Anyone still having money problems??

[meoops]

Thanks for all the responses and advice.

We are keeping our home....it is our dream home and we decided we would rather be here than renting somewhere and not be happy with our living arrangements.

We have a car payment that will be paid off in December. The payment is $600 a month. We will be finanically sound after the December car payment.

Our decision is to get through the next four months and then EXHALE.

We will continue to hold our breath, count our pennys, hold nothing break or needs repaired for 4 months. We will continue to pray and hopefully the December we will be free of debt except for a $900.00 house payment (which includes the taxes and insurance)!

Good luck to everyone! The important thing is we still have our loved ones and I feel blessed to be able to have a husband that is working with me during theses difficult time.

[downsized]

It's the tough economic times we live in. Again I hate to preach, why does everyone seem to have a car payment??? You can get by without! Although it does help if you work on your own car and not take it to a mechanic everytime something breaks... I'm in the UK right now and planning on moving back to the states since I make way below any state median income. I get by ok and do not have a car payment or any unecessary payments for that matter. Live within your means and you will be ok.

Then don't preach. It's not helpful. It's judgemental. None of us knows circumstances surrounding the financial decisions others on this forum make.

Famous last words......live within your means and you will be ok. Seems to be the pot and kettle thing, that statement being on a BK forum. I think we all agree that it's a great idea. None of us are here because we've done that in the past. That doesn't mean that we aren't doing so now, though, or have circumstances that put better options on hold.

Not that I owe an explanation, but since you asked, this is why we have a car payement:
2 drivers, 1 car. Got rid of the second car because we can get by without it. We think that was wise. We got the car with the lein when we were both gainfully employed. The breadwinner lost his job. We were going broke paying for bad mistakes in the past so we hired a BK lawyer and filed. Our disposable cash has diminished to a point where we can't even buy a dependable used car at the moment. The car with the lein is upside down. We didn't reaffirm so we could let it go back to the bank but that doesn't solve the problem of not having cash for another car. Since there's long distance travel involved in our sitation, public transport isn't an option. We feel stuck. Can't be without a car, no available funds to buy one right now, can't sell our car for profit to buy another one outright. I suppose we could try to get a loan (if anyone gives loans to the unemployed) to buy a decent used car but that puts us back to square one...a car loan.

[nc73]

It's the tough economic times we live in. Again I hate to preach, why does everyone seem to have a car payment??? You can get by without! Although it does help if you work on your own car and not take it to a mechanic everytime something breaks... I'm in the UK right now and planning on moving back to the states since I make way below any state median income. I get by ok and do not have a car payment or any unecessary payments for that matter. Live within your means and you will be ok.

[LSUTiger32]

I have found just the opposite, but of course me and my wife are both still employed. We know how lucky we are from that standpoint. Between the real estate we are letting go, the cars and the credit cards we are saving just shy of $2,500 a month which is a significant percentage of our gross income. Needless to say this has been the easiest month financially for us in years. It looks like the common thread here is employment, so here is to all of you guys finding stablility on that front. Just think of where you would be right now had you not done what needed to be done. That's what I keep telling myself to get me through this that our lives are going to be better because of this and that if we didn't do it, things were going to get downright frieghtening come 2010. Now we are budgeting, we are ahead on bills and 2010 looks like a fresh start to our lives. All of that in a month. Things work so much better when you have less payments than money, huh?

[JRScott]

The very first thing you need to do is budget.

Then you have to decide what are wants, and what are needs.

Then you have to trim out as many wants as necessary so that you can meet your needs. It is difficult and something best done within the family unit itself as some things might be easier for one family to do without than another. Family size has a lot to do with what you can and can't do as well.

Some ideas you might could try:

Turn off the A/C or limit it to only certain rooms if you can. (Like the bedrooms).
Focus on large cost effective meals. Use coupons where you can. But make sure with the coupon you are getting the lowest cost price for groceries. Check store brands and compare to others sometimes they'll be lower sometimes not.
Reduce or eliminate costly cable/satellite programming.
Eliminate Landline phone (popular today with people who have cellphones....or you could get rid of the cellphone).
Don't renew magazine subscriptions especially if you aren't reading them. (Same with the newspaper).
Consider a cheaper internet service if one is available in your area. (Or Eliminiate it if you need to).

[DeadManCrawling]

add us to the list.

My income has steadily declined due to my ongoing health problems.

We now have my father in law living with us, since his wife passed away.

Bills get higher, income is dropping. Our electric bill is 800/month in the summer, in Florida. No relief in sight.

A few good things on the horizon that I hope to be able to share in the future.

Hang on, folks, the bigger crash is coming, I think, and we will consider ourselves fortunate for being somewhat prepared. Just the rambling of one lone voice in a sea of lunacy.

Good luck to all.

[downsized]

Yep, we're still broke, too. We're living dh's unemployment and my part time income. That job loss was what led us to file. We do have what we need to pay the bills, buy the necessities, and even for some small splurges like a meal out now occassionally, but we're far from rich even after getting rid of our debts. We'll really see the financial benefits of filing once dh gets gainfully employed again.

[cetiya]

I'm so broke. i have to get payday loans just to get by. have no savings or retirement. then I got sued, for a bill that came after i was discharged, so i have to pay 200 dollars a month starting this month for the next six months. sigh.

[backtoschool]

Well, I went from earning a decent six figure salary last year to living on unemployment insurance this year. (I am filing bankruptcy due to unemployment). So, I definitely relate to anyone having money problems. I have learned to live on cash and within my budget, even being on unemployment insurance. If I can live within my means on this amount of money then things can only get better when I get a job. (I am going back to graduate school first, I am using this time of upheaval to change careers to one that suits me better emotionally and spiritually...)

The funny thing is, my chapter 7 is considered complex because I had a high income last year, although for the last seven months, I have only had unemployment as my income. I had one of the lawyers I interviewed act like I was scamming or something by having such a reduction of my income. Which is so funny because obviously if I had the income I had last year I would not be filing bankruptcy! (obviously I did NOT choose that lawyer )

So to anyone having money problems, I am right there with you all, and we will get through this and have better living skills as a result.

[pookieny]

Yes, I stopped paying on my car and that was $336 per month and my garnishment stopped and that was around $100 per week so I should have around $700 extra but I'm still just breaking even.

[HakunaMatata]

I don't want to scare you anymore and hope I don't but have you thought about letting the house go? That's an even tougher decision then filing for bk, but if you struggle after a chapter 7 discharge the only answer is to increase income which is very difficult now with the job market, or further reduce living expenses.

Also I hope you aren't upside down by much or even at all with the car and only owe around what it's worth.

Good luck and it will all work out

I think you make a very good point. Oftentimes we become emotionally invested in losing investments. Many changes occur with BK. Comfort, familiarity, and solace can be gained by keeping the few things we know and love.

I'm in the testing phase of BK (cash only diet) and recently embarked upon the foreclosure process (I have little emotional attachment to my "Money Pit". Resentment and frustration better describe my feelings ). Having mortgage funds to apply to bills frees up a lot of financial stress. Will things stay this easy? Not necessarily. When my "rent free" phase ends, I will be paying more out of my monthly pocket on rent than I did on my mortgage (foreclosure is the result of unaffordable home repairs...so, ultimately, my house would cost more). My credit score has not yet plummeted; although, I expect the credit card interest rates to increase when this occurs. My goal is to use the foreclosure process to dramatically reduce my debt and, hopefully, establish a small savings. If this can't be achieved, BK is my next resource.

Meoops-

You've made a wise decision for your future. It's not your fault your household income has reduced due to hours being cut. Depending on your circumstances, you may wish to make additional decisions to further yourself financially. I'm not sure if letting your house go is a possibility. If it is, you may want to consider it. You can gain instant relief, you may be able to buy significant time (depending on your State), benefit your health, and eliminate Peter and Paul.

Wishing you great success! Hang in there!

[banca rotta]

Anyone else but me still having to rob peter to pay paul after filling for bankruptcy?

I thought we would be able to save money and be current on our bills after we filled but we are still not making it.

My husbands's hours were cut at work big time and mine was cut a little bit. We get paid every two weeks. One pay is for car payment and half the utilities and the other pay is for house payment and other half of the utilites and our insurances (life and car).

Our 341 is the end of September and we must be current on the car and house but we are struggling!!! I am scared, confused, and have an ulcer. Once our hours go back to normal we will be fine but who knows when that will be.

I guess I am just wondering if anyone else is like us.

I don't want to scare you anymore and hope I don't but have you thought about letting the house go? That's an even tougher decision then filing for bk, but if you struggle after a chapter 7 discharge the only answer is to increase income which is very difficult now with the job market, or further reduce living expenses.

Also I hope you aren't upside down by much or even at all with the car and only owe around what it's worth.

Good luck and it will all work out

[debtmonster]

We scrape the bottom of the penny jar every month right before 'Hub's SS comes in. We have cut back just about all we can...

That's exactly what we were doing until pay day today. I only get paid once per month and it's a TOTAL KILLER!!

[LuciluS]

Although, we haven't filed yet, we struggle every month also. We've not used our credit cards since last Sept. & hopefully will get our Chapter 7 filed in Sept. I'm 100% disabled and receive SSD checks each month. Thank the Lord, my check covers the house payment.

Our problems are Medical and prescription bills. I'm going without one of my prescriptions every other month as it is so expensive. Of course, my doctor chewed me out, but Jeezel Pete, I'd rather live with some pain than not have enough money to pay the bills. He gave me a card to get $25.00 a month off for a year on the prescription. Guess what? It doesn't work if you are on Medicare.

Hubby cannot take a chance without taking his meds as he only has one kidney & has had 5 bypass surgery and a pacemaker along with Barrett's Esophagus. I've not & will not ask him to cut out any of his prescriptions.

Understand AngelinaCat about a Mill as dh's company is very dependent on a Mill. Lightning struck it last Monday night and it was down for a day. Also, Dh is not getting in his normal hours because warehouses are full because consumer spending is still way down.

No one can predict the future, so I just try to take it day by day and wake up each morning with a Prayer.

Hugs,

Luci

[AngelinaCat]

Hi meoops:

Yes, we are too. 'Hub gets SS once a month and a teeny tiny pension. My only income is Unemployment and a small PT job that was cut for the Summer. Thankfully, the PT job picks up again in the Fall.

But I am in the nebulous stage where I am too old to hire FT, as no one wants to pay what my Master's Degree and experience deserve, and they think I will be wanting to retire in 5-10 years, despite what I tell prospective employers.

We live in a small rural part of Florida where the major employer is a mill that is being cut. So employment options are difficult.

We scrape the bottom of the penny jar every month right before 'Hub's SS comes in. We have cut back just about all we can...