My Journey From Debt

Well, after previously being pretty much on top of everything, I am back in the dumps again. Here I sit wondering how I am going to pay all of my bills this month. I’ll discuss how “short” I am on funds for bills this month in my next post, for this one I’m just going to look at how I got myself into the situation that I am currently in.

Previously, I reported that I had $260.95 in my checking account. However, I did still have to purchase Christmas presents. Between the gifts I purchased and a couple of extra items for myself, Christmas shopping cost $400.40 and I was not expecting to spend this much. In order to help cover these costs, I withdrew $250.00 from my savings account.

Also, with the money I withdrew from savings, I have spent $79.50 on fuel for my vehicle and $8.89 on fast food. Another thing that I did was make a stop at the grocery store and picked up a 12 pack of Sierra Mist, a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese, and a gallon of milk for a total of $9.81 off of my account balance. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that I also had to purchase some dog food for my canine roommate which set me back $29.34 so it’s a good thing he don’t eat much and I only need to do that once every couple of months or so.

In the midst of all this, I did get paid right around Christmas and got $382.00 from my full time job and $109.34 from my part time job. These numbers together helped me make it through the holidays. After subtracting my $25.00 automatic transfer to savings, these numbers combine to leave me with $388.62 in checking and $229.05 in my savings account. It looks like I’m going to be paying a $3.00 fee this month for having my savings account below $300.00 again.