I just finished reading Angela’s Ashes.  The things which they dealt with & which people all over the world face on a daily basis makes me ever so grateful for my apartment, small though it is.  It has heat and lights and running water. 

Oh, and a refrigerator!  We have very much learned to be grateful for those things.  We have so much more than many and I know this. 
We have, however, gotten to a place where we are stuck; we’re at an impasse. 

We’ve either run out of options or don’t have the intelligence to figure out a solution, but we are trying, believe me.  All attempts at solutions so far have failed.  We left AL a year ago for a better job, and this is what has catapulted us into the current situation.  The job failed and the cost of living here is beyond what we can currently earn. 

Here, we are sinking.  We cannot move back because there is no money with which to move!  What we really want is to get back on our feet, start paying off debt again (instead of watching our student loans grow and grow), save money for emergencies & to help our parents, and work towards saving for a home for our son to grow up in.  We are here hoping someone will help with our student loans, first and foremost.

That is the short story. 

Below, our personal story.  It’s a bit long and I write stream of consciousness, but please bear with me!
We married 14 years ago with high hopes.  We attended college(s) together, having struggled and worked to fulfill our goals and dreams, yet with little outside help.  While in college, we used credit to help with food, books and fuel, and we have never been free again.  Job losses, moves, hurricanes, family death, car problems, and a baby boy difficult to bring into this world have all contributed to our struggle to pay. 

We have also spent very much of our own money working with runaway teens.  Others have donated towards our work with the kids, but of course, that money is strictly used for them. 
So here we are.  We can borrow no more, our student loan deferment times have all but expired, we can’t get gov’t help, and all of my attempts at lowering interest rates or transferring balances to low-interest cards have been met with failure. 

Just in the past few months our transmission died, our starter died, then our vehicle was totaled in an accident not our fault, my wife lost her job, our son broke his wrist (we have no insurance- cost? $1,000- and we didn’t even go to the ER!), and 2 days ago, my wife’s only possession worth anything, her wedding ring, was stolen.  That was the biggest hit.  We don’t mind being poor, and we’re grateful we can eat, but we really want to have stability for our son.  We want to teach him about generosity and serving others.  Truthfully, when a homeless person asks for spare change, I want to laugh. 

I often give something, but I think , “You have more than I!  I am negative $70,000 with no assets, and you have just nothing.  Which is better?” 
But of course I don’t, because everything comes at a price. 

Right now I can choose my 1-bedroom apartment with heat and water while we work and struggle to pay debts and can’t afford anything else, or I can choose to give up, owe debts forever (or default, which I can’t bring myself to do) and live on the streets in the cold, but that wouldn’t help anyone! 

Or maybe...maybe we’ll not have a choice for much longer. 

Truly, my family would be very grateful for any help and we will always “pay it forward.” 

Thanks for reading all of this!  Take care.