“The struggles make you stronger and the changes make you wise…”
-Gary Allen (Life ain’t always Beautiful)
Think about it. Think about the struggles in your life. They’ve been part of the things that make you the individual you are today. They make you strong, they help you make better future decisions. I know, in my life, there have been some struggles and changes that have made me stronger and wiser. I also know that there will be many more to come.
You may be wondering what kind of struggles does a 20 year old have? We actually have a lot more things to worry about than where the next party is, what shoes go with this outfit, who is dating who this week, and things like that. Some of us actually have important things to worry about, such as how am I going to afford to put gas in my car for two weeks with a pay check that is $185, as well as pay my phone bill, car insurance, rent, food etc. There is one good thing that has come out of this.
Back in September, I moved out of my friend’s basement into my dad’s house. At the time I was working for a small local chain of coffee huts, as a Barista. My paychecks weren’t huge, and I wasn’t very good at making them last two weeks. After I moved in with my dad and step-mom, they taught me about budgeting. I’d heard about budgeting before but always thought it was for married people, or people with a ton of bills to pay.
They sat me down and made a spreadsheet of all of the things I needed to pay for. Rent, gas, phone bill, car insurance, clothing, food, personal care and decorating (for my new room). To be honest it overwhelmed me at first, I wondered how I was going to afford to pay for all of this with such a small pay check. Then my dad broke it down for me. We decided on an average of what my checks were, and divided it into each section. He explained that not all of the sections had to be the same amount, but it would be a good idea to make sure that I had the most important categories filled out first so I knew they would be all set and I wouldn’t have to worry (rent, gas, phone bill and insurance). Then we wen on to filling out the rest of the sheet.
After finding out the minimum amount I could deal with for the rest of the sections, I noticed that I still had money left over. I was shocked. Before I started budgeting, I was living paycheck to paycheck. Spending the whole thing because I could.
In the months to follow, I lost my job. I went almost a month with no income what so ever, and had to start borrowing money from my family and friends. This made me feel horrible because growing up I was unintentionally taught to never ask for help. I honestly thought I was letting people down when I would ask for gas money, or money to do anything. It made me feel useless.
In November, I finally got a call that I’d been waiting for. A job interview. It wasn’t for the best job in the world, or the best paying job in the world. Somehow I’ve been managing to make it work…kind of. After not having a job for so long, and not being able to keep up with my budgeting, I have fallen off the wagon of it and really need to get started with it again.
Hopefully soon I will have a job that will make me stress less about financial problems. In order to make this dream a reality, I will keep filling out applications, bringing my resume to places, and keep my hopes up high.
There is nothing I want more in my life than to make my parents proud, and to give my little sister someone to look up to. I want them to be able to see that I’m not the kind of person to give up and that they’ve raised me right. I want both my brother and sister to be proud of me and see what I can do in the world. I will be successful and make the most of everything life throws my way.
2015, this is my year. I will not let it get the better of me. I will make people proud to say they know me.
Happy New Year.
20yearoldmind 