Let me start by saying this all started because I was helping others. I opened my home to two people that were not obligated to pay me to live with me (one was trying to stay sober and the other was a life or death situation). When Covid peaked and many people in my industry (restaurant) ran out of money, I gave freely what little money I did have. I couldn’t watch the people I loved and worked with go hungry. So I stupidly took advantage of the no shut off that utility companies were doing and thought I could just make it up later. And I steadily worked on getting those things caught up.
Everything was fine.
Until my car broke down and it was too expensive to fix so I signed papers for a new one. I owned that car for about 36 hours and someone backed into it sitting in front of my house. The insurance company declared it totalled no matter how hard I tried to fight it. So I was forced to sign papers on another car. While still having to pay off the first one.
So between my one and a half car payments, almost double utility bills, and my new much longer commute to work (shortly after the car situation I was transferred to another location about 40 minutes from home), I am struggling. Everything is constantly late, the utility companies do not want to work with anyone because of the people that took advantage for the wrong reasons, and I am at my wits end. Since everything is a constant “I’ll pay you on my next check” there are so many extra late fees tacked on that at this rate, I won’t be caught up until mid February or March. And that is if nothing else happens. Please, don’t let anything else happen.
I cant take much more. I have dropped almost 20 lbs due to not being able to eat properly – I skip more meals than I consume.
I am not eligible for any government assistance because I “make too much money” which is an entire joke. I am literally a few hundred dollars outside of the maximum range for most programs.
Can someone please help me? Please. I am not lying or exaggerating when I say that $2500 is life changing for me. Completely and totally life changing. That would allow me to pay my rent (now 5 days late and counting till next paycheck on 7/14 $650 plus late fees), my electric bill ($644.73), water bill ($475), car payment ($577 – 1 and a half months). With the around $150 left I could put a few groceries in my house so I could eat just a little more often.
With all of that caught up and my payments back to normal, I’d be able to get back onto my regular payment schedule sans any late fees and added stress of having to make arrangements and hope like hell whichever company I am begging accepts the arrangements I can make.
I am begging. I cannot keep going like this – I am so close to just giving up. And most of all, I hate feeling like I should have never helped those people. That isn’t who I am. I never have much, but what I do have that I don’t need, I never mind to give away.
Anyone? Please?