It was a combination of having to pay nearly $700.00 in taxes, having all my bills come due in the same week, having not yet received my monthly expense check from work, having my overtime cut at work, and having to pay my $1300.00 credit card bill immediately so that it doesn't go to collections. That, and some bad planning and spending on my part.

OK, so I guess I am sure how it happened. But however it happened, it has scared me to death. I had to borrow money from my parents (both sets) just to pay the bills that are automatically withdrawn from my checking account every month. I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to pay my rent. I mean, it's not like my roommate will kick me out if I'm a few days late, but just admitting to him that I have no money is hard enough. See, he is the exact opposite of me. Straight out of college he got a job working for the government that paid for his grad school and gave him many raises. Straight out of college I fooled around for a summer working at a lumber yard and didn't even start looking for a job until September. I didn't find one until March. I also came out of college with student loans (he got a full scholarship), a car payment (he drives his parent's ten year old hand me down), and several thousand dollars in credit card debt (he was smart enough NOT to get credit cards just for the free t-shirt). Combine that with the fact that his math degree got him a job making twice as much money as me and you can see the discrepancy. Also combine that with the fact that I don't know how to budget and he is so anal with his finances that he can tell me to the penny how much he has in his check book and what bills he has coming due for the next six months.

Money has never been important to me. And I think that has hurt me because I didn't care about getting a job that paid tons, I don't know anything about investing, and I'd rather spend my money on my friends and leaving big tips than worrying about the future.

Well, that has got to change.

I just cancelled my pre-order of Season 7 of The X-Files. I also cancelled my subscription to Netflix. I bowed out of a trip to Atlantic City over Memorial Day.

After looking at the contents of my pantry (instant mashed potatoes, green tea, one can of chicken noodle soup, half a box of Snackwell's wheat crackers, and one box of Uncle Ben's Rice) and of my refridgerator (two oranges, shredded chedder cheese, and salsa) I think I am going to be eating at my parent's house a lot this week. I also have four frozen chicken breasts, and I am saving them. Suddenly they seem very valuable.

I've figured it out and it's going to take me about three pay periods to get financially stable again. My next pay period will be used to repay my parents, and the one after that will be used to pay my bills for next month. So that six weeks of living in poverty. I think I can handle it.

During that time I am going to devise a budget and stick to it.

How did this happen?