I know that this subreddit sees a lot of postings from people looking for advice so let me say first that I really appreciate you all taking the time to read this and potentially offer me your thoughts.
For reasons of naivety and stupidity that I'll someday soon address to r/psychology I spent my twenties ignoring my financial responsibilities and debts. Now at 31 the reality/gravity of my situation has become too much and I don't know where to start. So I've outlined here my income, expenses, debt and credit situations as I understand them.
INCOME: I work as a freelance photographer so while my income is approx. $45k this year (before taxes--approx 38k after) none of that shows up in a consistent pattern. Some months it arrives in thousands, some months I see nothing at all which leaves me unable to pay rent, health insurance, let alone student loan payments or setting anything aside for savings.
EXPENSES: I live in NYC and have about $2200/month in expenses. About $1,000/month for rent, $200/month for transportation, $370/month in health insurance, $400/month for food, $115 for gym. All of which gives me massive anxiety b/c of my unstable income. Again...for r/psychology later.
DEBT: I currently have $93,762 worth of debt from student loans (most of which is interest from never having dealt with it after college). It consists of 4 loans--all of which are in collections with ECMC and the AMCA, for $49,369, $26,359, $16,960, and $1,074. I don't even know how to start addressing this.
CREDIT: I currently have no credit cards and due to my credit scores (550 transunion, 580 equifax) and ongoing student debt it seems impossible for me to start repairing this. It's left me in a position where I can't even get my own apt b/c of credit checks.
I'd really appreciate any advice on where to even start, what kind of a long term plan I might use to tackle such a large debt with my unstable income, and in the short term what can I do to repair my credit. And any other advice you might have.
Submitted March 10, 2017 at 11:02AM by stabilitywherearthou http://ift.tt/2mPY5BL
