My Happiness Depends on Getting Rid of ALL Debt

It's been almost a year since I last wrote on this blog!! BF and I have moved into the house and we're still working on getting everything setup. Although we moved into our house in October, we're still getting everything organized. It's actually been a stressful experience for me. I earn about $24,000/year while BF earns a little over twice as much. I don't see my paycheck because it goes directly to paying off debt and my half of the mortgage. When expenses arise for the house, I feel like such a loser because I can't spare any money to help. In April, I had car trouble and later found out that my head gasket has to be replaced. BF has been taking me to and from work every day. We live an hour away from my work.

So, why the sudden interest in writing again? Well, last week a friend of mine was told through a text message that his wife wanted to divorce him. What?! So for several days she wouldn't even tell him why. As I think husbands should, he kept the details of their financial situation between them during the marriage. However, when this text message came about, he talked to my BF and I about his wife's financial burden. He literally was paying all the bills and anything left over went directly to credit cards that SHE maxed out. Without discussing it, she was taking out loans to pay off credit card balances and continuing to open new accounts. She was skipping around with payments.. paying some late.. some on time..etc. He tried several methods to keep her spending under control, but it basically got down to her not wanting to work within any budget.

So since learning all of this and seeing first hand how much it hurt their marriage, I've been pretty scared and depressed. I feel like I've been scrambling for years trying to fix my finances but can't keep up. I have to get my debt paid off. No question about it.