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| Tue, 08-24-2004 - 1:48pm |
Hi, I'm a newbie, and I wanted to introduce myself. I'm really struggling with debt. Luckily, I'm employed full time, but I haven't been good about keeping a savings plan. My income and regular expenses are fairly close to each other, but I have student loan and credit card debt that I have trouble paying, as well as a family member that seems to always need help paying rent, expenses. It's a close relative, so I don't think I can refuse her. I'm looking for a part-time job to help me with expenses (my full-time income is not large), but I'm feeling very overwhelmed.

The first step is figuring out where all your money goes. Figure out what you spend on your monthly bills like rent, utilities, car payment and insurance, student loans and CC bills. Then calculate the expenses you can control, like food, clothes, gas, personal care stuff. If these numbers are too close together, you need to either, a)make more money, or b)lower your expenses...or c)both.
A second job isn't a bad idea. I have a weekend job, for the time being. I have also given myself a budget. (Mine is pretty strict). I went from spending over 50$ a week for food to spending under 20$. I buy oatmeal, pasta, beans, tuna fish, fresh seasonal fruits and veggies; food that is inexpensive, but won't leave me hungry. Convienent food is usually more expensive. You can save on gas by just contrlling how much you drive. I saved another 10$ a week there. Try saving all of your change for a month or two. It really adds up....oh yeah stop using the cards.
See if you can consolidate your student loans, and extend the period to lower your payments, for the time being (mine got cut in half). This should make your bills a little easier to manage for now, while you're stuggling. Or see if you can enter into forbarence temporarly, until you have a savings built up.
As far as your relative goes, unless she is your child, you really shouldn't feel obligated to help her. My father used to ask for money from me a lot. He has tons of money problems due to a complusive spending habit. I finally just explained that I didn't have it and couldn't even pay my own bills. He understood.
I really like some of the ideas on this board. A freedom account is a savings account for unexpected expenses, like tickets, or renewing your car registration, or any other little bills that come up unexpectedly. Another idea I like is the snowflaking concept.
There is a link to the snowflaking/snowballing site on this board somewhere. It can really help get rid of that high interest CC debt.
It's kinda painful to look at your finances and see how bad the big picture is. But it can and will get better.
Welcome to the board!!!
Sorry to hear about having to help a relative...that is tough.
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis