My plan to get out of debt! Suggestions are welcome!

[Brayman]

Eh. Idk about deadbeat. He has good qualities. The way I look at it is like this: I had to hit a low point in my life (being in a completely unfamiliar city, no job, no money, no home, no friends, nothing) before I finally decided to pull myself together and do something with my life. Before that point I was content to be a waitress and bum around at friends houses and do nothing to better myself. I just think he hasn't hit that point. I'm trying to steer him toward the realization that he can't continue to rely on me for financial support, but I did put myself in this position when I said "yeah, sure, move in with me even though you can't pay bills!" So I'm accepting responsibility for our current arrangement. It's getting better though.

Another thing: he really was coddled. My mom booted me out when I was 17, and I had to figure it out. He never went through that. And maybe I'm keeping that from happening now, but we had a good weekend, and I think I'm going to try giving him an itemized list of everything he needs to pay. A coworker suggested holding him accountable for everything I pay for that isn't necessary (eating out, giving him money for anything,etc) sort of like treating it like a loan.

Anyway, the BF gave me $100 to go to the casino and I won $400! Which is over half of the rent, so my goal is to pay the majority of my bills with my check this week, put in some extra OT and set $300 back from my next check for the rent next month $200 for groceries and whatnot, and use the rest to pay down my CC balance.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I just turned 21 and I have a boat load of debt:

Student loan: $10,000
Car: $15,500
CC: $700
Mattress: $900

My annual income after taxes last year was $40,000

My monthly bills and various expenses are as follows:

Rent: $550
Cable/internet: $120
Car Insurance: $120
Electricity: $100
Water: $60
CC: $30
Mattress: $90
Car payment: $320
Phone: $80
Charitable donations: $40
Student loan: $115
Groceries: approx $400
Gas: $60

My monthly income is not set. I have the ability to work overtime, and typically work 6-10 hours of overtime each week. Closer to 6 though. Last year my company was booming and I put in a lot of overtime. Income from overtime was $11,000.

My plan was to cut off the cable, but keep the internet, and get a phone plan with my boyfriend to save money. Also, I've ended all of my monthly charitable donations.

Savings:

Cable: $70
Charity: $40
Phone: $5 (assuming I pay the entire bill, but we've discussed taking turns paying it.)

I was going to put these savings toward the mattress first because the monthly payment is larger than my CC payment. Then, once that is paid off, tackle the CC.

Then, the car payment. The main reason I am focusing on the car payment before my student loan payment is because this is the first time I have ever financed a car, and that makes me nervous. Also, I can put my student loan into forbearance and make payments toward the interest on my own time.

While doing this, I have also set up a savings account for my emergency fund. $200 will deposit into it every month. That's $100 out of every check, and with all unnecessary spending cut off, that shouldn't be a problem.

It is worth noting that my boyfriend lives with me, and does contribute to some of the bills. He doesn't make as much money as I do, but some weeks he works in the field, and ends up with a sizable check, and will pay some of the bills.

For instance, this month he will contribute $200 towards the rent, he paid the light bill, and will pay the water bill. Occasionally, we split the cost of groceries.

So, this is my plan. Any money saved from my boyfriend paying bills will also be put toward debt payments.

Does anyone have any advice? I've made some poor decisions financially (like financing a car for my 21st birthday, when I already had a car I owned free and clear with no payments and cheaper insurance) but I'm trying to get a handle on my finances before it gets completely out of control.

My goal is to pay off my car, CC, mattress, and at least half of my student loan, and then hopefully get a house(more debt!). That's a few years down the road though. I would feel better about making a mortgage payment than making a rent payment.

Oh, and it's also worth noting for anyone trying to figure out WHY I have so much debt when my living expenses aren't THAT high compared to my income from last year... last year my bi-weekly checks were closer to $1,500, but recently they've only been about $1,100. And last year I moved into my first apartment and had absolutely nothing. Nada. I had to buy furniture, dishes, a vacuum cleaner...everything. Then my spending just went awry.. and since I was already used to being broke constantly, it didn't really bother me that I was still broke after my income increase 5x. I guess it is true that the more you make, the more you spend. Trying to fix that though!

That's not a lot of debt actually. Very doable and you're starting young.

[Eagle]

Quickly, there's been a change of plan. I'm going to pay the CC off first.

Interest rates:
CC: 22.99%
Mattress: 0%
Student loan:
$6,627.08 @ 6.55%
$3,486.44 @ 3.15%
Car:
$15,500 @ 6.99%

How much is left on the CC and Mattress purchase? Good call on paying off the CC first. 22.99% interest is sky high!

Is there any expense you can cut out of your budget? See this thread.

[Brayman]

Eagle,

The CC has about $600 left and the same for the mattress.

As for cutting expenses, I moved into a 70's model camper (complete with coke mirror glued to the table! We have deemed it the "love shack") this past weekend to cut back my bills. I'm buying the camper for $1,000 and I'll make the other half of the payment at the first of next month and I'll own it, asbestos insulation and all!

So, that removes the following bills

Rent: $550
Cable: $120
Water: $60
Lights: $100

And now I will only pay a total of $200/mo for all of that. That's a savings of about $600/mo.

And hopefully after a year in the love shack I'll have enough money stashed to upgrade to a nicer camper, and stay there until I get the debt taken care of and have a decent amount in savings.

Also, a note for cat owners: I didn't realize this until very recently, but when you take your cats from having 700 sq ft to 5 sq ft of living space, they become very territorial. And mean.

It's gonna be a great year!

[JoeP]

This is certainly looking like a troll post now.

[snafu]

Brayman;385765]Eagle,
CC $600 & same for the mattress. ...moved into a 70's model camper. I'm buying for $1,000..I'll make the other half of the payment at the first of next month and I'll own it, asbestos insulation and all!

So, that removes Rent: $550, Cable: $120, Water: $60 Lights: $100; I will only pay a total of $200/mo...a savings of about $600/mo.
************************************************** ************************************************** *********************
OK, does that mean you've rented parking space with electric, water, sewerage, garbage services for $ 200.?
Suggest you work out a new budget or call it cash flow if you prefer. Each payment cut the sum from the balance and see the progress

$ 200. parking space.
$ 30. minimum CC [ $ 700. @ 23%]
$ 320. car payment [$ 15,500. @ 7%]
$ 120. car insurance
$ 60. car gas, maintenance
$ 90. mattress [$ 900. @ 0%]
$ 115. SL [$3,486. @ 3.15%, $ 6,627. @ 5.5%]
$ 80. phone
$ 150. cigarrettes
$ 400. food [groceries, restaurant/take-out]
$1,000. Boyfriend

$ ? Savings
$ ? If your employer offers any matching money for retirement you are giving up Free Money.

If there is anything I can say to persuade you to get on any Quit Smoking program I hope you'll hear me. I know many of my co workers had big success with the 'Patch.' Just think what all you can buy if you stop smoking and put the cost of a packet in a jar every two days!

Suggestion to start savings: dump all your change in a jar at the end of each day. When the jar is fullish, drop change at the change counter devise at your bank.

[corawhite07]

Hi, did you try to file for bankruptcy? I think that would be help for you wipe out your debt problems.