I have MONEY

I'm going to start referring myself as 'Daddy'; I have a savings account, that makes me Daddy.

SO, Daddy got a new job and is getting paid twice as much as their old job.

Daddy likes it. A lot.

I did like my old job, actually I liked the people I worked with. I hated my job. I liked parts of my job, I loved putting the Do Not Disturb on my phone in my private office. I loved having a private office. I loved editing contracts and creating posters. I loved taking an hour off for lunch.

I hated the customers. I hated the hours. I hated the extended hours. I hated the low pay.

I could barely keep up with my bills.

As someone who is dead-ass broke, who has been dead-ass broke since I started college, money has always been an issue. It's been 9 years since I graduated high school and I'm still in college, I can only afford maybe a class or two a semester and even then I had to cut corners to be able to afford the books alone. Paying for the classes is easy, I start to sweat just thinking about putting down $500 for a used book. Then for 2 years I had medical issues, which was only resolved after seeing three doctors, four biopsies, two dermatologists, and probably about $800 in gas alone. Then to be told that I had a rare auto-immune condition that could last between 2 years or for the next 10 years and that there was no medication or treatment for it. So, I spent about $5,000 to be told to suck it up and then they tried to get me to buy medication grade steroid cream that would destroy my skin and pills that I did take for a month but I gained about 10 pounds in a blink of an eye.

So, after school costs and medical bills and bills for life in general; my paycheck was always being spent on things that were not fun. And even then, my job was barely paying them. I took a credit card to try and pace the payments but even then, it barely helped.

I didn't want a new job but I had no choice. At 27 years old and still living at home with a car that I would pray for every night to start the next morning, I needed to do anything else that would pay me even just marginally more.

I got a job at a design firm that paid me $2 more than my old job. I get paid every week and next week my benefits kick in. I've never had a job that gave me benefits. I get medical, dental, AND optometry coverage.

When I first started this job and was filling out paperwork, I almost started crying. The HR guy looked at me for a moment and asked if I had any questions. I smiled and kept filling out paperwork.

"I've never had benefits before." I handed him the folder.

"Never?" He seemed shocked.

"Nope, I've paid for all my doctors with my own money." I answered softly.

"Well, that won't be a problem anymore."

Now, I opened my bank account after working there for two months and I'm crying in my car from happiness.

I had almost $2,000 in my account AFTER paying all my bills. ALL the bills, car, insurance, credit cards. I seriously think my last job was ripping me off hardcore because I shouldn't be making so much more. I was told I was making minimum wage which in California is about $14, and I had started at $12 and after 8 years of loyal employment all of my raises accumulated to me making $14.25 before I quit. Now, I'm making $16 an hour and they even take out about $80 of taxes each week and I'm STILL making enough money to actually put in my savings account.

I'm very lucky, I know I can't take it for granted and I'm planning on saving up and maybe even putting some aside in an investment or something like an actual adult would.

It's just such a relief to actually have money left over for the first time in my life. I've never had money, my family's been lower middle class for my whole life and my family hasn't been kind to me, being born out of wedlock and being the black sheep for most of my life. I was always the last thought, they didn't do much for me for holidays except put me in a corner with a book and ignore me when the token creepy uncle would try to get me to sit with him. Always the one handing out presents and receiving very few in return, always the gopher to fetch more drinks or snacks, and when I got my license I had to go pick up laundry, take out food, and the kids from school. I did all of this obediently because they held it over my head how much money they'd spend on food and clothes, even though the clothes were always hand me downs. My mom, the only one who actually did anything nice for me, would pay for me to go to after school classes and programs and the rest of my family would always try and make me feel guilty about the money she'd spend on me and manipulate me into quitting.

So finally having money of my own, making something out of my job, and being financially independent for the first time in my life; it's like finally being able to breathe after swimming too deep in the ocean.

If you're having problems, I hope that you are able to get a job or do something that will give you financial freedom.