The New Adventures of Debbie The Debt Destroyer
I'm In Debt
- Posted:
9/23/2008
So much has changed since I started writing this blog, I thought it would make sense to give you an update on my "status" and help you see where information for my upcoming posts (and articles for this site) are coming from, so here we go: I'm a new single mom. New as in, I became a single mom of my two young children about a month ago. I'll spare you the details of how that came to be - regardless of HOW it happened, the bottom line is that the financial considerations of a single mom are quite different than those of a dual income earning family of 4.
Maybe I should revise this to say I'm a
self-employed single mom. Because that's what 99% of landlords focused on as I began my search for a suitable place to live. I was flat out refused in many places - couldn't even schedule appointments to view some apartments. One of the first questions I was asked when inquiring about an apartment was "Who is the apartment for?" followed by "Where do you work?"
It's not that anyone came right out and said they don't rent to self employed single moms, but it was obvious they had an issue with it. Most didn't bother asking how much I earn or what my credit was. They simply assumed a single mom working from home will be trouble for them. One older man responded to my inquiry of his 2 bedroom apartment with "do you have a husband?" and when I said that actually, I did, but that it would be my children and myself in the apartment, he came right out and said "I don't like that." I ignored it, and proceeded to ask when he would be showing the apartment - to which he responded, "Do you work or anything?" I proudly explained my business ownership status, and his reply again, "I don't like that. I don't think so." I was hung up on.
Thankfully, I found two suitable places at the last minute. One was a two bedroom duplex, two levels with a basement and huge back yard, great school district. An apartment community I guess, as there were a number of streets with nothing but duplexes and townhomes managed by the same company. Then, I discovered the one I ended up moving into - a 3 bedroom flat, with basement and garage on a dead end street in a desirable school district, for the same price as the 2 bedroom. The landlord was clearly concerned about my ability to pay, seemed quite hesitant but is at least giving us the chance, which is more than I can say for the other 30 or so landlords I spoke to!
I've always been able to come up with money and keep my head afloat despite excessive college loan debt and living expenses - I don't question my ability to do it now, but having variable income sure does prove to be challenging now that the kids and I are on our own.
Watch this blog for updates as I discover more ways to save money, live frugally and pay off debt.
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