I was in over my head–just didn’t know it yet. At 22 I was living on my own for the first time in my life. My apartment was a one-bedroom claustrophobe’s nightmare located above an Indian grocery store on the east side. My job waiting tables barely brought in enough money to cover bills and groceries, and my student loan debt was growing by leaps and bounds every semester.
That being said, I was proud of myself and what I had been able to accomplish this year. By being extremely careful with my spending, I was able to set aside about $1000 over the course of about six months for Christmas presents for my friends and family.
Of course, whenever I feel like things are going well for me, life slaps me upside the head. On the very first day of December, I was driving through an intersection and a giant red GMC clipped my back end. I screamed out loud while my car spun around, and I just caught sight of the other car as it accelerated out of the intersection and away from the shitstorm it had just brought into my life.