Hello all,
I read the sidebar of information. I've been lurking here for a while, but I don't think I've posted much of anything.
Here's the meat and potatoes: I am 22, a cybersecurity consultant, and I have had a very difficult life that has led to exorbitant costs that I don't think that I am able to cut. I don't know what to do, if my medical expenses weren't so high, I'd be rolling in it. My medical costs should reduce significantly in the future, but I don't know when. I went 22 years with almost no medical care so I'm playing a lot of catch-up. I also have ADHD, which tends to make impulsive purchases a problem (though since being diagnosed I've very much so curved this habit). Another bad habit is "money fear" where I have to spend money before it disappears. I've gone plenty of months without groceries (the past two for example, when I needed to get together 1.2k to fix my car due to insurance errors), so I feel this compulsive need to get money out of my bank account before it "disappears" to bills or something else I can't control. I also want to include that I have a lot of credit card debt from college, where I had no other way of obtaining costly treatments (looking at you $742.50 copay for a months worth of Vraylar), and was unable/unwilling to go through medication withdrawals to skip a month's worth of necessary medicine. I attempted to consolidate my debt onto a CC before solving a lot of the physical and mental health issues, I failed, and that is no longer an option. I know I suck, but I'm trying to get better, I just need help. I saw a financial adviser at work who told me to save up an emergency fund before paying down my CC's, but I don't know how to do that when there are still months I can't afford groceries. I maxed out my FSA contributions for 2019, but that's limited to 2k annually and that's two months of medical expenses for me, if that. As far as cuts go, I rarely eat out anymore (including coffee) and I dropped a few streaming services I liked but wasn't using as much as the $6.95 a month justified.
Sorry that this post was long and rambly, but I felt the need to provide context. Here are some numbers. I just started this job the last week of June, and I had a LOT of expenses that I needed to pay for to be able to accept it, so I've just been playing catch up. Now my major necessary expenses have calmed down and I can start to look at things. All interest rates are fixed.
INCOME:
Salary: 57k
Night shift bonus (paid every month): 1k
Year end bonus: 1.5k
Freelance art: varies, I don't like to include it as it usually just goes back to art supplies and stuff
DEBTS/BILLS:
Rent: $825 - 1bd/1ba, by myself with a cat and off street parking. I haven't been able to find a suitable roommate due to my mental and physical health conditions. I don't want to put another person through that. I live in Lancaster, PA, in the city, which is semi-low COL.
Electric: ~$90
Internet: $39.99 - I work from home, this is necessary for my job.
Gas: $10
Phone: $80 - contract with Verizon
Car loan: $180 - barebones 2013 Hyundai elantra, financed through a credit union. $7,956.91 remaining balance. I need a car for my doctor's appointments.
Car insurance: $170.28 - was in an at-fault accident in February. I have been with this insurance company since I was 18 and participate in all safe driver discounts.
Rental insurance: $20.66
Federal student loans: $140.21 - On IDR, will not go up this year as I made 35k or less for most of 2019. Remaining balance is 44,439.22
Private loan lender 1: $103.18 - $2,678 remaining balance. 2k of that balance is at almost 10.75% interest, the rest is at 6.99%
Private loan lender 2: $146.77 - $12,433.12 remaining balance at 5.99%
CC 1: $120 - $5,881.69 remaining balance
CC 2: $133 - $2,937 remaining
CC 3: $221 - $3161 remaining
CC 4: $83 - $1497 remaining
CC 5: $25 - $542 remaining
Spotify: $10.59
Netflix: $9.53
Dropbox: $11.99
Medicine: $800
Doctor copays: $200
Dance studio membership: $90 - most obvious cut but it helps my mental and physical health too much for me to let it go.
tldr: How do I budget this overwhelming thing, I need hand-holding? Also, extra tips for curbing impulse purchases and relieving the "money disappears immediately" fear.
November 20, 2019 at 06:57PM
