[SingDanceRunLife]

My bank account is overdrawn by $167 and I now only have 2 weeks to put that all back in or else my account is canceled and my credit will be affected. And I only have $55 left of my credit line because the card company tricked me into doing a phone payment which caused an overdraft fee plus the payment to be processed...so basically, I'm screwed because I won't have that much money for I don't know how long, it depends on when my job's pay period is and how it works, but I probably won't get paid for 3 weeks.

I don't want to tell my parents because then they'll think I'm super irresponsible and whatever...but what else can I do? Maybe get them to put the money for an annual bus pass in which actually I could make a good case for because it would cost me about $90 less over the course of the year to do that instead of buying one each month...my dad would see the amount though because he's a co-signer on my account since I got it before I was 18 and we never took him off since there's no real reason to since he doesn't touch it since it's mine...maybe I could play it off by saying I didn't realize there was an automatic payment on my credit card and I wasn't watching carefully enough...ugh. Fck.

[A Red Panda]

I think it'd be best to just fess up to your parents and ask for help on what to do. At least then you wouldn't have "lying" added to the list of things you've done with this bout of mania!

[Victoria'smom]

Can you just say dad "I had a bill and it over-drafted can I borrow $160 until I get paid?"

[SingDanceRunLife]

I ended up telling my mom. She's mad, but she said they'll help me out. I know I totally fcked up, but I was completely out of my mind all semester with basically no help from my pdoc at all so...yeah...

And now that I'm home, I've switched pdocs since I'm not going back to school, and this pdoc saw that I was manic immediately and took action immediately and has been closely monitoring me so, it'll be fine. I think I'm gonna cut up my credit card though, so I can't use it. I don't know it's number either so I can't use it for online shopping or anything.

And mania is super rare for me, so it probably won't happen again for another year. I tend to spend more of my time depressed. But I'll be watched by my T and pdoc closely over this next year (my mom is worried this will happen again, but I don't think it will because when I have actual expenses which I will then I am more careful)...so....yeah.

[wildflowerchild25]

Good job confessing. That takes more strength than lying. I am glad you have a pdoc and a therapist that will monitor you closer than before.

[SingDanceRunLife]

I mean, at this point, I need the money stat, so I didn't have much choice.

[Confusedinomicon]

I think this is normal. I have done this on 'accident' before because I didn't budget.(food costs a lot and I used to eat out a lot in uni!) Parents should expect this if they don't teach their children about budgeting and finances. It took a few times of overspending for me to learn how to manage money.

I actually had the bank call me repeatly and my parents ended up covering the costs. They were mad.

[SingDanceRunLife]

My thing was that I didn't have any expenses. My parents paid for literally everything. But that all changes very soon when I move out. I'm going to be mostly financially independent, so my money will have to go to things I need.

[Confusedinomicon]

My parents paid all my bills and credit for 4 years. I didn't learn the value of a dollar until I started working. I've probably run up 2k+ in credit over 4 years despite my parents giving me 200-300 dollars for spending each month.

Honestly it is REALLY REALLY easy to spend money when you go out. I can easily spend up to 20 dollars on fast food/junk food a day if I'm not careful now and I've been paying most of my own bills for 6 months now.

The easiest way to transition is to talk to your parents about budgeting and figure out how they manage to pay all their bills every month. I have found that having a savings account and allocating what I need to save to pay bills helps me. If you just move out you'll still have a hard time with finances. It took me a few months after I started working to come up with a system that worked for me.

[SingDanceRunLife]

Before this, I literally had nothing that I had to pay for myself. My parents paid for school (tuition, room+board, books -- the works), food, clothes, my phone, health insurance, meds...absolutely everything. And so even though I worked (I've worked since I was 17), I always felt free to spend my money however the heck I felt like spending it because I just didn't need any savings for any reason.

But now that I'm moving out and will be on my own (for the most part -- parents are still footing everything medical and school, but I'm paying rent+electric, food, transportation etc.) I will actually need to save, an I will because there will be a purpose. I've made a budget for myself with the actual numbers of what I'll have in terms of pay each check and each month, and how much needs to go to what and how much I have left over.

[~Christina]

Pay all your bills and buy food to last until next payday, before you buy anything else . when you know your bills are paid . keep cash , yes paper money and that will help you realize how much cash you have that HAS to last you until your next payday . It's tough but doable

[SingDanceRunLife]

That's exactly how I'm gonna do it. Cash all the way. Not that I'm gonna have much of anything with all I owe my parents (most of that is for my apartment though, only about 1/6 of what I owe them is for other things). I'm now regretting the lease I signed. I could have gotten a much cheaper apartment (though in a not as nice location, and not as safe -- but we're talking about $100 cheaper a month). Oh well. Can't go back and change that now.

[Confusedinomicon]

If you go the cash route, don't keep your debit or credit card in your wallet and leave them in a safe place. I can't carry my credit card anymore.

Cash doesn't help me at all if I have my debit card.

--

Originally Posted by SingDanceRunLife

Before this, I literally had nothing that I had to pay for myself. My parents paid for school (tuition, room+board, books -- the works), food, clothes, my phone, health insurance, meds...absolutely everything. And so even though I worked (I've worked since I was 17), I always felt free to spend my money however the heck I felt like spending it because I just didn't need any savings for any reason.

But now that I'm moving out and will be on my own (for the most part -- parents are still footing everything medical and school, but I'm paying rent+electric, food, transportation etc.) I will actually need to save, an I will because there will be a purpose. I've made a budget for myself with the actual numbers of what I'll have in terms of pay each check and each month, and how much needs to go to what and how much I have left over.

I'm not trying to devalue your experience because mine was fairly similar to yours. I don't know why you are trying to make it sound like I am?? My parents did the exact same thing and didn't cut me off until I graduated university last year. (And I'm still not completely cut off.)

[SingDanceRunLife]

Originally Posted by Confusedinomicon

If you go the cash route, don't keep your debit or credit card in your wallet and leave them in a safe place. I can't carry my credit card anymore.

Cash doesn't help me at all if I have my debit card.

--

I'm not trying to devalue your experience because mine was fairly similar to yours. I don't know why you are trying to make it sound like I am?? My parents did the exact same thing and didn't cut me off until I graduated university last year. (And I'm still not completely cut off.)

I'm not trying to make it sound like anything except exactly what I said....that my parents paid for everything and I didn't need my money for anything other than whatever my heart or head desired in the moment. That's why things will be different. Because I will have my own expenses that mommy and daddy won't pay for.