Mindi
“Dear Steve,
I’ve made some really dumb choices in the past.I began working at age 17 and eventually saved up enough money to become a nurse assistant by age 18. when i got my first job making decent money i bought a car cash, broke 3 separate cell phone contracts and then moved in with a guy that was supposedly going to cover all the bills.stupid me left everything in my name and by the time we were done i was about $1600 in the hole. After getting back on my own i was paying as much as I could spare on past debts but then a couple trips to the emergency room and following doctor visits set me back more. One of my debts is to an old apartment and they will not accept anything less than the full amount due of $650 I just cant come up with this amount and still pay my basic food/home needs now.I work 2 jobs and I’m so tired.I’d even be willing to work around the clock to get out of this but thats just not practical. I’m 21 now and I don’t want to live the rest of my life like this.I feel like if I could just get these paid up I could actually start saving for my futur and be happy again.
How can i fix this?
Mindi”
Dear Mindi,
If these creditors are not harassing and hounding you, the first step would be to focus on reducing expenses where you can and save all the money you can in a boring old savings account. Once you get enough money saved up to pay off the smallest debt, tackle that one first. This is called the debt snowball approach.
If you are unable to save any money then you might just have to come to terms with the fact that no effort, except increasing your income is going to dig you out of this hole.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
Do you have a question you'd like to ask me for free? Go ahead and click here.
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Mindi, sometimes the best way to get thru tough times is to see how good you have it. Your young! You have very little debt comparatively speaking, look at all the other people on the blog who have a great deal more debt. Some are considering suicide it is so bad! I’m 50 w/10 kids and my wife and I have accumulated almost $60k in credit card debt! I’m now in the process of going into bankruptcy chapter 13 and feeling better knowing that something is happening to reduce my stress (in the long run). You’ll get thru this and be smarter for it. Good luck 🙂
Justin,
An excellent point that many take for granted and I often forget to mention. No matter how bad a situation feels, be thankful, it could always be worse.
Keep commenting, your POV is always welcome and people need to hear from your experience.
Steve