[KarmaContestant]

I work for an engineering firm, in the finance group. I make $24.87 per hour - and this is without a college degree. I work full time, 2080 hours per year, 40 per week. I get 23 paid days off per year, which can be used for holidays, sick time, etc....

I do not own a home - I rent. I have two roommates, one is my partner and the other is a friend that we've taken in. We collectively pay $1500 per month for the house, which is a 1890 Queen Anne victorian in Denver.

I have no savings.

I have a checking account - it's where my money sits before I spend it. And I do spend it. All of it.

I have about $1900 in debt, which I will pay off in the next few months.

I live very well, and totally above my means, I buy what I want, I eat and drink well and I wear nice clothes. I have a shoe habit.

I'm 37 years old, and I know that my lifestyle is not sustainable at the curent rate - but I fear facing reality and I don't know what to do about it. I feel incapable of saving money, because there are just too many cool things to buy, and frankly I never learned the importance of saving. I think money is relatively meaningless, aside from the value that others assign to it. Money is more valuble than the things that money buys, and that's a problem that human beings need to work out. I'm probably part of the problem.