@Anonymouswrote:
Yes, I will be throwing the money down on high interest cards and work my way from there.
I do have a gap on my car which makes me upside down on it. My payment is 334 a month and I was thinking if I could refinance it and make that payment lower that I could take that extra money and throw it at the credit cards.
I did get in a bind and was using cards to pay bills (cable, phone, car Insurance) and groceries for myself and 2 dependents. I had limited money on certain weeks of month like when house payment (500)and car payment (334) was due.. (I admit to using cards to get me by during those weeks, which was wrong idea...)I do know this. And I am trying to dig myself out of that ditch.
I have made decisions to drop my TV bill and go a cheaper route with that which will save me approx 60 a month. And I am looking into other ways to save.
I live in a small country rural area where there is very little opportunity here (it sucks). My options are extremely limited on lots of things.
Thanks for input everyone.
Hi, I also live in a small rural area and know what you mean, but I'm semi retired so I'm not so dependent on opportunities. Some suggestions:
You can ask lenders to change payment due dates so they're not so bunched up together. House payment can rarely be changed, but insurance & utilities will usually work with you on changing due dates, and think every credit card I have lets me change the due dates.
TV: I ditched satellite TV years ago when they kept raising the rates. But that doesn't mean you have to do without TV - for less than the cost of 1 month of satellite I put up an outdoor antenna that gets me 15 broadcast stations from Tucson, 50 miles away. Check TVfool.com to see what stations you can get by antenna. You might also consider internet streaming video, Sling is $20/mo. with a bunch of channels, no contract, no setup fees. I use them for a few months in the fall for college football on ESPN, then cancel & say "see you next year".
Cell phone: Those unlimited talk plans are usually big rip offs. Granted I don't talk on mine that much, but I use Tracfone pre-paid. $20 gets me 3 months service with 180 minutes, 180 text, 180mb of data. Unused talk.text/data carry over and I rarely use their over priced talk minutes. Download the free Google Voice app, may be only on Android. It gives a free phone # and a ton of free talk time. When you make a call it pops up & asks if you want to use Goggle Voice or your phone's minutes. On my home internet it's free, away from home it uses data, which is still much cheaper than talk minutes.
Groceries: Don't let false pride get in your way, you have 2 dependents relying on you: Have you checked if you qualify for SNAP (food stamps)? Whether or not you qualify, there's probably a food bank in your area than can help supplement your grocery needs. I volunteer at our local food bank and appreciate those who come in for food because they make me feel good, neighbors helping neighbors.
Finally, if you're getting a couple thousand in tax refund you're letting them withhold too much tax and you want to adjust your W-4 form with your employer and claim more dependents so they withhold less tax. While it's always nice to get a nice big tax refund, an interest free loan to the government is a pretty bad investment, and with them withholding less tax you'll have more money to meet your monthly bills.
