Still grabbing the bull by the horns and climbing that ladder

I don't usually talk about work but last week they did away with my department, so me and the former head of our department (we have a huge department: 2 people) each gained a new title: Implementation Specialist. Now we each head our own implementation team.

With this came a small raise earlier in the year, but I am still a long way from being able to pay off debt as fast as I'd like. Still living as frugally as before. Any extra money goes straight to pay off the credit cards and student loans. Yep, the thousands of dollars of credit card survival debt and the student loans from college: I want my financial freedom! Lame as it sounds, that is my main goal right now. As I mentioned before, that is the main reason why I had to move back to the US from Brazil.

New York, 2009. Grabbing the bull by the horns.

Don't get me wrong: I'm glad that I have food to eat, a roof over my head, and that I can afford to live on my own. I'm not suffering because I can't afford the latest shit at Target. I prefer a pretty spartan lifestyle anyway (even if I had money). It's just that progress has been slow, and the fact that I had to deal with some unexpected financial issues last year also put me back some.

But I am not alone in this situation. Millions of Americans (especially homeowners) are in the same boat or worse, not to mention all those without jobs who got laid off in the economic collapse of 2009. All in all, I'm glad I still have a job. Still grabbing the bull by the horns and climbing that ladder.