Even though 26-year-old Carina Vaughn might be living paycheck to paycheck now, she’s got big dreams for her financial future: finally having enough money to put her rent payments on autopay.
“I know it’s a lofty goal,” Carina told reporters. “And one that might take me decades to achieve, but I’m confident I can get there, as long as I don’t incur any unexpected bills or have any sort of emergency in my lifetime or accidentally spend too much at the grocery store once.”
Carina explained that she simply wants her salary to eventually exceed the cost of living in such a small way that while her rent still might be a blow to her bank account, it’ll be a blow that she can weather every month without having to check to make sure she has enough money to cover it.
“Yeah, owning a house and a car would be nice,” Carina added. “But I want to stick to dreams that might actually be attainable in my lifetime. It would be an absolute dream to bring in enough money to confidently afford rent each month, but I will never own property or retire.”
Sources close to Carina expressed doubt that this dream could even be considered “attainable” for her.
“We got coffee together the other day, and I saw her double check her bank account before buying a $7 latte,” Carina’s friend, Sasha, told reporters. “I’m not sure if it’s possible to go from that to comfortably paying a thousand dollars in rent without so much as glancing at your phone.”
Carina’s boss was inclined to agree.
“We’re severely underpaying her right now,” said Margo Hastings, Carina’s supervisor. “She’s been here two years and we’ve only given her a 1% raise, so I’m not sure how she’s planning to eventually put her rent on autopay. Her salary is absolutely not livable.”
At press time, Carina had decided to start small by putting her utility bill on autopay, which immediately caused her to overdraft her checking account, forcing her to survive the next week on -$27.25.
