Hi r/financialplanning! I'm in quite a pickle and am not sure where to turn to.. This past week I found out I was being underpaid at work, instead of $12.50 I've been getting $11. It's not a huge difference, but it's added up. My employer said she'd pay me the proper wage from now on.. it's my bad, I never noticed because I used to get small paychecks dispersed over each week. But it's taken it's toll and now I only have only $200 in my bank account after a snowball of bills kept adding up. I also have credit card debt for the first time in my life (about $1080 after I had make an unexpected emergency trip across the country for my family). I'm looking for a new job (and have been for over a month) but I'm still a college student and have been having an extremely difficult time finding anything that pays over minimum, which is $10.50 here in Santa Barbara CA, I need to be making around $14-$15 an hour at least.
So far I've paid my way through three years of school and a move across country all with my own savings and work wages, but after all this time my savings finally ran out. I've been working every month of every year since I was 13 (I'm now 22), have a great and extensive resume, and have been completely financially independent since I was 18. I truly believe I'm a fantastic employee, and have wonderful references, so my workforce experience is not the problem. My struggle is that every higher paying job that I can find requires a bachelors degree, and since I'm still finishing school I'm not quite there yet. I don't know if I'll be able to finish school without making more money.. and in order to make more money on minimum wage I'd have to work full time which doesn't leave me any room for school. The only way I could afford to go to school on a part time job is if I was making a bachelors degree wage, which I can't do until I graduate school.. which I can't do unless I make more money.. this has been killing me
I'm so ready to be in the workforce, school is wonderful and I really love to learn, and for the past three years I've only gotten a few B's and everything else is A's, I want to succeed here, but I can't survive it in my current situation. My rent is $640 a month, utilities around $80, groceries are expensive here, at least $250+ a month (even though I shop only discounts). I now make about $450 - $500 every two weeks, my employer can't give me more hours. After everything I have less than $100 left if I'm lucky... my school can only give me $1000 in financial aid for a 6 month period, but it's barely enough to cover everything while I focus so hard on my coursework. I don't know how I'll pay off my credit card debt with only $100 In spending money leftover each month. Im in a loop of barely making it by, and just when I start to find my footing it falls out from under me. I'm terrified and don't know if I'll ever be able to live a financially stable life, my family was always broke and in debt and now I'm worried I'll be left to the same fate. Please.. I'm so lost... all I need is a better job, all I need is a chance.
Submitted July 17, 2017 at 01:34PM by Moonlitmindset http://ift.tt/2u1NKnl
