new years reselution pay off credit card

[lilyka]

help me make this the first resultion I have ever kept!!

Ok so I want to pay off my credit card - $7000 (a little less but we will round up) and couch (I may only have like three payments left on this. we will say 6 just to be on the safe side....they are $100 a month interest free. no hurry, if I make every payment as scheduled it will be paid in full right on time. so far no problems. one day lete and I get dinged with a $500 finance charge. highly motivated.....)

Ok so I will have about $3000 in tax return if not a little more. that will leave me with $4000 in credit card debt. to pay off in 12 months. after 6 months the couch payment will go to the dredit card. thats about $500. so now we are down to $3500. or about $300 a month I have to come up with. I pay a minimum of $175 a month so really my stretch is $125.

so here is what I need. creative ways to come up with about $150 a month for my credit card....not a lot but my budget is super tight. I cannot get a second job as it would effect my custody of my children. I can't even really pick up many more hours at work. again with the whole suctody thing that and my job sucks.

I can't sell my blood because I am constantly anemic (not that I am opposed to that. easy money yeehaw).

I keep my heat around 60-65 which seems high but it is -10 outside right now. we are already begetarians mostly vegan. I have hadmy car for almost a year and have put less than 4000 miles (like closer to 3000) so driving isn't really something I can cut back on.

my saving account is empty because my tennants are not great about paying rent. hopefull I can put the measly amount of money that was in there back in after they pay this month.

ideas?

[HappyMommy2]

First of all make sure you avoid another late fee. Set up an automatic recurring payment for $45 each week. That will cover your minimum and make sure you aren't late. I say weekly because they are so crafty and now have billling periods only 20 days long.

Make sure you check their website for your account status each week too, in case they try to pull some other scam.

I'm assuming you already have it out of your wallet and safe in a closet or something, so you don't spend more.

[velochic]

I think that the first thing you need to do with your tax return is to pay off the couch. Money is tight and stuff happens. If you end up late on the payments, then you have a $500 fee assessed. That's going to be much more than any monthly fee you are assessed on your credit cards... and it sounds like your couch payments are going to land there (credit cards) anyway.

I'm not sure how to help you find the extra money in your budget to pay off your credit card. I'm not sure of your budget allocations, but you have internet, right? What is that costing you? If you're vegetarian, then beans and rice must be a staple, and a frugal one at that. Do you have a car payment? Is the car necessary? Public transportation, perhaps? Cable/Satellite TV? Anything you can sell, including skills?

That's all I've got for suggestions. Good luck. Pay off that couch so you don't get stuck with a huge fee in case something happens. That's my best advice.

[mtm]

Its hard to offer suggestions without seeing your budget, if you're up for it, post it and maybe someone will have some ideas. My biggest suggestion for saving money is to do a monthly menu plan and buy groceries ahead/on sale but I suspect you're already doing that.

[lilyka]

OK lets see....

I make about $1000 a month at work and $1500 in child support alimony and $575 in rent when I have it. I average aout $100 month from my etsy site. some of that goes back into supplies etc. whats left is used for birthday gifts etc

so roughly $3100

House payment is $1000
water - $60 (both sides)
garbage - $40 (both sides)
gas- $60 (this will go down in summer)
electric - $20
phone -$50
internet - $ 30
$1260
$1840

car - $325
insurance - $75
gas -$40
maintenence $15
$455
$1385

couch $100
credit card $175
$275
$1110


groceries (all consumables) $500-$700
money I sink into this albatross of a house that i can't get rid of $100-$200
church (not optional) - $25
misc - $50-$100
medical -$50-$100
$725 - $1125
$385- -$85

ok some months are better than others. this month was looking really good then I had to have dental work done out of the blue. fortunately I found a great dentist who doesn't charge a lot but it still cost $400 cash plus time off work. Then dd had her wisdom teeth out = time off work, then it was Christmas = time off work. I do not have any vacation paid days off etc. A day off equals $100 out of my pay check. the week before I had to get new glasses. (so last month I shelled out over $550 in medical expenses - gees crap. no wonder there is no money in the checking account!)

i don't have cable or a land line phone.

I do need a car because public transportation sucks. it takes a minimum of 90 minutes to get anywhere which is obscene in this small a town, you cannot count on it to be on time, only runs between 7 and 7, only 6 days a week. my van was paid off but it blew up last march. the car I have is good though, has a good warrently, effecient and fits in my garage. also right now it is about fifteen below outside and waiting 45 minutes for the bus would sap my will to live. so car is a must. it is a very modest car but very safe and dependable. if anything happens to it they will come and get me, fix my car and bring it back to me.

we have pets but can't get rid of them because we love them and I just feel safer with the dog around (even though she is scared of her own shadow - if push came to shove and she had to protect one of us she would probably bite someone....maybe...but she looks fierce...really fierce). they are low maitenence and our vet is great. once a year for the pup $150 and the pigs..they are invincible, even without vet care.

I am still working on lowering our consumable total. it is easy to shop at the store i work at but it is spendy. someone gave me a walmart gift card and even my nine year old noticed how much we saved. she noticed instantly. as we were loading it into the car she says "we wouldn't have gotten half this at Hy-vee for that much money" and she was right. however walmart is like hell on earth. and it is across town. which means it would be a shopping trip. and i would have to take my kids. I am a member at the co-op and decided to pick up some things from there today but it killed me how expensive everything was. i use coupons when i can but i rarely find coupons for stuff I use.

I do all my own yard work, snow removal, etc

I don;t really have anything to sell as i sold it all last summer to make my house payments while i did not have a tennant. I am trying to sell this ohouse but nine months, 2 viewings and no offers. my only option for a sale right now is a short sale. not ready to go there yet....that couch is almost all I have for furniture.

I don't do bulk shopping, meal planning etc. having to work outside the home really overwhelms me. I know i have to get better at it. my schedule at work is inconsistant, every other weekend I go from days to overnights (on a good weekend, on a bad one like this weekend I do days and overnights), and I only get my schedule a few days in advance. I know I know, find a better job but there are not any better jobs that allow me to still be there for my children (I am a single parent). if I could work nights and every weekend I would have a million to choose from. At any rate I am doing good most days to have food that makes sense. my kids are also very picky eaters so no, we don't have a lot of rice and beans. we do have a lot of PBandJ and ramen without the spice packs. i know, it sucks but i get tired of dealing with hungry cranky children who won't eat anything. so i feed them crap just so they will have something to eat.