First Real Job...No Idea How to Save

[Whitechapel]

Make a list of all debts including the outstanding balance, interest rate and minimum required payment.

Credit score: 560

Non-Credit Debt:
Old CharterOne account. I'm $14.46 in the hole to get back to 0. This account got overdrawn by an unapproved purchase. The guy on the phone told me he couldn't flag the transaction since I never approved it and he said I needed to go to a branch and make a claim. I said I work M-F and I can't go on lunch to which he had no answer. Either way I'm with Fifth Third for now, I may be switching to Chase. I'm only hesitant to switch because I just opened this account with Fifth Third, but Chase is EVERYWHERE in MI...at least where I'll be living. So that's that.
Columbia Gas - $151.41 past due since at least September.
Physicians - $197.73
Another doctor's bill: $131.82 - Final notice waaaay past due. It's been in collections a while. It showed up on my credit report.
For my school loans... I owe $20,446.61. Payments are due the 28th of every month. Standard monthly payment amount is $230.72

Credit
Citibank:
APR: 10%



Chase:
APR: 22.24%


HSBC (Best Buy card):
APR: 20.99%


I will call around to set up utilities tomorrow, so I will edit the post after I make some calls and see what deals I can get. Also I'll see what costs and when it's due. I'll go with the cheapest cable package I can get, but if I can get a deal with HD where it's cheaper than 10 bucks a month I'll spring for it since I have a HD TV and it's football season! Basic internet, whatever's moderate. Probably a step or two above the basic. QUESTION, will they run a credit check for when I go to sign up utilities like heat, electric? I have not had to sign up for them in the past, so it'd be my first time.

I need to have $493.50 to move in on November 18th.

What is the plan?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Do you get any credit card offers of lower rates? Maybe it's time to surf those balances down to a 3.99% card, although it's not much.

How much do you owe your mom? Can you put off paying her until the CC is done? the interest is killing you. Although the cutting of the secret stuff is good.

If you get a flexible spending account with work and you know you'll hit your deductible, you can put that much in and save on taxes.

[Whitechapel]

How much do you owe your mom? Can you put off paying her until the CC is done? the interest is killing you. Although the cutting of the secret stuff is good.

If you get a flexible spending account with work and you know you'll hit your deductible, you can put that much in and save on taxes.

I owe her $50 from every check. And I can hold off for a few weeks, idk how long though.

Flexible spending account?

[cptacek]

Everyone is giving good advice, but I think some things are too far advanced for this person right now. Dave Ramsey is a good place to start, because he takes things in baby steps and this guy needs baby steps.

Here are my suggestions, Whitechapel:
No more pot
Less to no beer
Less to no eating out
Figure out all of your debts. You seemed incredulous when Disney Steve suggested paying off debts like you don't have any. He was talking about anything to your mom, any credit cards, anything to your dealer (?), student loans, doctor bills, anything you owe to anyone. You need to start paying your credit cards at least on time and at least all the minimums, and then find more to pay off more.
Small Christmas.

As you are moving 50 miles from where you are now, get a good new start and try to clean up areas of your life you want to clean up. You are going to be learning new habits because of your new living arrangement, so pick some good things you want to add to your routine now. It will be easier.

[disneysteve]

How much do you owe your mom?

I owe her $50 from every check.

$50 per check for how long? How much do you actually owe her? When will the debt be repaid?

[disneysteve]

I need to have $493.50 to move in on November 18th.
?

In post #34, you showed cash of $408.48. If you skip pot, beer and eating out between now and then you should make it just fine. Then continue to skip pot, beer and eating out and you'll have your starter EF of $1,000 in about 3 months.

[NJDebbie]

I can only give you advice on what works for me. We(my husband and I) save .25 cents of every dollar we make. We have this amount automatically transfered to an online savings account.

[Whitechapel]

In post #34, you showed cash of $408.48. If you skip pot, beer and eating out between now and then you should make it just fine. Then continue to skip pot, beer and eating out and you'll have your starter EF of $1,000 in about 3 months.

I dont have 400 dollars in cash, I dont have any cash. And my bank account is down to around 150 bucks because of those two credit card payments I auto approved I guess, I dont even remember scheduling them. And they weren't in my phone or anything either. I might be down even further on Monday, I think I agreed to schedule a payment on the 5th. This is all going horribly wrong

I'm going to take out that David Ramsey book today at work, I go in for a couple hours later today.

The good news is...this is the biggest paycheck I will get yet. And I'll get a little extra from my Barnes & Noble job, I haven't worked at all this week and I got 7 hours tonight, so it'll probably be 30-40 bucks.

What else do you guys need from me so we can get a budget going? I'm going to go to call my apartment and try and talk to this lady about my employment verification and then go sign up for utilities.

$50 per check for how long? How much do you actually owe her? When will the debt be repaid?

$50 for a long, long time. I really screwed up this one. It'll be years before I can stop. I can't give you an exact amount because my mom didn't keep track of every time, and neither did I. It is a lot though.

And consider the beer and pot done then, I have enough beer to last me for a little while longer and I have enough pot to last me a little while too. Will just ration it out. But that still doesn't seem like it seems like I'll have to pull my rent money out of that check, and then we would need to figure out what I should spend on everything else. I'm about to go call cable and internet to see if they can come out the day I move in.

Also, I have a therapy appointment on Nov 21st. I scheduled it then because I believe I have it off from work. So I need to devote $165 to that. I only scheduled it so soon because 1) I'm pretty sure I have it off and 2) It will be my first real session, I just did the initial session where she tried to gather info and talk to me. My therapist works with my psychiatrist and they come up with a plan for me. I need to be switched off some of the meds I take because I read it's linked to diabetes and something else bad. Plus I've never really had good doctors before. I will schedule my next therapy appointment out one month away...I might even wait until closer to Christmas and do it on an off day again.

EDIT** I do not have the 21st off, so I am going to call and reschedule to a later date. I just don't have the money for it at the moment, it can wait a little while while I get everything in order.

Also right now I have $216 in the bank and 0 in cash. My paycheck finally cleared.

[disneysteve]

I'm about to go call cable and internet to see if they can come out the day I move in.

I have a better idea. Don't. Believe it or not, you can live without cable for a while. You can even live without Internet. You work at B&N. Go there and use free wifi. When you're trying to figure out how to pay the rent, you need to prioritize your money.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Go work extra shifts at BN and that'll help not drinking beer and earning money to boot. Sounds crazy but working more will limit the amount of time you can do stuff that costs money.

I agree, don't get cable or internet for a couple of months and free wifi for a bit. When I lived in a studio alone, apart from my DH long distance, I stayed at work until midnight then went home because i had heat, internet and I brought my lunch and dinner and snacks and chilled solo. I sometimes hung with friends but seriously I got tons of work done and I had no internet or cable at home.

[elessar78]

Go work extra shifts at BN and that'll help not drinking beer and earning money to boot. Sounds crazy but working more will limit the amount of time you can do stuff that costs money.

So true. This is another one of those truths I learned from my lawyer and accountant friends early on... they made double what I did out of college, but had no time to spend it. The lesson I took from that is, until you get financial discipline down free time can be your enemy.

As the saying goes, time is money. If you're not making money at the moment, then you're burning it. Which is the beauty of investment... you're not doing anything directly but you're still generating money. But that's for later in this case.

[caderousse]

Just for the record, I'm going to say I don't care if you spend a little money on pot. Some people spend on their cars, others like to spend on clothes, and others love to have to greatest electronics.

We all have our hobbies and we work hard so we can enjoy them. So I say, enjoy your pot

The big thing is, it has to fit in your budget. So me, I'm not going to say you can't smoke pot, but like every other expense it needs to be budgeted for correctly.

[disneysteve]

Just for the record, I'm going to say I don't care if you spend a little money on pot. Some people spend on their cars, others like to spend on clothes, and others love to have to greatest electronics.

We all have our hobbies and we work hard so we can enjoy them. So I say, enjoy your pot

Sorry, I know this is a bit OT (but I am a moderator after all). I do not think threads on this site should get in the habit of encouraging, promoting or approving illegal activities. If OP's preferred past time was shooting heroin or smoking crack, would you say that was okay too? There is an outrageous difference between buying a new pair of shoes or the latest iPod and committing a felony.

[jteezie]

Your budget is still confusing, as I mentioned earlier. My take home pay is actually quite close to yours after subtracting out retirement savings, so lets compare our budgets.


Paycheck, $500-550 weekly... $2000-$2200 per month. Close match.
Due on 11/18 (move-in day) - $493.50, rent from there on out will be $635/month. I pay $540.
I will need to figure out cable, water, electric, and heat. water should be free, I split everything else with roommates. Used to have 2 others, now just one. Total cost of internet and electric (2 way split) roughly $70 and I know I can cut both these down if I tell my roommate to dress appropriately for the weather
N - $160 every 2 weeks - secret. I'll pick a close equivalent of $200 that my brother spends on my CC. He just graduated college so I'm helping him focus on finding what he wants to do without financial need forcing him into a less than ideal situation
N - $50 every check - mom N/A
N - $50 per credit card typically until I get back below the limit. I don't know what to pay on these but have been paying ~$50 once every 2 weeks or so. I have 3 credit cards I'm currently paying on. I pay in full
N - $35-40 2-3 times each week - gas. When I move I will be carpooling with a coworker to save on gas.I live close enough to run/walk to work. I am hesitant to say this, but look at how much gas you might save vs how much more rent you need to pay to get closer to work (assumes you have job stability). You may have already factored this in and that explains your significantly higher new rent, though my sense is you aren't actually saving anything by cutting gas and instead paying the difference in higher rent. Nonetheless I spend about $40 per month and own a car. You should factor in insurance costs as a monthly "accrual" expense in your budget
N - $60-70 - food for the week I vary a lot here, from 50-100
N - $165 every few weeks for therapy. Until my deductible is hit, I will be paying this out of pocket. I imagine I will have to pay a doctor's fee once I start seeing my new psychiatrist. But I have good health insurance and my deductible isn't too bad ($600 atm right now I think, it'll be lower in 2012). My equivalent is about $100-150/month on a coach
W - $100 - entertainment/going out I budget about $100 as well
N - $50-70 once a month - paying for half of all utilities now I address this above, but i'll add in cell phones as a utility. I pay for 4 lines but it's only $130

Comparing your list to mine, our expenses seem pretty close, but my total is roughly 1540/month and yours is nearer to 1900 (I'm making some assumptions on numbers after you move because I think it will be cheaper with the move, hence why you're moving). By no means do I think I have a lean budget, but I consider myself fairly frugal.

Anyways, noticeable sources of discrepancies... rent, coach/therapy, gas, "secret" money, paying for debt mistakes

[Whitechapel]

Your budget is still confusing, as I mentioned earlier. My take home pay is actually quite close to yours after subtracting out retirement savings, so lets compare our budgets.


Paycheck, $500-550 weekly... $2000-$2200 per month. Close match.
Due on 11/18 (move-in day) - $493.50, rent from there on out will be $635/month. I pay $540.
I will need to figure out cable, water, electric, and heat. water should be free, I split everything else with roommates. Used to have 2 others, now just one. Total cost of internet and electric (2 way split) roughly $70 and I know I can cut both these down if I tell my roommate to dress appropriately for the weather
N - $160 every 2 weeks - secret. I'll pick a close equivalent of $200 that my brother spends on my CC. He just graduated college so I'm helping him focus on finding what he wants to do without financial need forcing him into a less than ideal situation
N - $50 every check - mom N/A
N - $50 per credit card typically until I get back below the limit. I don't know what to pay on these but have been paying ~$50 once every 2 weeks or so. I have 3 credit cards I'm currently paying on. I pay in full
N - $35-40 2-3 times each week - gas. When I move I will be carpooling with a coworker to save on gas.I live close enough to run/walk to work. I am hesitant to say this, but look at how much gas you might save vs how much more rent you need to pay to get closer to work (assumes you have job stability). You may have already factored this in and that explains your significantly higher new rent, though my sense is you aren't actually saving anything by cutting gas and instead paying the difference in higher rent. Nonetheless I spend about $40 per month and own a car. You should factor in insurance costs as a monthly "accrual" expense in your budget
N - $60-70 - food for the week I vary a lot here, from 50-100
N - $165 every few weeks for therapy. Until my deductible is hit, I will be paying this out of pocket. I imagine I will have to pay a doctor's fee once I start seeing my new psychiatrist. But I have good health insurance and my deductible isn't too bad ($600 atm right now I think, it'll be lower in 2012). My equivalent is about $100-150/month on a coach
W - $100 - entertainment/going out I budget about $100 as well
N - $50-70 once a month - paying for half of all utilities now I address this above, but i'll add in cell phones as a utility. I pay for 4 lines but it's only $130

Comparing your list to mine, our expenses seem pretty close, but my total is roughly 1540/month and yours is nearer to 1900 (I'm making some assumptions on numbers after you move because I think it will be cheaper with the move, hence why you're moving). By no means do I think I have a lean budget, but I consider myself fairly frugal.

Anyways, noticeable sources of discrepancies... rent, coach/therapy, gas, "secret" money, paying for debt mistakes

Well that is awesome! Any tips then living on your budget and sticking to it? I think a lot of people here are expecting me to be able to just stop literally years of horrible spending habits. It's going to take some time but I will get better.