So how do I begin.
Me and my gf of new got pregnant very early and we had a son. We live in California, and the cost of living has gone up considerably, while wages have not. We're in a very tough spot, and I'm trying to see if anyone has any ideas.
She's got nothing in her checking and 7k loan on her car. She's gone bankrupt, but kept her car. I've got about 4000 in my bank, but 4000 in credit card debt, and about 6k truck loan. We rent. We've got an excellent deal on rent here, and an excellent deal on child care. We've both got jobs..I've been with my job for 12 years, hers is relatively new, but her employer is great. My company is Rite Aid, which is currently trading at about 65 cents per share..meaning it could be going out of business anytime. We've been basically going negative monthly. We've been splitting cost, living meagerly, trying to get free food when it's available, while trying to get or qualify for any type of deal we can on bills. While both working "blue collar" jobs, we don't qualify for much.
So on to the catastrophic failure: her car blew a head gasket. She owes 7k on it. We can't afford to fix it. We're down to 1 working vehicle, which is my old 2002 truck..which i don't consider to be reliable. It's an old 2002 dodge diesel with terrible steering that I've been meaning to get fixed, worn shocks, etc..it's not exactly a user friendly vehicle and has a lot of quirks and could have an issue like her car at any given moment I feel like. It was a project vehicle before financial strangulation.
So..on to our assets. She's got a car with 7k left on it that's broken. I've got my truck. I've got a broken boat that I might be able to get 1500 out of. I've got some guns worth probably 1000 that I guess I don't need. I've got a broken car that probably needs a hg and trans rebuild..so basically worthless. That's literally about it.
What would you guys do? I feel like we need another reliable vehicle. She wants to do some other bankruptcy claim to get rid of her car..I feel like we need another reliable car/family vehicle..She's thinking she'll get rid of her car, then try to buy a 1000 dollar car..I'm thinking a 1000 dollar car will have issues just as her other, and we'll just be further in debt trying to get her a reliable vehicle.
Our work schedules and daycare schedule don't exactly align, so i don't even know how we're going to get by when we have to go back to work. Diesel just got raised through the roof in CA. I'll be driving my son to daycare, her to her job, me to mine..but we'll have to pay 33% more per day as a result of the scheduling issues.
We're both just mentally drained. I've spent all weekend trying to see if I could fix either car, but to no avail..I've only diagnosed hers as guaranteed headgasket, and mine, nearly certain it's the same..but I know the transmission is in need of rebuild.
What would you do? Sell my boat, sell my guns? Sell my truck and try to get a smaller or cheaper one? I really love my dumb old truck..but man, we're being hit hard here. I knew the financial suffocation was coming..but this really set it in motion before I expected it to close in. Quick onset. We've discussed moving out of state, because even with two full time jobs, good deal on rent, and good deal on child care..we're going negative every month. We just both grew up here, and all of our family/friends are here..and parents are getting older, want to see their grandson, etc..so it's been really difficult to just.."do it". We're both obviously from poor families that can't help us in any way, we can't borrow money.
I've considered trying to get a weekend job..but my full time job requirements are somewhat stressful / heavy..and I feel like I barely get to see my kid during the week as it is. A couple hours a day before he goes to sleep..and the weekend. But I suppose a roof over our heads might be more important.
Submitted December 31, 2018 at 05:38AM by GloomyRegion http://bit.ly/2AhRdCD
