In November, we published this Money Diary of a 22-year-old box office manager in Iowa. Commenters admired her work ethic, and had some strong opinions about her boyfriend.
Are you still at the same job? Has your salary changed at all?
"I am still at the same job; however, I have doubled my efforts to find something in my field. I'm hopeful that I will find something where I can truly use the skills I paid all that money to gain in college...and soon. I'm the type of person who will let herself get stuck, so I'm trying desperately to not let that happen. The search has honestly gotten pretty discouraging...but from what I hear, that's how job searches are. I got really lucky in landing this job before graduation, so I have to keep telling myself that at least I'm employed.
"I mentioned it briefly in my MD, but I got a raise. Instead of $15.86 per hour ($33,000 a year) I'm up to $18.27 per hour ($38,000 a year). This has slightly lessened the blow of working crazy hours doing a job that I don't particularly enjoy, but nearly everything I apply for has starting salaries of $40,000 or more."
What did you learn from writing a Money Diary?
"Two things: First, the kindness and concern that total strangers on the internet can show is incredible. Because my MD focused a lot (maybe too much) on the relationship struggles I was having, people came together to give me advice and commiserate. Some of them have had the same struggles, and some just wanted to let me know that it gets better. That support during my difficult patch really made me feel loved. I have started reading MDs more frequently and found a supportive community full of new perspectives. Also, somebody let me know that I could freeze meatballs, which will be a great improvement in the future!
"Second, I was really restricting myself, making $1,900 a month and putting nearly $900 a month toward my debt. My grocery budget was $80 for the month. I ate meatballs all week (to the dismay of a few concerned commenters) because I didn't want to "treat myself" to groceries/vegetables...and that was a spendy week! The idea was that I'll be less stressed once I get myself out of debt. That's true, but I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself and making myself miserable. I was honestly depriving myself of decent food and human contact. (Yes, I know there are lots of things you can do together for free. But sometimes you just want to go to a movie or a bar.)"
Any life updates since we heard from you last?
"Because of what I said above, I've allowed myself a little bit of lifestyle creep. I try to budget enough to go out to eat once a week and buy the other person's dinner. If I come up with something I want to make for dinner, I make it without thinking too much about the cost. (And then I eat the leftovers for lunch when I remember.) Since I'm paid biweekly, I got an 'extra' paycheck in November. I spent $250 of it on a custom piece of jewelry for my conch piercing before putting the rest toward my debt. I'm still putting $750-$800 a month toward debt payments (2-3x my minimum payments), but that small increase in "frivolous" spending has really helped my mental health.
"Everyone is going to be mad at me for this, but my boyfriend and I are still together. I am not going to make excuses for him, because upon reviewing my diary and my memory of that week, his behavior was pretty crappy. I wrote that MD at a time when everything felt like it was crumbling down, and that is important to remember, too. But the comments helped me put into words what my issues were in the relationship. Since then, I have tried to be very frank with him about how certain things he does make me feel (and obviously asked him to do the same in return). At the end of the day, I care about him and see the struggles he's dealing with. It's not perfect, but nothing is.
"Oh, and my kitties are doing great!"