Made a new account to post this because I am embarrassed and shameful of the situation I have put myself in.
For context of how I got in this situation (TLDR at end), this time last year, I was living in a foreign country with a very favorable exchange rate for a school program with a remote job paying me a little over $60,000USD salary. I had about $4,000 in credit card debt at the time from some skin and aesthetic procedures I chose to do but at that time for my financial situation, it was very manageable.
Unfortunately, that company was not doing well and despite my boss telling me my job was safe, unfortunately they let me go rather suddenly. Since I was living in a foreign country, I could not file for unemployment and I had just a couple more months left of my school program with enough money in savings that I figured I would just stick it out until I got home. I thought it would be easier to find a job once I came back to America because I have about 8 years of experience in my field and never really struggled much to find work before.
Because I was reckless and my financial situation wasn’t so troubling at the time, I was very irresponsible about how I was allocating my money and choosing to do fun things and live life and enjoy my time traveling around the country in my free time rather than be prudent about saving. I really do recognize my mistakes.
That was officially one year ago. I have been unable to find a job that can support me since then. I had one job offer that would force me to move to an extremely high cost of living city (DC) where the wage was so incredibly low, plus union dues, plus an exorbitant mandatory parking fee (metro was not an option for me because my work hours were outside the operating times) and would not even be enough to pay my minimum expenses, plus an extremely high rent, utilities, car insurance, gas etc..
I live in a smaller town that has very limited employment opportunities - none in my industry at all (broadcast production) - and remote work seems to be impossible to find. I have been applying to jobs basically every day for a year in my industry, outside my industry, similar to my industry, anything. Even tailoring my resume as best as I can for each one, but I can’t even get an interview at a fast food place.
Right now, I live at one of my parent’s house - rent-free, gratefully - and am basically just living off my credit cards, paying my credit cards with my credit cards, and earning some money here and there from odd jobs. I now only have about $40 in my bank account and I am completely hopeless.
13 months ago everything in my life was amazing and it feels like it all collapsed so suddenly I really don’t know how to get out of this despair.
TLDR: Lost job a year ago, didn’t save as thoughtfully as I should have, no employment prospects.
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Wells Fargo CC @ 16.4%: $9,250 / $12,000 credit limit (Min. payment: ~$160)
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Capital 1 CC1 @ 26.4%: $9,260 / $10,000 credit limit (Min. payment: ~$250)
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Capital 1 CC2 @ 25.4%: $7,020 / $8,000 credit limit (Min. payment: ~$225)
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Best Buy CC @ 0% (until June 2025): $375 / $2,000 (Min. payment: $29)
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Citi Bank CC @ 29.24%: $0 / $6,900 credit limit (Min. payment: $0)
My only scheduled monthly payments are my car insurance ($115), my car loan ($286) which I still owe $10,400 on and do not have positive equity in, and gym membership ($60) which I feel is necessary for me because I have very bad chronic hip pain and they have water aerobics classes and gentle yoga which my doctor recommended to me to help with the pain.
I am up to date on all payments, and have never missed a payment.
TOTAL DEBT: $25,530
I can give a greater detail of my spending, if necessary but I basically live on the bare minimum. I usually only eat once a day a meal that my mom cooks for me, I don’t shop or buy things outside of necessity, I have no streaming services, etc.
I don’t intend on buying a house in the next 7-10 years and I don’t intend on ever having children. I have no assets or property other than my car.
I spoke with a bankruptcy attorney about this and he said I’d be a good candidate, but I wanted other opinions because I’ve never had to do anything like this before and I want to make sure I’m making the right choice.
Submitted August 21, 2024 at 06:06PM by gogifriend https://ift.tt/asKpb6C
