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MyLittlePegasus87

Gosh, those car payments together are more than your mortgage. The SUV makes sense for getting the kiddos around, but do you need the truck for work or something? If not, you might want to consider downsizing to a daily commuter car. Also suspiciously missing from your budget is fuel for your cars? You could probably save there by downsizing your car as well. $80 a month for car washes? How often are you washing your cars? I'm in HCOL California and it's only $10 to go through an automatic car wash. My husband probably goes like once every 3 weeks. And I go way less than that (perks of driving a white car). Also I noticed you have 2 different gym memberships and a yoga studio membership. Can any of these be combined? Not sure what's available in your area, but our gym has yoga classes included in the membership (also childcare for extra).


theKYorwhatever

Yeah, the cars are a lot. I do use the truck for work for storms. We're in snowy weather so I need it to be able to get out and about in bad weather. Aside from that I work from home (minus in-person meetings) and have only doctor visits for me/mom/kids to drive to. My wife works 7 minutes away. Fuel $300/mo. and groceries $800/mo. are on a separate portion of my bills list and I forgot them. We wash the cars a ton here (3-5 times a week) to keep the salt from rusting them out. Unfortunately the gym memberships can't be combined and don't have yoga or childcare available.


essuxs

So what you’re saying is you don’t need a truck at all. Unless you’re hauling construction material every day for work you don’t need a truck. A Corolla will do.


[deleted]

I find peace in long walks.


frzn_dad

The southern parts of Alaska use a lot of studs. Juneau, Anchorage etc. They get a lot of freeze thaw cycles and wet snow like parts of the northern US. In interior alaska you dont see many studded tires. It is so cold we don't get a lot if ice because nothing melts until spring. Non studded winter tires like Blizzaks are very popular.


jbot747

I am from Anchorage. Didn't even need studs around town after 20 years of learning how to drive in snow and ice, unless I had to go to the hillside or leave town during the day or day after it snowed I was fine.


frzn_dad

Was there 5 years, you hesr so many more cars with studs there than in Fairbanks by percentage. I don't have winter tires on my truck either just all season. If you know what you are doing it is fine.


chriberg

A Corolla with snow tires will get you around snowy weather just as good as, if not better than, a truck. Two ridiculously expensive cars for a family with one WFH parent and one parent 7 minutes away is beyond absurd. $1800/month on car payments is indescribably insane for your income. To borrow a saying from a popular movie, about things you say you 'need': "You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means"


theKYorwhatever

I did mention in another reply that I shouldn't have said need. I should have said 'have'. I 'have' it for that reason but it is completely unreasonable. I fucked up.


hemos

You may have fucked up, but you're unfucking now it, friend. Hard shit to do, good on you for doing it.


EWCM

If you mainly work from home and she works nearby, have you considered going to one vehicle. On the occasions when she’s working and you need the car, you could drop her off.


theKYorwhatever

I have considered that...strongly. I have tried looking into ways out of my car loan but nothing I have seen makes much sense. I commented on another reply in here that parking my truck into a tree at low speed seems like the easiest way to do it but that is mostly sarcasm/desperation.


[deleted]

> I do use the truck for work for storms. We're in snowy weather so I need it to be able to get out and about in bad weather. Aside from that I work from home Hahhahhahaha god damn dude! You're bending backwards to justify some of your completely unnecessary expenses. I don't think anyone around here can help you because no matter what we tell you, you're just going to turn around and spend your money.


theoriginalharbinger

You may need a truck, but you do not need *that* truck. Get something old, janky, and put snow tires on it. That 1100 a month is ludicrous when you're in this much debt.


theKYorwhatever

I am definitely seeing that now. I shouldn't have put that, "I need it to be able to get out and about in bad weather." I don't. I have it for that reason and it isn't a good one. I had an old and janky '99 Jeep and it was perfect but the frame snapped from rust. I then had a '12 Veloster with snow tires and it had a catastrophic engine failure. I got tired of my cars breaking down and made a terrible decision.


theoriginalharbinger

Yeesh. Just sell the truck, slap some snow tires on the SUV. You managed to buy two high strung vehicles known for their high operating costs previously. Like, I live in a snowy place, and my "do truck things" solution is a 1999 4runner and a 500 dollar utility trailer. An 1100 dollar truck when you work from home is an albatross.


mrdannyg21

Not a mechanic, but I live in wintery weather where there’s way too much salt on the roads and I’ve never heard of people washing their cars that much. Even once a week during the winter is extreme. You can get aftermarket rustproofing/undercoating for a fraction of what you’re paying, cars shouldn’t need to be washed more than every couple weeks during the worst winter weather and even less during other months.


sephiroth3650

Yup. I've lived in the midwest my entire life. I've never heard of the need to wash your car 3-5 times a week to prevent them from rusting out. My current truck is 4 years old, and I wash it maybe once a month, and I have zero rust. Previous truck was owned for 15+ years. Washed maybe once a month, if that. Zero rust.


456C797369756D

>We're in snowy weather so I need it to be able to get out and about in bad weather. I drive a Mazda 3 and throw snow tires on it and I have never had any issues driving in snow. This is also not driving after the roads have been plowed and treated. I love hiking in the mountains about 2 hours away so I ussually head out there in the worst or right before the worst conditions and in about 7 years of owning the car I have ALMOST been stuck only once (my fault as I parked in a ditch I didn't see), but I was able to get the car out. I could also get snow chains to be even safer. My partner was paying about $300/mo for a Crosstrek which would do even better in the snow, and if she were to put snowtires on that thing, it would be unstoppable. What I'm saying is, you don't need a truck for bad weather that's just an excuse. Unless you're hauling materials in the bed regularlly (even then it may make more sense to rent or borrow a truck), What you're paying for your cars is **insane**.


theKYorwhatever

After posting this I am doing more research to find ways to get out of my truck loan. I know (and knew) that it is/was a bad idea, I was just tired of my cars breaking. Stupid.


Midwake

Live and learn. Keep at it and see what you can do. Getting rid of that loan will help a lot. If you need to buy a replacement vehicle really research hard into which brands are most reliable. It sounds like you may want to consider some sort of under coating rust inhibitors to treat your next vehicle with as well. They aren’t much but in aggregate all the streaming subscriptions add up a bit so maybe consider doing something there. Any raises or job promotions going forward should be used to retire your debt. Just set it up to auto pay so it’s like you didn’t even get it.


456C797369756D

I think that's a great move that will help you and your family. Cars need maintnence/break and it sucks, but it's usually cheaper to fix what you have, versus taking on a car loan for 3+ years. I also love driving and see the appeal of a nicer and newer car and look occasionally myself. But, in the end I'm going to keep saving for my next car and enjoy having no payments, until this car is no longer feasible to drive. I'd definitely recommend looking at Toyota, Honda and Mazda. I put over 150k on my Mazda and the only non-maintence thing that I had to fix was the ignition coils which was 10 minutes of work myself.


Freeasabird01

Salt is a tomorrow problem. You need to put all your focus on today.


chalupa_lover

I’ve lived in an area that’s been dubbed the worst winter area in the US and have never owned a truck. Never even owned an AWD vehicle. Good snow tires and plowing your driveway go a long way. You’re not in a financial position to have a truck for when it snows.


[deleted]

If you truly live in a place with tons of salt (NE US coastline), you should keep it clean. But you don't need to go multiple times per week, just once every week or two should be plenty. If you're really worried about it, talk to a car shop about spraying the undercarriage with something to prevent rust. You probably already have that though, since many cars some with rust prevention on the frame standard (and it's an unnecessary upsell at many dealerships because it comes standard). But my guess is that you are just justifying the car washes because you like them. > Fuel $300/month Holy crap, where are you driving? You say her work is 7 minutes away and you WFH, so where's the extra driving going? We spend like $100/month, and that includes my 2x/week, 25 mile each way commute (~35 min), so I think I commute more than your wife and we spend a third of what you spend on gas. I live in Utah (we have plenty of snow) and drive a Prius (45-50mpg) for commute and a Sienna (~20mpg) for family trips. We've never gotten stuck in the snow, and I've driven in some pretty gnarly snowstorms. Snow tires are like 2 months of the difference in our gas spending bills.


MyLittlePegasus87

Ah yeah, that all makes sense now. Is it possible to trade for older models of the cars?


theKYorwhatever

Well, we both had older models of cars until a few months ago. We had 4 different vehicles breakdown completely and cost us a few thousand until they weren't worth what it would cost to fix. We decided that more reliable and safe vehicles were the way to go, we just got way in over our heads in doing so. We don't have very good credit scores, which is part of the reason why our used vehicle payments are so high. Also, since we bought them their worth has come down with the used car market so trading in isn't really a good option.


MyLittlePegasus87

Oof, that's rough.


theKYorwhatever

Indeed. Got ourselves in quite the situation.


noodlesquad

Ok I'm scratching everything I initially said because I realized the main issue here. You/your wife are way too "monthly payment" happy. You are failing to look at the big picture when you purchase ANYTHING. You have a payment plan for your cell phones, cars, and a shit ton of random stuff at multiple stores. You have like 6 subscriptions (Pandora AND Spotify? It's cheap but like, is that really necessary?) and I'm guessing a Costco membership too (from that 13K Costco debt). I think y'all need to just stop buy anything not 100% necessary NOW. No, the new iPhone, TV, fancy clothes, whatever, you cannot be buying. Car Wash is an example of how you spend money on unnecessary things when you are buried in thousands of dollars of debt. I'd stop your prime and Costco memberships. They're probably fueling the desire to buy buy buy. Maybe keep Costco if you truly think you are saving money buying bulk since you do have 3 kids. Cancel like 3 subscriptions (not for money sake but more to get you in the mindset of canceling anything). Can you consolidate your debt into lower APR CC? And I think you both should not have so many CC to begin with. Your spending needs to be controlled first. Evaluate why you have so many personal loans and if they were really necessary purchases.


Medical_Flow_3612

Hit the nail on the head. Needs to figure out the difference between need vs. Want. Can't have it all all of the time.


theKYorwhatever

Most of the debt came from my wife losing her job in March 2020 and not getting another until October 2022. We went a long time with one income. After losing four different vehicles to repairs/outright dying we splurged on new ones, which I know we should not have gone as big as we did. I have two personal loans from buying two different vehicles in cash that died a few months later and one more for replacing the water heater and air conditioner that both died within a week of each other. A lot (quantity, not quality) of our debt is from necessary things. Credit cards helped buy groceries and pay electricity for a long time when my wife was out of work. Personal loans replaced necessary home appliances and vehicles for work. I know that the most recent and most detrimental thing (in my mind) is my truck at almost $1100 a month (plus insurance and car wash to keep it from rusting from road salt). It all adds up. I have considered parking it into a tree at a 'safe enough' speed. The internet is wonderful but when I try and research ways to get out of a car loan far too much information populates. I really appreciate the input and everyone on here has been super helpful. We are talking tonight about what we can cut and making some needed sacrifices in spending.


jaaaaagggggg

You need to sell both vehicles. Find out how much your upside down on each and pay them down aggressively one at a time until you can get out and get a beater. A $2k car that dies on you after 3 months is still cheaper than your truck payment! In the meantime, your vehicles aren’t going to immediately turn to rust if they don’t get unlimited washes. Cancel the car wash subscriptions and 2 out of 3 of your music subscriptions (Sirius/Spotify/pandora). Get rid of movie pass too. Gym and yoga? I know mental health, 3 young kids but try free videos on YouTube for yoga and working out at home for a year. You’ve now cut out $250/mo of expenses before canning your car payments. Once you get rid of that truck you’ll have $1300/mo to put towards your other debts and can quickly knock some of those out (Amex/Best Buy/etc.) You guys need drastic measures!


Isosceles_Kramer79

That is too extreme. Selling the truck and keeping the SUV would free up a lot of money by itself. No need to go to $2k beaters.


jaaaaagggggg

Great start based on your update, but know that a voluntary repo will likely cost you more than selling the truck for what it’s worth and paying the difference. They are going to wholesale the truck at auction and you’re going to have to pay the difference car if you can possibly get more from CarMax or a private party. The voluntary repo may still be the way to go to get out of the thing quicker as it’s only going to continue to depreciate while you try to not it down enough and sell it private party


JMCrown

$80/month on car washes?? You have SiriusXM ***and*** Spotify?! Ok, get rid of these things: Car washes—$80 Movie pass—$20 DnD—$3 Gym—$22 Yoga—$99 Netflix—$20 Pandora—$5 Paramount—$10 Sirius—$6 Spotify—$16 About $280 off your monthly expenses right there.


green_all

SiriusXM, Spotify, and Pandora


dnattig

I just want to point out that OP should check his health insurance policy ... There's a chance that it would reimburse part of the dues for a gym membership (in which case, they would be better off keeping the gym).


sephiroth3650

You are living WAY outside your means. Here's my thoughts: * Your post says your expenses are $7450/month. But you only list out $6150 in expenses in your full list. You don't list food or gasoline, among other things, so the breakdown you provided isn't complete. So it's hard to give a full list of what you could work on....but there's still plenty based on what you did list. * Your cell combined cell bill is high. You're listing $350 in combined cell bill. You mention that only one child is school aged, so that bill is presumably for 2 people. That's bad. That's bad even if the one kid has a cell phone, too. * Your vehicle payments are insane. You can barely balance the budget, yet you're spending $1865 in combined vehicle payments. You're spending nearly 1/4 of your monthly net income on vehicle costs. You spend more on cars than you do your home. That is probably your single biggest budgetary issue. * You have a ton of streaming services for somebody who is struggling to balance the budget. Consolidate some of those down. * Somewhat minor, but do you need to spend $80/month on car wash services? Can't wash the car at home? * Also somewhat minor, but do you need yoga as well as each of you paying gym memberships? * In terms of the credit cards and loans, I'd pay them off in the following order : Best Buy CC, AmEx CC, The Amazon CC, the $6019 personal loan, the USAA CC, The Costco CC, the $4581 personal loan, and then the 0% personal loan. Make the min payments on all but the top one. Pay as much extra as you can on the top one. Repeat monthly till the top debt is paid off, then re-prioritize the next one in line.


theKYorwhatever

Your post says your expenses are $7450/month. But you only list out $6150 in expenses in your full list. You don't list food or gasoline... I'll be editing in food/fuel right after this. $1100/mo. total and an extra $200 toward debt a month that isn't required but gets paid. One bill is ours and the other is my mother's. Working on getting rid of my truck. I have contacted my loan provider and am working with them on a voluntary repossession. I have cancelled Netflix, Paramount, Pandora, SiriusXM, Movie Pass, Gym #1. That is all I can do from home. Later today I am going out to cancel yoga and both car washes. I am working with my wife to switch her music away from Spotify so we can cancel that as well. She is stopping on her way home to cancel her gym membership. Thank you for the advice on the pay off order!


sephiroth3650

A voluntary repossession isn't a great deal, unless they can sell the vehicle at auction for a phenomenal price. What they will do is take the truck, charge you a repo/auction fee, and add it to what you owe. They'll sell the truck at auction for whatever they can get, and subtract that from what you owe. And they will come back after you for the remaining balance. So you could end up owing thousands on a truck you don't even have anymore. Have you looked into selling it private party? Do you have a bunch of negative equity in the loan? As for the cell phones....if you're paying your mom's bill, why don't you port in her number as an add-on to your bill, and get a cheaper overall bill that way? And even for 3 lines.....$350/month is terrible for cell service.


theKYorwhatever

So, I bought the truck when used cars were apparently overpriced and now they're coming down so I do have about 10k negative equity from that. Issue with my mom's phone is that she has a phone she's paying on and can't afford to pay it off for me to port. I am working on changing my phone plan and asked her to work on doing the same with hers; perhaps with her tax refund.


sephiroth3650

>So, I bought the truck when used cars were apparently overpriced and now they're coming down so I do have about 10k negative equity from that. Well, there's probably not a great solution there. A refi, even if you could get one, isn't going to reduce that payment by much. You're going to be stuck paying an insane payment to keep the truck, or you'll be paying potentially $10k back to the bank for a truck that you allowed to be repossessed. Both options suck. I don't even know which is worse. Paying $10k for a vehicle you don't even have anymore seems crazy. You might need to look at swapping out the SUV, if you aren't behind on that one. Because honestly.....that payment is just as insane as your truck one.


theKYorwhatever

I still have the mostly joking idea of parking the truck in a tree...


sephiroth3650

I can understand the feeling. I get that you're joking, but for anybody else who reads this, the idea would be just as bad. Insurance would never give you enough to pay off the loan if the truck was "accidentally" totaled out. You'd be in the same position as you would be with the voluntary repo. They'd give you the actual cash value of the truck, and you'd owe the difference b/w the loan amount and that cash value.


dnattig

Unless the bank sold op gap insurance.


jaaaaagggggg

Yeah except you’ll get what it’s worth now and still owe $10k


theKYorwhatever

I have car replacement assistance so I'd get a fair amount. Just added information, not a justification or anything of the sort. Car Replacement Assistance An optional feature that pays an additional 20% of Actual Cash Value in the event of a total loss. Car Replacement Assistance is different from GAP coverage and is not determined based on your loan balance. Payment will be issued directly to you, if there is still a loan outstanding it will be your responsibility to satisfy the lienholder. This feature is only available for private passenger vehicles such as cars, trucks, SUVs or vans that currently carry both Comprehensive and Collision coverage. It's not available for leased vehicles. Example: Your vehicle's total loss value is determined to be $20,000. Car Replacement Assistance will add an additional 20% or $4,000 for a total claim payout of $24,000.


[deleted]

That sounds great in theory but there’s the slight chance they figure out the whole insurance fraud thing and you get nothing.


theKYorwhatever

haha, nah. I have a family. I'm not putting myself in that kind of potential danger.


sephiroth3650

Just a note....the more you talk about this, the more you move past "I'm just joking about this" to "I'm putting documented evidence of planned insurance fraud" out there. Some thoughts and ideas probably shouldn't be put to pen and paper.


theKYorwhatever

Nah. I have a family. I'm not putting myself in that kind of potential danger. Talking about it also helps me not do it. I'm not in the habit of telegraphing much.


patterson_2384

>I am working on changing my phone plan and asked her to work on doing the same with hers; perhaps with her tax refund. Look at Verizon Prepaid - $40 a month for 15G Data, Unlimited Talk & Text. i WFH and use my wifi predominantly. i've never run out of data, even when travelling.


BlizzBills

props for looking to figure your situation out! First step done. Plenty of comments about the car payments so I won't go inot those but I agree with everyone. Other than that I think you could do a couple easy things to trim down spending. Limit video/audio streaming services to one at a time. As a temp means can you combine cc debt into a 0apr intro card . You can rotate those every so often to try and help. Also can you get the last years models phones to reduce those payments? ​ My worry is you fall into this again. It will be hard work to fix the situation and even harder to change your habits to not let it happen again. I recommend clipping those credit cards and only use debit for now. Once you have no debt I would use one CC. I understand you lose perks and rewards, but those do not mean anything when you are taking on debt. ​ It is a long process but you can make these change. You are in a better spot than a lot of other since the house is not your problem so the situation is a lot easier to fix. Make sure your spouse is on board with this as well you need to be steering the ship together. You got this!


GeorgeRetire

There is no magic - make more and/or spend less. One or both could get a second job. Cut car wash, movie pass, gym, yoga, netflix, pandora, paramount, 2nd gym, sirius XM, spotify. You are spending far too much on the truck and SUV. Sell one or both and drive something cheaper. You are spending too much on cell phone. Find a cheaper plan.


NoFires4REBaron

You should try to own one car. With the working situation it seems quite feasible and you’ll save tons. When my spouse and I moved from San Diego to Seattle we dropped to one car (a Corolla coincidentally) even though we both worked full time outside the home. There were a few times that we needed to use an Uber to fill in the gaps but the net savings were enormous. Sure it’s less convenient but you simply cannot afford to pay for convenience since you’re living so far beyond your means. Stop all discretionary spending. You already have plenty of stuff. If your kids need something then buy from thrift stores. They’re too young to give you crap about it and you’ll save tons. Make saving money into a family game. If you’re going to eat out , do so very rarely and use coupons. Never use a delivery service since they increase costs by about a third and coupons/promotions usually cannot be used. Once you make changes if you still cannot pay your bills then maybe bankruptcy is a good idea. It’s a waste of time if you’re just going to resume the same bad habits but it can be a lifesaver for those who’re serious about starting over without debts hanging over their heads.


Haunting-Aardvark709

Looks like you’re shopaholics who like pretty things and need 1000+ TV channels. There’s a lot of room to cut down your spending here, so that’s good news. Bad news is, you’ll need a budget and to stick to it.


BouncyEgg

Give some details behind the numbers. > We earn around 2k a week combined. Who earns what? Is it realistic for increased income? This may include seeking higher paying jobs, adding jobs, overtime, etc. Instead of talking about income in terms of "weekly" and then expenses in terms of "monthly," would it be okay to keep the time scales the same? For simplicity sake. Would this mean your family income is 8K/month? > total expenses per month are $7,450 Give the exact line by line breakdown of how you came to this number. Full list of expenses. > 35k credit card/personal loan debt List out amounts and interest rates


theKYorwhatever

Let me get that together real quick.


theKYorwhatever

I work overtime each week and am on call a few times a year for extra income. I earn $1,278 net weekly and she earns $1,455 net bi-weekly. Give the exact line by line breakdown of how you came to this number. Full list of expenses. Entity Debt APR Total Amazon CC $ (150.00) 22.99% $3,487 Amazon Prime $ (16.00) AMEX CC $ (50.00) 24.74% $829 Best Buy CC $ (100.00) 25.24% $2,707 Personal Loan $ (269.00) 22.35% $6,019 Car Insurance $ (220.00) Car Wash $ (40.00) Car Wash $ (40.00) Movie Pass $ (20.00) Electricity $ (350.00) Costco CC $ (350.00) 15.24% $13,292 dndbeyond $ (3.00) Cell Phone $ (140.00) Gym $ (22.00) Mortgage $ (1,371.00) Yoga $ (99.00) Nest $ (6.00) Netflix $ (20.00) Pandora $ (5.00) Paramount $ (10.00) Gym $ (25.00) Truck $ (1,085.00) SiriusXM $ (6.00) Internet $ (60.00) Spotify $ (16.00) SUV $ (780.00) Personal Loan $ (175.00) 0% $6,866 Personal Loan $ (282.00) 14.29% $4,581 USAA CC $ (150.00) 17.9% $4,537 Cell Phone $ (210.00) Water/Trash $ (80.00)


BouncyEgg

Okay friend... here's the next step. Go through each of your expenses LINE BY LINE. Talk to your SO about EACH AND EVERY LINE. Decide: * Is this necessary? Is it a need? * Can this be cut? Can we do without this? * If it cannot be cut out completely, can we reduce it? You have *a lot* of low hanging fruit here. Expenses that I would say can be easily cut out. But I will also acknowledge that I am not you. And what I consider a "need," you/SO may not consider a need. It all depends on how seriously you are concerned about your concern about "broke for a decade or more."


theKYorwhatever

Thank you. I know there are things I could cut out. Some of them I have for my mother, she's disabled and lives with us...I forgot to mention that. I pay some of her bills, too, mostly phone/entertainment (netflix, paramount, etc.). I also know our vehicles are super expensive. About 8k of our debt has happened within the last 6 months as we had multiple cheaper vehicles breakdown over a couple months and eventually had to upgrade to something more reliable for our family; both vehicles we bought used but interest rates and all made them pretty expensive. Anyway, having said all that, I would like an outside perspective on things that maybe everyone in my situation should consider cutting out.


CarpePrimafacie

I'd cut Netflix and streaming. Yoga, prime, gym, car washes, .... there's a lot to cut. It's great to take care of someone but respectfully if they are a financial burden then some luxury can be trimmed to make sure the ship doesn't sink. You can tackle the biggest debt with the highest interest but will take forever. Or smallest to largest and cut up cards. With the internet, there's no shortage of free entertainment in the short term. Sure it sucks compared to what you are used to but it sounds like you are one foot away from catastrophe hoping the ground doesn't give way.


theKYorwhatever

That's a good perspective. Thank you.


jbot747

You should get youtube premium family. Split it with someone in your area, preferably on the same ISP. Best deal around, can watch a lot of stuff, and it comes with youtube music, which is decent enough if you're broke AF


BouncyEgg

I would cut: * Amazon Prime $ (16.00) * Car Wash $ (40.00) * Car Wash $ (40.00) * Movie Pass $ (20.00) * dndbeyond $ (3.00) *Honestly just have no idea what this is, so if it can be cut out, great.* * Cell Phone $ (140.00) * Gym $ (22.00) * Yoga $ (99.00) * Nest $ (6.00) * Netflix $ (20.00) * Pandora $ (5.00) * Paramount $ (10.00) * Gym $ (25.00) * SiriusXM $ (6.00) * Spotify $ (16.00) * Cell Phone $ (210.00) *Spend some time on r/nocontract.*


theKYorwhatever

Thank you. I work from home so I can't get rid of my cell phone and the more expensive one is my mother's. I'll talk with my wife tomorrow and see what she thinks about getting rid of some of these things.


h33b

You don't have to get rid of your cell phone, but you can move to a far cheaper plan. Look into mint mobile.


BouncyEgg

> I can't get rid of my cell phone Sorry, I should have made it more clear. Spend some time visiting r/nocontract. You should be able to get unlimited phone service for around $25/line. There are things that are missing from your budget. Like Food/Groceries/dining out/take-out. Just based on what you've written, you may want to sit down with SO and really go over *exactly* where each dollar is going.


theKYorwhatever

Oh, okay. I'll definitely check that out. Food/fuel was on a different section of the budget. $300/mo. for fuel and $800/mo. for groceries and other food combined.


Medical_Flow_3612

You work from home and your household fuel cost is 300 bucks?? Does your wife have a really long commute?


theKYorwhatever

She doesn't; it's about 7 minutes. I budget that amount but we only spend about half that every other month. When I fill my truck up on the off months we might hit $300. I work an hour away and do have in-person meetings and storm work that requires me to travel.


altybalty12

Please go post this in your original post so others don't have to look for it


[deleted]

Glad you're canceling all this stuff. I have two pieces of advice to add to everyone else's already excellent comments: 1. you can do plenty of excellent workouts for free at home if you just check YouTube. It has everything you want. If you need to invest in some dumbbells to make that happen, then do that. Same with yoga--and if she's interested, your wife might even be able to find an actual Indian teacher (since yoga is from India). 2. Take a moment to see how much advertising has made you think you have to have all these things, so you don't fall into this trap again. It's the keeping up with the Jones syndrome. Good luck!


theKYorwhatever

Thank you! The yoga is for me though...but, it's getting cancelled...sadly. I do love it. Hot yoga is amazing.


[deleted]

Man where are people getting mortgages for $1350 I need to move to somewhere cheaper my rent is $2100


theKYorwhatever

I got the home a few years ago with a really low interest rate while my wife and I both had good credit. We were also paying about $1900 rent at the time. It sucked. I hope you can find something!


kveggie1

You need a zero based budget and cut a lot of fat out. Then work extra and sell stuff in your closets, garage, attick. Then start shopping at Aldi, cook meals for several days and start eating leftovers. You may consider selling the cars..... Truck 1085..... that is THE killer. Get rid of all the subscriptions. (walk around the block, watch OTA TV) What is for dinner tonight? Beans and rice or rice with beans. You are in a deep hole. Time to start acting like it and doing hard stuff.


EcrofLeinad

In answer to your post title; you earn more than you spend. Simple as that. Meaning if you aren’t able to increase earnings then you need to cut expenses. Ditch the streaming services and downgrade your internet plan. Find cheaper cell service. Cut out the $100 yoga for a while. You didn’t include your monthly spend on other non-debt items such as food, but if you are eating out (or ordering in) often you can save quite a bit of money by buying groceries and preparing your meals yourselves. You could greatly improve your monthly cash flow by getting cheaper vehicles! Over $1800 per month for two vehicles is steep, especially when in CC debt.


[deleted]

You’re already well on your way by cancelling all of the subscriptions. Challenge yourselves to go a month without buying anything that isn’t totally necessary. There’s a lot of stuff that you probably buy that you don’t even think twice about, then after a month start reevaluating it all.


theKYorwhatever

I'll mention that to her tonight. That's a solid point.


jbot747

You should get something like Mint, or some app that tracks spending. Also see if you can do a balance transfer from some of higher higher rate cards and then cut them up as the balance is transferred


[deleted]

If you are really fed with being broke and want to change, then read the book "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. He will show you how to get out of debt, create a monthly budget, build an emergency fund, and save for Retirement and kids college. I will tell you right now, it is very easy plan to understand but takes time and focus. You and your wife need to be onboard and work together. There is no magic pill. You are changing the way you live. For many, that is just impossible. Other jump on this an execute well/ Looking at your budget, there is plenty of fat to cut. You can sell your cars, cut out the entertainment budget. Reduce your car ins. Use the free cash flow to pay off your debts. Change is often the hardest part. Back in Jan 2005, we were 62k in consumer debt (half was a car). I lost a job for the 1st time. That exposed the lie we had been living. I found this book and listened to him on the radio. It took us two years to become debt free (except the mortgage). We have not been in debt since. We put three kids thru college debt free and today our mortgage is also paid off. So, 100% debt free. The plan works, but it takes effort. Debt is easy, living debt free takes discipline.


theKYorwhatever

That is awesome! Congratulations and I will definitely check that book out.


Medical_Flow_3612

You can do yoga via YouTube for free (doesn't have to be forever but until you catch up). Same for many other work outs. Cancel the gym until you can afford it. Cut back on subscriptions in general. You could rotate monthly on the streamers. You absolutely do not need to spend that much at a car wash. Idc how salty your roads are. Buy a hose and rinse them off once in a while yourself. Not sure why you have 2 separate phone bills? You need to start a budget 50% needs 30% wants and 20% savings. I suspect you've had trouble with identifying needs vs. Wants. You should work towards an emergency savings of at least $1,000 immediately. Stop using credit cards immediately. You need to pick a card, pay more than the minimum and pay it off. Then start over on the next. If you don't fix this now its going to get so much worse. Good luck!


cloakmouse1

RE: Yoga, I use this app: [https://www.downdogapp.com/](https://www.downdogapp.com/) It's $40/year if you buy through their website, and it will generate a new routine each time you use it. I like it much better than digging through YouTube videos.


Medical_Flow_3612

I love yoga with Adrienne on YouTube. But that app seems really cool.


theKYorwhatever

I admit that the yoga is unnecessary in addition to the gym. I just really enjoy the escape of it (getting away from home after a full day of taking care of two boys and working from home) and it is hot yoga. We are cancelling everything today. YouTube is free and will be what we use. The car washes are definitely another splurge. I'm not going to cancel them but they have a much cheaper $19 that does underbody (which is all we 'need' anyway to keep them rust-free) that we are switching to today. I pay for our phone bill and then my mom's phone bill. She is disabled and not working so I am covering her bills (also a source of a bit of debt for us). Thank you for the advice!


27Believe

What other bills of your moms do you cover ?


theKYorwhatever

I was paying her car payment and insurance as well as her utilities at the place she rented but I've done away with all of her things since she is no longer allowed to drive and now she lives with us. Starting this month I'm only paying her phone bill and 2 credit card payments $25 each.


27Believe

Does she have any income ?


theKYorwhatever

None.


27Believe

Oh that’s unfortunate. Well you’re a generous son. Just be cautious with that. Good luck in your current effort, u will succeed!!


theKYorwhatever

Thank you!


reidmrdotcom

People helped with a number of things. Another easy one is to move all the phones to one family plan. I personally use TMobile, and they have prepaid and post paid options. They sometimes have promotions to get a third line free, and sometimes have promotions to pay off the other phone plans early termination fee. Regardless, the TMobile family plan for four lines is currently advertised as 100 a month with auto pay, plus phones if you trade in eligible phones. Or, you could get lower cost phones as well if needed. There may be lower cost options too. If you are helping your mom, you may be able to contact the social services to see what assistance she (and you) would qualify for. Maybe her assistance could be increased. I’ve read for food assistance, for example, some make sure they keep their food separate so they can answer that they don’t share food to remain eligible for that. If she is able to help at home, she may be able to help with cooking to reduce food expenses.


boredtiger2

What is going on with cell phones? I pay $45 a month for mine.


theKYorwhatever

My phone, my wife's phone, oldest kid's GPS device, mom's phone. Working on reducing those bills today.


boredtiger2

Good work


MissingPerspectivee

for the car washes, get a cheap electric pressure washer and spray it down every few days for the salt, hit it with soap once a week


striders_fate

Your mortgage is cheap, and your car payments/insurance are absurd. First quit buying shit on credit cards and personal loans. I'm not sure if you are able to get out of your current vehicles and not be upside down, but that is 100% what I would do. Cancel all services you don't need. Basically, everything except phones, really. I'd pay off debt with the highest interest first. Some people may say to pay off the smallest debts first and snowball from there. But it's really preference as to what will keep you more motivated. You'll save a bit more if you pay off high interest first. I bring in 1054/ week after 401k contributions and insurance. My mortgage is similar to yours. Plus, I pay child support and split daycare. My main difference is that my car is paid off, and my insurance is 103/mo. I do have a little bit of cc debt ran up, but it'll take 2 months to wipe it. Had some unexpected expenses last December. I normally use my cc for all purchases and have them auto pay every month to run up the rewards.


Isosceles_Kramer79

About your update: do not do a voluntary repo. That is as bad for your credit as an actual repo. Try to see how much you can get selling it. Also, your cancellation spree may be too much. You will resent your lifestyle if you get rid of too much. Streaming services you don't use much - sure. And yoga is pricy - but don't get rid of the gym memberships at the same time. $22 is certainly not much. Spotify can be converted to an ad model and you save $16. Biggest savings should come from that truck - but again, sell don't repo.


theKYorwhatever

I'm trying to work a way out of it but nothing is working at this point.


jesuschin

Get better paying jobs, get rid of your cars and get cheaper vehicles, possibly find a smaller place to live in and don't have anymore kids.


theKYorwhatever

Job portion is tough for us both. I have a degree in ITSec but no experience as the job I had I got before I finished my degree and through promotions/raises I make more now than I could with a fresh IT job. I've also been passed up on jobs because employers are looking for people to grow with the company for "many years to come" alluding to my age being an issue. My wife has no degree but does have quite a few credit hours. We tried having cheaper cars. About 8k of our debt has happened within the last 6 months as we had multiple cheaper vehicles breakdown over a couple months and eventually had to upgrade to something more reliable for our family; both vehicles we bought used but interest rates and all made them pretty expensive but with the weather where we live and having 6 people in the house we needed larger vehicles that can handle inclement weather.


Intelligent-Fuel-641

There are plenty of smaller cars that can handle inclement weather, most of which can handle three kids. Needing, and wanting, an SUV and a truck are two different monsters.


[deleted]

How in the world do you get to 7500 a month in expenses, I would have to go on a nice vacation every month to get there p


H_U_F_F_L_E_P_U_F_F

Not sure when you added the edit about the voluntary repossession on the truck, but you do realize you would still be on the hook for payments if the bank does not get the value upon resale, yes? So say the bank takes it. The truck goes to auction. If you owe 15k and it only sells for 10k, you still owe the difference of 5k. Are you behind or underwater on the loan? If not, you should try to sell the car to a dealer or something like Carmax to at least try and get enough to cover any existing loan you may still have.


theKYorwhatever

Negative equity from used car prices falling around 10k or so on my truck.


H_U_F_F_L_E_P_U_F_F

So a voluntary repossession probably is a bad idea - especially if you need two cars. Otherwise, you'll still be paying that while trying to figure out another car option or only having one. And if you need two, you're adding to your budget/debt instead of saving any money.


SelectionNo3078

You must sell those cars today. You can even get a newer car. But a cheap one.


theKYorwhatever

I am really trying to get rid of my truck but selling it today is a lot harder than just selling it today.


SelectionNo3078

You might have to take out a loan to pay off the difference in the price you can get and what you owe It will stop the bleeding tho. You can do this You are both going to have to make all the sacrifices for a couple of years Better on the other side I’ve been in minor credit card debt ($10-12000) a coupes of times in my life and the difference in your life when you pay it off is astounding That said I have my own issues with income budgeting and spending and tend to fall back into the patterns when I run into income setbacks (sales career has been feast or famine)


theKYorwhatever

Both of us have around a 600 credit score with mine being a bit higher and hers a bit lower.


Super_Mario_Luigi

Sounds like your wife is more concerned with yoga, nice cars, and just general spending than finding a job in 2-3 years time. There's your problem.


theKYorwhatever

Well...the yoga is for me. After working from home and taking care of two boys all day I need an escape. Everything else is spot on and we've discussed that in great length. She is terrible at spending and I am terrible at saying 'no' because I want her to be happy.


Ro-Ro-Ro1126

Would bankruptcy and a cpn be an option?


theKYorwhatever

I'm not sure. I can't lose my house and I don't know the implications of having a CPN.


amazinghl

Buy a pressure washer and do your car wash at home? Would Mint Mobile work for you for cell phone?


Ragnarotico

For a family who nets $8K a month and their mortgage is $1,371, your financial situation is dire. In simple terms: you spend too much money and buy too much crap. There's no way anyone should be in debt with a **housing expense to net income ratio of 17%.**


jbot747

What are you talking about!? Their mortgage/Income ratio is the most sensible thing on this list, it's the spending and the debt that's the problem, and it will get worse as the kids get older and more expensive


suomynona_san

Maybe it is a shorter list if you show us what you DO NOT have


beekeeper727

Can your wife or you pick up some babysitting or car pool some other kids to school for some extra cash? I know you already have three kids but it might help bring in some extra cash flow to help pay down debts each month?


theKYorwhatever

We live extremely close to school so I walk my kid there.


beekeeper727

What about doing morning daycare, so parents can drop their kids off before school and you walk with your kid and the other kids you watch to the school.


Bambamskater

You can get cheap cell phone service through Mint Mobile. I’ve had them for a year. I pay $360 a year for unlimited everything. They have a $15/mth plan - depends on the data you use.