I don't know what to do anymore. I try to save up but everything is so expensive and I don't know how to get out of this. 2 years ago I did not have this problem but I had to take care of my mom anddd here we are. I just want to cry and give up. Any advice helps.
My rent is $1250, my car payment is $568/ month with car insurance thats $150 a month.
My credit cards debt—
Apple card: $2056
Bank of America: $1700
Citi: $4500
Discover: $700
I am drowning in debt
byu/ThroatForward613 inpersonalfinance
Posted by ThroatForward613
30 Comments
income?
Make more or spend less. Those are the 2 ways to fix this. Get a second job and use it to pay off this debt.
Post your budget
You explained your own issue: Too many credit cards. Throw all of them away and only spend what you can.
Income?
Without you saying what you make noone can help with just a list of debts.
You need to make a budget. How much do you make and how much are your expenses? I’ll tell you now you will get roasted on this sub with a $568 car payment, that’s an obvious thing to fix right there.
Sorry to hear of your dilemma. Honestly. It appears that you have allowed yourself to borrow well more than you were able to pay back on credit cards. I understand that things are expensive and life can cause these kinds of things to happen easily but what you’re going to need to do is focus on your smallest credit card debt first and pay any extra funds you can obtain toward it. You can eliminate one extra payment of obligation at a time, that’s called the snowball effect. That will get you to begin to see some progress being made so maybe start with the Discover card first or the one with the highest interest rate and work from there.
Work on paying off the CC that is charging the most interest.
Their is a very simple but often ignored advice for your problem which is to budget. Budget. Budget. Budget. That is step 1.
Sell the car and buy a cheaper car? it seems like you’re driving a nice or a new car. So, downgrade! Easier said that done I guess but that’s all I can think of.
Oh! Maybe get an apt with a roommate if possible (if not doing it already). Also mention your monthly take home so that other have an idea of what we’re workjng with.
So sorry you’re going through this I can empathize with you.
My mom passed away and I had to pay out of pocket for some funeral expenses, relocate from my home and job. Nevertheless this is about you,
1. What’s your income
2. Besides your car and rent where else are you hemorrhaging money
3. How much is the car worth and how much do you owe on the loan?
4. What your priority? Seriously, is it the debt bothering you or do you not have money left over.
5. Check out Ramit Sethi – he’s helped me on my journey of becoming debt free
What car do u have? How much do u make? What do u spend your money on besides the $1968 u spend on what u listed? Come on OP… were missing info here bruh
Are your CC debt payments $2056, $1700, $700 or are those your balances? I assume balances.
Without knowing your income and all your major expenses it’s hard to offer any kind of advice.
By “taking care of your mom” do you mean you are her full time caregiver and are unable to earn an income?
What kind of car do you have? Do you commute to work?
Do you live with roommates? How many bedrooms?
This situation sucks but you’re taking the hardest, first step which is to recognize and ask for help. Some people get way deeper than you so good on you for starting.
A lot of comments here but share your income to map against debts.
Snowballing is a method a lot of people use to tackle debt and that might be a good option for you.
I know you’re taking care of your mother which is a hard but right thing to do to me. Does she have any income or ability to help you? It would be good to list her situation as well.
Once you get all your info you can make a budget and take this head on.
Your listed expenses are incomplete unless someone is providing you with normal living expenses like gas, food, cell phones, etc.
Post your **full** budget.
Money management international and setup a payment plan.
Cut expenses. Increase income. Consider a second job. Live within your means.
I feel like you’re not comfortable with changing your lifestyle and are neglecting the fact that you think you can’t afford something but in reality it’s something you don’t actually need…
Anyways. Sell your car. If it’s $568/m chances are it’s still worth a good amount. Unless you’d be in negative equity selling it then do not. If you’d have an offer for let’s say $13K and only owe 8K, definitely do that.
You gotta simply change your lifestyle. It’s only temporary but you’re an adult. It’s time to do adult things. If you’re genuinely unable to save anything that means it’s time for another job or side hustle(s), and note more than one. Whether it’s reselling, fixing/reselling (whatever people want to call this), or a hobby you can make money off of.
Cut all the bullshit subscriptions or things that are honestly useless now. It’s unethical but pirate it instead and save money. The corporation doesn’t need your money.
Eat out less, shop at discount stores (Aldi, food lion, etc).
Remember it’s only temporary. The harder you become uncomfortable with this lifestyle the better. You’ll want to do so good you’ll get out of it FAST so you won’t have to experience the discomfort.
In this process: you’ll truly realize how much you over-consume whether you’re aware of it or not. I don’t mean just food, I mean everything… really, a lot of things aren’t necessary but in our minds we think “we need it” when in reality we probably don’t… or there’s alternatives that are cheaper (I.e: clothes).
Best of luck. Just remember, if it’s hard and uncomfortable, the faster you get it done the quicker it goes away.
What is your income and necessary expenses?
You need a plan if you want to get out of this.
Share your income relative to your expenses.
Otherwise, all we can assume is that your door dash and starsies every day wallowing in depression and can’t figure out why you can’t get out of debt. Those credit cards need to go. Your car payment needs to go. Those are priority and total loss. You need a plan to work these down. You probably can. If you share your information so everyone here can help establish a plan then you have to actually do it.
People are saying “Budget”. That is the answer, but you might not know what that means.
Get a paper or spreadsheet. At the top, write your monthly income. If you get paid once a month, that. 2x a month, that. Every two weeks, then 2x your paycheck. If you work varied hours look at the last 3 months of income. Add up, divide by 3.
Then, on the left make a list of things you spend money on:
Car payment, car insurance, rent.
Gas, groceries, cell phone bill
Electric bill, internet, water bill,
Health insurance, medications, copays,
Subscriptions (netflix, Hulu, Apple Music, spotify etc.)
Look at your bank account and credit card statements for the last 3 months to see if you forgot anything.
Even unusual or irresponsible stuff: Clothes shopping, gifts for friends, eating out, vet care, parking ticket. Put it on the list.
To the right of each thing, write the amount. For variables like groceries or gas, add up the last 3 months and divide by 3.
Below that, list the credit cards. To the right, put the minimum payment. Way to the right, write the total balance and interest rate.
Add up the expenses. Is it equal to or more than the income? Then we have to increase income or cut expenses.
If it is less than income, what spending did you miss on the list?
Or are almost all of the expenses not flexible? Once you do this, you can decide what to do. Do you just need to stop clothes shopping, giving gifts, and eating out? Can you change housing to make it cheaper?
If you can’t change expenses, how can you increase income?
People here will help with the decision making about what to do, but we need to see the list first.
Maybe you can take a loan from another bank with the total of [apple card : 2057, bank of america : 1700, citi : 4500, discover : 700] then sell the car, then pay part of the loan you took to pay of the above debits, that will just reduce the total debits
That car payment is brutal and makes it hard to get ahead on the smaller debts. The balances themselves aren’t huge, but the interest and minimums keep the cycle going. Cutting back on anything non essential and hammering the highest interest card first usually gives the fastest relief. If there’s any way to downsize the car, that would free up a ton of room to breathe.
Why do people just post problems without supplying any of the info needed to give advice on how to fix the problem?
You really don’t have that much debt to be honest. There are countless people in way worse positions than you.
It’s not like its an amount of debt that will haunt you for the rest of your life. You will manage, just have to budget properly and/or get a higher paying job. Good luck!
[removed]
Clearly too much car relative to income. Downgrade that car to a beater that provides basic transportation. Credit card debt seems pretty trivial. You’ve got $9k total debt which should require $180 a month at 2% a month to service with minimum payments. Beyond that no idea what your issue is. Must be other expenses, or very low income, because what you list isn’t very significant. How much for groceries, gas, eating out, entertainment, etc… Something other than that small debt payment is eating you alive.
Not nearly enough information.
What is your income, both salary and untaxed income.
What are your deductions? Such as fed taxes, Medicare, state taxes, etc.
What is your spouse/partner’s income?
What are all of your living expenses? Some things to think of can be: alimony, child support, charity donations, rent, mortgage, electricity, gas, water, sewage, trash, phone, cable, internet, renters insurance, home maintenance, groceries, eating out, personal needs, vehicle gas, vehicle maintenance, vehicle insurance, recreation/entertainment, school expenses, medical expenses, smoking/alcohol, clothing, memberships, subscriptions, laundry, dry cleaning, barber shop, beauty salon, pet expenses, vacation savings, gifts, savings, emergency fund, investments, allotments, and any other miscellaneous things.
You’ve listed some of your debts and expenses but is it all? Knowing your total debt is great, but what’s the monthly payments? What’s the rate? What are the payment plan lengths?
What about your assets? What are the values of your vehicle/s, investments, real estate, or other assets?
Without a full breakdown of these things no one in the entire world can help you beyond an ecsentric millionaire giving you money for no reason.
Spend what you have buddy.
Sell off your luxuries and come down from your bubble.
1. Sell your car and try using public transport, this way you can save car payment, insurance, gas. Saved 700$ a month
2. Try find shared accomodation. You can find cheaper accommodations like 400/person this way saves 200$ atleast a month.
3. You have Apple Card, means you have apple devices, sell it off and use low cost phone. Atleast until you pay off all your debts.
4. Try to find weekend jobs. Or overnight jobs.