Heres my situation: Ive had trouble holding jobs in the past for more than a few months at a time. I finally found a job that I feel I can stick with long term. Basically, I've been there since May and havent saved anything. Im justifying it in my mind because I went so long without a job that there are a lot of things I went without, so that's where most of my money has gone. Along with car repairs, rent, and food.
So, with that being said, here is my income and monthly expenses. My goal is to save six months rent to get my own apartment, and to save up for a newer vehicle so I can spend less on maintenance (currently driving a 28 year old car.) Possibly an emergency fund as well.
I make $13 an hour, and work 120 hours every 2 weeks usually. Accounting for overtime pay, my checks are about $1500, twice a month. When we are fully staffed, I work 40 hours a week. This has only happened one pay period since I started. An 80 hour pay period, I make about 900 per check. I want to take into account the possibility of smaller checks when getting an apartment. I know that I should only spend 30% on rent, so that may be difficult when taking into account the smaller pay checks.
My expenses are as follows: Rent (and dinner, included in rent cost) $300
Phone $45
Gas $75
Car Insurance $75
Studio time $150 twice a month (this is temporary, only 2 sessions left)
Food $200
Vaping ~$40
Netflix $10
Xbox Live $10
Credit card $10
That brings my total monthly expenses to about $1055
I have a secured credit card to build my credit with a $200 limit. I use it if I run out of money between paydays, but I pay it off before the due date and make sure I have less than a 30% balance when the bill is due.
As for debt, I got a car from a car lot in 2017. I was hit by an uninsured/unlicensed driver and the car was totalled. I did not pursue legal actions against the driver (dumb, i know.) After the initial payment, I have not made another payment or even acknowledged their attempts at collecting the debt. The balance on that loan is $8,000 dollars. After being sold to a collection agency, I have not been contacted at all regarding the loan, but it does show on my credit report as a derogatory mark. After getting the secured credit card, my score has gone from 514 to 590 within a couple months.
Ive lived off $400 a month before, so I know I can do it again. I just need help visualizing how I can do that. Ill save $500 for the first week after payday, but by the time I get paid again I'm back at $0.
Ive seen some amazing things in this sub, and I really appreciate your help! Thank you
Submitted September 14, 2019 at 07:51PM by Chriskinda96 https://ift.tt/2LQnOo2
