I'm going to try and keep brief, but please ask any questions you need.
--- SHORT STORY ---
We're in over our heads. My boyfriend and I blew through savings last year when our friend didn't join us on a lease. I'm not willing to go after the money, it'd destroy my last friendship. I'm never going to go into money shit with her again.
I had a medical emergency and went into further debt to pay for it.
Now, my boyfriend is working two jobs to pay down the debt. I'm looking for a second job and then a new primary job with benefits and real hours. But I'm terrified of my future.
--- BUDGET ---
INCOME
Job 1, 30 hours a week, >500 biweekly.
Job 2, <12 hours a week, 200 in wages biweekly, anywhere from 8 - 80 dollars in tips nightly. All of this goes to debt.
Job 3, >30 hours a week, >600 biweekly.
Grandmothers benevolence, 200 monthly. Pays for cell phone bill.
In December, my boyfriend has a CD worth >7000 coming up. We want it to go to liquid savings.
SOUL SUCKING BILLS
Rent, 900. We share with a roommate, cannot afford to terminate lease, moving to a cheaper city with same rent no roommates in December.
Electricity, 50.
Water Sewer, 75.
Internet, 35. Bare minimum offered by internet provider.
(And here's where it gets fucky.)
Car insurance, 119. Locked into four more months of payments, I just got my license this year at 22. I drive an old, well maintained car and will have paid more in insurance than I paid for the damn car. Can't not have it, need to visit family and get to work.
Health insurance, 177 for JUST ME. Used to be 89 with a tax credit, but suddenly hiked.
Phone bill, 240 for me and my sister. Contract is up in July but my fucking sister leased a new phone for another 1.8 years. Going to go to a basic phone (bye Reddit!) and a small data plan then.
Gas, 240 a month both of us. Boyfriend needs it for his job, pizza delivery. This is assuming we fill up once a week, but it's closer to every two weeks for me.
No concrete budget for food. We buy a 25 lb bag of potatoes when it runs out, 20lbs of rice, carrots, and that kind of all we eat anymore. I wish I was joking. We do each get a tub of ice cream once every other week.
--- DEBT ---
His credit card <1,000. Our current focus for paying off.
My first card, 500. On autopay for 75 a month.
My second card, 1500. On autopay for 25 a month (minimum + interest) until we can focus on it.
My medical debt, 1300. Interest free if paid off before March. Paying off in January latest to avoid fuckery.
I don't want to close the cards. We used them to avoid eviction and haven't needed them since. Before we were totally responsible with them. My boyfriend actually got charges for paying it off TOO often.
--- QUESTIONS ---
Please help me. I'm not sure what to do. I'm thinking about dropping my health insurance to save money. I only use it for birth control anyways, and if I get sick enough I honestly might off myself anyways. I'm working on getting a second job too, and I need a job with fucking benefits that lets me work over 30 hours. Is there anything else I can do to keep our heads over water? There's no one to turn to. All my family is dead or destitute, my grandma is paying the phone bill mostly for my sister. My boyfriends family is incredibly small and strained as well. My boyfriend is exhausted working two jobs. Our relationship is solid, but this is the most trying thing so far.
He is trying to go back to university for a useful degree, and I am trying to get back into retail management where I enjoyed working. We need help for the immediate future, so we can even think for a second about long term.
Please. I really appreciate anything, even hard advice. I don't know where to look for help or what to do next.
Submitted May 20, 2017 at 11:52PM by BubblingBastion http://ift.tt/2pXOQS6
