I grew up in a single parent household and we lived in borderline poverty. We got by, but barely. I also got my first job about 3 months before the 07/08 recession, so when everything tanked, so did my income. I worked retail at about 8-12 hours a week, on $7 an hour. I made almost nothing. I never had a dime in savings. More often than not, I was overdrawn.
Now I make a hair over $100k a year. I have nearly $20k saved up. My fiance and I live comfortably. But the idea of some how going broke terrifies me. I can't stand when my bank account (checking or savings) drops below a certain amount. I put $5k into a CD in the beginning of the year, which cut my savings account (at the time) in half. Seeing my savings drop by 50% gave me a mild panic attack. I knew the money wasn't gone. I didn't lose it. But the massive number difference upset me.
Now it's to the point where I have maybe $12k in credit card debt, and I'd rather just make the monthly payments and continue to add to my savings than wipe away my debt with what I've put away. The thought of not having those numbers in my bank account gives me terrible anxiety.
I don't know how I got here but I don't know how to fix this either.
Submitted July 18, 2023 at 11:30PM by MysteriousApricot891 https://ift.tt/C0hxjew
