Hey, /r/personalfinance. I could really use any advice who really doesn't really know who to turn to.
In Summer 2015, I went to the hospital overnight for Bell's Palsy. A really really minor condition that gets mixed up with strokes because of the one-sided facial paralysis. So, lots of doctors, tests and an overnight stay later, I got out. I got the bill later and stupidly, let it go to collections because I was ignoring a lot of my life responsibilities that semester due to depression because my mother had died and subsequent messy fall out with my step-father earlier that year.
But excuses aside, I paid off a bit of the debt from my savings but am still left with $12k and my student debt and shitty credit in the high 500s. I graduated in Dec and my aunt let me stay with her until I got a full-time job.
I'm about to start this job and currently staying in a new place. I make only 40k a year and my calculations lead me to believe that'll I'll have about 2600 a month in take-home.
Rent: $700
Utilities: ~$100
Food: Aiming for $250. Got around this in college.
Gym: $35
Random expenses/shopping: Maybe $100-$200 I'll see after this month since I'm spending my savings a bit more on new stuff for my room
Transportation: $0 Job pays for transport and it's also a 15 min bikeride when the transport stipend runs out
That should leave me with about 1.2k extra a month.
I'd like to use half of it to pay off debt and half of that to save for my goals which: 1. Emergency fund 2. A car in 1-2 years 3. Further education (when they said STEM pays, they forgot to mention my BS in Chemistry wasn't included)
So to help, can anyone lend advice with dealing specifically with medical debt?
Can I still negotiate with the hospital at this point? What can I do to pay less money with collection? I attempted to pay less but they said they only offered a 10% discount on lump sums.
Also, any anecdotes with someone who were in similar positions in my age? Just trying to fix this shitty situation so I can be in a good position in my 30s.
Submitted April 02, 2017 at 10:17PM by SleepyOta http://ift.tt/2n2Qroe
