So this semester my financial aid was doubled (thank you Obama) and I got this assistantship. So, for once, I finally had some extra money. Well I made my budget for the semester and decided to do something nice for my family. My mom and step-dad are remodeling their house and my brother is as well. So I got them both gift cards to Lowe's and also bought my niece a gift card for iTunes.

Well, of course after I spent all this money on my family stuff came up (like it always does). Like my electric company accidentally took out my payment twice and then because they took out double the money it put me negative and then I got charged by my bank and I have to wait like 10 days to get the check from the electric company and have the charges refunded. Then my credit card company raised my apr out of nowhere and I got some crazy finance charge which put me over my balance so I had to call and ask them to lower my apr and take off the charge because I wasn't over and wasn't late on my balance - they just randomly raised my apr.

Then, my other credit card, said that they just cancelled it. I wasn't over, never late on my payments. They said that with the economy they are having to cancel a bunch of accounts for no reason and specifically said it wasn't from my credit.

So then, I had an accident at work and workman's comp didn't take care of it right away so they turned me over to collections even though workman's comp told me they paid it. So now I can't even apply for a temporary loan or credit card to help me out right now because they put collections on my credit report because of stupid workman's comp.

So anyways.....obviously I'm pretty broke right now. But my mom has always brought me up to be very independent and self-reliant so it's really hard for me to ask for help, especially financially. My boyfriend has said several times he doesn't mind loaning me money and doesn't mind taking care of things until my insurance is figured out and I get that refund from the electric company but I feel so........dirty I guess would be the best word, taking money from him. Yesterday he gave me a 20 because he has to go out of town for a conference and said "just take it so you have some cash while I'm gone" and I felt horrible. I hate feeling like I'm not contributing and like I'm not bringing in any income. I don't even know if I'm looking for advice. I just never thought I would be in a position where I had to rely on someone else and it feels horrible. I feel like my independence has been stripped from me. And he doesn't tell me how to spend it or give me crap for it or anything. He never mentions a word about it but I still feel so awful.