need advice?!?!

[ashleytim]

The only debt we have besides our house is a car that we owe way too much on. About double what it is worth. We were young and dumb and we have lots of negative equity in that car. Well i drive 2 hours a day to get to my job and its in daycare. The only thing my pay check pays is that car. Then a few days ago I was told if i dont start paying child care fees then i have to leave. And as it is i only bring home 800 a month and put 200 in gas, now the owner wants me to pay 400 a month. I would only bring home 200, so i have had to leave my job. We dont know what to do about the car. My husbands pay check covers every other bill and food... we just cant pay the car. I cant find another job that pays enough for me to get childcare. I need some real advice about what to do about the car.

[irmanator]

well off the top of my head if the only thing the job pays for is your car... then let the car go and stay home with your kid. Your credit may take a hit but ....


Someone will want to know more details about bills/income to help you. I am not that smart yet. lol

[cschin4]

How much do you owe on the car and for how much longer? I would recommend selling the car and TAKING A LOSS. Yes, nobody wants to take a loss. But, in reality, if you only owed a few K after you sold it versus 20+K or whatever, you could get that paid off. You wouldn't have a vehicle so now is your time to start taking the bus, carpooling or buying some junk clunker and getting your starting point back to zero or a positive.
Just some advice to young people, especially with kids, you are going to find that you want more time and less money stress and ability to be with your kids. Don't make stupid money mistakes locking yourself in for years of payments for anything. Your are only as financially free as the money you have promised to others.

[jasonnoguchi]

There's a sucker born every minute. Try selling your car at a reasonably high price. There are people who are at the stage you were before everywhere.

[disneysteve]

Someone will want to know more details about bills/income to help you.

That would be me.

Can you post more details? How much do you owe on the car and how much is it currently worth in a private sale? You can get value info at kbb.com or edmunds.com.

Obviously, getting a new job would be the simplest answer. Even if you could find one close by that pays less than your old job, what you'd save on gas would make up the difference.

The other thing that we may be able to help with is trimming spending if you post income and expenses for us to pick through.

[ashleytim]

More info

Thanks for the advice so far... we owe 22,000 and its worth maybe 12,000. Its a 2007 Subaru Forester But it has a lot of miles(63,000) since i drive so far to my job right now and i have been there for three years. We still owe on it until 2014. Yes we were really young and really dumb!! We are trying to make up for it now. we have no other debt...credit cards or anything. I would love to find a new job but at the place I was at i paid no child care, so i was really getting a good deal. I have not been able to find another daycare that is willing to give me a deal. At every job i have looked at I would have to pay child care fees and i dont qualify for any voucher. Most daycare moms get vouchers and the center wont make them pay the parent fee.

[maat55]

Thanks for the advice so far... we owe 22,000 and its worth maybe 12,000. Its a 2007 Subaru Forester But it has a lot of miles(63,000) since i drive so far to my job right now and i have been there for three years. We still owe on it until 2014. Yes we were really young and really dumb!! We are trying to make up for it now. we have no other debt...credit cards or anything. I would love to find a new job but at the place I was at i paid no child care, so i was really getting a good deal. I have not been able to find another daycare that is willing to give me a deal. At every job i have looked at I would have to pay child care fees and i dont qualify for any voucher. Most daycare moms get vouchers and the center wont make them pay the parent fee.

We need total income and expenses.

In general, you are going to be better off getting rid of the car. If possible by finding an buyer and borrowing from your bank for the difference.

The idea is to lower your debt load and increase your income. Find every cut you can, sell everything you can, find as much work as you can.

Worst case, if you cannot make the payments you will have to give it back to the bank and start saving for an 1k car and money to settle with the bank.

[buildmybudget]

How old are your children? How long til they go to school and you can return to work at a closer job? Is it possible you could negotiate with the old owner to pay something for your kids--hopefully less than $400 a month--and you guys can maybe get by for a while until your kids enter school and you can get a job closer to home.

Also, if you haven't already. Tear your budget apart and make sure there isn't any additional fat you can cut out before you make any drastic decisions.

[ashleytim]

...

I tried talking to the owner.. i wish we could have worked something out. My girls are 1 and 2.. so i have a few years. Right now i am in college and in about 1 and 1/2 years i will have a good degree and will be able to find a good job and get childcare... we just have to make it until then. We would be fine for me to say home except the car payment.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Think about whether you could do daycare from your own home. Find out what is need for your state's certification and how much space is needed, how many children you would be permitted to care for in the space you have and with just one person (you) as caretaker. Perhaps if you could clear out one room in your home, you could use that for daycare.

[mom-from-missouri]

check with your state DFS office and see if you qualify for low income child care assistance--that is where they pay for your childcare while you work. Also, do as Joan suggested--see if you can do childcare from your home-although, some states do require a home provider to have a vehicle in the event of an emergency--vaires by where you live (rural or state and the type of emergency services available). Have you also looked for a daycare position closer to home, or does your college have one that you could either work it or put your kids in at a reduced rate or in exchange for work study???

[ashleytim]

great ideas

Those are all great ideas... but my home is not big enough for the in home thing, and i dont qualify for voucher because of my husbands income. I was on the waiting list for almost two years before they told me that too!! I have checked into other daycares but they dont pay enough for me to pay what they want me to in child care. Most daycare moms get the voucher and the center will wave the parent fee but i dont qualify. I am a student on line and my college is in another state.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Well, could you find just one child to "babysit" in your home? Surely you could clear some money that way.

[ashleytim]

...

Yea I have actually been thinking about that. I am not sure if I could get the 500 a month to make the car payment... but maybe. I been thinking about putting an add up that I am available to do that.

[lovcom]

Ashley, sell the car for as much as you can get, and going forward, eventually buy a small car that sips gas; used would mean a lower price too.

Or you can just let the car go back to the finance company and take the credit hit....which is a lesser evil then being away from your kids, and letting them be raised by strangers. Buy lottery tickets....I guess...