Right, so some backstory and sob story mixed together.
I'm a 21 year old gal, and had been following my parents financial advise as I've tried to get on my feet. I make $10/hr and work 34-37 hours a week. Barring getting sick for a day, I'm pulling $1,000-1,100 at the end of the month before expenses. The job I'm working for offers the best insurance plan for me in the state, and I need to work there until I get a major surgery covered in approx 7 months. Any other employer provided or private insurance plan would deny coverage (I've tried) and this employer's in-house supplementary plan will cover the entire $40,000+ cost, and that's including the deductible and out-of-pocket max of the regular plan I'm paying for. I need to make it to this surgery and after I can more or less resume a normal life.
Things aren't quite going the way I planned, as I've had numerous health issues pop up. I have some serious joint issues (among other things) and was looking to move from my old manual car to something with an auto that was more comfortable, and got talked into a car that I can't afford. I put about $2000 down on this vehicle, which cost $16,000. I absolutely love the car but was brought to my senses by some commentors on a AskReddit thread and a panic attack to go with. I ran my concerns by my parents and brought up buying an old beater and got shot down (and it has since come to light that my Mom is drowning in debt and living like the 2% she used to be and my Dad is 50+ with no retirement plans so we all see how well their advice worked for themselves). I'd never really had reason to question them before so I didn't, and the decision to buy was ultimately on me and not them. Plus they've been helping me out quite a bit and I'm massively grateful for it but I also don't like being so dependent. So, here we are. I need to fix my shit before I end up like them.
I'm incredibly fortunate that my Dad has been helping me financially for this long but he's cutting most of it (understandably) come January. Obviously, I can't afford the car. I definitely won't be able to get the money I put in back but I'm hoping I can at least break even on the loan. I have $2,700 in my savings and $1,000 in my checking.
My expenses from this month are as follows:
Rent & Utilities: $300/month. That's fixed and includes utilities, not likely to change anytime soon.
Gas: $160. I had to accept a position at a location further away to get the job, will be speaking to my boss about a transfer to a closer location on Monday.
Food: $100. I admit I've eaten out quite a bit recently, but I could stop with some discipline and cut that number by a bit.
Car payment: $240. This was being paid short term by my dad since I had worked myself into two consecutive ER trips awhile back. I'll be on the hook again in January as I said.
Healthcare: $80. Saving me tens of thousands in the long run, worth it. Also will bring my prescription costs down, which are currently $33/mo for everything.
Debt Payments: $60/mo for a specialist visit last year for cardiac issues. Final payment is December (woo).
Misc: $10/mo for Apple Music. I'm in the process of cancelling all my other subscription services and Patreon subs, which was another $50/mo.
My car insurance (which would go down) and phone bill ($20) will remain covered for the time being, as well as my minimal student loan payment ($110/mo for $9k remaining in debt).
Some one time expenses this month included a new jacket, three shirts (thrifted), and two pairs of pants (also thrifted). Total for all of it was about $120 and I sold a PS2 and few other things to pay for it so eh?
I realized I typed this all out without a question in it.
I need to be able to pay for a single months living expense while in recovery from surgery, plus 1 week in a nearby hotel and a roundtrip plane ticket while I'm there. The longer I have to put it off the longer I'm stuck making $10/hr.
With that in mind, what would be a good way to proceed? Sell my car, hope to break even, buy a beater for $2k or less, and transfer to a closer work location?
Anywhere else I could cut expenses? With the exception of food I try to not spend much on myself, and hell most of my clothes have holes now. I'll be honest I'm still in emotional breakdown mode and am acutely aware of how I've fucked up so I really appreciate all y'all and I'll be seeing an adviser from my credit union on Monday. <3
Submitted November 17, 2018 at 10:46PM by Beekatiebee https://ift.tt/2QaGlQg
