Amber Storck - Living On Almost Nothing

LIVING ON NEXT TO NOTHING

Introduction

My life of debt began just like everyone elses. At the tender age of 18, I got my first credit card. Then my second. Then my third. It was time to go to college and my car broke down. Instead of paying the $3,000.00 repair quote that I could not afford, I decided it would be a better idea to buy a new car for $16,000.00 because I could afford the payments. My mother made $6.00 too much the previous tax year in order for me to qualify for a grant for school. So, an additional $22,000.00 student loan went on the bill.

I graduated with a 4.0 GPA and honors from my class with an associates degree in computer technology and a minor in electronics. I graduated 1 month after the dot com bubble burst and the economy went into a deep recession. Later, the college I went to went bankrupt and out of business. So my degree counted for nothing. $22,000.00 spent and nothing to show for it.

I got whatever job I could, as close to my field as I could find. Closest I could find was $12.00 an hour as a customer service agent at a mom-and-pop shop that did electronics calibrations for large corporations. I didnt see a raise for years. Time went on and I just kept using my credit cards, paying the minimum along with my car payment. Fannie Mae was kind enough to send me a notice stating I was able to defer my payments if I wanted. So I did it.

What I didnt realize at my young age was that the $3,000.00 car repair could have been done for $600.00 at a shop that did not charge such outrageous markups on parts and labor. Shops take advantage of young women, and this particular shop was taking advantage. What I also didnt realize is the amazingly kind and wonderful Fannie Mae was still accumulating interest on my student loan which was not in the paperwork they sent me.

After getting home from work one day, ALL of my bills came in at once, with fine print and all. For the first time at the age of 20, I decided to read it instead of just pay the minimum and go about my business. I guess I was bored that night. When I added everything up, I still owed $14,000.00 on my car, $14,000.00 on my credit cards and $21,000.00 on my student loan. WHAT?!?! I owe $49,000.00?!?!? Oh, hell no! It was my a-ha moment. My mother always tried to teach me about debt, amortization schedules on a mortgage, how credit cards are bad and debt is bad. I never listened but always had a high level of integrity. My word was my bond. I promised to pay these companies back. And I absolutely hated owing that much. Even during the great recession, I went out the very next day and got a 2 nd job. Please keep in mind that at the age of 18, I did what my momma told me and put $250 into my 401k and forgot about itjust like she told me to.

After taking on the second job, I was now working 6:00 am until midnight 6 days a week. On the 7 th day, I still had a 6 hour shift. If not, I would go to the Labor Ready places and work a shift for chump change. I didnt care. I was driven. I was focused. I was NOT going to owe these people and I was NEVER going to allow this happen again.

For a year and a half, I worked and slaved and didnt buy anything. No clothes, no internet, no cable TV, no cell phone. Just rent, food, gas and utilities. Even then, I was heavily relying on company potlucks to feed me. It was not on purpose at all, but I was so stressed, broke and busy that I had forgotten to eat. Every single penny went towards my debt. I started with getting rid of my credit cards, then my car, then my student loans. I didnt know this at the time, but I was getting rid of the right debt in the proper order.

In the middle of all this working, I got a phone call from the leasing office of my apartment complex. My roommate and I paid our rent separately and he was not paying his half. They stated they had put notices on the door for months. I told them I worked from 6:00 am until midnight every day and didnt see any notices. My roommate, knowing he was not paying rent, was taking down the notices and not telling me. SoI had to break the lease. I could not afford the apartment on my own. There goes $2,500.00 that I didnt have and I had no place to go. I asked my mother if I could stay with her for a couple weeks until I could find a new apartment without a roommate. She said no. She said you are coming to stay with me until you are completely debt free. It took me 6 months of living with her and only a week to find an apartment I could afford once the debt was all paid off. I did pay a very small amount of rent as well as utilities during this time to help cover the bills. I insisted on doing so while my mother insisted I dont. I paid maybe $150 a month, which was nothing. It was pretty much the extra $50 I was using in electricity plus an extra $100 just for taking up space. Again, my mother didnt want me to pay anything but Insisted. While I was there I was also able to help her with things around the house like mowing the lawn, cooking, cleaning the house, painting, cleaning out gutters and organizing and things like that. I even installed a new water heater for the first time while I was there. All by myself and I was darn proud of it!

While getting out of debt, everyone at both of my jobs knew what I was doing and rooted me on! You can do it girl! It was motivating and made me feel like I was doing the right thing. I made $1,000.00 payments at a time and finallyI was debt free. I even overpaid them a little and got a $16.00 check from them months later. I remember taking my statement to my co-worker Kim and she gave me a huge high-five and a hug when I became debt free. It was a great feeling and I would do everything I could to never get back into debt again.

I moved into an adorable apartment all by myself. Meaning, I didnt have to rely on a roommate to pay their half of the rent and leaving me in the dark. I was now 22. The apartment complex was an 8-plex and built in the 1940s. It was privately owned and the kitchen seemed like it had never been updated, other than the refrigerator and oven. I LOVED IT! I had huge windows outside the kitchen looking into two pine trees that had naturally created a tunnel that led to a small back area where apartment dwellers were encouraged to hang their laundry. The apartment complex had a laundry line set up with clothes pins and all. There was also a small area behind the clothesline that was growing organic grapes along the fence line. I could do my wash, hang dry my clothes and sit out there and read a book and eat grapes right off the vine in complete bliss. I loved that place. I always tell myself If I ever win the lottery, I am buying that complex and moving back into my old apartment. I was only a mile away from my Mom In one direction, and a mile away from my brother in the other. I never went into debt again.

Lets fast forward a bit. My mother passed away when I was 28. While living on my own in the apartment, I had become accustomed to not spending any money and working 2 jobs. So, I just kept going. I continued for years working 2 jobs from 6:00 am until midnight and the money just piled up, along with my 401k contributions being quadrupled. Even living on my own, paying rent, having internet and everything I wanted, the money accumulated and accumulated. I started looking for a house of my own because by this time I had enough for a very hefty down payment in the area. Then my mother died.

When my mother died, my brother and I were to inherit the house. I was taking care of her already while living in my apartment so my brother told me I could have it. I moved in. I can not begin to tell you how emotionally devastated I was. She died on 2/12/2010. With an inheritance, you dont just get to keep everything without issue. With a living will and trust, which is what she had, you get everything she had, but you also owe everything she owed. She still owed $40,000.00 on the house. With the money I was saving with for a down payment for my own house, I paid it off. Then the recession came. Within one month I had lost my mother and my jobs. Both of them. I was in the house I grew up in and that helped. It felt like home.