I like running numbers and crunching data.
Which means that I do my taxes in December.
Gather my paperwork. Sort and File it all nice and neatly and then address any budgeting short falls and start formulating the following years budget. I lived for almost 15 years without borrowing money, using credit cards, or going into any sort of debt.
In 2015 I got my first credit card. I was starting to travel more in my independent work and a credit card became necessary to cover hotel and rental costs.
During that time I I kept up on all of those payments save for two instances.
One - when put into a hospital for psychiatric observation and evaluation and the request of my then wife. That ended up running us about $20k, plus having to rely on credit cards to cover bills and expenses while I was unable to work. She worked with the hospital to get the medical bills taken care of and I worked at Walmart to get the credit card debt paid back off and keep the bills under control.
In 2019 two things happened.
We took a trip that we did not have the finances to fully cover and I ended up selling off my childhood comic collection to recuperate the costs and second I got divorced.
After the divorce I went to Washington D.C. to sort some things out and look for work while studying the rail systems and doing as much educational exploration as I could so as to not waste what time I had.
Nearing the point of maxing out the credit cards after failing to find work or a place to live I returned to Oregon. Having no friends or family to stay with to save on costs I ended up living out of motels in order to keep a roof over my head while I got a job to work off my debts and enrolled in school.
During that time I had approached the financial institution on several occasions to seek financial assistance to cover business and school expenses. They refused to work with me when I first approached them in August, then again in September, and then a third time in the spring.
The effort was to gain a $20k loan to cover a term at school and consolidate the credit card debt under a more manageable interest rate, cover licensing costs for my business needs to start generating a more steady income from my independent work.
During that time, while working at Walmart, I was regularly harassed, had my belongings destroyed and stolen, and more than one attempt on my life.
When fire season approached I requested a leave of absence for medical concerns but was denied and in so doing was unable to apply for unemployment during that period.
As the fire season ended and I was having my medical needs addressed I was fired. It was during this time, leading up to and during fire season, that I decided to go the public route of having my grievances with Walmart addressed and forgoing the arbitration process that they typically require with such settlements.
Towards the end of fire season I ended up homeless again and spent money on motel rooms in order to keep my health concerns in check.
During that time I had the opportunity to relocate to other parts of the country with friends and family but chose to stay and assist a colleague in getting their family home either sold or renovated. There were many other personal matters involved in the situation but I've done my best to uphold the agreement I made with that colleague.
Unable to secure a physical address for my financial needs and/or find work that would pay enough to cover my needs and unable to file an unemployment claim because of the disputed situation with Walmart what small amount of resources I did have were utilized in cleaning and repairing what I could in my current living situation.
Those resources ran out at the end of October. And the living situation I'm in became hostile to the point of having my belongings tampered with and my person assaulted on more than one occasion.
Now I have people willing to send small amounts of money to keep my phone on and facilitate relocation but because the dispute with Walmart and the inability to find work or aid to cover my finances the credit cards began defaulting and my ability to conduct digital transactions essentially frozen.
The only thing I have left is some old coins that have no monetary value, my tools and costumes for my work, and a vintage video game collection that I was unable to liquidate before reaching this point financially and the storage of which (as well as the rest of my tools) is inaccessible until I pay for the back rent on the unit.
During that time I I kept up on all of those payments save for two instances.
One - when put into a hospital for psychiatric observation and evaluation and the request of my then wife. That ended up running us about $20k, plus having to rely on credit cards to cover bills and expenses while I was unable to work. She worked with the hospital to get the medical bills taken care of and I worked at Walmart to get the credit card debt paid back off and keep the bills under control.
In 2019 two things happened.
We took a trip that we did not have the finances to fully cover and I ended up selling off my childhood comic collection to recuperate the costs and second I got divorced.
After the divorce I went to Washington D.C. to sort some things out and look for work while studying the rail systems and doing as much educational exploration as I could so as to not waste what time I had.
Nearing the point of maxing out the credit cards after failing to find work or a place to live I returned to Oregon. Having no friends or family to stay with to save on costs I ended up living out of motels in order to keep a roof over my head while I got a job to work off my debts and enrolled in school.
During that time I had approached the financial institution on several occasions to seek financial assistance to cover business and school expenses. They refused to work with me when I first approached them in August, then again in September, and then a third time in the spring.
The effort was to gain a $20k loan to cover a term at school and consolidate the credit card debt under a more manageable interest rate, cover licensing costs for my business needs to start generating a more steady income from my independent work.
During that time, while working at Walmart, I was regularly harassed, had my belongings destroyed and stolen, and more than one attempt on my life.
When fire season approached I requested a leave of absence for medical concerns but was denied and in so doing was unable to apply for unemployment during that period.
As the fire season ended and I was having my medical needs addressed I was fired. It was during this time, leading up to and during fire season, that I decided to go the public route of having my grievances with Walmart addressed and forgoing the arbitration process that they typically require with such settlements.
Towards the end of fire season I ended up homeless again and spent money on motel rooms in order to keep my health concerns in check.
During that time I had the opportunity to relocate to other parts of the country with friends and family but chose to stay and assist a colleague in getting their family home either sold or renovated. There were many other personal matters involved in the situation but I've done my best to uphold the agreement I made with that colleague.
Unable to secure a physical address for my financial needs and/or find work that would pay enough to cover my needs and unable to file an unemployment claim because of the disputed situation with Walmart what small amount of resources I did have were utilized in cleaning and repairing what I could in my current living situation.
Those resources ran out at the end of October. And the living situation I'm in became hostile to the point of having my belongings tampered with and my person assaulted on more than one occasion.
Now I have people willing to send small amounts of money to keep my phone on and facilitate relocation but because the dispute with Walmart and the inability to find work or aid to cover my finances the credit cards began defaulting and my ability to conduct digital transactions essentially frozen.
The only thing I have left is some old coins that have no monetary value, my tools and costumes for my work, and a vintage video game collection that I was unable to liquidate before reaching this point financially and the storage of which (as well as the rest of my tools) is inaccessible until I pay for the back rent on the unit.
So now, aside from the debt from the post divorce trip I've accrued more during the course of the pandemic as well as medical bills I'm currently unable to pay. I've been surgical in my spending and managing my resources with razor precision so that my debt load has just now only reached where it was when I first returned to Oregon, but with no work available to me currently and application and employment inquiries going unanswered I'm lost, and for the first time since I was a young kid buying a house I'm in an unmanageable amount of debt.
The difference this time being that there is no work to fall back on and the work I have done/been doing is going unpaid.
The only thing, at this point, keeping me from doing something dumb is the hope that at least one of the several cases that will result in some form of billing and/or settlement will finalize so that I can pay my debts and move on with my life.
But, much in the way that the Banks and other lending institutions treated me over the course of the past couple of years it would appear that these "employers" are simply waiting for me to slowly bleed out on the road so that they can pick over the remainders and the only thing keeping me from ending my physical suffering is the fact that if I succeed at one or more of the tasks laid in front of me then people outside of myself will end up in a better place/position in life as well.
If I fail...then the rats and vultures get to feast on my corpse and what's left of my belongings.
Yay.
The difference this time being that there is no work to fall back on and the work I have done/been doing is going unpaid.
The only thing, at this point, keeping me from doing something dumb is the hope that at least one of the several cases that will result in some form of billing and/or settlement will finalize so that I can pay my debts and move on with my life.
But, much in the way that the Banks and other lending institutions treated me over the course of the past couple of years it would appear that these "employers" are simply waiting for me to slowly bleed out on the road so that they can pick over the remainders and the only thing keeping me from ending my physical suffering is the fact that if I succeed at one or more of the tasks laid in front of me then people outside of myself will end up in a better place/position in life as well.
If I fail...then the rats and vultures get to feast on my corpse and what's left of my belongings.
Yay.
