Attempting life balance in the face of debt and family crisis

[pandaindebt]

Props to you first of all for putting up with this situation. Makes me feel like I am not alone in my battles.

I don't know how much of your situation has changed since you last posted, but have you considered just renting a shared room in the meantime? It sucks that you have to be cooped up in your room. Most people who offer a shared room for rent usually aren't home much anyway. Plus, if you're getting a second job, it might just work out for the both of you.

Plus, you never know who you will meet. I've met great contacts who were roommates or friends of roommates.

Good luck to you.

[lookingup]

For a long time I was very reluctant about any rented space with a roommate I didn't already know because it's been tough to find an unfurnished room for rent. I have some (emotionally and financially valuable heirloom) furniture I wanted to evacuate along with myself lest it somehow go missing in my absence. Since then I have had one good lead on a friend who might have a contact for an empty room. We'll see what happens. It's the most exciting prospect I've had so far and I'm really hoping it works out; it's exactly what I would have wanted if I'd let myself get so optimistic.

Balancing the costs of rent, commute, and the storage space I might have to get if I was able to find the other two at a decent rate has been the difficult part. Rent anywhere remotely near (as in, within an hour of) work tends to run more than one third of my dual-employment income, and with loan burdens that's nearly untenable. The main advice I get in my daily life is to renegotiate my loan payments, which would ease things in the short term but keep me barely treading water into my forties, which is not at all how I want my life to go. So far I've been able to pocket almost* everything I've made and my emergency fund is two days away from topped off, meaning I can attack the loans in full force with my next paycheck without setting off my own anxieties. I've been trying to keep liquid because I don't yet know what kind of expenses the move will incur, but I want to get back to paying down more than required.

(*I put down a deposit on an apartment I liked in case I had to move in short order. The peace of mind this bought me is well worth the price, even though I don't expect I'll actually be moving there unless I can't come up with another option. Rarely has spending money on a gamble been a good choice for me, but the difference it has made in my outlook knowing I have an escape rope is inarticulable.)

Panda, I'm beginning to think we're a sizable minority at the least.