Help Claire Avoid Student Loan Default

Hello everyone. My name is Claire and i'm currently up to my neck in student loan debt (about to default unfortunately). I am also behind on rent and struggling with credit card payments. I don't like asking for help, but I really need to so here I am.

For much of my adult life, up until recently, I have struggled massively with making ends meet. I've rarely had room for luxuries like new clothes, games, outings, or really a lot of things people take for granted. I dropped out of college in 2018 due to severe mental health issues and my employment up until March of this year was mostly part time where i was lucky to get 20 hours a week at poverty wages. Winter this year was especially brutal for me. I've tried to bring in extra money with art, but my mental health issues have made consistently producing artwork that pays an extremely difficult task. There have been periods where it was getting better, but the stress of my financial situation has made it hard to focus on any meaningful progress on my illustration work unfortunately.

In 2023 I managed to acquire a larger credit card, which I used to fill gaps in what my job couldn't pay for. Groceries, bills, clothes when mine were falling apart, gas when i was driving the family car, etc. It built up and it got maxed out. I'm ashamed of it. I want to pay that off on my own if i can, but I'm not going to pretend I don't need help with that too. I didn't realize how bad credit card debt could get when you are just trying to survive. When it's there and you have no money to grab groceries it is an easy solution unfortunately.

Recently I managed to get a full-time job which pays $18/hr and guarantees at least 32.5 hours a week, which is great for me. On it's own it's enough to survive, thrive even, but with all of this debt I'm barely able to keep afloat. I count my daily budget everyday. I pay whatever i have left on debts or save up. This amount of money should be enough for me. At least to be comfortable with my current lifestyle, which is eating cheap and getting my books at the free bookstore (Books4Cause) near me. I should be able to buy shoes to replace mine which are full of holes, but i can't.

The consequences of making so little money and having so little to spare has led to student loan debt piling up for me and I'm nearing default by the end of the month. I'm really scared and i dont think i'm able to handle the consequences of that. My grandmother is a cosigner and she understood the gravity of these loans about as well as i did when we signed up for them when i was 17. I dont want her to face the consequences of this too. She's in her 80s and I want her to never truly face the damage this whole student loan debt situation has caused. I never even wanted to take them on in the first place but was pushed to.

I currently need $200 by the end of the month to avoid default and I'm behind by $1300 beyond that. I barely have enough to pay bills and rent as-is, and i'm behind $650 on rent beyond that. I'm just trying to catch up, but it feels like spinning plates constantly and there's not really a solution I see that can get me out of this other than to remove a plate or two.

My current goal is to take care of some of this student loan debt and see if i can get my smaller credit cards paid down (already in-progress thankfully) so i have room to breathe. I'm also switching to in-person care for my HRT since i have insurance now and i can free up some monthly expenses i take on doing a telehealth service. I'd like to take care of that rent debt as well so i have that off of my mind.

I'm asking for help so i have more room to help myself. I've gotten (unfortunately) comfortable struggling after years of getting screwed around by bosses who think 12 hrs a week on $16/hr is enough to survive. If i take care of some of this debt I can continue pushing myself toward the finish line and hopefully be able to start living my life fully for once.

Apologies if this has all been a complete ramble. I'm stressed beyond belief. If you're able to help you have my deepest gratitude. If you cannot donate, please consider sharing this around. Any amount helps. If i'm able to get thru this month at least that will be a huge relief.

My goal is set higher, so I can continue accepting donations if i get them, but i promise if you if i even get $1k that will be a great help.