Realities of paying off debt

There's a lot of emphasis online, and out in the world, to focus on cutting expenses to pay off debt. Sometimes I wonder who these people are, that they still have enough padding in their budget to cut a bunch and pay everything off faster. If I cut all the remaining fun from my budget, dropped to a (slightly) cheaper car insurance, and picked up all the change I saw on sidewalks and in parking lots (instead of just silvered) I'd have maybe an extra 1800 a year to pay stuff off.

While that might add up to my two smallest debts, it also would be me hating life and running around uncaffeinated. That wouldn't be good for anyone.

While there needs to be control of spending while paying off debt, sometimes (most times?) there needs to be increase of income too.

I put up my budget numbers last time, and they aren't very promising, but they are what they are. Less promising is what's available in the local area. $12 jobs don't grow on trees here normally, and South Carolina is not in the best condition now. Tourism is picking up a bit, and with the dollar relatively weak there are more tourists from Europe and whatnot, so service jobs are looking up.

But I am nowhere near a good enough server to pull $600 a week in tips. Just not. The other jobs in town that are interesting pay between minimum wage and $11 an hour, and as the pay goes up so do the expenses- gas because they're farther away, clothes because they go from behind the scenes/ casual to office gear, entertainment and shared office expense. Because while no one at Taco Bell expects you to kick in $15 for the boss' birthday gift, office ladies will drive you out for it.

So I'm going to work on finding a "day job"- something that while it may not pay well, at least pays something- and a server job. And in my (theoretical) spare time, I'll work on building a freelance sideline into something that actually pays at least one bill every month. And of course, work on finding a day job that pays more.

I think the worst part of paying back what I've borrowed isn't that all my money goes right back out, or even that I've left myself no real freedom. It's that money is now very important to me. Important enough that I'm willing to give up things that are also important to me in order to get my hands on more of it. Important enough that I worked a dead end job someplace I hated, with business practices and employee relations I abhor just to have more.

Hopefully I can manage to find something I at least don't mind doing this time. And I've still got just enough cushion in my account/ low enough expenses that with a server job I can at least buy gas and pay the rent. So I can hope for something I even believe in while spamming every place that might be willing to hire me.

Yay?