HELP!!!!!!!!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2004
HELP!!!!!!!!!!
5
Sat, 08-28-2004 - 12:01am
HI

My husband and I are soo far into debt there is no clear end in sight. We are about 27000 in debt, don't own a house and have a six year old. And that's with my hubbys credit cards almost all paid off. I tried the debt management program and couldn't manage to keep it up - other things came up - food, electricity etc.....I seem to be the only one worrying about this although I know he does. I see no joy anywhere in sight and it's no fun worrying all the time. Please help ANY helpful suggestions would work I'm sooooo worried about being thrown out onto the streets with a six year old.

Thanks for the help in advance

PB

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: dorikki3
Sat, 08-28-2004 - 8:33am
Hugs PB! You have come to the right place. The people on this board are wonderfully supportive and have great tips and ideas.

My first suggestion is to write down ALL your monthly expenses. My mistake when first making a spending plan (budget sounds too restrictive -- like diet)was only including monthly bills. I forgot numerous things gas, cash that we spent a week, quarterly bills like water & sewer, etc. If you gather and review your bank statements for a few months, you can get a pretty accurate picture of where your money has gone in the past.

next, we began keeping a spending journal and wrote down every dime we spent for a month. At the end of the month, I entered everything into excel and assigned it a category (like lunch). I work in NYC, and a sandwich and soda is around $8 which is $40 a week or $160 a month or $1920 per year! I added a little bit more to my grocery budget and now I bring lunch. A friend of mine did this and found out her starbucks addiction was costing her at least $15 per week, and that was on a good week.

I would also recommend prioritizing your bills. In my book, food and shelter always come first. Then utilities.

My favorite financial book is The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life by Suze Orman. You should be able to find it at the library. I like Suze because she deals with the emotional connection we have to money.

It can be done. We paid off 40,000 in credit card debt. We sold a lot of things on ebay, yard sales, and found other thins to do on the weekend besides shop. We are happier now, not only because we are out of credit card debt (we have a mortgage and car payment) but because we are not as concerned about what we have and do not have.

My DH worries about money, but doesn't like to talk about it. He is pretty cool with me handling the money and living by our "plan". I think for a plan to be successful, it should include a savings plan and more goals than being debt free. It feels good to put money into savings, even if it is only $10 per month. Our current goal is saving money to refinish our basement. It will take a few years, but we are paying cash and doing a lot of it ourselves.

Good luck!

Sandra

Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: dorikki3
Sat, 08-28-2004 - 9:03am

Welcome to the board!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2004
In reply to: dorikki3
Sat, 08-28-2004 - 1:02pm
If you do not have credit cards, what exactly are your debts? That will help us offer suggestions as best we can. Hopefully we all may have some ideas that can help you.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2003
In reply to: dorikki3
Sat, 08-28-2004 - 3:25pm
Hi there. Without much info, I don't know if this is an option for you or not, but we had a tenant with income low enough to qualify for rental assistance. Based on a persons income, a percentage of thier housing costs can be covered by a gov't assist program. I only bring this up because of the mention in your post of being thrown out with your son. I also know that my tenant was able to get energy assistance in the winter for her utility bills. The program she used was a county program, but I believe these programs exist in most places.

This may not be an option for you, but maybe it will help someone who can use it.

I know it seems hopeless now, but with perserverance, you'll get through this!

Lisa
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2004
In reply to: dorikki3
Sun, 08-29-2004 - 3:58pm
Thank you all for your suggestions and your advice. I'm sorry if i wasn't clear before the bills are all credit card bills and student loans. That's why I'm worried we were very stupid about money when our son was younger and we figured we could pay it all off no worries well we were obviously wrong and now I think you know it all - thanks again for the help and the support.

PB