Hello all,
A shameful day has arrived for me, and I have exhausted all options in terms of financially liberating myself. I work as a janitor and don’t make the best of money, but it is sufficient for my current lifestyle.
However, I had a difficult few months and got carried away with my spending, which coupled in with the credit cards I decided to max out before leaving college. I was struggling with alcohol use, and it reached a point of a bottle of vodka every two or three days, couple in with a daily pack of cigarettes, my weekly expenses for these things were $250 alone, not including impulse buys while inebriated or experiencing withdrawals. It’s been about ten months since I quit both drinking and smoking, however this whole time I have been in a perpetual loop of having just enough money to barely make it by, but not enough to make any dents in my debt, as purchase interest and overage charges are tanking my finances. I am worried that soon my financial situation will reach a critical point and I will get royally screwed (entirely my own fault and doing, there is no one else to blame)
Now with taking care of a relatives cat they can no longer take care of who my landlord wants vaccinated and a license sticker renewal being due soon, as well as the residual impact from the holiday season, my finances are set to implode again, and there is no more just holding out until I spot an opportunity to move up in the world..
I manage to pay rent, however food is becoming a struggle, and as a tall young male who does physical work, the lessening of the food I eat, and isolation due to weather conditions and not having anything to go out with, I am withering away. While I do undertake extra shifts and participate in the gig economy, I physically feel like death, and have rampant chest pains each day due to stress, insufficient food, and long-covid.
I need to find a way to muster up $3500 CAD (~$2700 USD) at minimum to achieve a networth of $0, and put myself back on track to independence, and to get started on investment and working towards home ownership (northern ontario is starting to skyrocket and I want to get in early to take advantage of low interest rates on currently cheap property/land).
My current strategy is to hold out and keep pushing at work for the next eight months and hope I can turn the tide via minimizing expenses as much as possible, tackle my credit cards and wipe their balance completely, continue to resist individuals or activities that will likely cause a financial drain one way or another, and take advantage of every discount and free thing I can get my hands on. Afterwards, once I get some financial breathing room, I hope that I am able to more closely focus on my health and start taking care of myself so I can take on an additional shift every week. The next goal would be to achieve a savings balance of $2000, a chequing balance of $250, start contributing to a TFSA/RRSP, start contributing to the workplace health insurance program to preserve my dental health (I was born missing tooth enamel so dental costs have been an issue for me). The following goal would be to reach a savings balance of $5000.00 to afford to move out of a shared house and into my own place.
I would really just like to not feel like broken glass when I wake up, and put myself into a position where I can start building my financial future and interpersonal relationships.
Any support whatsoever, financial or even just financial advice would be greatly appreciated
Thank you,
PayPal.me/tjayokay