nothing seems to work...

[jodi]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Did you say living with mom was an option, albeit a bad one? Would it be worth it for the four months it would take you to pay off the payday loans???
Just a thought...sounds like you are making steps in the right direction. Good luck.

[jodi]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Oops, sorry, just reread and see that mom is not an option. And there is no one else you can move in with temporarily? It sounds like you've been helping others out - no one to return the favor?

[lrjohnson]

Re: nothing seems to work...

What I know costs money is even the one day a week I do go out.

Plain jane frugal advice:
If you are still eating out once a week I'd look at cutting that out for now. Even an extra $40 a month to bills helps. If it's for a "date" night, look at cooking a nice meal at home by candlelight. In my eyes, a man who cooked lentils would be more romantic than a man who paid to go out when he had debt.

Riskier advice:
Reduce your taxes withheld NOW, dramatically. Throw every extra penny at the pay day loans. Set the withholding to normal once the payday loans are paid. After the payday loans are paid, continue socking away that $280 into an emergcency fund and tax fund. The IRS will take all the money on 4/15 without a zillion percent interest. When the payday loans are paid off do NOT increase your spending. Put that extra money away. This will require extreme diligence as you need to be able to pay the taxes in full. It would be a temorary interest free "loan" to pay of bad high interest debt.

[34saving]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Riskier advice:
Reduce your taxes withheld NOW, dramatically. Throw every extra penny at the pay day loans. Set the withholding to normal once the payday loans are paid. After the payday loans are paid, continue socking away that $280 into an emergcency fund and tax fund. The IRS will take all the money on 4/15 without a zillion percent interest. When the payday loans are paid off do NOT increase your spending. Put that extra money away. This will require extreme diligence as you need to be able to pay the taxes in full. It would be a temorary interest free "loan" to pay of bad high interest debt.

Ditto. Also AS A TEMP MEASURE ONLY stop the 401K contribution

[disneysteve]

Re: nothing seems to work...

A mortgage might be more debt, but since it replaces rent, it's less spending. That was all I was saying, not saying I will run out tomorrow and do it. The only reason it might help is because the potential seller is willing to cut back $10,000 to me at close. That will go right in the bank.

Would it actually be less spending? Would your PITI be less than you currently pay in rent? Don't forget to add the cost of property maintenance and repairs that you would become responsible for.

Why exactly would the seller give you 10K? And why, when you are roughly $27,000 in debt, would you put a 10K windfall into savings rather than using it to pay down debt? I could see keeping some of it, maybe 2-3K as an emergency fund, but the rest probably ought to go to paying off the credit card, the payday loans and the student loan which would improve your cash flow situation quite a bit.

[disneysteve]

Re: nothing seems to work...

I just turned off the cable and house phone. I determined keeping high-speed internet alone is cheaper than dial-up plus a phone line in my area. Need the internet to sell stuff on Ebay. About $200 worth of stuff I found so far.

I don't know what the reason is for the utilities, but everyone in my area had similar gas bills this winter. The water bill used to be $28 in this same house, so I need to find out what's going on there as well. The toilet does leak a tad. I'm going to look at that tonight.

This is the first positive post you've made in this whole thread. Perhaps the light bulb has finally turned on for you. Keep going this way, instead of the negative way, and things will work out fine, though it will take some time. You didn't get where you are overnite and can't fix it all overnite. But if you change your mindset and start watching where every penny goes, you'll firm up your finances within a few months to a year.

[Kirbycruiser]

Re: nothing seems to work...

You have lots of great advice here. Keep up the good work. Don't get discuraged.
I agree with everyone on the engagement thing, 80% or more of marital problems are because of money. Fix your current situation and then propose with a clear concious. At least your relationship can start off with a solid foundation.
Marketing is almost everything in the mortgage industry. If you are not doing it already you need signs, ads, and I knew a guy who placed flyers on doors. Good Luck.

[joesixpack]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Give yourself some credit! You did some good whitteling!! Now, I have one more suggestion.

Are you at your credit limit? Rather than paying for those darned pay advances, why not put the money on your credit card, which should certainly have far less interest. The goal is of course to stop using credit all together, but when you must, you must.

Sorry if this has already been suggested. You've gotten a lot of repsonses to your plea for help.

Since I just filed bankruptcy recently, my limits are VERY low and my 1200 is actually about maxed out.

Good idea though!

[joesixpack]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Did you say living with mom was an option, albeit a bad one? Would it be worth it for the four months it would take you to pay off the payday loans???
Just a thought...sounds like you are making steps in the right direction. Good luck.

No, it's not an option. My stepfather won't allow it.

[joesixpack]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Would it actually be less spending? Would your PITI be less than you currently pay in rent? Don't forget to add the cost of property maintenance and repairs that you would become responsible for.

Why exactly would the seller give you 10K? And why, when you are roughly $27,000 in debt, would you put a 10K windfall into savings rather than using it to pay down debt? I could see keeping some of it, maybe 2-3K as an emergency fund, but the rest probably ought to go to paying off the credit card, the payday loans and the student loan which would improve your cash flow situation quite a bit.

OK, we're talking mostly hypothetical here, but:

The PITI is about $44 less than rent based on her vague suggestion. I already handle the maintenance which is why I get the place as cheap as I do. In three years here the most costly repair has been $100 to fix the garage door.

I'd pay off the three major debts you mention, of course! I mean after that, the rest goes in. She was willing to do that because she knows the house is worth more than she would sell it to me for and I've already paid her over $21000 in rent since I've lived here so she's giving me a lot of "credit" for that.

[disneysteve]

Re: nothing seems to work...

Rent-$650
Car Payment - $538
Gas Bill - $175 (once the overage is paid off)
Electric - $80 (average)
Cable/Internet/Phone - $39.00
Cell Phone (need for work) - $95 (if I don't exceed my minutes)
Car Insurance - $108
Water - $40? (working on leaky toilet)
Credit Card Payments -$80 (will go away next in line)
Student Loan - $50 (balance $722)
Groceries - $100
Gasoline - $350 (pay more attention to speed, cheap gas deals, tire inflation, etc)
Cash Advance Fees about $280 monthly - will at the very least, whittle these down a bit at a time.

That's still $2585. Some reduction, but really, what else can I do?

So you've gone from $2,817 to $2,585, a savings of $232/month or $2,784/year. Considering that in your OP, you said, "I see nowhere to cut" I think that's a huge step! Congrats!

What else can you do? Well, now that you've freed up some money, you can reduce your debt quicker and also build up an emergency fund. Obviously, the payday loans need to be your #1 priority. I don't think you've told us the interest rate, but I'm sure it is higher than either the credit card or the student loan. Put the bulk of that $232 toward getting rid of those. However, I would also suggest putting some of the $232, even $10, toward the credit card so that you are consistently paying more than the minimum. That will retire that debt much quicker. Since the student loan is probably the lowest interest, leave that for last.

Keep an open mind and be willing to change and cut back where ever possible and this will work out fine.

[joesixpack]

Re: nothing seems to work...

So you've gone from $2,817 to $2,585, a savings of $232/month or $2,784/year. Considering that in your OP, you said, "I see nowhere to cut" I think that's a huge step! Congrats!

What else can you do? Well, now that you've freed up some money, you can reduce your debt quicker and also build up an emergency fund. Obviously, the payday loans need to be your #1 priority. I don't think you've told us the interest rate, but I'm sure it is higher than either the credit card or the student loan. Put the bulk of that $232 toward getting rid of those. However, I would also suggest putting some of the $232, even $10, toward the credit card so that you are consistently paying more than the minimum. That will retire that debt much quicker. Since the student loan is probably the lowest interest, leave that for last.

Keep an open mind and be willing to change and cut back where ever possible and this will work out fine.

It's a start. However, it still doesn't tell me what I'm going to do THIS month, since I have a much below average commission check coming (about $1890.) This does, however, give me at least a dim light at the end of the tunnel! And, usually, much below average months are followed by much above average ones. It all evens out.

The Payday loans are about 354% or so, I think.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: nothing seems to work...

well since your commission check is higher than my normal pay, I still am whistful (we are a family of 5)

but I wanted to say congratulations! I am amazed, dunno if this will make you feel better or worse, but I honestly thought you would be here doing the runaround thing with us till you up and found better amusement, I am impresesed that you took the steps to reduce your spending! Very impressed.

If I were you my next step would be lowering the electric bill..which if you cut cable it will do a bit on its own..no tv..no electricity to not run it check out the electric thread on here..you wont be able to do all of it (I don't) but read the list and grab a tip or two.

Also on the anti payday loan, electric and gas don't tend to charge outrageous interest..you might try putting htem off, or paying partial instead of borrowing ot pay full. and as you reduce the expenses you will be able to pay fully soon.

Oh and it is 9 months up and about a year down iso if it took you 6 months to get in this hole, expect at least 7 to get out. Just cut all the corners you can.

oh and food...if you want we all have some simple cooking tips (frugal cooking)

[disneysteve]

Re: nothing seems to work...

It's a start. However, it still doesn't tell me what I'm going to do THIS month, since I have a much below average commission check coming (about $1890.)

You mentioned 6% going to your 401K. Can you stop that temporarily, or must you continue it because of the outstanding loan?

Can you raise the deductible on your auto insurance? Or maybe switch to a cheaper company?

Are there any cheaper options to choose from for health insurance? Maybe a plan with a higher deductible or higher copays?

Someone earlier mentioned adjusting your withholding to get more money in your check rather than a $1,200 refund next spring.

I don't know if any or all of those would make up your immediate shortfall, but you have to keep chipping away at every possible expense. You've already found ways to cut your costs by over 8%. I'm sure there is more you can do to trim costs further if you keep looking.

Finally, I'm going to recommend ebay again. When I was out of work a few years ago, I ebayed a lot. At my peak, I was grossing between $2,000 and $3,000/month, about 70% of which was profit. It was all merchandise that I bought specifically to resell: yard sales, church bazaars, flea markets, auctions, discount shops, outlets, etc. It is definitely an option and not all that difficult to do. Making an extra $500-$1000/month is quite possible.

Ultimately, it may come down to finding a new job. You said that your company primarily does refi business, a market segment that is drying up pretty quickly as rates climb. Unless they change their business model soon, I think the future of that company is questionable. Again, I wish you luck.

[Thrifty Ray]

Re: nothing seems to work...

I worked at a credit union for a number of years and I know that if we had a member in good standing (maintained their accounts, nothing past due) we would allow a once per year 'skip' on a car loan payment.

I dont know who you have that loan with, but if you could skip a month, that money could go directly to your payday loan.

Just a thought.