@tommywerdine wrote:I just made a budget for all of my expenses...
Rent, phones, car, insurance, ect = 1816 a month
that is without paying for gas and food.
gas for me is about 40-60 a month since I work 3 miles from home.
food is a little more expensive since my girlfriend and i both try to eat at home more often now.... probably about 150-200 a month
So about 2100 per month.
My credit cards are about 1117 per month...
I'm getting about $350 back from my taxes this year, so I am going to put that on paying my cards.
I have about $750 in cash at my house, which I've made in the last 1-2 months from my own business... I was thinking to put that towards my credit cards as well, and I also have $150 in PayPal from selling items.
My salary pays for my monthly nut, but not my credit cards. Which has to come from my commissions and side business. I know I can make the MIN payments on all of them, but doing that will take me around 10 years to pay it off. I'm hoping in the next 5 months to pay 2000 a month towards my cards.... but it's not 100%
I feel so stupid!
You're not stupid. A lot of people lose their jobs and get caught flat footed with credit card debt that they have difficulty paying. What you do now determines intelligence.
You've recived some very good advice already and if you follow that advice you should come out ok. It won't be easy, it might require you get a 2nd job instead of your side business but you and your girlfriend are the ones that have to decide that. You may want to consider credit counseling at one of the legitimate services if necessary.
Worst case is bankruptcy and that's not the end of the world either. I had a chapter 7 in the 90s and while it took a while I built back up.
It's a cliche but it's only money, you have more important things in your life like your relationships. Try to make sure the money issues don't undermine them. I made that mistake back then and in some ways still regret it.
Good luck!
@Strogen wrote:Depending on how serious the GF is and what job she has, I would expect her to contribute to the CC debt payoff or at least have her pay the rent or something.
That way you have something like $500 freed up for repayment.
If your girlfriend is living with you, I would also expect her to pay some of the rent and costs of utilities. However, if she has not racked up any of your CC debt, I don't think it's right to ask her to pay it. My boyfriend has some CC debt but I will not pay it (nor has he asked me to) as it's his debt and his responsbility. Of course if I ran up his cards, I would pay him.
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@tommywerdine wrote:I just made a budget for all of my expenses...
Rent, phones, car, insurance, ect = 1816 a month
that is without paying for gas and food.
gas for me is about 40-60 a month since I work 3 miles from home.
food is a little more expensive since my girlfriend and i both try to eat at home more often now.... probably about 150-200 a month
So about 2100 per month.
My credit cards are about 1117 per month...
I'm getting about $350 back from my taxes this year, so I am going to put that on paying my cards.
I have about $750 in cash at my house, which I've made in the last 1-2 months from my own business... I was thinking to put that towards my credit cards as well, and I also have $150 in PayPal from selling items.
My salary pays for my monthly nut, but not my credit cards. Which has to come from my commissions and side business. I know I can make the MIN payments on all of them, but doing that will take me around 10 years to pay it off. I'm hoping in the next 5 months to pay 2000 a month towards my cards.... but it's not 100%
I feel so stupid!
Don't feel stupid. You're in the same situation I found myself in in the Spring of 2006. I had approximately $42,000 in debt between credit cards and my business line of credit and things crashed. Started accumulating lates for the first time ever. It took me 7 years, from July 2006 to June 2013, but I got it all paid off. One of the things I did was exactly what Nixon suggested. Contacted every creditor and got interest rate concessions, huge interest rate concessions. I told them flat out that if they didn't work with me, my only choice would be bankruptcy. I also closed every account. And, you may not be able to see it, but I'll bet if you dug through your expenses you can find ways to cut some fat out. I did.
It's doable.
@Strogen wrote:
@tommywerdine wrote:I just made a budget for all of my expenses...
Rent, phones, car, insurance, ect = 1816 a month
that is without paying for gas and food.
gas for me is about 40-60 a month since I work 3 miles from home.
food is a little more expensive since my girlfriend and i both try to eat at home more often now.... probably about 150-200 a month
So about 2100 per month.
My credit cards are about 1117 per month...
I'm getting about $350 back from my taxes this year, so I am going to put that on paying my cards.
I have about $750 in cash at my house, which I've made in the last 1-2 months from my own business... I was thinking to put that towards my credit cards as well, and I also have $150 in PayPal from selling items.
My salary pays for my monthly nut, but not my credit cards. Which has to come from my commissions and side business. I know I can make the MIN payments on all of them, but doing that will take me around 10 years to pay it off. I'm hoping in the next 5 months to pay 2000 a month towards my cards.... but it's not 100%
I feel so stupid!
Honestly you need a second job. You cant win by just paying the minimums.
After work see if you can unload trucks at Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc....
This. The advice here is solid but you need to do everthing you can to rid that debt, and getting a second job is an excellent way. Will it suck and not be fun? Most certainly, but it's necessary. I have been there, done that one.
I think I have it all figured out.
It's going to take a lot of time, effort, and no spending on anything that isn't needed.
It's going to take about 4.5 years to 5 years, but I would rather pay it off than BK... and if worse comes to worse, BK.
I am going to call all of my creditors on Monday (since it's my day off and I'll have time to do so) and ask for a rate reduction for hardship, and if not, I will just have to BK.
I am currently current on all of my cards, no lates, nothing, and I plan to keep it that way.
The only other option I have is a loan from someone I know. It's a stretch, but I'm going to ask them for 50k and pay them back. He's a multi-multi-multi millionair, and is older with no kids. (no im not using him, since i do plan to pay him back...)
