Help! Daddy to be.

[kevinpault5]

So I've found out recently that I am having a kid just after I lost my job. I'm 20 and have currently put school on a hold and am trying to find a job offshore or etc. Me and my girlfriend are serious she is a ekg tech and makes enough to pay her bills. I have bill collectors calling me for 2 credit cards and medical bills, with a couple past due speed tickets. I know stupid and bad. What steps do I need to take first?

[Coronet]

If you could lay out your finances for us we could help you better! Tell us about your income, debts, and monthly bills.

[bjl584]

Need more info. Lay out the details of your situation.

[kevinpault5]

Umm. Bills are
Car loan 100
Insurance 150
Phone bill 120
2 credit cards I owe 900 on each. Monthly payments are around 40 each
Medical bills are 500
Tickets guesstimating around 8-900.
Monthly income 0 lol:/
baby due Oct 5. Went to first Dr visit. Thank god for her insurance.

[kevinpault5]

Thanks for responding. I appreciate all the wisdom I can acquire!

[minnie1928]

I assume that your GF is covering basic needs like food & housing?

First, obviously you need to get a job. Not much can happen until some cash flow starts coming in. Once you've gotten a job, I think I would start hitting those speeding tickets. I'm assuming that if you don't pay them that they can take your driving license away, which would impact your employment picture.

Meanwhile, you need to lower your phone costs. Also, look into taking a local driving course to help reduce your insurance rates. They offer one around here for less than $40 through the local municipality. That should help lower your crazy high car insurance. Oh, and drive the speed limit so you don't get anymore tickets.

As far as your other debts, what are the interest rates? That would impact my suggestion as far as who to pay off first, second, etc.

[disneysteve]

Insurance 150

That should help lower your crazy high car insurance.

minnie, I guess you are assuming the $150 is auto insurance, which is probably true. $150/month is only $1,800/year. For a 20-year-old male, that isn't bad at all depending on where OP lives. I guarantee you that anywhere around here (PA, NJ, NY, etc.) you probably couldn't find a rate that low.

[minnie1928]

minnie, I guess you are assuming the $150 is auto insurance, which is probably true. $150/month is only $1,800/year. For a 20-year-old male, that isn't bad at all depending on where OP lives. I guarantee you that anywhere around here (PA, NJ, NY, etc.) you probably couldn't find a rate that low.

I was comparing it to my NJ policy for 2 cars I only budget $165/month (2005 BMW, 2007 Camry). Are you saying I have a sweeeeet deal on insurance?

[disneysteve]

I was comparing it to my NJ policy for 2 cars I only budget $165/month (2005 BMW, 2007 Camry). Are you saying I have a sweeeeet deal on insurance?

You aren't a 20-year-old male.

Rates drop when you turn 25. Rates drop when you get married. Rates are always lower for women than for men. And, of course, rates are lower when you don't drive recklessly and get speeding tickets.

Call your agent and ask how much it would cost to add a new 20-year-old male driver to your policy. You may be surprised at the answer.

[minnie1928]

You aren't a 20-year-old male.

good point!

[kevinpault5]

Great ideas. My gf makes enough to pay household stuff as of right now with a little extra that goes into savings. I think I should go to fast food as it would be quicker and easier to get hired(even though the pay is not great). Reduce my phone bill to 70 and ill definitely check in on the driving course and TRY to slow down a little bit. When I get ahold of the interest rates ill post them on here. I wonder if I can get a good extension on my speeding tickets.

[disneysteve]

I think I should go to fast food as it would be quicker and easier to get hired(even though the pay is not great).

Any income is better than no income.

Reduce my phone bill to 70

Are you locked into a contract? If not, ditch it all together and get a prepaid cell for now. That shouldn't costs more than $20-30/month if you limit usage as much as possible. Just use the phone for emergencies.

TRY to slow down a little bit

I hope you are kidding. If you aren't willing to change your ways, you won't ever get out of this mess.

[jpg7n16]

Would you qualify for unemployment? Have you applied?

Some unemployment pay is better than minimum wage, and would allow you 40 extra hours a week to look for better work.

Doesn't last forever, but does buy you some time.

[kevinpault5]

I'm on a contract with Verizon. I don't think ill qualify for unemployment because I've never worked full time because of school.

[Coronet]

Have you considered being a waiter? The income is less predictable (i.e. you aren't bringing home a set number of dollars each day) but when I was in college I made a ton more waitressing at an Outback Steakhouse than I ever did with a minimum wage job in fast food. I was averaging about $20/hr after taxes. But, like DisneySteve said, take whatever job you can get at this point!

The biggest thing you can do right now is WANT to change and get a job to help support you future child. It seems you want to so that's a great first step!