The purpose of this blog is to detail my journey going from being a professional woman to sleeping in my car.
It all began......
In August 2009, I screwed up. I found myself behind in my bills because instead of managing my money appropriately I spent without keeping track of what I was doing. To keep up I visited my local payday cash advance place and borrowed $1000. My bills for the month of August totaled more than that, so I went to another payday cash advance place and borrowed $500. I didn't realize how much in the hole this borrowing would put me until my first payment in September.
In September 2009, I was only paid for one week in August--that's the way our school district paid us. However, the problem was that I needed to pay one payday cash place $400 and the other one $150. This left me with barely enough money to survived. I wouldn't be paid a full bi-weekly check until the end of September, therefore, for the month of September my bills weren't paid. So I pawned $2000 worth of diamond rings for about $200 (I just put it on loan).
At the end of September I was paid a full check of approximately $1200 (gross). From this money I needed to pay all the month's bills that totaled about $1300.
Seeing that I didn't have enough money to pay my bills and buy groceries, gas, and other misc necessities, I simply went without paying my rent and my student loan. Because my job was so stressful instead of going to the grocery store I lived off fast food--about $15 a day. My landlord was a nice man, I told him that I would pay him as soon as I got it which would be mid-October. However, by mid-October, I needed to pay the payday loan people and I needed to roll over my pawn shop loan. This cycle went on and one until finally in December I had paid off all of my payday loans but I still needed to get my rings from the pawn shop. I still hadn't paid rent because I didn't have enough money to pay my rent.
In December, a new job prospect presented itself. The money was the same as my current position, but it would alleviate all of the stress and I could actually go home at 5pm instead of 9pm (I went to work at 8am). I took the job offer.
In January, I gave my 2 week notice, started my new job and at the end of January went to a budget meeting and was told that our payments would be 6-months out. I wouldn't be paid for 6 months. WHAT??? How does it happen. Well, the lovely state of Illinois was so behind in paying companies that it took at least 6 months to be paid. The company I worked for only had a small amount of money to pay me up front because the state hadn't paid them $50,000 from FY 2009. They they were banking on that money to take care of my salary and then be reimbursed. HUH!!!!!
So, I was laid off after working for 2 months with no pay.
I lived off my savings and still had not paid my rent. Actually, I hadn't paid rent and my power bill because now I was living from January until April on $4000 I had saved. By the time April came, I was broke. Why didn't I get unemployment? Because I worked for a nonprofit who was not subject to pay UI and since the state was so behind they didn't have the money to pay UI.
Financially, I was in shambles. Mentally, I was even worse. Not because of my financial situation, but because of a man. You know when they say it rains, it pours. Well, sometimes that true and I was in a hail storm.
I met this guy in January. Actually, I had known him for almost 8 years, but we had never actually met. We proceeded to date and after 2 weeks he was asking me to marry him. I was on cloud 9 and in hell at the same time. This is a man that I was interested for about 8 years however, despite the fact that he asked me to marry him, he was still seeing his baby mama. After about a month of us seeing each other, I couldn't take it anymore. My heart was broken and I was sinking. I was living off of my savings, working for free, and in love with a man that didn't know how to love me back. I was slowly going crazy.
In February, I was robbed at gun point while sitting in my car. There was still snow on the ground so my windows were foggy when this guy came up and knocked on the window. I thought it was some crackhead asking for money, so I waved him away. He knocked again. I rolled down the window to see a guy pointed at my face. I screamed, he asked for my wallet and I cried to him that I didn't have it, which was true. I had just come back from my storage--loading things--and I was on my way back home. The only thing I had with me was my laptop. I handed it to him and he still asked for my wallet. "I promise, I don't have one with me," I cried. He clicked the gun and I lifted my hands, closed my eyes and started praying, "Father, in the name of Jesus..." By the time I said Jesus, he had run away. I figured that if I was gonna die, then I'd like to die praying and not pleading for my life. I was so shaken up that it took me a minute to drive away. I got home and found that I was locked out. I had put the slip lock on the front door. I was so scared to walk around the back to the back door, that I called a friend crying. I didn't tell her what happened, but I asked her to pray for me. After she got off the phone, I prayed to got that he protect me as I ran around the back. Right after I prayed my neighbor came home and that gave me enough courage to run around the back to get in. I cried and cried.
In March, the company that I worked for got a new contract. Yay, I could get paid, right? Well, my co-workers and I had some disagreements and instead of it being a wonderful assignment that would expand the company into 4 additional cities, it became stressful because of the disagreements.
By the time April came, I was completely broke and trying to hang on to my sanity. The only thing I knew to do was recite the scripture, "I've never seen the righteous forsaken...." A job came my way without me applying. I got the job, but it was in a city that was about 45 mile away. I had to borrow money from a friend to drive back and forth. By this time, the power in my apartment was out, all of my furniture was gone (I told my landlord that I would be moving because I didn't have the money to pay him) and I was sleeping on the floor. I broke down and told my friend, the one I called to pray for me. She let me stay in her house. The problem was that she had 4 children and lived in a 2-bedroom house. She was so nice that she let me sleep in her bed while she took the couch. What a friend!!!!! This was also the friend that loaned me $200 to drive back and forth until I got paid.
Now I'm working a fulltime job, but I didn't get paid until 3 weeks after I started. So, I paid my friend, paid a few bills and caught up on some things. After about a month, I got tired of seeing my friend sleep on the couch, so I lied to her and told her that I had enough money to get a new apartment and I moved out of her place.
In May, I got my check from my retirement fund almost $15,000. However, with taxes and penalties, I was only given $10,000. My bank was overdrawn $1000 so there went that. I paid my car up to 4 months which was over $1000, paid my power bill which was over $1000, paid a few other bills and was left with a few thousand dollars. The job that I had gotten was only temporary--June 30 was my last day unless they found enough money to keep me.
Close to the end of my job I found out that they did n't have enough money to keep me so I began my job search. By the end of July my funds were dwindling again. I got notice from my landlord that he sold the building. I had until August 30 to vacate.
One week before my dooms day, I found a job. $16 and hour and up to 40 hours a week. My first day was August 24. I would be working between two offices 45 mile apart. When I arrived for my first day of work, the boss called me in to tell me that I would not be making $16 an hour, but only $13 an hour and that I would not be working 40 a week, but probably up to 30 hours a week. After working for 3 weeks, I'm only working 20 hours or less. My pay for the month has been about $800.
I was supposed to move out August 30, but I still had no miracle, so I stayed another week. The new landlord allowed me to stay, but the day after labor day was my absolute last day there.
On my first day
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