Dear Diary,

The craziest thing happened today. I was talking to Alejandro over drinks about how work was going, he started a new job and it’s been months since we’ve caught up. I knew he was stressed about finding a job that would help him get out of credit card debt. His little girl starts school this year and he’s worried about added expenses. I was giving him some tips earlier this year, like creating specific savings accounts and tracking his expenses. But in passing, I told him that I got lucky because my job offered Earned Wage Access, which helped me a lot.

He told me that all of the jobs he was considering didn’t have that type of benefit so we tried talking about other ways like selling some of his old appliances  and canceling subscriptions he didn’t need anymore. It helped a bit.

But out of nowhere, it all worked out. He got a call from a company he had interviewed with a while back and they happen to offer Earned Wage Access. I was shocked.

My company offers it through Payactiv and I showed him my app. He told me about another company that his work uses. I don’t remember the name, but he can still access his paycheck before payday and he’s starting to build a small buffer in his checking account. I found out he’s paid over $600 this year alone in overdraft fees , I felt so bad.

$600 is literally 3 months of car payments.

I’m excited for things to get better for him. 

Hugh