOOO far away. Dreams of your house and a budget that allows you to eat out and go to movies, have a decent car are soooo far away. Then! Its here. You are staring your future in the face (more like graduation which seems like your entire future) and it’s not what you expected! It’s not what you planned; you are one of those people- despite doing everything right. Great grades, top of your class. Had the best internships, rubbed shoulders with influential people and yet- no job and a lot of debt at graduation.
I wouldn’t say we didn’t have a job. Toward the end of school my husband had a full-time job at a small greasy company making 30K. In Southern California 30K doesn’t barely cover rent. But we had some loans leftover to supplement for a month (or two) and job interviews- so we were positive. Because we were just out of school we were able to defer the loans for 6 months, so we could make ends meet. We paid rent, a small car payment, and a credit card bill.
You think you know what frugal living at this point. We couldn’t afford the extras like soccer clubs, new shoes or new clothes. Friends would give us hand-me downs and my kids had their summer wardrobe. (tender mercies) I would grocery shop wisely by watching for sales and going to the less expensive grocery stores. I’m not a coupon clipper, I have done that in the past, now in this season of my life I don’t have time or energy to go to the many stores with all my kids and appointments. A wise financial professor once taught me that time and energy are money- and I solely believe that.
A month after graduation (with his LLM in Tax Law) my husband was let go from his job. Bittersweet, he really didn’t like his job, but it paid the bills. If things weren’t tight before now they were going to be what felt like impossible. It’s not like graduate school leaves you with a savings account for these things. My husband’s school didn’t allow him to work- just build up debt. With a desperate sinking feeling and one months rent in our bank account we paid it, and prayed. NOW you learn to live frugally. For two weeks we had $5 in our bank account. For the whole duration of is jobless-ness we had maybe $100 in our bank account. (mind you- how much does it cost to fill up a car….) We did file for unemployment, but that takes weeks for the paperwork, and you only receive a percentage (I think 50%) of your last income.
So what do you do? To Be Continued……
Continue reading part 2 of Desarae’s story
I’m Des, or Desarae… or even Desi. Take your pick-I answer to all. A graduate from BYU, mom of 3 kids, wife to a man who recently graduated graduate school and now works alllll the time. {I miss student life} I love to cook {www.ohsodelicioso.com} I love being a mom and doing all things mommy-ish. I love taking my creativity out on my home, diy projects and photography. I try to do those as much as possible in between soccer practice and piano. (in other words, it doesn’t happen much) For other sarcastic ramblings check me out @ www.flyingoutsidethecoop.com or on instagram @_desl_ (that is an L as the last letter)
