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1. So I went back and re-read my post and I can see how you would think that I meant that I was cutting eating out in half. I wasn't clear enough, I guess. My bad. I meant that I would cut my grocery(food) bill in half. $60 a month. No eating out. Period.
2. How should I go about addressing the debt load?
If I cut back on everything that I said I would, my extra saving will first go towards paying off my smaller student loan.
I had bad teeth all throughout adolescence and early 20s. It wasn't until my late 20s that I was able to start working on fixing them. By that time though, a lot of damage had already been done. I've had braces for a year now and they are coming off really soon. Once they're off, I need to have implants put in right away to keep my teeth from shifting again.
I'm not sure why implants are needed but my teeth will shift if I don't wear my retainer. In fact my dog chewed up my original retainer over a decade ago and I went two years without wearing it - big mistake! Fortunately when I noticed the shifting I went and got another retainer. I'm 35 now and have worn my retainers nightly since getting my braces off when I was 14-ish except for those two 'lost' years.
I guarantee you if you wear your retainer at night your teeth will not move. They should give you a retainer for free at the end of your treatment period. Otherwise I think I paid $100 for the top/bottom for mine - the kind that has a wire on the front of it not that clear plastic kind. Call around and shop around is what I did when I needed another one.
Others have comment on a bunch of stuff so I'll stick with dry cleaners. Even if you're talking suits, they don't need to be dry cleaned every week and it is actually bad for them. I do hope you're laundering your own shirts and not taking them to the dry cleaners.
The OP already responded that he gets his entire laundry done and will switch to doing his own laundry. This is certainly a step in the right direction, but why he even needed someone to tell him that is beyond me.
I'm not sure why implants are needed but my teeth will shift if I don't wear my retainer. In fact my dog chewed up my original retainer over a decade ago and I went two years without wearing it - big mistake! Fortunately when I noticed the shifting I went and got another retainer. I'm 35 now and have worn my retainers nightly since getting my braces off when I was 14-ish except for those two 'lost' years.
I guarantee you if you wear your retainer at night your teeth will not move. They should give you a retainer for free at the end of your treatment period. Otherwise I think I paid $100 for the top/bottom for mine - the kind that has a wire on the front of it not that clear plastic kind. Call around and shop around is what I did when I needed another one.
Yeah, I was wondering about this as well. My husband was told that he needed an implant. When he found out the cost he asked about different options, including a removable plastic bridge for $500.
He chose the removable bridge and it's worked out fine.
$0 - Tithes
$400.00 - Car Note (It's actually $374, but I pay the extra $26 to make it an even $400.)
$400.00 - Rent for parents
$$115.00 - Car Insurance
$140.00 - Gas
$120.00 - Food
$35.00 - Cell phone (cricket, Total Wireless, etc)
$0.00 - Life Insurance
$10.00 - Gym (My parents live in a pretty rough neighborhood, so walking around outside for exercise isn't an option.)
$10.00 - Job fee ?
$0.00 - Dry cleaners
$0.00 - Dental (Saving to have major dental work done) Just get top/bottom retainers for $100-$200 total
$0.00 - Saving for moving out (use this to pay off debt)
---------------------------------------
$1,230 (this is a good spot to be in)
+$1,070 extra
$80.00 - Navient throw all the extra at this for four months - PAID OFF
$110 - Nelnet - stop delaying and pay the minimum payment interest + principal to at least start paying it off
Re-evaluate on here in four months when your first loan is paid off and you have made progress.
You have $47,000 in debt at 30 years old. You should have a positive net worth, not negative. You need to make drastic changes.
I would highly recommend a part time job over the weekends or your days off. Yes it's going to suck. Even a $10/hr job a 16 hours a week will pay around $500/month. Over a year that is $6,000 extra.
No, paying money into a church won't send money back your way. Stop the scam. Rip the band-aid off. You need to buckle down here.
Thank you all so much. Your responses are greatly appreciated.
1. Tithes: I will stop tithing more than 10% and just stick to the 10% until I get on my feet. (I know some of you guys don't understand this, but I just can't just stop tithing altogether. )
2. Gym: I wasn't completely honest about my gym membership. The reason I pay $22 a month at a small local gym is because I have the "bring a friend unlimited times" plan.
I will change plans and go for the basic $10 a month.
3. Cell phone: I have a Samsung Galaxy 7 that I got last August. With this phone, I also got a watch. I think I'm finished paying for the watch but I'm still paying for the phone. I'm not attached to it at all. I can easily put my pictures on my computer and save my numbers. My only concern is, will changing plans/phones hurt my credit?
4. Life Insurance: I will definitely get rid of this. I actually pay for life insurance through my job pre taxes.
5. Dry cleaning: No excuses. Just lazy. I do laundry weekly but only on non work clothing. I shop at thrift stores only and I like to make the clothing look ...... non thrift like ?
That said, I will completely cut this out.
6. Parents: My parents are honestly great people. They've given me a year to get on my feet. I'm sure that can be extended if I push for it.
7. Side hustle: It'll be hard to find a side hustle with my crazy schedule, but it's definitely something worth looking into.
8. Car loan: I'll pay the normal $374 and use the extra $26 for my lowest Student Loan.
9. Car insurance:I haven't shopped around in awhile but I remember my car insurance being kind of low compared to my co-workers and friends. I'll try to find something lower though. Any extra money helps.
10. Dental: The $200 a month is for 2 dental implants.
11. Student Loans: 6.8% interest rates are fixed. My goal is to pay this off before my year with my parents is up.
12. Gas: I drive a lot. At least 18,000 miles a year.
13. Food: Mostly eating out. Again, crazy hours at work and... Ok, no excuses. I will try to at least cut this in half.
So based on your posts, here are the savings:
Food: $60
Dry Cleaning: $100
Gym: $12
Tithing: $10???? You said you'd cut back but didn't give a dollar amount, so I assumed a low amount
Life Insurance: $25
Phone: $100 (Could be this much if you sign up with Republic Wireless). I don't get why switching phone services would mess up your credit rating???
Total Monthly Savings (rounded down): $295
That is a significant amount of monthly savings if you stick with it and apply it to debt.
But in the future, forget the new car. I'm 46 and have never had a new car. I have a net worth that most people in their 60s don't have despite having a modest income in a high cost area. Not owning a new car (and keeping the commuting to a reasonable level) definitely has been a significant contributor to my net worth.
Earning more at another job, or even earning the same at a job with less car commuting involved would really help a lot. So would getting rid of the car for a gently used model (2-4 years old).
Food: $60
Dry Cleaning: $100
Gym: $12
Tithing: $10???? You said you'd cut back but didn't give a dollar amount, so I assumed a low amount
Life Insurance: $25
Phone: $100 (Could be this much if you sign up with Republic Wireless). I don't get why switching phone services would mess up your credit rating???
Total Monthly Savings (rounded down): $295
That is a significant amount of monthly savings if you stick with it and apply it to debt.
But in the future, forget the new car. I'm 46 and have never had a new car. I have a net worth that most people in their 60s don't have despite having a modest income in a high cost area. Not owning a new car (and keeping the commuting to a reasonable level) definitely has been a significant contributor to my net worth.
Earning more at another job, or even earning the same at a job with less car commuting involved would really help a lot. So would getting rid of the car for a gently used model (2-4 years old).
Under $300/month savings is a joke. I'm sorry. This guy needs a come to Jesus moment.
At $300/month pay down, assuming it were all interest free even, it would take him 13 years to pay it off.
Often times getting rid of the car for another lower cost one doesn't make financial sense in the long term.
The OP drives 18,000 miles a year for work, he can't commute via bicycle.
Often times getting rid of the car for another lower cost one doesn't make financial sense in the long term.
That's why I didn't mention the car in my post: what's done is done. Would it have been better for the OP to have bought a less expensive used car? Yes, but he can't go back in time to undo that mistake. He's probably upside-down on the loan, so selling the vehicle probably doesn't make sense financially. And he didn't buy some crazy-expensive luxury vehicle or SUV, but a Honda; that ought to be a good car for many, many years to come. He might as well keep it, drive the wheels off of it, and economize elsewhere.
I'm 30 years old and I don't know how to adult. I moved in with my parents in January for a year and they make me pay bills. I haven't saved a dime. (I know I suck as a person because of this. )
Some background info:
I make about $2300 a month. The problem is, I have about $26,000 of student loan debt.
Navient - $3,500 - 6.8%
Nelnet - $22,500 -6.8%
**Navient is in deferment until May and Nelnet is in forbearance until August.
I also have a car loan of about $21,000. My car was bought new. It is a 2015 Honda Civic. I have to drive a lot for work, so I needed something reliable.
Car Loan - $21,000 - 1.9%
I have really good credit: 740
That's all concerning my debt.
My monthly expenses starting in April will be:
$240.00 - Tithes
$400.00 - Car Note (It's actually $374, but I pay the extra $26 to make it an even $400.)
$400.00 - Rent for parents
$$115.00 - Car Insurance
$140.00 - Gas
$120.00 - Food
$135.00 - Cell phone
$25.00 - Life Insurance
$22.00 - Gym (My parents live in a pretty rough neighborhood, so walking around outside for exercise isn't an option.)
$10.00 - Job fee
$100.00 - Dry cleaners
$200.00 - Dental (Saving to have major dental work done)
$200.00 - Saving for moving out
$80.00 - Navient
$110 - Nelnet
This virtually leaves me no room for anything. I live paycheck to paycheck. I literally feel like I'm drowning and I've lost many nights of sleep over this.
Someone, please help me.
1) You probably don't want to, but at least cut back on the tithing. That is a big chunk.
2) Cut the dry cleaning. That is a lot for that.
3) See if your parents will cut your rent for a bit. They are parents- come on.
4) Life Insurance? You aren't married yet. Cut that.
5) I get my cell phone for myself and wife for around $50 a month, and have no problems.
6) You can probably cut the car payment down somehow, but what the heck- $400 isn't a lot for a decent car. Get a decent used.
OP:
Continue to tithe if you want, that is your choice and in my opinion a very personal choice and not the business of others.
You might consider titheing a wee bit less for the rest of this year though.
Find a good solid financial planning program and follow it; Mr. CSD and I used Dave Ramsey The Total Money Makeover.
Some think he is not good for financial advice but his program worked for us. There are numerous others who have programs to help you put all of your financial data on paper, organize it, pay it off and still have a bit of money left over.
It may not be a lot but a little splurge is better than no splurge.
Good luck in your future financial endeavors, Mr. CSD and I wish you all the success you deserve.
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