As the title says - I live in upstate NY, I have a 6 year old son and I work an 8-4:30 job as well as an overnight job (10:30-7am) a day or two a week. I have 30,000+ in student loans that I almost never pay on (they defaulted about 3 years ago and I had my wages garnished. On top of that I had to enroll in a program through the company that owned my loans and ended up having to pay about $500/month between the garnishment and 7 months plan to get myself out of default). I'm always behind on my electricity. I claim a tax exemption of 4 federally and 3 state (instead of the typical 0) because I was afraid of not being able to afford my bills and ended up owing $1100 to the IRS (turned into a $25.00 a month payment plan). And now I'm terrified of lowering them, even though I absolutely have to, out of not being able to afford what I need to.
I make $14/hr and work 37.5 hours per week with no chance of OT. I also work 8-16 hours a week at an overnight position that makes $11/hr. It's a temp position, so some weeks I don't work any hours. It's pretty sporadic, but I've managed to get at least 1 day a week on average. I'm making about $935.00 every two weeks at my day job, and $76.44 every week from the overnight job.
Expenses -
Rent $550.00
Internet - $50.00
Netflix - $10
Electric - $100
Cell Phone - $100 (upgraded to a newer iphone early last year where they tacked on an extra $12/month to my bill for 2 years)
Food - $140 (I tend to spend more on Fridays when I pick my son up for the weekend buying the things he wants. I almost never eat out.)
Gas - $120 give or take
Child Support - $360 ($90/week. My son's mother and I never went through the courts. We decided on the child support amount and me getting him every weekend the moment that we split up 5 years ago).
Car - $265.00 (I have $661.00 left on the car. So that's two normal payments and a smaller third payment. I was hoping to be able to make two larger payments over the next two months and have it paid off one month early)
Car Insurance - $143.00
401K - $68.30 (I was automatically enrolled at a 3% rate). I know I never see this money in the paycheck, but would it be at all worthwhile to stop contributing at the moment and bank that money? My car will be paid off in 2-3 months. When that happens I will have that $265.00 free as well as lowering my car insurance (as I wont have to carry full coverage any longer). I want to take care of my student loans. I want to put money in savings. I want to not have to work a second job any longer (as it tends to conflict with my son's practices and/or games). What do I lower my tax exemptions for federal and state down to (I ask because I have no idea how much the amount of money I get paid will change based on changing those exemptions in NY)? I've been a person that has always been horrible at paying bills because I have a fear of paying bills and then not having any money (stupid, right?). I always wait until the last possible moment, or even too long, to ensure that I have more than enough money to pay my bills. I pay my rent on time, every month, without issue. I've been in debt since I was probably 20 years old. I don't want to live that life anymore. I have a 6 year old that wants a father he can rely on. It's my job to provide for him for Christmas, his birthday, and everything in between. I grew up in a poor household where our Christmas gifts were delivered by a truck and labeled with stickers that said "To: Boy". I don't want my son to experience that life. I want to be able to afford a home in the not so distant future. Being broke and constantly anxious about it has put a huge damper on my life in general (social, dating, self confidence, etc...).
I don't know that anyone here can help me change my life around. But I've seen so many people thank this sub for helping them climb out of debt and live a life of no/less financial stress, and I'm realizing (better late than never) that I can use all of the help I can get right now if I'm ever going to right this sinking ship. Thanks!
Submitted July 06, 2017 at 12:00PM by ArKiVeD http://ift.tt/2tudys7
