Just want to crawl up into a ball.

[Tahla9999]

What? She can't sell the ipad, she can't sell the camera, and she's trying to sell other stuff.

Some families NEED two cars. Matt and I have overlapping schedules and work on opposite ends of town. It would be insanely inconvenient and a huge waste of time and money for us to have one car. What's up with the hate in this thread?

This.

This is why I don't tell my personal problems over the internet. You will get a bunch of people who don't know the whole situation jumping on every word you write and assuming things about you.

I also advise not to sell the car. Transportation is important especially if you have to find work in a far away location. Also, with your boyfriend saying those things you never know how the relationship could end and he can take his car and your screwed.

 

[Fran27]

I wouldn't sell the car either. Do you have any relatives that can help?

 

[sassafras]

I think it's premature to sell the car, for a variety of reasons already mentioned. It's not a bad idea to see if you can trade for something cheaper if you're still making car payments. And do everything that's been suggested to get a job.

As much as it sucks, you have to strip away every non-essential service or subscription you have. Cancel internet and cable. Scale down your phone plan if possible, especially if you can get rid of a data plan. If you haven't already, pick either land line or cell, don't keep both. Cancel any online or IRL subscriptions (netflix, newspapers or magazines, etc.). Shop prices for car insurance.

I do think you should sell the camera. It's not just the money it can bring you, it's that you're still making payments on it (as has already been pointed out), so it's a double whammy. Make sure the prices you are asking for stuff on Craigslist are reasonable to move stuff.

And sit down and make a budget and stick to it. Selling stuff, paycheck advances... those are short term, crisis management strategies. Moving forward you've GOT to manage your money with an iron fist. Check out DVDs from the library instead of going to a movie. Minimize takeout and eating out. See if you can partner with friends or family to buy stuff in bulk, it may help save money. Don't use credit cards.

Good luck. BTDT when my husband was laid off and it sucks, but your belts just have to tighten as much as possible. Right now you're in survival mode until things turn around.

 

[skittledoo]

I'm also going to echo "don't sell your car." Your bf saying he is unsure he is in love with you sometimes throws some huge flags as to the possibility of him leaving and if you don't have a car you are screwed. I could be wrong and maybe he didn't mean it... People say things they don't mean when they are stressed out and money causes LOTS of stress, but I wouldn't take the risk that he may have just said it in the heat of stress and actually sell the car.

My husband and I have to have two cars right now too (though we are currently fine financially). He's a construction worker and works out of his truck daily and I have to haul all our dogs to my work every day which is completely on the other side of town. Our hours are always clashing so there's no way we could do one car right now even if we wanted to. I understand not being able to part with a vehicle.

With a baby on the way though it scares me that you are in this predicament. You can pull out if it, but you really need to sit down and figure out what sacrifices you both will need to make in order to make that happen. Send resumes everywhere! Apply for jobs everywhere! I personally like to call companies a few days or a week after I apply just to further express my interest in their company.

Check Craigslist and monster and every other site where jobs are listed. Apply apply apply.

What things can you do without for a little while? Internet? Cellphone? Go cheap on food but since you are pregnant you do need to continue to make sure you arent eating crap food either. WIC was mentioned as an option since you are pregnant. We have a store out here that sells good food at way cheaper rates. Maybe you have something similar where you are?

I'm not a fan of feeding pedigree at all, but its cheap and the dogs can get by on it for temporarily if they need to. If you can afford it maybe you can add a little chicken in as well or something?

Sit down with your bf and formulate a plan. It helps to physically write out your budget to make sure you aren't over spending in areas you can't afford to.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

This is coming from someone who grew up with very little money, and has very little money now. Granted, my mother managed money fairly well throughout my childhood, and I manage money very well now, so we've never been in the position of selling things to make the mortgage, but still. I know what it feels like to not have a lot of money.

So, first. Sell all the non-essentials. This means sell the iPad. Sell the camera (which also eliminates the monthly payment). Sell whatever else you have laying around that you don't need.

Cell phones. Depending on what your cell phone situation is like, if there isn't an early termination fee, then get out of your contract, and get a cheap pay-as-you-go phone for emergency/necessary calls only. If you are in a contract that has a termination fee, call them and see if you can switch to a cheaper plan - no internet, no data, limited calls/texting, etc.

Internet. Not a necessity. Pay off your bill and get rid of it. You can use WiFi hotspots (coffee shops, restaurants, neighbors) if you need the internet.

Get a job. Apply everywhere - fast food, coffee shops, retail, whatever. No job is "beneath you" when you're that broke. While you're at that job, making money, you can be applying for better ones. While you're looking for a regular job, do anything you can. Babysit. Walk dogs.

Make a budget. Figure out all your expenses (necessary expenses) and figure out your income. Save as much as you can until you have a nice cushion for unexpected expenses.

I wouldn't advise selling the car at this point. Yes, there is public transportation, and yes, many couples/families get by on one vehicle - but it isn't possibly in all situations. It also doesn't sound like this relationship is a very stable one, and you don't want to get stuck without a vehicle. If you still owe money on either vehicle, see if you can refinance.

The fact that you're asking for pay advances and selling stuff screams crisis mode, which screams financially unstable to me. You need to figure out your financial situation and fast.

My phone in virtually free (even though it is a smartphone), I just need to put $20 on it every 3 months to keep it active - I get free minutes from shopping for groceries and gas and medications.

Completely off topic, but...how?!?! I've been looking around at ways to cut my phone bill. You can PM me so the thread doesn't derail lol.

 

[milos_mommy]

Your boyfriend saying he's not still always IN love with you but he still loves and cares about you is REALLY different from him saying he doesn't love you. I'm not saying sell the car or not - if he's using his truck all day for work, it does sound like you need a car. But I definitely don't think him saying he doesn't always feel in love with you is a sign the relationship is on the rocks or he's going to leave.

People don't stay "in love" the way they do when they first start dating forever.

 

[Red Chrome]

It does sound like you may need the car for now. If I was in your predicament, I'd be changing **** fast. You can't keep borrowing from future checks, that is a never ending cycle.

You said you needed to pay rent ASAP, selling the camera does that. Cut down on nonsense trips that waste gas. Cell phones should go or scale them down completely. I pay $40 for unlimited talk/text and data for a smartphone. Landlines are even cheaper. Internet as has been said can be found at hot spots and the public libraries.

I can say I don't have a ton of income. I budget well and cut corners when possible. I have sold something that was very valuable to me and one of my favorite things in order to fix my car at the time, transportation was more important than the thing. Because of sticking to my budgeting, I can pretty much do what I want and not worry about the bills BUT you have to stick with the budget. No eating out, cooking at home saves a ton of money.

Can you guys find a cheaper place to rent? Or possibly move in with a set of parents for awhile till you can get caught up? Roommates? Something to help relieve the burden.

 

[Miakoda]

I haven't read through all of this, but as someone who also lives in south Louisiana, I can tell you that we don't have public transportation like other places. We don't have subways (ummm....we'd need submarines for that ). We don't have metros/trains. We don't have typical city cab service (sure, there are cab services, but I rarely see a cab in Baton Rouge). We have bus service, but like everything else, it's overworked and underpaid, so routes gets cut, lines get bigger, and then you have to zig-zag your way places. So my advice is to keep the car.

But I'm in the "sell everything else" group. I sold my highschool ring, college conference championship (Div. I soccer) ring and watch, other various pieces of jewelry, clothes, books, and several other things when times were tough a few years ago. I sold my 2000 Camaro Z28 that I worked sooo hard for to buy and pay off. That car was my "baby". I adopted out some fosters that I had settled to keep, and had for almost 2 years, because we really needed to cut back on the number of dogs we had. We sold our computer. Heck, I can't even think of all the things we sold off.

I only had/have 1 thing I will NOT sell, and that is my 5 1/2 ft tall wooden rocking horse, Buster. Buster was appraised for "a lot", and he is only 1 of 3 wooden horses made by a man in California specifically for the Price Is Right back in the late 1970's. My hubby and I went rounds about it, but that one thing holds soooo many memories for me: who I was, what I loved, what I dreamed of. There are some things in this world that don't have a price tag, and other than my 3 kiddos, that's the one thing for me that I wouldn't part with.

 

[Dogdragoness]

I still wonder what will become of the child? I would be having a serious talk with my bf over it (tho my bf is very frugal so I wouldn't have to but for the sake of hypothesis). If the camera is a gift then IMO its yours to do with what you want, he may kick & scream about it a little about it but he's just going to have to deal with it.

 

[zoe08]

I still wonder what will become of the child?

Didn't you all just vote Obama to stay in office because he will take care of things like that?

If she's that broke, she's going to get WIC/Welfare, Medicaid, etc.

Although I do wonder how she ended up with a $400 internet bill. Ours is about $56/month for high speed. If they couldn't afford it, instead of just not paying the bill, they should have just canceled, so it wouldn't have added up to that amount.

Oh and whoever posted about getting the smartphone for $20 every few months....yeah pm me too! I pay $100/month for mine and my husband's cells and we don't even have smartphones or data plans. Would love to lower that bill.

 

[milos_mommy]

Yeah I was wondering if $400 is a typo. I paid $37 or something a month for verizon high speed internet in my apartment. I'm sort of assuming $400 means $40...if you owed $400 on your internet...pretty sure it'd have been shut off WAY before the bill got that out of hand.

 

[JessLough]

I doubt they shut off the Internet because they owed $40

 

[milos_mommy]

Good point...but how could someone owe four HUNDRED dollars to an internet company? Even if you pay $50 a month for internet, that's 8 months behind....surely the internet would shut off before then?

 

[JessLough]

Yah, the only thing I can think of is if she had Internet and cable/satellite on the one bill together.. Then it could easily become $100+ a month and 3 months behind would make sense.

 

[Romy]

Yah, the only thing I can think of is if she had Internet and cable/satellite on the one bill together.. Then it could easily become $100+ a month and 3 months behind would make sense.

A lot of cable companies add ridiculous late fees ranging $25-$30ish on top of that.

 

[yoko]

Also wanted to just note I'm not just some random person who is just like 'sell all your crap!' like it's nothing.

I sold my macbook pro, my ps3, and a 15 year old video game collection when my car broke down. I live three towns away from my work so there was no way I could get a ride.

But sometimes you have to suck it up and sell the stuff. It's not fun but your living situation is WAY more important than having fun stuff/toys.

And not to make it sound dramatic but used electronic's prices drop like crazy. If you wait too long the amount you could get out them goes down drastically. All it takes is one sale. In a month if you haven't sold whatever you are trying to sell you are going to take an even bigger hit because people will be trying to sell the exact same thing in better shape than you have now. And as someone who makes a LOT of side money off of Craigslist you have about a week before your lowest offer now is 30% higher than the same thing.

Start clipping coupons. Don't eat that brand? Well now you do if the coupon makes it cheaper.

Do you have TVs? Those usually sell pretty fast. Do you have old computers? Parts usually sell pretty quick. Cell phones, cell phone batteries, memory cards, books, chargers, good condition kitchen appliances, clothes, extra pet stuff like collars and leashes, DVDs, unused candles, sewing machines, remotes, DVD player, wifi routers, jewelry, glasswear, old instruments *even damaged*, old monitors, old animal cages, plants, vacuums, vacuum bags, rugs, art, cabinets, fans *including ceiling fans*, paper shredders, soil *planting soil*, beads, anything anyone could use as some sort of craft project, MP3 players. All of those I have sold at one time or another.

If you have any money and know what you are doing you can get a car load of stuff at garage sales and sell it on Craigslist. Just go at the end and ask if they would sell you a bag full of stuff for $5. You'd be surprised how many will say yes.

Before selling your iPad use Field Agent. I made $52 in two hours on Sat. All I had to do was check prices at Walmart. You need an internet connection but most Walmarts have a McDonalds with it or a Starbucks near by.

Learn some sort of little craft thing. It's the holidays people buy that stuff like crazy. I know how to crochet. I only know maybe three stitches but am able to make baby blankets. Cheap yarn is about $15-20 and I've been able to easily sell them at $40-60. Once you learn how to do it you could knock out a blanket a day easily.

Yeah I was wondering if $400 is a typo. I paid $37 or something a month for verizon high speed internet in my apartment. I'm sort of assuming $400 means $40...if you owed $400 on your internet...pretty sure it'd have been shut off WAY before the bill got that out of hand.

It could be $400. I have a couple friends who got the business internet deal. It's super fast with no slowdown. It's about $100 a month.

 

[sassafras]

Well whether it's $400 or $40 or $4... it's all the same, if the money's not there. The solutions for the overall problem don't change.

 

[milos_mommy]

Cable does make sense, I always forget internet and cable companies do the same thing. Cable effing SUCKS. I had cable last year, because my roommate wanted it, and I should have made him put it in his name, but I didn't.

I signed a thing for a year, got NOTHING in the mail about renewing or canceling, and they continued the service after whatever contract I had, and then charged me cancellation fees. For a service I NEVER agreed to.

 

[Tahla9999]

Wow. Just wow. I have to say this forum just reach a new low. A distress member came here to vent about her troubles only to be face with a huge lack of compassion, people constantly jumping on her on her decisions, looking down on her, accusing her of being lazy and not doing anything about her situation as if you know anything about what she is trying to do, gossiping about her potentially being on welfare with a baby, etc. I mean really people? Some people just need a shoulder to cry on, thoughtful suggestions, not a tear down. I wouldn't be surprise if she stop coming back to this thread.

Pathetic.

 

[milos_mommy]

I certainly have sympathy for those with financial troubles, I've posted about them on Chaz many, many times before.

But if you post a thread complaining about not having the $500 to make rent and explicitly say "I'm posting this from my ipad", you really can't expect that much sympathy. People here have gone without computers, phones, internet, ANYTHING for long stretches of time, without heat, without roofs over their head, lost cars, homes, gone without food. I'm not saying you can't have very serious money struggles without being that badly off, but complaining about money when you have a very costly camera via your expensive apple product is automatically going to get you some flack, no matter where you got it or why you can't sell it.