Throwaway because I feel uncomfortable talking about money.
As a start, I'd like to mention that I grew up in poverty, up until I somehow managed to crawl my way into a decent job in 2017. I still have a poverty mindset. I over buy meat then its on sale, I get a little "spend crazy" when I get paid because "Oh I've been eating gross things all week I deserve a big treat", I only buy the cheapest things that break more often instead of investing in higher quality items, the whole shebang. Its ingrained into me.
On to the now. I work on a small team that supports a private financial advisor. I was only originally brought on as a part time admin, but it turned out that I was REALLY good at this (never went to school for it, so I had no idea) and my boss didn't want me looking elsewhere for more hours / pay, so within a year and a half I have a full time schedule and $2 raise, benefits (I've never had health insurance, a 401k with 4% matching, dental, life and disability insurance before), bonuses. Its all very overwhelming to me, as is.
And then, a bit of calamity. 3 people out of our 6 person support team abruptly quit last month. Suddenly we're doing the work of 6 people, and getting very nervous. So my boss decided to give us all another $1 raise (bringing me to $19.50/hr), plus a 24% bonus stretched over 6 months, as a retention. That's an extra $650 every paycheck. This isn't including our regular Christmas bonus that's 10% our annual salary.
I'm honestly shaking thinking of it right now, and really don't know what to do with it. Im scared I'll just spend it out of habit, I really don't want to. As much as I'd like to ask my boss this question, she has NO TIME to help me figure this out because we're so low staffed.
With this first one that I received last Friday, I paid off a collections bill that was sitting on my shoulders for a while, and completely paid off my 1 credit card. As of today, for the first time in my life, I have $0 debt. There are certain things I need to get, some new work clothes, new glasses as mine are falling apart, etc.
What's my best course of action from here on out?
Submitted November 14, 2018 at 10:10AM by Throwawaybren https://ift.tt/2K7YsRm
