I'm over $50,000 in debt. The harsh reality of the written words hits me but I can't run away from reality forever. But I feel like running because living with so much debt is debilitating. I'm a student and I also work full-time. I don't have kids, nor do I plan to and to save money, I live with two other people. There are people who have it worse than me. But the shadow of debt is difficult no matter what situation you're in and it can be incredibly difficult to get out of it. The amount of my yearly salary is far less than the amount of debt I'm in and with other bills such as rent, I can't really fathom how to begin chipping away at it.

When I first started college, my mother encouraged me to take out a credit card to start building my credit. But that was the beginning of a slippery slope for me. I still remember my first-ever credit card purchase. I bought a birthday gift for someone at the mall when I didn't have money at the moment. I thought, "This is what these things are for. Small purchases I can pay off soon." But not long after, the credit card became a way for me to buy things like groceries and gas. I began using it for things that I needed and I kept justifying my spending on the card with the fact that I couldn't NOT have dinner.

At this point, I was paying my monthly credit card bills and that affected my income. I began applying for other cards to make up for this deficit. I worked in a restaurant during the school year and as a lifeguard over the summers. I used the cards to purchase my textbooks. I then started using them to pay for my car insurance and medical bills.

After a while, I had maxed out all my cards and paying them off each month was making my already unstable finances even more difficult to manage. I applied for a consolidation loan from my bank, trading five monthly payments for one. At first, it was great; my credit cards were paid off and I just had one big payment to make each month. I didn't think to cancel the credit cards because I wanted them to be there in case of a big emergency. But it wasn't long until the cycle started again. Those $0 balances were too tempting and I maxed them out again.

Now I have student loans, the consolidation loan, credit card debt, and medical debt from an accident last year.

It's a heavy burden to bear.

I earn just enough each month to pay my living expenses and make small payments to SOME of the lenders. It's hard to contribute to my savings when I'm not even able to pay all of my debts each month.

I feel as if I will be in debt for the rest of my life. I know that people do crawl their way out of debt and that lifestyle changes can be made to save money. But right now, the money coming in is just not enough to meet the money that is going out and it doesn't accommodate for emergencies: such as a recently unexpected car repair. I have managed to pay off one of the credit cards and another one is on a payment plan that will have it paid off by April 2019. But even with these achievements, I still feel overwhelmed.

It's very frustrating living with debt. I have mapped out a plan to tackle it in the best way I possibly can with my current income. My advice is it is never too early to learn about finances. Start taking steps now to learn how to effectively manage your money. Your future self will thank you. It may be too late for me to go back and change the choices I made when I was younger, but I am constantly striving for a better future.