Because $7 and a half a tank of gas isn't enough to last a week

It's no secret I suck when it comes to managing my own money. I'm the first to admit my skills when it comes to finances are definitely lacking. When I decided to quit the previous part-time, I did it under the assumption that the new part-time would be starting as soon as possible. I could go a week or two without the paycheck but not much more than that.

Almost a month and a half later, I still haven't started. And it's showing.

See if you can follow me on this. I get paid every two weeks at my full-time. My pay day is coordinated to fall on the same day as my rent is due. Usually that's around 1/3 to 1/2 of my pay. No problem. I'm still paying off credit card debt the size of Mt. Everest, that comes out automatically at the end of every month. My car insurance is automatically deducted once a month. My membership at my old gym (despit my repeated written requests to cancel) is still being deducted. I'm still paying on my student loans. When I was working two jobs regularly, this wasn't a problem. Money was still tight but not too much. Just enough that I couldn't go out all of the time and needed to keep my Target trips to a minimum.

Now I'm barely able to keep enough duckets around to buy gas in between pay periods.

Today was the last straw though. I hopped on to my bank's website to see where I stood...and I had at least two purchases bounce. Which means fees. On top of fees. On top of fees. Sigh. That means I've got a negative balance right now, seven dollars in my wallet that must hold me until next week and a half a tank of gas. To top it off I need to get my car repaired again. And even worse, I had to tell TBD there was a strong possibility I would need to back out on the Wildwood trip next week. Double sigh. I hate to admit it but I started to get upset and cried while I was telling him that. I WANT to go so bad and it is all he has been talking about this summer. And here I was, letting him down.

He told me not to worry about it. Maybe I could go down at least for the day with the new girl he has been seeing (who I absolutely adore, by the way). Or figure something else out. But He still wanted me there.

After we hung up, I decided to bite the bullet because when it comes down to it, even if I don't go to Wildwood for an extended period of time, I am in need of some money. And soon. That being said, I pulled out my last statement from my mutual fund, hopped online and withdrew $500. That money has always been a safety net. Money that was supposed to just sit there, accumulate of the years and only get used when I hit the red zone.

Right now my threat level is about as red as it gets.

With this money I'm hoping to get my car fixed (and registered) and dig myself out of the hole I'm in. Until Brian Roberts comes to his senses and asks for me to come back to him that is.