• Life Advice & Visual Arts Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    🌌 Share Your Dreams! 🌌
    📸 15 Years of Photo Contests 📸
  • LAVA Moderator: Mysterier

Debt / Money Problems

um, my point is that you don't need a fucking 2002 car, you daft twat. you don't need to be living alone, you don't NEED to be paying for internet, phone, cable, or whatever else it is that isn't necessary for your survival. Sell your tv, excess furniture, or even your plasma if you're that strapped for cash. But don't lash out at everyone that offers you advice and then complain "I dont know anybody or have any friends i could move in with."
 
Fine. You all win. Starting tomorrow (im too tired / drunk tonite) im going to follow all of the advice in this thread. I will not be making any of my own financial decisions. I will trust what the others have said in this thread and follow it exactly. And if it works great. And if it doesnt, then at least i dont have to blame myself.
 
in that case, you should probably cut booze out of your budget too.

:D
 
I don't think anyone is trying to "win" in this discussion. People are giving advice that you asked for. I really don't understand your poor attitude.
 
As your lawyer, i insist on you letting me handle your money. I'll take care of you. minus my fees and expenses of course...
 
Blaming people in this thread because you can't get yourself out of debt is ridiculous. You got yourself into this mess, so you have to get yourself out. It isn't up to any of us to make you stop wasting your money. It won't be fun but you used up all your fun when you got yourself into debt.
 
stAr shAdow nEt said:
Fine. You all win. Starting tomorrow (im too tired / drunk tonite) im going to follow all of the advice in this thread. I will not be making any of my own financial decisions. I will trust what the others have said in this thread and follow it exactly. And if it works great. And if it doesnt, then at least i dont have to blame myself.
Click to expand...

Well, some of us have been in your position and are telling you what worked for us, from our own experience. It's not like we're randomly typing reckless advice here.
 
vibr8tor said:
(that advice goes for faithfully dangerous as well)
Click to expand...
i know, i know

and ive cut back A LOT... only getting dollar specials when at the bar IF im paying for my own drinks anyway...

but at least i realized that! i mean i was dropping 500 bucks a week on clothes, drinking goose and eating expensive food, etc... which got me into this mess.

and family has a LOT to do with money--- one day you might have one of your own and will want/need to provide for them.

AAANNNDDDD for the record--- i've lived on 40 bucks a month before... less than actually for leisure/fun... it sucks, yes, but its something ya gotta do.
 
Okay. So an update to my original post. And i appologize to everyone in this thread for my behavior last nite. I was drunk (and thats no excuse) and in a bad mood due to other factors.

I have written down my MUST PAY expenses. They are as follows:

*Every Payday i must:

Put 300 dollars towards rent.

Put 127 dollars towards my car.

---Thats 427 dollars of MUST PAY every Payday.

*Credit card:

At least 50 a month to pay off. Do not use for ANYTHING until payed off.

*Gasoline/Automobile:

Limit unnecessary driving. Do all errands in one trip. No short drives for near things,
IE: walk, ride my bike.


So that is that. If i make at least 700 dollars a paycheck (that is my goal) it will leave me with 223 dollars to spend on gas, food, and any other necessities. Sounds like a plan yes?

*Note: This plan is "per paycheck" not "per month". I get paid twice a month.

Soo, let me know what you think everybody. Im going to commit myself to seriously sticking to this plan and trying as hard as i can to make it work so i can get on top of my finances.

I have given thought to getting a second PART TIME job. At the moment i am going to have to hold off on trying to find one, as i have just started a new job (which i am very excited and happy about) and i am not sure what my schedule is going to be after i am done with my training. Plus this job that i have just started requires me to go to Dallas Texas for 10 days in either mid August or early September for training, so i dont want to have any commitments where i live right now that i would have to break when i goto training. But once i get back and settled into this job, and know what my hours are going to be, then i will definatly start looking for a part time job on the side.

I thank EVERYBODY for responding to my original post. And once again i appologize for my conduct in this thread. I admit i seriously need work on my social skills and attitude, espically when others are trying to offer advice and to HELP ME. So i apologize, and im sorry for being an asshole.

Let me know what you think..........
 
That plan means that you will pay the credit card debt off in one year. Assuming that you will move that $100 each month then over to rent debt, that means that you will pay that 3k debt off in a little over two years.

Do you really need $100 every week for yourself?
 
Sounds like an excellent plan!!! :D I'm glad you were able to take our advice. Good luck with everything.
 
That does sound like a good plan, and it's great that you've actually put it down on paper (well, screen...you know what I mean). Keeping a diary of everything you spend can be a good way of seeing where you could save a few extra bucks. And by the way, it's not such a bad thing to blow off a bit of steam now and then...everyone does it...as long as it fuels something positive. I hope you get things back on your side soon and enjoy your new job :)
 
yep, as everyone else said, you're sitting pretty good.

throw everything last dime you can at your debt if possible.

but also save some "whatever the fuck I want to do with it" cash.

sticking to a budget is extremely difficult, and if you don't factor in any "play" money, you'll get burnt out. Reward your hard work once in a while, you deserve it. :)
 
It can be easier to stick to a budget if you can set up direct deposit... Here's what I did:

I have three bank accounts.

Account One: Checking. At a large, national bank. Excellent online system, I can look at every transaction for the last year. This account is direct deposited everything up to $200 per week. This is the account that my living expenses come from: rent, utilities, etc. I don't even keep the debit card in my wallet. It's in a lock-box at home.

Account Two: Savings. Small-town bank, I've had this account since I was three years old. Every week, the remainder of my paycheck gets deposited. Sometimes it's nothing, sometimes it's $90 (I work part time in a restaurant, the hours are never consistant).

Account Three: Checking, at the same small town bank; tied to savings. This account has $1, to keep it an "active account." Basically, I created this account to have a way to spend from savings, but I have to transfer the money in advance: NO IMPULSE SPENDING!


I was in about $1300 worth of credit card debt about 9 months ago. I stopped going shopping, stopped eating out. After I had about $250 in the savings account I used every extra penny I earned every week to pay off my existing debt: one week I paid my Discover card, the next week, my Visa. I even changed my auto insurance company and saved myself like $30 a month!

Now I have about $1500 in the bank: I worked extra hours whenever I could, deposited any tips I made... basically I lived on bread and water (figuratively!) until I got out of debt.

The SMARTEST thing I ever did concerning credit cards was to get an American Express. This way, I put everything I buy on one card (even my utilities automatically debit!). I have one statement at the end of every month, and I have to pay it every month. I build/repair my credit and keep track of my expenses all at the same time.



so my advice is a little late... I figured out a system, it worked for me, maybe it can help someone! Better late than never.
 
Bluelight.nu: come for the drugs, stay for the sound financial advice!
 
The plan sounds like a very good start. One thing I saw, is the $300 bi-weekly for rent, when you said rent was $550/mo. I don't know if that extra $50 is earmarked for anything, but you can throw it at the debt or set up a savings for when a crisis occurs (like that damn car repair).

I don't know how much you can trust yourself with savings - some can do it by will power, others need a seperate savings account like the direct deposit suggested above, and others just give it to someone to hold (mom/dad/somebody) until that emergency arrives. But however you find works best for you, but setting aside $25 per paycheck into that emergency fund can be a lifesaver when the world really kicks you in the nuts.

Also, if you are paid bi-weekly - that means you get 26 paychecks a year, but your rent (assumed monthly) only needs to get paid from 24 of those paychecks. Take those two extra paychecks (once every ~6months) and the $300 you'd need to throw at rent ought to still be pulled from that paycheck (no big parties for you yet) and throw it at the debt. You're used to living on the paychecks without the $300, and those two times a year when rent doesn't need it you can use it to get a jump on the debt ;)

Stick with the plan. It may need a little bit of adjustment during the first few months while you get used to it...but in the long run it can give you a lot more freedom (and appreciation for being debt free)...you just have to persevere to get there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top