i am amazed you can even get 12 credit cards, i thought the banks would stop issuing them when you can't pay up.
The changes put in by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 require more documentation up front, but once that is complied with, the changes don't make much difference for 84% of people who seek Chapter 7 relief.
I am $20,000 in credit card debt. $100,000 debt in student loans. And buying a $600,000 house. Of course I am pulling in lot of income too. Just to give you a different perspective and give my self a little warning.
i think 40K a year is considered middle class now? i am pretty sure you cant get foodstamps unless you have a spouse who doesnt work and kids.
40k less 7.65% ss & medicare tax 10% effective federal income tax 33k = $2750/month after taxes 1100 mortgage (including all property taxes) 400 food & other groceries 100 cellphone 100 electricity 100 cable 100 auto gas 100 entertainment 100 house & car maintenance 100 clothes & miscellaneous (gifts, etc) 50 garbage/water 100 health insurance/co-pays 300 car Payment 100 auto insurance $0 for savings. Imagine if you have student debt or an emergency. That's assuming no children. If you have children, add in additional insurance costs, food, electricity, gifts, school functions, etc.
How can you live on 40k?? If one person cann't live on 40k then at least half of the people in the US should not be able to live at all. You do not need all those things you listed such as 100 dollar cell phone. I paid 80 dollars for cell phone last year. You do not need 100 dollar cable. You can just get the basic. You do not need 400 bucks for one person on food. The list goes on and on.
40-60k income and a bad mortgage refi has been killing many Americans lately. With interest rates looking to shoot up, it aint gonna get any easier.
If you want to to dig deep: $80 for the year? Im talking about the monthly fee. Lets assume $100 is high. $75 cell phone and $25 land line. Most people still have a land line. Do you ever get haircuts? I didn't include that. Let's assume $60/cable (once you add in taxes) and $40 for haircuts (2 x $20). How about Contacts? Prescription drugs? Do you have a dog or cat? What about food and vet bills? $400 food and groceries? Food: $5/meal x 2 meals/day x 30. That equals $300. $100/month for paper towels, toilet paper, detergent, shampoo, lightbulbs, batteries, toothpaste, soap, deodrant, contact solution, and 8 million other things at Wal Mart.
Live within your means. 39% of the household have income of less than 35000 per year in the United States. That is 39%, I am sure those people do not live at all. Poverty guide is 17,170 for three people, if he has 40k for jut himself I am sure he should be able to live fine. I tell you my family of 4 lived on 350 per month for a year in the 80's, it is not great living but we manged to do ok.
They borrow. 39% of Americans owe thousands of $ in credit card debt and probably have very little (if any) money saved for emergencies and retirement.
The answer is live within your means. Not everyone need a cell phone or premium cable or dine out. You do not need new car if you do not make enough. You purchase small homes or rent if you have to. You buy in bulk. When we were poor our family never had any debt, bank people think m parents were not telling them the truth when they bought their first home because they had 0 debt. Those 50cents per pound chicken and other onsale food items sure can make your food expense much smaller.
Forget cell phones if you can't afford it. That's a luxury. save $75+ Haircuts at some of the houston places are $3-$8, or DYI. 2x$20? You get your hair cut twice a month? Save $32/month Get Glasses. save $10 month Get Generic drugs. No pets. That's a luxury. Save tons of money / month. You can't save money going to Walmart. I've gone there to get a $5 item and end up spending $100+ each and every time. There you go. That's $300-400 /month savings right off the bat.
100 electricity 100 cable 100 auto gas 100 entertainment 100 house & car maintenance 100 clothes & miscellaneous (gifts, etc) 50 garbage/water 100 health insurance/co-pays 300 car Payment 100 auto insurance Also, you shouldn't be getting 1100 mortgage if you can't afford it. Don't need cable. Save $100. Don't need entertainment. Save $50. Don't need to be giving if you don't have money. Get a good used car, and get only liability insurance. Save 20K over 5 years.
Getting just liability is great if you 1) can afford to buy it in cash (if you finance any of it, you'll be required to have full coverage), 2) don't care about having insurance in case your car gets stolen or hit by an uninsured motorist, and 3) don't care if you get the living hell sued out of you after an accident. If you have the bare minimum coverage, you'll get sued for injuries over and above your limits. Keep in mind that the IRS and the USDOJ currently list the median family income in Texas for a household of one person as $34,418. This includes rural areas where income is lower because living costs less.
Well first of all thanks everybody for inputting their advise and opinions but I'm still kinda stuck at what's the best option I should do. At first I was thinking about consolidation program but then have heard about some bad things that can happen. Dont wanna get tied into something else. Bankrupty? kinda never though about going that route .. but Refman make it seems like it mite be a better option. Home loan would be a good idea but I"m just afraid to tie it to my house with my bros and sometime happen later and I cant keep up with payment. Dont want to risk foreclosure. but at my rate making only 40k a year with house mortage and other bills it seems like I mite never pay it off stressss
