Please help me get back on my feet.

Greetings reader, my name is Wesley, and I am 35 years old and from the Netherlands.

I shall write what led me to create a fundraiser because this is my last hope.

The current state of my debt is €8000, a number that is hard to ignore every single day. Bills are running up monthly, and I am still a year away from earning a good monthly salary.

I am studying to become a history teacher and am entering my final year. If all turns out well, I will thus be finished in July 2023 and could potentially start working in September 2023 as a teacher. Until then, I need to survive.

The past year has had more pitfalls than I can count, leading to this situation.

First of all, my 7-year relationship ended, and I had to find a place of my own, doubling my rent. As I stated, I live in the Netherlands, and housing is a big problem here and very expensive.

I got a credit card (the dumbest move in my life) to pay for moving and some simple furniture etc.

I was working as a barista at Starbucks and quit because I could not pay the rent with that income.

I decided I was going to work with my father, a freelancer, placing solar panels.

The problems didn't end there. As it turned out, my father did not have as much work for me as I was promised, and I made even less money now than I did as a barista. He promised to pay my rent once and said better times were coming along.

It improved a little... I managed to pay my rent and nothing else besides that.

I tried looking into other lines of work, but I felt a need to help my father out with his business as well until I graduate next year.

For many years I have been a collector of Magic the Gathering cards, and with a heavy heart, I decided to sell this to pay for my bills.

At one point, I asked a friend if he could lend me some money because my father did not pay in time that month. So I borrowed enough money to pay my rent and some other bills.

The credit card also bothered me, and I managed to lower the limit from €2500 to €1000. I was proud that I had managed to do so with only minor discomforts for that month.

Still, bills were piling up. The money I borrowed from my friend has never been repaid so far; I keep in touch with him and keep being honest with him. He understands the situation, and he hopes I get out of this crippling situation.

I had to make a plan for myself if I didn't want to drown.

My plan instantly fell apart when my father did not pay in time again, but this time a month later.

I decided I needed to find another way. I loaned money from a financial organization that finances new businesses. I applied for €10000 to have some wiggle room to negotiate if that was not achievable. I ended up getting €3000 which helped me at the time with my rent and two major tax bills.

I needed to make a monthly payment for the loan to pay them back.

My plan was coming to fruition, at last, I thought...

What happened next tore everything apart: my fragile financial situation, family, and work.

My mother found out my father has had an affair for three years... I was angry at him to say the least. As it turned out, he had been supporting her all that time, sending thousands of euros to the other woman... meanwhile, his own family knew exactly what was going on, except for my mother, me and my sister. My mother was mad at him for everything, but also for the fact that he sends money to someone else to help her out, but not help out his children financially if they need to.

I decided I could not work for him anymore and went back to Starbucks (who upped my pay a bit).

I cannot bother my mother with these financial problems.

This is why I come to all of you, hoping that people can spare a bit to help someone who wants to get out of this tornado of negativity and get back on track. All I want is to finish my studies without delay and be there for my mother during these trying times.

The funds will be used to settle all my outstanding debts and bills.

-€4250 loan from the financial organization.

-€2100 loan from my friend who helped me out.

-€900 rent for this month (done)

-€900 rent for last month (done)

-€500 in bills that are again piling up.

-€1350 is used to pay for my studies next month.

I am swimming against the current, drowning in every new development.

UPDATE: with the support thus far I managed to catch up on rent and some of the bills. Thank you all so much thus far…