I had a manager once tell me that I would “spend every penny that I made.” He was saying that as I started making more money, I needed to put that extra money away and pretend it doesn’t exist instead of adjusting my life style.
It’s been three years. I just got a promotion I 100% did not want. But I need the money. I cannot live like this forever.
And now, I’m working ridiculous hours. I won’t have time for anything except working and getting ready to work.
I was trying to console myself that I would have enough money now to set aside—that maybe I could scrape enough together to leave. To change something. To go somewhere. To train or learn something different.
But then my body started talking back. I remembered how much money I desperately need to fix my teeth and to treat my other conditions.
There still isn’t going to be enough to put away.
I haven’t achieved a different lifestyle. I’m still trying to play catch-up from all the years of neglect my body has endured.
It’s just staying alive in this body. It’s just food and housing and medical care. And work. That’s all. There is nothing left after.