Hey all, i'm brand new to Reddit and was told that some good advice may come out of me posting here.
I filed my tax return on 2/21/19 and was expected to receive $2500. I thought that by now I should have received it. My husband and I were in HUGE need of this after a move to a new state, me losing my job (went out of business last March - I already collected the allowed unemployment from it), medical complications and expenses, and not being able to afford rent for March, etc. I have been applying for new jobs since March of 2018 with no luck (I even applied for Subway, retail, etc). We have since caught up on rent for March. My tax refund never came and I got a letter stating that the balance (of my tax return) was paid to a delinquent balance I have through the Department of Education.
We will be going to the food bank tomorrow and i'm going to try to get on food stamps and medicare for my medical complications going on right now. I have been working with a staffing agency to find work.
I guess i'm just looking for any advice that anyone can offer. My husband and I have been together for 7 years and continue to struggle making ends meet year after year after year. My husband works 40-60 hours/week making minimum wage but is hoping for a promotion soon. I have been trying to run my own business in life coaching for about a year now since I was unable to find a job.
We have two car payments for cars we purchased when I worked the previous job I had (back when we could afford two car payments). In hindsight I wish we never did this but do not know how to get rid of these cars without losing a ton of money. We each owe $900+ in back payments for each car. Each car loan is about $14,000.
Our rent is $875/month including utilities.
We cancelled all subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, etc).
We have 3 maxed credit cards from paying for our wedding and haven't been able to afford to make payments for about a year. I have tried to apply for another but was obviously denied - same for my husband.
I have over $80,000 in student loan debt and haven't been able to afford to make payments for about a year. I have tried to consolidate but they are private loans with a co-signer (my step dad).
We can't afford car/renters/medical insurance so we don't have it.
We have a cell phone plan that costs about $100/month for both of us (which I have been thinking about getting rid of or reducing).
We have internet for $65/month.
I have $3000+ in debt from store credit cards (which i'm stupid for and regret ever getting) that haven't been paid in months.
My husband makes about $350-$380 weekly with $422/month going to child support from his previous marriage. I make about $100/week with my business.
All in all, we would probably have enough money to live if we could just get caught up, but are constantly throwing money to debt to keep it under control (so our cars don't get repo'd, etc).
Any advice would be helpful. I know I've made some terrible financial choices in the past that I regret but am unable to figure out a way to get back on track. Thanks.
Submitted March 21, 2019 at 01:02AM by Valasona https://ift.tt/2WcVhfN
