WWYD?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2003
WWYD?
3
Thu, 12-30-2004 - 1:29am

Hi all...I introduced myself below...

Anyhow, I have negative balances in both savings and checking due to my own stupid errors of balancing my checkbook (I am HORRIBLE at it!) and just being stupid, combined with circumstance...missed a month of work due to emergency surgery, etc.

So, I go back to work on Monday and plan to ask for overtime. That will help but won't solve the problem. I need to reduce my debt AND save at the same time so I can move by June 1st. My credit score is in the bottom 10% of all scores! YIKES! So, what can I do?

My net monthly income when I work 40/hrs per week is about $1800. My expenses are:

Rent/Utilities/Car Payments: ZERO (live at home for now and own my car free and clear)
Cell Phone: $45 (NOT negotiable...I do NOT use the house phone AT ALL)
Medical Copays: $50

Internet: $21
Gym: $59 (includes myself and ds, if I do not use it in Jan I plan to drop it)
Food: $200 to $300 (varies depending on what my mom purchases, also ds and I have multiple food allergies and alternative products get spendy)
Car Insurance: $140 (I already shopped around, this is the lowest I could get due to an accident 2yrs ago)
Gas for car: $80 average
School fees for ds: $16
Netflix: $22 (I spent wayyyyy more on late fees prior to signing up for Netflix)

Visa: limit is $300...I put internet, cell phone, gas for car, and Netflix on the card and pay about $150/month...I ALWAYS pay it long before the due date and far more than is required! I am very slowly using this card to rebuild my credit

Mastercard: limit is $300...use for groceries and medical copays...usually pay $50 to $150/month...always pay long before due date and far more than minimum due...also using to rebuild my credit; 0% interest on purchases until April

Current Tuition for me: $400 for Spring Term (did not qualify for grants/scholarships, do NOT want loans...)

DEBTS:
Student Loan: currently deferred but owe $23,500...repayment starts at $102/mo this summer
Mastercard #2: $35/minimum ($1350 balance, account is closed)
Medical Debt: $100/mo $6500/balance SUPER HIGH interest
Medical Debt #2: $50/mo $1000/balance
Old Tuition: $250/mo (see note) $1000/balance...trying to work out payment plan for $250/month but they don't want to accept...they asked me to apply for a bank loan and I was turned down for that...it is getting reported to credit bureaus on Friday... :(

I also have several SMALL debts that I need to clean up ranging from as little as $30 to $100/each for a total of about $500.

I know I'm missing things but IMMEDIATELY I need to pay my car insurance and school tuition...that's $540 together, not including school books and parking permit. Oh, and I need $290 to take to the dentist in two weeks for a mouth guard...the dentist's money I will get back about a week later thanks to a healthcare flex spending plan at work but I need the money NOW...I can't afford to shell it out to begin with...

And, I need to get more money to my lawyer for my case concerning custody and child support for ds who is 6yo. We have mediation on Jan 20th. Hopefully we can agree on everything in mediation! If not I will need LOTS of money for the lawyer! I still have $750 in my trust with the lawyers office but I need to get at least $250 more to him by Jan 20th.

I feel totally sunk! I've already borrowed from both my parents and my boyfriend is paying for my lawyer for custody of ds. I tried applying for a debt conslidation loan and was denied. I also tried applying for a zero interest credit card to transfer my higher balance old mastercard account but was denied that as well. My history with the NEW Visa and NEW Mastercard is really good and I've paid ON TIME and MORE than the minimum monthly but I am hesitant to ask for increased limits in order to transfer high interest debt to these zero interest cards...

Sigh...ideas? Advice? I really want to avoid Credit Counseling if I can but I don't know if that's possible at this point.......

Sigh...Malea

PS -- on the upside, I have managed to NOT go to Starbucks every time I crave quality coffee. I also resolved to NOT buy more of ds's fave cereal when the current box is empty...we have several other fine cereals in the cupboard that he can eat! I also need to do something for my nephew's 1st birthday and for my sister's birthday but decided that instead of buying something I am going to put my artistic skills to work...I am going to do a drawing of my nephew as a gift to my sis and her husband to celebrate his 1st bday. Then, for my sister's bday I am going to sketch their daughter.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
In reply to: medicalmama
Thu, 12-30-2004 - 8:00am

Welcome to the board, Malea. You will get lots of support here and great ideas, too, from making a budget that works that you'll stick to, to snowflaking.
You sure have a lot on your plate, but it's do-able.
There is always hope for everyone, even if you're not debt-free as soon as you'd like to be.
I'm sorry about your custody situation. I hope that it works out for the best, really.
Take a look at your post - you have it all laid out for you - that's the foundation for your gameplan (budget).
I raise my champagne glass to you for 2005 and wish you all the best in debt reduction possible!

cheers!
slojuly

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: medicalmama
Thu, 12-30-2004 - 9:57am

I agree with the previous poster that you are well on your way--great job getting everything down in black and white. Make a copy for your records and start working on your budget. You've already done the hard part!

By these numbers, I calculate that you are $270/mo short to meet all your obligations. But it looks like with a little planning and hard work, it's a deficit you can make up fairly readily, even without bringing in additional money.

Here is what I would do (just as an example):

I would cut the gym membership (chasing a 6-year-old around a playground and then playing 2-person dodge ball with him is all the exercise any sane person needs, lol), netflix (watch television, borrow movies from the library, borrow movies from friends), and reduce my grocery bill by $100 (more on this in a minute). That's $181 savings, reducing the deficit to only $89 a month.

Now, the deficit includes the $102 student loan you won't start paying until this summer. In the meantime, you may be able to reduce your smaller debts enough that the reduction in minimum payments makes up the $89 difference by the time the $102 student loan begins.

Meantime, by rebuilding your credit, you're moving toward a day when you can negotiate for lower interest rates and perhaps consolidate some of your debts.

As for the money you need *right now*, consider selling anything that isn't nailed down in your house. Consignment stores for clothes, ebay for books and games and electronics, a yard sale for just about everything else. Also consider a temporary part-time job to get those items taken care of and reduce your debt burden to a level that will allow you to cover your expenses with your current income.

This is just one path you could take, but I hope it helps just to see that there are options that can get you up out of the hole and back on the path to recovery.

Now on the groceries--I'm sure having allergies and all complicates matters, but nearly everyone can reduce their grocery bill significantly. Just as an illustration, my family of four eats WELL on $45 a week ($205 a month, roughly). I have outlined our techniques in other posts, but I'll give you a quick run-through:

I shop the weekly flyers for sales, and stock up when items hit a certain low point. I know what the low point is because I keep a record and I know when things are at their cheapest. This method especially saves me money on meat, baking supplies, and produce.

Speaking of produce, we shop at the farmer's market and eat only what is in season. No tomatoes in January, no greens in July, etc. Grapes and other expensive fruits only when they are on a really good sale at one of the grocery stores.

We make a lot of foods from scratch. I would think this would be even better for your allergies than processed foods like cereals. Breakfast can be oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar (or other cooked grain if you're allergic to oats--rice actually is quite yummy for breakfast cooked like this); muffins made from leftover cooked grains, dried milk (which is cheaper than whole milk and tastes the same in baking), soy flour instead of eggs (one tablespoon soy flour, one tablespoon water--can be used in any recipe calling for eggs, and is much cheaper and never goes bad), and additional ingredients according to your recipe (try a "universal muffin recipe" search on google to find a recipe that you can adapt to what you already have in your cupboard); fresh fruit when it's in season and inexpensive; leftover pizza or other carb-rich item from last night's dinner; and so on. Speaking of pizza, we make ours for a fraction of the cost of store-bought, and it tastes better and can be customized to avoid allergenic ingredients.

When grocery money was really tight early in our debt repayment process, we ate a lot of beans and rice--very nutritious, very cheap, very tasty (at least until you've been eating it for a week straight and you're sick to death of it! LOL).

We never buy drinks (actually, dh makes sweet tea, because he can't bear to be without something sweet to drink), convenience foods, expensive cuts of meat, or expensive items like dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Anyway, those are just a few ideas for cutting your grocery budget. It's a big thing for me, because I think a lot of people (like me, before I learned better) think of groceries as a fixed expense that they can't change, when in fact most people can cut hundreds off their monthly grocery budget without sacrificing nutrition or even, really, flavor.

Gotta go. Crying baby.

Thanks for joining us, and congrats on taking the first step in your debt-free-ward journey. :)

Heather

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: medicalmama
Thu, 12-30-2004 - 11:52am

Welcome to the board medicalmama!

All my best,
Danni