Adulthood (Part 1.5)

As I mentioned in Adulthood (Part 1);

"... if you don't have credit, you can't do anything."

By that I mean, you can't get a loan, you can't achieve a decent deposit for an apartment... things like that. I learned that the hard way and I wish someone would have told me that.

There's nothing I could have done about getting credit though because you can't get a credit card before you are 18.

With a loan, you have to have 2 years residency, 2 years good credit, and 2 years with the same occupation.

Usually, if you're 18, you've probably lived in the same place for 2 years. Unfortunately, not everyone has held the same job for 2 years... and I'm pretty sure no one that is 18 has ANY credit history... let alone good credit history for 2 years.

When I applied for my car loan, I had the residency. Unfortunately, I had left my job at subway so that I could make more money at Walmart... and I had just quit my job at Walmart because I got hired full time at MWP. So although I worked 2 years at subway previously, it didn't matter. I had only worked at MWP for 3 months and I had only worked at Walmart for 6 months so my career history was not ideal by any means. My credit history was non-existent and like I said before, there was nothing I could do about that.

The thing I hate about things like this is that even though I had no history of bad payment history, I was still being punished because somehow, no credit is worse than bad credit.

In high school, I worked 20-30 hours a week while going to school the approx. 35 hours a week. I would go to school from 8am-3:15pm and then work 4pm-10pm. Usually I wouldn't actually leave the gas station until 10:30 or 10:45 most nights because closing took awhile. I would work 4-10pm probably... 2 or 3 days a week and then I would work weekends and those shifts varied. They could be:

Saturdays-
5am-11am or 12pm
7am-12pm
12pm-4pm
11am-4pm
4pm-10pm

Sundays-
6am-12pm
9am-1pm
12-4pm
1-5pm
4-10pm
5-10pm

all depending on if I worked subway or gas station, opened, closed, or worked mid-day.

I worked and went to school for multiple reasons. The first was so that I could afford to go to Florida with the science club from school. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I wish that I could do that again. The second reason was so that I could buy a car. The third reason was so that I could afford to go to Europe with the Art Club, also from school. Another, bonus reason, I got my job was so I could buy whatever I felt like buying... or whatever I needed. I never got a lot of stuff from my parents. My mom, because she couldn't afford it and my dad because we had a big family.

So I got a job when I was 16 and have been working ever since... I worked 2 jobs for part of that time. I kept my grades at A's and B's all while maintaining the requirements I needed for a core 40 diploma with academic honors. I was in multiple clubs and The National Honor Society. I made payments every month to pay for my trip to Florida. I bought my first car entirely in cash, and I made payments every month to go toward my trip to Europe

Unfortunately, none of that matters. That doesn't matter to the bank. It doesn't matter to the landlord of an apartment complex. It has no weight anywhere. It might prove my responsibility but it doesn't prove that I will pay back a loan, or make my rent payment on time.

To me, that is very annoying because I worked so hard because I thought it mattered.

Don't get me wrong, it proves my responsibility and it shows that I have perseverance, which are both good things... but I was hoping it would prove more than that. It should prove more than that. The fact that it doesn't contradicts this idea, that so many young people have, that by 18 you should be able to support yourself. Truth is, you can't. Unless you get really lucky. Even then, you probably have or have had help to some extent.