I am feeling overwhemled with money issues and I need to vent.
Fiance and I are paying for our own wedding- so far so good with that. final payments will be in and that will be a little hairy but..
He hardly has any bills... a small cc debt, student loan which is not bad, cell bill and we split the apartment bills- rent, phone, utilities, cable..
I on the onther hand have aquired credit card debt over the years. When I was inc ollege and a Teacher assistant making %^&* money I accumulated debt.. I slowly have been paying it off but with the wedding and xmas coming i am only making minimums. let just say im at about $15,000..... i dont use the cards anymore i only use my amex but still its hard to get them lower.....
the credit card debt is only one issue
I have student loans, cell bill, truck, insurance for car, renters...
I am just feeling overwhemed right now. I am borrowing from Peter to pay Paul as the phrase goes. I know I just shared personal info but I have had it..... nayone have any advice for me to calm down over this.
P.S. I am not an extravagant spender either.... I live modestly...
Boop2704
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
Sorry Kristi!!! Here's the way I look at things, I am going to be in debt the rest of my life, unless I hit lotto, so I may as well be happy and in debt. Just try and relax and do what you can. Just keep making your minimums on time and after the wedding things will ease up a bit and you will be able to give a little more each month. You know how much I make, you've been there so I can feel your pain. Luckily I don't have the school loan to pay back yet and boy is it tough but I just do what I can with the other bills. Just try and relax and know that things will get easier!!
jess2504
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
See if you can consolidate all your credit card bills into one; many credit cards will offer low annual percentage rates if you transfer your balances over to them. That way you will have a low interest rate and only one credit card to pay every month, and also a lower monthly payment. If you threaten to transfer your balances, you will likely find that all your credit cards will be fighting to give you the lowest interest rate in order to not lose your business.
franksbride
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I feel your pain...
sp04
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I know it is hard. FH and I are paying for most of the wedding ourselves and everyday it just seems as though we have to give more and more money out whether it be to bills or wedding. we are actually staying with my parents until the wedding so that we would be able to save money.. just relax. you will be married soon and the stress of the wedding money will be over and then you can work on the rest of your debt. I am a teacher so I dont make an extraordinary amount of money at all. But i am happy what i am doing and i don't need to be rich. i need to pay my wedding off, i need to pay my bills off, but life will have a way of working itself out. And after the weddig, finances will ease themselves out. i know it seems hard but hang in there
prncssrachel
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
Broke right now? How about broke ALL of the time? I sympathize with you! But I guess you do what you have to do. ETA: I agree with Boop, I just assume i will be in debt the REST of my life, and although it gets to me sometimes, I just deal. It is what it is and being a teacher, if I ever want anything in life, I will most likely have to get a loan to get it, which means being in debt. It will get better, I promise. Once the wedding is over, make sure you take all that money you would have put towards the wedding and put it towards the credit cards. We were saving and saving for the wedding and my father made a good point by saying, 'You have so much time before the wedding, why don't you pay off a credit card instead?' So, we did. And it is SO nice to not have that bill anymore. Granted I put every left over cent into savings for the wedding now, but at least it's SAVINGS and not debt. (Not that I don't have debt still, but a little less is always good.) Hang in there!
larryswife2be
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I feel your pain too!! It will all come together in the end. Don't stress too much about it.
luvsun27
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
Ummm....YES!!!
Just continue to make your minimums to keep your credit rating good. You can try to consolidate to one card or get your interest rate lowered.
I myself make a great salary...and I have LOTS of debt. I also wish to win the lotto someday! I recently bought myself a house...and of course I have to have brand new furniture for EVERY room. Not a very smart move on my part...plus all the other expenses of owning your own home. I hope to someday be able to get out from this mountain of debt I created...but I try not to let myself think about it too much.
Good luck.
ETS: Somehow...it works out that the more you make...the more you spend!
BriBri529
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I agree with all of the above advice and am in the process of following it myself . . . I do feel your pain, and I think it is nearly impossible NOT to feel that way living on LI!!!
J.Lo24
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I feel your pain also especially now before the holidays. I just want to bypass Christmas this year. My FH and I have been in so many weddings this year, not to mention...baby showers, bridal showers, christenings, new niece and nephew born, etcs. It is crazy and nevers ends. Somehow someway though, it always work s out. That motto gets me though day by day.
kdelace
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
Thanks for all of the advice ladies. I just needed to vent. I know it will all work out in the end and once we make it past the wedding i can then work on my debt. It just came to an overwhelming point where it was have a breakdown or vent to the board. I feel a lot better now!
I know I will never be rich. But I am HAPPY and love my life. Once and awhile it just gets to you. That is why I am thankful for this board.
nsgraham
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
Go to www.cheapskatemontly.com - there's a real plan to deal with debt there.
There's also the snowball plan, which is kinds hard to describe, but basically goes like this:
Line up all your debt on a page in columns. Write the balance owed next to each debt, and the minumum you're paying now into the next column. Now, try to figure out how much money you have extra, after you do your budget, to go towards paying these debts. If you have nothing, that's fine. But whatever you have, we'll call it the Accelerator Margin. Okay, now decide which debt you want to pay off first - most of the time it's the one with the highest APR, but it might be another one (you might want to tackle a smaller bill first). Put your accelrator margin together with the minumum payment and make that payment every month. Pay off that bill. However long it takes. But be consistent and keep paying all your other bills as well.
Here's the kicker. When you've paid off the first bill, TAKE ALL THE MONEY YOU WERE PUTTING TOWARDS that bill, both the Accelerator Margin and the minimum, and PUT THAT TOWARDS THE SECOND BILL. DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE EXTRA MONEY now that you've paid off a bill - you don't. Use the larger amount to pay off that bill, then use ALL OF THAT MONEY (AM, first bill min, second bill min) and pay off the third bill. And so on and so on. The amount you use to pay off each bill will be larger and larger. AND any time you need extra money, you have this large reserve of money (after awhile). You can make the minimum payment for that month, and then go back on the plan.
Say your bills are $3000 for Visa, $60 min $5000 Mastercard, $100 min $25,000 Student loans, $300 min. AM is $100.
Pay Visa $160 ($60 min + $100 AM) a month until the $3000 is paid off. Then pay Mastercard $260 ($160 + $100 min) a month, until that's paid off. Then pay student loans $560 a month. You can even add your mortgage to this.
This requires a strong, strong will and it takes time, but not as much time as just paying miniums. You have to stop accumulating debt as well. I've plotted out this plan for myself and my wedding's blown it to hell. But after the wedding, when I tally up all the new debt, back on the plan I go.
If you work it out on paper, even insurmountable debt can be worked out in 10 years. It's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Good luck! Nadine
LADYLUV69
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
yes i know how you feel. i can truly relate. i am not buying a lot of gifts for xmas and i am putting a limit on how much FH and i spend on each other. i refuse to use a credit card to help pay for the wedding. we will use our tax return to pay off alot of the vendors. planning a wedding is very stressful and i will never, ever do this again.
kimmylyn
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I too am sinking in a debt hole.. planning a wedding has just made it bigger.. I keep saying next month I will take care of that.. I am queen of CC procrastination.. One day when I am 90 I may finally have paid them all off.. but for now I will wallow in my debt and dream of what it will feel like to one day finally be debt free..
College.. I blame you..
August2004
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
My advice is use whatever money you get from your reception to pay down as much of your debt as possible. I have seen so many friends of mine with more clothes than you can imagine(because they shop a lot) and then they cannot get a good mortgage rate because their FICO score is low and now they regret it. Don't feel doomed though that the rest of your life will be like this, just make it go away. Sometimes we cannot help but get in over our heads, but digging out is a hell of a lot harder than getting in.
jenny2penny
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
join the club. I am very good with money and never spend what I can't afford. Fiance is the opposite and will spend his last dime. I have been doing all the budgetting, pricing, booking and paying. I hate it!!!!!!!!!!! You'll work through it and it gts easier. You find a way of making it work and deciding what's worth spending on and what is just plain frivelous
white-wolf
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
jenny2penny, I hate being the accountant too! I feel the same pain as all of you. I cant sleep at night sometimes, just thinking about all the $$$ this wedding is costing and all the bills we have. FH has a hard time understanding what 'budget' means. He's been better lately, but still I get frustrated when he buys stuff he doesnt / we dont need. I really try to take it day by day and just keep thinking that one day soon, all of this debt will be GONE!!!!!!!! Hopefully, saving for this wedding and seeing the crunch we are oftern in will help us to save wisely after the wedding for a house or condo.
cw0904
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
We are down to our last 3 months and I feel so moneyless. I can't remember the last time I have gone shopping for myself non-wedding related or we went out to eat for dinner. The last time we went out dancing... ugh!!! I know it will all be worth it in the end. My dad tells me that in life you have to make sacrifices to get what you want. So I see it as, FH and I wanted this big wedding and we are sacrificing alot to do so. In the end we will be happily married and that is the best gift and well worth it.
nrvbrd
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Re: anyone feeling really broke right now?
I felt this way all through my wedding planning.
Let me tell you, things have a way of coming together. It may s*uc*k right now, but in the end it will be all worth it.
