I’ve tried and tried and tried to be good with it, but everybody has at least one thing in their life that the just suck at, and mine is budgeting.
My cable got cut off Monday, because I didn’t pay the bill. It’s back on now (sort of–there’s a problem with the box now, and they can’t get here until the 27th to fix it. Oh well. I’ll keep calling and see if there’s a cancellation). Then yesterday, out went the power. Same reason. That’s back on too, but the fact that I didn’t pay either of these bills bugs the crap out of me. I know better. I really do.
I’m going to be calling a credit counselor either tomorrow or Monday. I’ve got to learn to do this. Argh. I mean, I’ve got a good paying job, and I don’t really just toss the money away, I just don’t keep track of it as well as I need to. I don’t have any real extra money, but I certainly make enough to support my family. Sigh.
But that’s not the kicker for the week. The worst has nothing at all to do with money. My best friend is in the hospital. She’s had a breakdown. She’ll be there until at least Monday, and off work for at least three months. It’s sad, but in fact, it’s not a surprise. While I wasn’t expecting her to have to be hospitalized, I would not have been surprised at all if she had taken some time off work. Stess in her personal life coupled with the abso-freaking-lutely ridiculous amount of job stress all of us are under (we do work together) just finally snapped her.
I’ve never had my electricity cut off, but I’ve come damn close to it. Have you considered http://www.paymybills.com? It’s great, I’m a flake and a half, and it’s how my bills get paid.$6 a month, never put postage on a bill again. Check it out, hon. I can relate.
And I’m so sorry about your friend, she’ll get better. In fact, maybe this is good for her, it’s her body’s way of MAKING her slow down. And in three weeks, she’ll be better than she was last week. Sometimes we need a kick in the ass to let us know what really matters.
{{{Persephone}}} I DO hope next week is better, darling. And take it from me, deep breathing helps. Feel better, and take care of yourself.
I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. Hopefully the time she is taking for some rest will help her. As far as your bills go, don’t beat yourself up. Everyone goes through times where they just don’t do things they should do and although we suffer the consequences from them like cable cut off, life goes on and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for you. Chin up hon and keep smiling!!
Life itself isn’t sucky. Just a few isolated sucky incidents happening in a relatively short period of time. If these things had happened a few months apart rather than a few days (or hours, as in the case of my friend and my power shutoff–yeah, those happened on the same day) I don’t think it would seem quite so sucky.
I know it will get better, and I know my friend will get better. I think this may have been a not-so-terrible thing, too. Her psychologist (she’s been in therapy for a while) told her that it was either this or a heart attack in a year (her therapist has been trying to get her to take some time off for a while now).
Would it be out of line to ask what line of work you do? I will be job seeking at the end of my office technology course in November, and do NOT want to do whatever it is that you do.
I have a friend who got into money trouble also. He finally has the means to take care of it, so hopefully will be able to repair his credit rating. He did try to call a credit counselor, but all the services here had waiting lists weeks long, so you are not alone.
Perhaps having a calendar on your wall that you write on the mail by/due by dates for the bills that are coming up might help you keep track of the things.
I like to put the date the bill is due by where the stamp goes and it is fresh in my mind.
Just a thought.
Re: Your friend. Does this mean, since the two of you work together that your job stress level has just increased? I hope not ( When I say “I”, I mean “We”), because we hear at the SDMB do not want to see a decrease in your postings and, young lady, more importantly, if the qualilty of your postings starts to decline you will be severely reprimanded and thrown into the pit of Trolls.
Ah, Cristi, ain’t it the pits when life throws spitballs at ya? You described it so well, too; the problems that are purely personal, solvable and niggle a person to distraction, coupled with the biggies: friends going through dreadful times.
What you need now is a firm hug {{{Cristi}}} to tide you over the tough times.
Everyone’s a flake about something, so don’t sweat the small stuff. (It’s a maddening hassle, but nothing more.)
And your friend just had the best bit of luck possible. When someone’s life is working, nature has a way of sending signals. They start with subtle distress flares and work their way up to life-threatening episodes. It’s nature’s way of saying, “listen now, or face a heart attack.”
(I was truly blest; the good folks here gave me much needed kindness, toughness and encouragment-- to get a grip, a clue and cool it when stress became too much.)
Reality just tends to suck all around, so commiseration, sympathy and support to you and your friend.
Thanks, everyone! Sorry I couldn’t get on here yesterday–we had storms & stuff.
My week just got better, though! The bills are still due, and my friend is still in the hospital, but I did get approved for a small, easily repayable home equity loan (and I swear to the Goddess I am going to get one of those calendars!). The nice thing about this loan is that the people that give it to you take care of the bills you want to pay, then give you what’s left. Okay by me right now.
And more good stuff happened yesterday, but I’ll be starting another thread about that in a minute…
(Gee, I felt better, too.)
I know what you are going through. One of my co-workers is out ‘ill’ (that’s all we’ve been told) and we’re not sure if/when she is coming back to work. All we can do is wait.
Stay close to your friend. She’ll need you now and afterwards.
And be careful with the home equity loan. Pay that off as quickly as you can! (Voice of experience speaking here!)
Here’s hoping the rest of life goes better for the both of you.
