Road to Bondage

There I was, 17 years old, with a new credit card. I thought I was king of the world. I still don't know what I bought with that credit card, except for 5-10 CD's that were purchased during the first 2 weeks of college. These stand out because I only spent 2 weeks at Evangel University (Evangel College when I attended) before dropping out, but I got my credit card filled with music and paraphenalia.

By the time I left home for good when I joined the Navy, I had 3 credit cards and a car loan. This was all before I turned 19. When I left for the Navy, I was convinced that I would be able to afford the credit cards and the truck. Boy, was I wrong.

Little did I know that although I was getting paid while I was in Basic Training, I didn't actually get the money until after basic. So, all of my debts were getting farther and farther behind. When I completed basic, I had enough to catch up my debt, but while I was on leave visiting my parents, I was able to get a pay advance a week before payday. This was a huge mistake.

My next payday came after I had reported to Pensacola Naval Air Station. What I didn't realize was that the pay advance that I took was going to come from my next paycheck. Thus, my next paycheck was $94.00. That is for 2 weeks, yeah I was rakin' in the cash...Not.

I had no way to pay my credit cards or truck payment. Well, that $94 went to the credit cards, because I didn't really have to have money to live, did I? I lived on base, ate for free on base, so I thought I was okay, but then I found the love of my life (which is a long story in itself), and realized that I needed a life. So, I asked my dad to make the truck payments and he agreed, until I could get on my feet.

Well, he struggled as much as I did. So, there I was 19, in love, and broke. I thought it couldn't get any worse, little did I know that it was going to get a whole lot worse...

'Til we meet again. I am...

Tim, your Tour Guide