It's expensive being broke!!
By ChaJudLeoBit
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
United States
November 19, 2007 7:50pm CST
WEll, after loosing my job at the clinic, I got really bad in the hole with my bank account. Unfortunatly, since I was given no warning, I had a lot of pending payments on their way to my bank, so I ended up using my overdraft A LOT!! And of course they charge for each transaction! Even the $.75 soda I bought ended up costing me $19.75!! So my account dropped to -$1600 and they closed it. Bummer. So I have no account now. And to make matters worse, I had just elected to have my check from my little hotel job be depositied directly into the account. So now my checks get sucked into the black abyss, never to be seen again.
I need to try to cancel that, cuz I really need to use some of that $. My phone was just turned off and the other utilities might be soon. It's just too depressing to open the bills, so I haven't... Let's see... I wasn't able to pay all of my property taxes from last year, so there are lots of fees on that, and the taxes for this year are already getting more fees on top of them. My car inspection and registration are expired, so if I get pulled over, there will be fines to pay for that. Man... being broke is just way too expensive. Late fees on bills are rediculously high. what a pain...
But I got a deferment on my loan and my house payment!! So I'm happy about that! Now I just gotta figure out how much it's gonna be to get my phone turned back on. I hope they don't charge too much for the disconnect and re-connect fee's.
Anyway... I'm not writing this because I'm about to go jump off a bridge or anything. Just something to talk about to get my friends caught up on my life. I have a new job now, so hopefully everything will bew worked out soon.
Have you ever fallen behind and gotten stuck in this vicious cycle?? It's hard to get out of it!!
7 people like this
18 responses
@ssh123 (31073)
• India
20 Nov 07
First priority is to find an income source by finding a good job. Once you are involved in a job, most of the probelms are solved.
Secondly, spend little less than what you earn, so that the difference amount can be used to repay the outstandings.
Thirdly, do not spend money in anticipation of income. This may not work sometiems, or some new expenses unforeseen may crop in.
Save for the rainy day.
2 people like this
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
20 Nov 07
I guess that's my biggest problem. I pay bills and do my spending before hte paycheck even comes. Then if it isn't enough, I'm stuck. So when I lost my job, I had been sick for two days and my paycheck was about $200 less than what I had needed it to be. And everything was already coming through my account getting charged overdraft fees. What a mess I made!
1 person likes this
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
24 Dec 07
I'm trying to keep track of things in a book now so I can hopefully stay on top of it all.
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
20 Nov 07
Been there!!! Still there, actually. So I can understand perfectly what you're saying.
I am now at the point that I can almost balance everything without getting any more behind, however any little thing can still upset this balance - and the problem is that all the little things seem to come right after us.
What gets to me is having people telling me to tighten the belt, save some money each paycheck, spend less than what I make, avoid spending money in what is not completely necessary....what do they know ? I don't think it's possible to tighten the belt anymore, there is no way to save some money each paycheck because each paycheck is almost not enough as it is just to pay the bills - forget about food, clothing etc etc including all the unexpected expenses that seem to always come when we can't afford them. Spend less than what I make? that would be nice. It would even work if each time there wasn't one of those expenses that can't be avoided. Not spending money on anything that isn't extremely necessary? How about not even on what is extremely necessary? Sure food, and whatever is needed for the kids. Ok, we do have internet. All 40 monthly dollars of it.
But the last time I had a chance to buy some clothes was over a year ago. Some with shoes. WE used to eat out every once in a while - I think the last time was two years ago.
It's not like we're overspending going to restaurants, holidays, clothes... those things we don't do for quite a while.
Yeah.. I know exactly what you mean.. wish you the best, I"m sure this kind of situation has an end - or at least I hope so
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
24 Jan 08
My job is going very well and I'm getting LOTS of overtime. I'm about to get my first $1 raise as well!! So I'm making a good paycheck, but I was just so horribly behind that it is still taking all of my paycheck to cover the most important stuff, and I am still left having nothing left over and skipping the smaller bills. Hopefully soon I will get caught up and all of this will be behind me!!
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
20 Nov 07
that's why i always live frugally and i am very careful in spending my money... for me, every cent counts... i don't care if people say i am stingy or whatever... my stinginess is what keep me alive until now and i never have a problem paying my bills on time... and i am grateful to God because He gives me health and a job to keep on going... i hope that you will be able to get out from the mess soon... take care and good luck...
2 people like this
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
24 Dec 07
I never learned how to be frugal or good with money. I mainly just have too much debt for what I can cover. My husband helped with that by walking out on my right after I got $8000 consolidation loan and have to pay $248 a month on it. Also loosing a full time income, even if I also lost his expenses, they weren't an even swap.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
20 Nov 07
oh man can i understand what you are going through! we are soooo broke! we have crediters calling every day. my hubby is making less now than he did 10 years ago and even with me working part time, we cannot mannage.
plus, i need to take some time off work because i am about to have total knee replacement surgery!
when will it end???? :-(
1 person likes this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
24 Nov 07
I know very well bout the crediters calling every day. Shoot sometimes they call several times a day. In a way, I'm glad verizon finally shut my cell phone off cause now they can no longer call me. I refused to give them my home number and glad I didn't. lol We have consumerdebtsolutions.com working for us to get the creditors off our back and to knock off the majority of the debt and slowly pay the balance back. They knocked 45% of our bills off and it will take us 2 yrs. to pay the rest back. All the accounts are already cancelled which I'm happy bout. Just think, in 2yrs. we will be out of debt completely.
@JowJie (271)
• Philippines
20 Nov 07
I think you learned something already from what happened. It is really hard to have so many expenses with a little/no income..we cant sleep well and we cant even open up our bills.
I think since you already have a new job, you can do some budgeting. Set aside 10% of your income as your savings (its better if you take it out immediately after you get your pay and deposit it to another account), then use the rest for your expenses. As for your credit card bills if any, transfer it to another card with lower interest rates. If you cant find any, pay first those bills with the highest interest.
And since I think you have too many bills to begin with, why not find a sideline or addtl source of income? I dont know what is saleable in your country, but I'm sure you can think of one.
And lastly, BELIEVE that you can get out of the rut. If you save and save, budget and all but you dont believe that you can get out from the mess, you really wont be able to do it.
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
24 Dec 07
One good thing about this new job is that I can get as much overtime as I can handle. So I'll try to do that until I get caught up. Then figure out how much I need to make a month to stay OK. I've got all my bills listed in a book, but I guess I also need to pay attention to other expenses during the month also... (Like kitty food!!! Man those kitties eat a LOT!!!)
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
24 Jan 08
I worked 72 hours last week so my next paycheck should be really nice!!...
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
20 Nov 07
somehow at the bottom, it's good news for you. now that you have a new job, you will start getting back on your feet again. good for you!
anyway, i understand your discussion. i used to work before, too in the philippines. but now that i migrated to sweden to be with my boyfriend, i am jobless. i cannot work unless i finished learning the swedish language. i need to pass the exams, too to prove that i can communite efficiently in their language, too. so, now, i am back to school and not working. good thing for me is that, i don't have bills to pay. so, i don't really worry on that. my boyfriend has a stable job which is enough for the two of us. we do have a happy life together and he takes care of all my needs.
it's just that when i want to buy something for my boyfriend, i can't. he gives me money ofcourse but it still feels good to give something which comes from your earnings. i know you know what i mean here.
but anyway, i just wanna say that it doesn't really feel so good to be jobless. i always feel like i am a burden to my boyfriend even if he believes i am not.
well, i just hope i can finish school soon and start working.
anne
@DuoMaxwell (953)
• United States
20 Nov 07
Definitely. You're not the only one who had a bank account in the hole and forced to close it.
This is the reason why I HATE doing trial offers, and why I do my best to steer clear of any get-paid-to things that offer trial services that I have to cancel before a specified time period.
I got burned badly by forgetting to cancel and send back a trial package from a company called "Wealth International". As it turned out, my mom got on my back hard about it, and she helped pay the overdraft. Soon I had to close my personal account, and with it, saying goodbye to any chance of making the extra $40 dollars I was going to get the following month as a special bonus.
This is why I am purely AGAINST ALL trial offers, especially ones that bill you in the end. That's why I also don't like doing these sorts of things in sites like CashCrate. I still have my Paypal account, but I don't want to repeat history again, so i'm strictly against such things that suck up my account's money and leaving it in the hole.
1 person likes this
@lucky_witch (2707)
• Philippines
20 Nov 07
well, most of the time I find myself trapped in different situations like that, that makes life a little bit impossible to bear. But I never came to the point that I will jump to the bridge. Well, just be strong my friend. Things will soon turn to be alright. I know that its hard but keep your faith.
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
20 Nov 07
ofcourse. there's no point for us to jump off the bridge whenever we feel like we're deeply troubled about matters in life. chajudleobit is a strong person. somehow, he/she managed to hang on and now, he's back on his/her feet. that's one good thing to know.
anne
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
20 Nov 07
Well things are starting to settle down just a tad for me..LOL. But this year for me was a roller coaster ride of stress about money as well. I had done some discussions back in May about all the crap I had gone through. On April 28th a Sat., I had gotten a letter from my Social Security Disability that my benefits were to be terminated--like WTF? At that moment I had exactly $5.71 to my name. It's a very, very long story, but yes, I did get my benefits back in rather record time, one month only but only because somehow I had the intuitive inclination to seek congressional help to get my benefits back to me in record time...BUT it did put me in a hole anyway. I was able to get public assistance in the meantime before my benefits were re-instated, but only for one month's gas and electric but not for rent or phone...I'm still trying to do a catch up with some of my bills as well. But I'm hoping that something might come through for me, it's just the waiting game one has to do..and I can sometimes be slack in the patience department...LOL
You have my prayers ChaJudLEoBit..things do work out eventually...somehow!! (((hugs))
1 person likes this
@newzealtralian (3930)
• Australia
20 Nov 07
I hope you get things sorted out soon. A new job would be good. I've been there, and I'm still paying of debts from about 3 years ago, but at least where we live, we get a family allowance to cover living expenses for our children.
1 person likes this
@statickery560 (275)
• Philippines
20 Nov 07
Oh, how sad. But i'm glad you are that strong to face those challenges. You never give up. You know, chajudleobit, try thinking these are just spice of your life. It will soon vanish. I mean you can always find another job. So be strong and be positive that in no time you can find a new job. Good luck!
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
22 Nov 07
My sister in law has had her phone cut off due to not paying the bill.
I understand exactly where you are coming from. It is bill after bill for us.
Our entire wage is used up on bills, & needless to say, saving is impossible.
Here is a list of the bills I get:
electricity
water (two properties)
telephone (1 landline, 3 mobiles & internet)
house & contents insurance (2 properties)
insurance for cars (2)
land rates (2 properties)
Emergency Services Levy (2 properties)
Ambulance Insurance
Private Health Insurance (1 person)
Car Registration (2 cars)
Drivers License (2 adults)
Most of these fees can not even be adjusted. The only savings I can try to make are on electricy, water & phone.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
4 Feb 08
Over fifteen years ago, although I am not too sure of that since I shredded my old records, I was working as a telemarketer, and that was during the time that the big corporations were laying off people, so naturally no one wanted their furnace cleaned nor installed and no one wanted window replacement, so whatever things I had bought could not be paid for. I usually estimated how much I would get at the end of the month and buy for what I expected, but what happened is that I got less money, and since I had charged the stuff, the bill at the end of the month got more until it was over a thousand dollars.
So I had to pay as much as possible on it, and it took about five years to pay everything off, but during that time I felt I would never get out the hole.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
20 Nov 07
I've been in this cycle for the past 5 mo. now and see no hope in the near future. Not much gas left in the tank so I'm thrilled I insisted on a wood-burning fireplace when we had our house built several years ago. I cringe every time I open my mailbox, just waiting for the disconnect from the eletric co. My cell phone was shut off for several hours today cause I was late getting a payment to them. My hubby won't even open his mail since he can't pay any of his med./credit card bills. Least we have plenty of firewood to heat the house and do some cooking in the fireplace.
@frecklelip334 (1668)
• United States
20 Nov 07
OH YES honey!! been there. in october we almost lost our car AND our apt, all in the same month. we felt helpless, had already borrowed a lot of money from parents, finally went to a local charity place, they helped a lot, bless their hearts....but an eviction AND repo at the same time? i have never been so stressed, and have never been in THAT much trouble at one time. AND we had JUST turned our phone back on, AND our power, it's a mess, and we're fine for now, but still not you know? but i just got a new job as well. CHEERS...here's to SOME kind of income eh? congrats on the new job, it WILL help you i hope! i feel for you, and am praying for you, cuz i had a lot of prayers come my way and i think that really helped, even if you're not religious, i will still pray for you dear!! AND this is a GREAT place to vent!! so no worries bout that!!
1 person likes this
