#$200 to the credit card debt

[rohirric-hunter]

I'm going to have to establish a boundary with my scheduling manager. I have a part time job and she regularly has me working 5 days a week. And that's just not gonna work.

[suppuration]

I really don't want to make a post for this, but I also feel very much like I need to. I'm really feeling lost, and like when it rains, it pours.

I'm a disabled, unemployed queer, and my partner and I are struggling in a bad way.

I just got diagnosed with a kidney stone large enough that I cannot naturally pass it, and it's started to impact my kidney function. The stone is likely to only continue increasing in size. It's tripled in size in only two years.

My partner and I are currently also uninsured, and are ineligible for Medicaid in our state. It's going to require a costly procedure to remove the stone. If it remains and continues to grow at the rate it's been growing, it will eventually require surgical extraction, which will cost even more.

My CA and V are both ketherphorbia. If you like, you can also tip me with this post, but CA/V both take less of a cut of whatever you send us. [edit: I i just heard tipping is getting sunset at the end of the month. If you don't have access to CA/V, my comms are closed rn, but you can also buy me Coffee at sacredflamingart if you're able to help us out.]

Anything you can spare is going to help with doctor bills, prescriptions, and groceries. Even a few bucks will help us tremendously.

Thank you.

[nat-20s]

Brb checking my credit score wish me luck

[piratefalls]

i am so so so tired of just barely scraping by financially. it's so exhausting trying to figure out where you can cut out costs just so you can pay your bills.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

huh they just let fuckin anyone have a grownup credit card these days huh. and apparently that was a huge source of my moving worries solved in under thirty seconds. upsetting how completing the tasks actually works

[ranger-kellyn]

nothing worse than actually seeing the money you saved up leave your account like bro i'm gonna throw up 😭

[forgotn1]

It's absolutely wild to me to be able to pay all of my bills on time, pay an extra $200 on my credit card payments, save $2-300 each month, and still have money left over to do stuff. I've lived below or just above the poverty level for my entire adult life and finally having a job that pays a livable wage is blowing my mind. I've been here 6 months and I'm still not entirely used to it. I keep feeling like I'm going to fall behind at any second or like I've forgotten something, but I haven't. I'm just making that much more than I was in my previous job.

[justonefeather]

I get packing underwear for myself so I feel better at work mostly. I don't go to a job where i wear sweatpants anymore but it just makes me more comfortable since i see these people nearly every day. But uhh they're a little expensive, relatively, or at least for me. But I'm finally both paying off debt and saving a little money every check, so I bought a 3-pack, since some of the underwear i have are getting holes around the waistband and the.. leg bands? The end bits. Idk i haven't bought myself new underwear in years because it's something I've thought of as kind of frivolous, what i have still lives so I should use it and not waste money on buying something new. But doing laundry today i was like hmm ok yeah i need to replace some of these (to be fair most of the ones in bad shape are not the packing underwear, i will rep this brand forever, $20 a pair is rough but if you can spare it they're great)

[orcelito]

once im out of this financial hell, im getting a credit card

[coockie8]

I am going to posit a situation and a question based off said situation to you guys, because I'm curious if this would be inappropriate.

So say your sister is getting married, and she wants you in the bridal party. You agree, and you go buy a bridesmaid dress for well over $600, which, at the time, was basically an entire paycheck. You also have to get this dress altered which would, in theory, cost you more money.

This is not a simple venture, as your sister has decided to be a complete bridezilla out of nowhere. You're allowed to pick your style of dress, provided it is long, but the bride dictates literally everything else. She also has picked a grossly out-of-season colour, so actually finding a dress that meets her criteria is proving to be a Herculean task. But we do eventually find dresses, and pay, over half a grand, for these dresses.

Fast forward to around the time of the wedding. Covid has hit. My family is disappointment, but understanding that the wedding is cancelled. Only to later find out that the wedding is not cancelled, and the bride and her douche of a fiance will be getting married at his parents ranch.

At first when you ask the bride if you can come, she agrees because, obviously, you and your family will stay 6-feet away from everybody and mask up. After hanging up, the bride quickly calls back and informs you that, actually, no you can't come. Gives very little reason we can't mitigate as to why. But you do remember getting a glare from her douche of a fiance in the background of the video call when the bride agreed, so obviously he made her call back and revoke the invitation.

Your mother, heartbroken, offers to rent a hazmat suit and even stand out in the field, as she desperately wants to be there when her first born gets married (understandable). This prompts the bride to cancel the entire wedding just to keep her family from attending, and she elopes with her douche of a fiance, who makes enough money to almost immediately buy a house worth over half a million.

This leads in to what I'm not sure would be appropriate or not. I spent almost $700 on a dress that I will literally never wear now. A dress that I could not afford in the first place, but I bought anyway because it was important to my sister. I now find myself in a dangerous financial situation.

So, now, I ask: would it be appropriate to ask my sister to pay me back the money I spent on the dress for the wedding she did not allow us to attend?

[lawrencegarte]

i’m so fucking sick of being broke man

[thelordfool]

Help me regain my freedom

I am *this close* to being able to afford a down payment on a car. Problem is, I can't save up for that down payment when I have the previous loan still to pay off:

Read more below for the story.

Please consider donating to a disabled queer's p*ypal, v*nmo, c*shapp, and also consider commissioning me for custom paintings (more examples here and here), character art, and more! Prices can be discussed in DM, as I'm kind of flyin by the seat of my pants right now, ignore the commission prices posted on any of the linked posts.

$0/$1500

My car got totaled a few months ago and the payment from the total loss wasn't enough to pay off the rest of the loan. I can roll an old loan into a new one, yes, but the problem with that is I am unable to save up for a new down payment. That $317.64 is just under what I get paid *in a month*. I also am enrolled in debt consolidation so I can get my credit cards paid off, which is another $200 a month. I'm living quite below my means, been taking a bus to work, but I live in a household that is incredibly abusive. i do literally all of the chores, get gaslit, misgendered, and am taking care of my roommate's children because he doesn't want to bother. getting a new car will mean I won't have to rely on using his (which literally has mold growing in it because he doesn't clean it or anything up after himself or his kids) to get to work and social functions. It would also mean I could get a second job to help supplement my hours.

[kiefbowl]

i made a string of really dumb financial decisions and now im in debt that might take me years to pay off, do you have any words of wisdom for me queen. like that feels bad. how do i even save up. imagine flushing a pile of money down the toilet thats what this debt it

I know how that feels, believe me. A lot of people do. I'm feeling the pain of my 9 month school loans, and credit cards I had already paid off back "on" again (one in particular is pretty high...whooooops).

Don't lose your cool, I have a couple of flexible suggestions that you take, use, and modify to your specifics:

Tithe yourself - if your job does direct deposit (which most do!), you can direct deposit your money into multiple accounts. Get it set up so your paycheck goes 90% into your checking account, 10% into your savings account so that you're not even thinking about it. You might feel the squeeze for a little bit but you'll acclimate to that "missing" 10% sooner than you think.

Ask for a raise - if you're working, ask for a raise. If you're new, or maybe not that "great", or they're penny-pinchers, or you're just nervous to ask, don't even worry about it. Ask for 3% - this is low, and most jobs will give it to you just for the convenience of getting you to stop bothering them about it (if they can't afford 3%, run run run). For context, if you make $10 an hour, a 3% raise only gives you $12.00 more each week. It's really not much, but not nothing! If you're NOT worried about asking a raise, go all in! Ask for 10%, maybe even 15%. Flex some negotiation skills. Maybe you'll walkaway with 7%, but every penny counts.

Get yourself on auto payments [at the smallest amounts you can] - if you've got credit cards, log in right now and get yourself on auto payments for the smallest amount. If you've got student loans, do the same thing. If you've got utility bills, get them on auto pay. These things take 3 minutes to set up, and there are phone numbers to call if you can't figure it out. These companies WANT you to do this, they will help you get it done.

Work off the smallest amount you owe first [aggressively] - Let's say you have a $60 parking ticket, a credit card you owe $400 on, and three student loans that are currently at $6,000 & $7,000 & $10,000. Forget the student loans right now, you've got them on autopay for the smallest amount you can get away with. First, pay off that $60 parking ticket with your next pay check before it becomes a $200 ticket and a court appearance. Now you can focus on the paying off the $400 aggressively. Your minimum payments will still go off, but every time you get a paycheck, long on and pay an additional amount to the credit card (something you can manage and will also feel good to your brain - $50 feels good when you're thinking of your debit in hundreds for example). Once you've got that paid off, now you can aggressively pay off your $6,000. Don't worry about the other two. Just focus on the smallest amount you owe. Each paycheck, payoff a chunk of your smallest debt. It'll get exciting after awhile, like yes I get paid I can make that credit card even smaller. Gamify it, whatever.

Stop worrying about how long it will all take - Only worry about the smallest amount of debt you owe and how (reasonably) fast you can get that paid off. That $400 credit card, if you can spare $100 each pay check - that's only 4 paychecks. That's not too long, right? That's the way to think of time and debt: how much can you spare each paycheck to pay off your lowest debt.

Ask for help - do not punish yourself by lying to your parents and friends. Tell your friends you can't do fancy dinners because you are paying off debt and can't afford it. Real friends will bring over a pizza to hang with you. Your parents might be willing to send you a check without you asking for it. Don't feel guilty about monetary gifts, just take it. Go to a bank and talk about their consolidation options. Bring a third party so you aren't dazzled by sales pitches. Consolidation loans aren't objectively good or bad, they can be a life saver if they have the right terms that work for you. Don't think it's over your head! Ask as many questions until you understand all your options.

Buy smart, stop suffering - this really should be like 4 different bullet points, but I'm going to be as concise as possible: you'll never get out of debt if you spend your money without purpose, and you'll never get out under the yoke of anxiety that you fucked up if you just squirrel your money away in fear. A lot of people will give you advice that you need to put yourself on a tight, punishing budget. Maybe, but I think those are doomed to fail for most people. And now you feel twice as bad. Don't do that to yourself. Learning the value of $10 is important. So it learning the value of $100, or $1,000. And the best way to learn is to practice buying and using your money - there's a cheap $1,000 and an expensive $10, and you have to learn how much value you are getting out of these amounts for these purchases. If you punish yourself all week, and then allow yourself a "little treat" on Sunday - that doesn't feel worthwhile to me. Those little treats will grow every day. Soon you're stopping at Starbucks every day for "just $10" and your Sunday treat has become a weekly blow out brunch with friends and then week to week you're scrounging to eat Top Ramen and lamenting your dreams are dying. Instead, save money by spending money on things worthwhile that make you budget for them. Go sign up for those yoga classes you want, go sign up for those guitar lessons you want, go sign up for those art lessons you want, whatever it is. Whatever brings value to your life. Your $70 a week yoga membership can now be valued against your $70 week at Starbucks, and as your pockets pinch one hopes you'll choose the yoga over the Starbucks because one hopes that the yoga is serving you better. Or maybe yoga is ass and you want to spend it on Starbucks, at least now you know. Though I recommend your local coffee shop, as Starbucks is a union busting piece of shit corporation :)

[mousedetective]

Help A Mostly Queer Disabled Family Get Out of Homelessness?

PAYPAL | AMAZON WISHLIST | KOFI | GOFUNDME

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02/18/24 - New Post

So we were recently blessed with $2,000 to pay bills, get hotel stays covered for the rest of this month/part of March and get food while I wait until the local county office opens to find out why I never got my food stamps. I almost started crying, for real.

I paid off the money my mother owed to PayPal so we can send each other money again (it will take two to three business days for the payment to process, then another day or two for her to regain access to her PayPal account), I paid off/paid down some of the PayPal 4 In 4 payments I needed to make (I've been ignoring them in favor of paying off other things), I got us a room every day from February 28th to March 13th except the 2nd, when we have to go to another hotel (we do that one via the hotel website, and I make sure we pay that one on-site because they charge a $50 fee for anything that might happen to the room that gets refunded after we leave) and I paid off one of my mom's loans down to $21

If we get really lucky, I can take the loan payments we have coming out on the 1st and 3rd and get them paid and not take out any more loans except for my and my mom's MoneyLion ones (I can take those out in increments as needed) and we can get closer to saving up for a down payment on an apartment. But I still have bills to pay. I owe about $500 to PayPal for the 4 in 4 plans still, my mother needs to pay $610 for a credit card bill we thought was under her debt consolidation payment (I'm going to try and add it later, and if they'll take it, then we only need $200 to get it up to date) and we still need to get Lena her glasses (around $150 there, since I pulled out the money for her exam in cash). Plus I will need to get us accommodations on the 13th for the rest of our 28-day stay.

I'm tentatively setting the goal at $2000, which should cover paying off all the bills we need to pay, the glasses, and the later hotel stay. Any help sharing or donating is much appreciated. If we don't have to take out the loans to cover stuff in March we can get the money together in April for a deposit. We're almost there! Thank you!

$135/$2000

[unpretty]

idk man. from 2008 to 2019 i was self-employed. i dropped out of high school in 2006 and then dropped out of college in 2010 and moved to a swamp to watch my great-grandma die because that was the only thing i could afford to do. then i went back to college and lived off student loans for a while. if i managed to scrape together $500 in a single month, that was a very good month. i applied for a gamestop credit card i shouldn't have qualified for and used it to buy taco bell gift cards for when i couldn't afford groceries, then paid a stupid amount of interest on the cost of my taco bell gift cards because i couldn't afford to pay off the balance.

during that period i bought over 2000 ebooks and 600 steam games. i like to believe that i'll read or play them someday. i probably won't, with most of them. but it was nice to have the option. i paid $10 a year for a domain name that did nothing but show a single image when you went there because i thought that was funny. i bought every sims expansion. i bought a ps4 and pretended i was in debt for a ps4 instead of taco bell gift cards and the sims. i barely ever played anything on the ps4, but it was nice to have the option.

when i got a part-time retail job in 2019 ($12 an hour! 20 hours a week!) i felt RICH. i was getting $200-$300 a week! that's so much fucking money! i was spending most of it on gas, and food that i could eat in a store break room without dying. but it was still so much money!! i paid off all my credit cards and then immediately ran them back up. i bought matching couches for me and my cat at tj maxx. i bought a ferris wheel for mini cupcakes. i bought cute dresses and shoes that i never had a chance to wear because the only time i went anywhere was to work, in my work uniform. i was 29 and that was the most money i had ever had in my life. now i'm 32 with a full-time office job and most of my money goes toward debt but the rest of it ends up being spent on dumb shit. every month i look at my budget and try to figure out where it all went wrong and every month the conclusion is, "spent too much money on dumb shit". you would think that i would try to stop doing that, and yet.

it's like. i was poor and now i'm lurking somewhere near the low end of middle class, and in both cases buying dumb shit was simultaneously proof that i would be rich if i could just stop buying dumb shit, and that i couldn't possibly understand true poverty if i was capable of buying dumb shit. i do not know how to explain to people that i will always waste more time and money than anyone ever should on dumb shit that i think is funny. there is nothing i want more than to spend my last dollar on a laugh and my last minute laughing, and no one's insistence that they would use them better will change this.

[somerandomg33k]

I just got paid today. About $2100 in net pay. Typical for about 110 to 120 hours of work over two weeks. So $375 into the joint account I share with my brothers that I live with to cover for my portion of rent and bills. And I will put another $375 next paycheck. $700 towards the Chase Amazon credit card. $200 to the bank credit card. $150 to my friend Lynnaquinn, good enough for groceries this week for her and her spouse, hopefully. And $250 for Johanna to get her out of the red and have enough for her phone bill, hopefully. Accounting for the $106 payment for my PC, and all other future charges covered on my two credit cards, I pretty much have $383 left in the checking account today. Or will once all of other the charges go through. So yea, just got paid $2100 and it is almost gone.

And still want to spend a little money on myself. Spending $100 for vbucks just to get more Fortnite skins, even after owning 573 of them. And after already spending $6000 on Fortnite in the two years I have been playing it. Getting myself a frozen pizza just because as well.

But yet, part of me just wants to instantly give Phoenix the $380. Because they are also really struggling. They expressed they can't keep going on like this. Been like this for years for Phoenix.

Another Paycheck that once I instantly get it, I need another one. I don't have enough to make sure my friends have a comfortable life. I don't have enough to get my teeth fixed. Haven't been to the dentist in years. And I emotionally broke down at the suggestion I should focus on myself and take care of my credit card debt. But that also feels impossible.

I hate budgeting. So I am really really bad at doing it. I just feels like not spending money at all. When Fortnite players, like my friends, talk about "saving vbucks" there is no such thing as saving vbucks. All saving vbucks is is simply not spending vbucks. Not getting the skins you want in the item shop.

The only way I see making any dent into my credit card debt is not giving money to my friends in need. Not spending as much money as I do. Or working as much overtime as I can. 12 hours days 6 days a week. Or any combination of the three, or all three. And when I do work 12-hour days, I have like 15 fifteen minutes in the morning, all used to get dressed and leave for work, and then whatever time I give myself when I come home for the evening, which is maybe two hours at most. And no more because I shouldn't stay up beyond 2 am.

I don't know how much more I need to earn at my job to feel whole. Or to feel well. Maybe double what I make now. But how fucking likely will that happen for someone without a college degree in this economy.

But I fucking hate thinking like this. I hate being concern with money. I hate getting pay over $2000 and it is still not enough. I hate that my friends are in poverty and will probably just never get out of it. I hate there is no end in sight for this cycle. I hate the fucking system that we live in. And hate how there are many people that will defend Capitalism. Or believe, "You just have to vote for the right people to be our benevolent dictator. And they will improve the system. #VoteBlueNoMatterWho." I hate feeling powerless to end of this misery. And I have other friends and family members that are suffering too..... I just feel..... bleph.... meh .... urg.....