Woman working 2 jobs says she'll have to start covering extra shifts to afford a $100 rent increase

Life is a saga of ups and downs. Danielle Martin–who goes by @dani_the_dreamer on TikTok–was dealt a particularly harsh low and came on social media to pour her heart out. In this crazy economy, everything seems to be going up except people's salaries. Under such circumstances, to have an uncomfortable alteration made to one's living arrangement becomes one bridge too far to cross. But the owners and authorities do not care, as Martin got handed a notice of a $100 increase to her rent despite no upgrade to her apartment, which made her furious. But after expressing to people through her social media that she will have to cover extra shifts at a job that she hates to afford the rent increase, she decided to trust one entity that has never betrayed her in this world and take this challenge head-on. 

Martin started the video imitating the popular "Put one finger down" trend. She returned home from lunch and found a letter at her door. It was surprising to her as she was on top of her bills. She opened it and got the shock of her life, "it's from the new management company who just took office in December, telling you that the rent is going up $100 again." It was absurd to her, as there was no reason why the rent should shoot up. She immediately went to the office. On asking the manager the reasoning behind the raise, she got a nonchalant answer, "I don't know, maybe cause they want more money."

It made her flabbergasted because everybody wanted more money. She wants more money, but she is not going around taking unethical paths to get it. The cherry on top was that this company provided next to no maintenance or assistance in the apartment. Then, she listed all her grievances one by one, "Does this mean that I'm still gonna have to borrow a lawn mower from my friend and cut my own grass? Does this mean that I'm still gonna have to fix sh*t in my Town Home on my own?" No action undertaken by them could account for a $100 increase. Seeing the manager's demeanor, she understood there was no use arguing further. They need to put a plan in place. 

On her way to work, she figured out "that you're either gonna need a 63 percent raise from your first job to not feel the impact of 100 extra dollars a month, twelve hundred dollars a year. Or you're gonna need to pick up five extra hours at your second job that you already hate, that you've already been trying not to work at more than what you have to." For her, there were only three choices. She shared, "Either A. Cry in a car and end it all. B. Figure out how to finesse the government into approving you for food stamps in Section 8 long enough for you to get your money up before the recertification and they figure out it was all a lie. Part 3. Be thankful that you do have two sources of income to be able to pay your bills to maintain and live just a little bit." She ended the video by reaffirming her belief in god to help her through this challenging situation.

The comment section shared her frustrations. @josheewaa gave a glimpse into his stare of affairs and wrote, "Mine went from $980 to $1500. My carpet is 11 years old." @asizemore20 shared what she would have chosen out of the three and commented, "My house payment went up $200 this year and all I did was sit and cry about it on New Year. The bills keep increasing, but the income isn't."

You can follow Danielle Martin (@dani_the_dreamer) on TikTok for more work-related content.

This article originally appeared 8 months ago.