Thursday 5 December 2013

The beginning of my Homeless Odyssey

Let me get one thing straight, I am not desperate, nor am I destitute. I have a job, a good one. I like my job and my boss; I am paid well. 

My problem is a cash flow issue, yes my bills are paid but all I seem to manage to do is pay the minimum payments on my credit cards. Currently their collective balances are somewhere north of 17k. 

How did I end up with that much in credit card debt? Well it started out when the ending few months of my Film School, my cash ran out, so I had to live on credit cards. Then there was the transition period as I tried to get a job, after college.  The trouble is that nobody wants to hire you if you have a BA, because they figure that you will simply leave them as soon as an opening comes up in your field. (but I digress).

I have done the roommate thing and have one now, but the trouble is that since everything is in my name the buck (or bill rather) stops with me. I have to make sure that everything is paid and paid on time. If the roommate feels like being a bit late it is no big deal because they do not suffer the consequences or have to pick up the slack, I do.

I finally decided that since my problem is a cash flow issue, I need to simply radically drop my expenses. Thus I have decided to forgo renting a place for the next one and a half to two years. After which I will be in a place to buy something.

I have just gotten a Post Office Box at a post office near my work, and will change my mailing address over there (as soon as my test letter makes it safely).

I have decided that I will only get a storage unit which is 5 x 10, and simply pack it to the rafters. Whatever does not fit will not be salvaged. If I got anything larger it would be more costly and then it would not be worth keeping anything, as after two years the money I would have spent on it meant that I could have pocket the money and bought new stuff. So only the things which mean something to me will be staying.

As for where I will be living, I will do one of two options.

1)    Live out of a duffle bag and rent a room as cheaply as I can near my work

2)    Buy a new winter rated camper for the back of my truck and simply live in that. This option is what I plan to do once it gets warmer, but we will see.

That is it for now, I will keep you all updated on my progress. I haven’t put my notice in, but I will at the end of this month. I have decided that as of the end of January 2014, I will be on my Homeless Odyssey to debt freedom.  

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