Hey, ladies! I'm posting here, because I knew that I would get much more positive feedback from fellow DZs than I might from posting on the Greek Life board or something, considering, as Moxie pointed out in a previous thread, all the drama that's been going on around GC lately. Anyway, I have a big problem. I knew when I pledged DZ that there would be a financial commitment, and I intended to honor that as well as I could.
In the past year or so, I've been having extreme issues with my car. It's been in and out of the shop pretty much ever since I got the thing. I just got it back last Wednesday and paid a heck of a price for it, too, because my mother has decided that she will no longer help me with any of my bills (don't ask, it's a long story), leaving me with veryyyyyyy little money. Anyway, Saturday night, I tore something else up on my car. It was dark, there had been previous road construction, and no sign saying "Bump"...I thought I'd run off the edge of the Earth for a second there. So a large chunk of something plastic is missing from the underside of my car and is lying in my trunk now. Add this issue to a few other things that need fixing on my car, and the little money left in my checking account is going to be GONE.
I've been applying for jobs all over town, but I haven't heard anything back. I mean, I've been trying to be the first person to put in applications at fast food restaurants, so that should tell you all how desperate I am. I'm not even going to have enough money to pay for my dorm next semester if something doesn't give soon.
So amidst all this drama, I received a bill last night at our chapter meeting. I did pay monthly dues, but I still owe $100, which is half of our initiation fee, before October 27, and the other $100 before initiation, which is November 14. Additionally, our formal is November 1, which I have to pay for as well, and some other charges that I'm not even sure what they are!
I almost feel bad about complaining about this, because I'm sure a lot of other chapters have to spend much more money on DZ related stuff (we don't even have a chapter house), but this is really getting to me. I'm on a full-tuition scholarship, thank God, but like I said earlier, I don't even know if I'll have enough money for housing next year. So with no job prospects coming in (and believe me, I've been trying), a very unreliable car, a father who can't afford to help me out, and a mother who is too stingy, I don't know what to do. It's looking like I'm going to have to drop out of DZ. It breaks my heart, because I do not want to!
I'm sorry this post is so long, but the question I want to ask is, who should I talk to about this problem? I haven't really gotten to know any of my sisters really well yet--I'm really shy--and I don't exactly know what protocol would be here, etc. I wondered if you all could give me some suggestions about who to talk to about possible alternatives before I do have to leave DZ. Thank you so much.
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