My name is Kat Altamura. I am a 38-year-old network engineer in Worcester, MA. I live with my fiancee (who is disabled) and our cat.

I've been trying to juggle finances on my own for as long as I've had a bank account, and I don't honestly like asking for help. That's why it takes me way too long to realize the hole into which I've fallen is deeper than I had thought.

My fiancee was getting EAEDC (disability cash assistance), but that got canceled recently due to governmental changes. I've been trying my best to keep up with bills, but as summer came and the air conditioners started running, the electric bill started taking a hike. (Electric rates in MA are 4 TIMES what they are in the midwest!) I failed to realize just how bad things were getting, until I realized that my bank account will be in the negative for the next -two months- straight. My bills are just barely less than my income, but by the time I factor that I'm overdrawn before I get a paycheck, I'm never able to keep up, much less pay off the past-due stuff.

I had gotten myself into MAJOR credit card debt (over $25,000) because I just was not aware of how bad my situation was getting, so I'd be paying bills with credit cards, but not being able to pay down the balance (just the minimum payments), and interest kept spiraling. I have been going through a debt remediation program, which is helping me to get these all negotiated down and paid off; however, it will take a few years, and in the meantime it has caused my credit score to plummet. I will no longer be able to have any credit cards, and if anything were to happen to my car, I would not be likely to be approved for any car loan for a long time.

I have just interviewed for a new job which would be paying a lot better, but I don't know if I'm going to get it. Even if I do, that wouldn't be for at least another month, and I'm already way in the hole. Meanwhile, my current employer is about to begin a return-to-office mandate, which will significantly increase my gas costs (as well as having to eat out every day for lunch), as I do not live nearby my office.

Here is my current situation:

My mortgage goes through on 9/1, and I am currently $564 short of that. Then my car insurance also comes out on 9/1, for $177. (No, I don't have any negative marks/tickets/etc. on my insurance, it's just really expensive around here. My last insurance provider wanted to jack it up to over $300!) I have an unpaid medical bill for $980. My quarterly water bill is now two quarters behind, at $354. I am behind on my car and owe $1,392 for that by 9/10. My past+current due on electric is $908, and for gas is $176. So in order to bring myself up to "Current due: $0" for everything, I need $4,551. This doesn't include any gas nor groceries, hence I am getting desperate to get myself back in financial control.

I am looking for some assistance to get myself Back in [the] Black, and catch up with what I have past-due and current. I need to have a buffer, since I get paid on a specific DAY (every other Friday), yet my bills are due on a specific DATE, hence for the next couple months I'm getting paid right AFTER the mortgage is due, so I have to carry forward that much money from the PREVIOUS paycheck. Hence the need for a bit of a buffer amount, as that inbalance of a 2-week pay period of bills between paychecks can be as much as $1,000 that I need to carry forward from the previous paycheck. This is why I am setting a goal of $5,500.

I really hate having to ask for help, but the fact that I'm here is because the water has risen above my head and I can no longer save myself from the drowning. I am begging anyone who can spare anything, please help me get to a net $0 owed on bills, so I can focus on -staying- on top, rather than trying and failing to just swim to the surface.