by Hope
Things are bad around here. I’m starting to get shut off notices from utilities and so on. I found myself Googling things like:
What jobs pay $200,000 per year
How far behind can I get on my mortgage before they foreclose
How far behind can I get on a car payment before they repossess
And I’ve been multiple places, jewelers that buy jewelry and pawn shops, trying to sell my “blood diamonds”. That’s what I call all the really expensive gold/diamond jewelry that my ex-husband would give me whenever he hit me as an apology. Evidently jewelry is not worth anything. So I still have it all. (I’ve sold all the “just gold” in the past when things were tight. But I hate to just give this jewelry away. I have the receipts, I know what was paid for it. Any suggestions for selling diamond jewelry but not giving it away? (I do have it all listed on Facebook Marketplace.)
I actually felt a little better after my night of Googling because I think I have at least through the holidays. With this paycheck I’m catching up enough on utilities to not get them shut off before Thanksgiving.
My Question
Here’s my question. Is it better to pay a little on a lot of bills or pay a lot on a single bill?
I’ve just been flying by the seat of my pants in what I pay. Prioritizing those that are about to get shut off or cut off or…you know what I mean. Thank God, that’s been enough to keep anything from getting shut off up until now.
But the reality is my car insurance bill is more than 1/2 my take home pay right now. And that doesn’t leave enough for my mortgage, utilities, food, etc. Then don’t get me started on minimum debt payments.
So my question is…
Do I pay a little on a lot of things and hope they will see that as effort? Or do I just pay a lot on the big things?
Any way you look at it, if I don’t start getting some serious cash flow coming in, January will be full of hard decisions.
Update on FreeCash.com<-link to my review on making money on Free Cash
I mentioned that I expected to have made about $75 for some the of the challenges I completed during my first hour on Free Cash but that it could take them 10 days to verify completion. Well, that $75 did hit my Free Cash account and I officially made $77.66 my first hour on that site.
Now I don’t know if that is something I can maintain as it has been challenging to find Offers/Surveys on the site that I qualify for or that I will do. Many of them require you to play games to a certain level. And I haven’t tried those yet because gaming is not really my thing and trying to get to Level ???, well, I’m not sure how long that could take.
But I am trying out some other recommended survey sites, etc. at night and will be posting some additional reviews and earnings over the next month.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
The only thing that depreciates faster than cars is jewelry. If you have no attachment to it you may just have to take the rock bottom price you can get. Try eBay as well as marketplace.
Speaking of cars, is there any way to reduce that car insurance bill? Including selling your current one (I think it is fairly new?) and getting an older car. Shop around for rates if you haven’t already.
I would say first pay whatever you have to to keep things from being shut off, then spread whatever you have left around.
I also think you need to think about why the retail places aren’t hiring you. Most are always desperate for help, and with the holidays coming they will want extra people. Are you telling them you are just needing something until you get a professional job? Are you submitting your business resume to them? If they see you’ve got a history of professional jobs they may figure out this is just a temp job to you. Are you letting them know how desperate you are for work ? (Don’t). Figure this out and you’ll have more luck.
I’ve definitely dumbed down my resume and applications for the local jobs I’ve applied for.
Selling my car will be my last resort, I would sell my home first. It’s paid for, reliable and much needed as there is no public transportation, etc. here. It gets both Beauty and I to work daily and then she uses it to get to school.
If that’s your stance you need to contact OpenDoor and sell your house before you end up in a short sale situation.
I have never heard of OpenDoor. But have already began the planning phase of what would need to be done to sell including contacting an agent.
Since I’m not yet even a month behind in my mortgage, I believe I still have some time. And have a call with my mortgage broker next week to discuss options as that will put me at the 30 days late stage.
How many cars are you insuring? Just yours and Gymnast’s? It seems like you have to make a tough call on continuing to pay for coverage on these if it means risking losing your house.
Laura is not saying to have no car, get a cheaper car and both your payment (if you have one) and your insurance will go down. Tell G that despite you saying you could help for 6 months you simply cannot pay his insurance and he needs to cover that part of the bill. B should be paying half of the other part of the bill as well. And as I have said many times, it may not be legal to have him on your insurance in any case as someone who does not attend school or live at home. You can also sell his car and get a significantly cheaper one to help him out with his upcoming payment and high insurance costs. Selling your home would be incredibly short sighted. You would not get a rental with your credit and lack of income and would again find your self homeless. I agree there has to be a reason you are not getting hired this close to the holidays, even in small towns there are seasonal jobs to be had. There is no job “beneath” you at this juncture.
Yes, thank you. That is what I meant. Older cars are cheaper to insure. G shouldn’t have a $20,000 debt at his age anyway. Reliable, used cars can be found for under $10,000. Often cheaper, I have friends who needed a cheap commuter car and bought an 18 year old Honda that still has a lot of life left in it for $2,500. If Hope’s car is paid for like she says, it would also give her some much needed extra money.
My car is paid for and has almost 100K miles on it. It’s reliable and after a check with KBB.com would not net anywhere near enough to make a difference. And who is going to help me find a reliable older car? I’ve had nothing but bad luck with buying older cars. For example, Princess first car ended up costing me almost triple in maintenance what I paid for it to keep it on the road.
As for G’s car, that has to be his call. He knows his options.
Hope, you don’t need to make 200k. Another 10k probably solves a lot of your problems and working at a gas station would achieve that.
Agreed. In fact, when Gymnast and I were speaking today about options for insurance for him as we start making some changes, I said I need to make an extra $10K by the end of the year to be ok. Unfortunately, with the job market, this tiny town, and knowing that hiring seems to come to a halt during the holidays…well, I’m getting desperate and more anxious by the day.
Your timing is perfect for temp holiday jobs. Any luck with the post office or Amazon delivery roles? Retail usually needs extra overnight stockers as well. A little bit goes a long way!
I actually thought of the post office today. I have an in there, I think. So I am planning to go in there next week and see if I could do something there for the holidays.
I’ve continued to check up on my Walgreens and Walmart applications…
But my daughter works retail and they are cutting her hours versus giving her more right now, so hopefully have Halloween the tides will turn a bit.
You can look up USPS tests now and get that out of the way. I had to drive 1.5 hours away to the nearest and earliest testing site available.
You can’t possibly believe that what your ex paid for the jewelry means it’s worth that much. It is not. Cheap–meaning quality, not price–jewelry’s appraisals are not worth the paper they’re printed on. And it’s nuts that you’d rather lose your house than downsize your car.
Downsize my car? My car is paid off, has close to 100K miles on it and is super reliable. A quick review of value on KBB.com indicates that I would make just enough to buy another used car and there would be no telling if it’s reliable. A car is a MUST have for any work I may able to get, not to mention my daughter’s school and work too since we share it.
I had no idea what to expect with the jewelry to be honest. No idea of “value” but it seems crazy to me that what is good “quality” jewelry that was originally thousands of dollars now nets about $120 (pawn shop offer.)
Just because jewelry originally costs thousands of dollars doesn’t mean it is worth that now.
If it was quality jewelry, not, as I suspect, dated mall jewelry, you’d get $ for it. Not what your ex paid or anywhere near it, but something. Jewelers/pawnshop people are in it as a business and if many of them tell you the jewelry is worth $X, then it’s worth $X. Anything is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, not what anyone paid for it. You’re only going to frustrate yourself if you keep insisting something is worth more than anyone is willing to pay.
Again, I had no real idea of it’s value. But I’d rather keep it for the kids then give it away.
It’s all 10K and 14K gold with diamonds both black and white from Jareds, not trash mall jewelry as you suggested.
You are incredibly naive if you think Jared is not trash mall jewelry.
Trash mall jewelry= any chain jeweler you would find inside or in proximity to a mall. Jared’s fits that definition.
Can you take in a roommate or list a spare room on AirB&B? Maybe stay with friends and rent your whole house on weekends? I live in a small town and I’m surprised by how many people need places to stay because there are no hotels here. My partner’s place is being used for short term rentals and it’s working well.
This is definitely something I have considered. Lots to do to make it a viable option, but it’s something I am considering.
Consider a debt consolidation via a nonprofit (PLEASE do your research as there are predatory orgs out there). Consider declaring bankruptcy. Sign up with a temp agency. You cannot afford this car insurance and you need to do something drastic there too.
I have researched several debt consolidation places. They all want me to not pay the bills for months at a time and then they step in. I just have issue with making the choice not to pay if I can. If you know of one that goes about it a different way, I would be happy to look into it.
There are no temp agencies around here for anything other than industrial work…welding, CDL, etc. things I am in no way qualified for.
taking everyone but yourself off of your car insurance is the fastest way to decrease your money going out. why aren’t you willing to do that? you would rather lose your house than tell your kids to get their own insurance?
Princess cannot afford anything other than what she is carrying right now. We have worked together on her budget and forecasting. And she is doing SO WELL at school. If I can just get through the next year, she will be launched well.
Gymnast has been told that I cannot do it anymore so we are moving forward with next steps for him.
Beauty doesn’t have a car and shares mine. I cannot take her off the insurance.
I don’t remember how long you’ve been in your house, but if you have enough equity you might be able to recast your mortgage. that should lower the payment, but it would start the clock over for the loan term.
How on earth would Hope recast her mortgage since she has no cash? And she won’t qualify to refinance with no income and bad credit. Additionally interest rates are quite high right now so possibly any starting the clock over at 30 years will be offset by an interest increase.
depends on the broker. a recast is NOT a refinance and doesn’t always cost money. my mortgage company has it set up that I can do this once for no cost during the life of the loan. and recasting does NOT affect the interest rate like a refinance does. it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Unfortunately, with little income I could not even begin to qualify to refinance my house.
Thankfully, if I do sell, I will get a reasonable amount out of it. That is Plan B and I will hope to find work before it becomes a have to sell situation.
a recast is not a refinance. different companies do it differently. I would call and ask about it. a recast won’t change the interest rate but a refinance will.
Do your kids really want their car insurance paid at the expense of a roof over your head? Because that’s what it’s going to boil down to.
And how much are you paid per post here?
A while back when the blog sold, they posted looking for people to write content. They wanted 3 posts per week with no payment. I remember many comments laughing about it.
I agree about her kids. I would think they’d rather have their mom in a house and safe, than the guilt of her losing the house/safety because she wouldn’t stop paying for their bills.
I offered for $800 a post. They countered at $30 a post. Um………….no!
Even a 200k job won’t save you if you never change your mindset. You’re only fooling yourself.
Very true statement. My mindset is changed.
And I’m not expecting a $200K job, it was an example of what a desperate person Googles, not a realistic expectation.
you don’t need a $200 K job, you need right now a job at Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, or similar. During the day when my husband and I go into one of these fast food places there aren’t kids but adults making money to pay their bills. With this expensive car drive a few miles further and put a resume in.
You are right. I am not expecting a $200K job, it was an example of what a desperate person Googles. Not reality at all. Agreed.
Why is my car expensive? It’s paid for, has almost 100K miles on it and would certainly not sell for enough to make it worth selling. Believe me, I’ve checked that route too with a look at KBB.com to find expected value if I sold.
A reliable car is a must have for any shot of maintaining a job.
Can your kids give you an “in” with any old managers for a part time job? They’ve all had success finding work in the past. If your town really has no opportunities, sell your house and move in with your parents. Honestly if you’re not willing to decrease your expenses OR try anything besides online applications for the same jobs over and over again, you’re going to lose it anyway.
Honestly it is upsetting that you’re tying to get to 200k when 55k would be plenty. Everything you write is so scattered and confusing. Instead of asking your parents to help with saving money, you had them pay for a reunion. When you lost a job, you couldn’t tell your kids you couldn’t afford NYC anymore, you convinced yourself that $5k was a steal. It’s hard to help someone who won’t help themselves.
Applying for the same jobs over and over again? Not sure what that means, but it’s certainly not what is happening.
And selling the house and moving in with my parents is Plan B which will become Plan A if I can’t find steady work by the new year. It’s on the table and has been discussed.
But I have decreased my expenses as much as I can without affecting the kids. But now those conversations are being had as well.
I am not trying to get 200K, I’m trying to get anything. That was the example of what a desperate person Googles, it’s not a reality.
And you are right about NYC, I had no expectation that it would be so hard to find a job.
You said it in your application post. You said that you saw and applied to the same job half a dozen times.
Oh, Home Depot…yes. But that is not the norm. I just hear amazing things about working for them. And it was meant to be a sign of the times in the looking for a job world. It’s so prevalent for there to be posting and no real job.
I forgot to add in my other comment, I feel like I would be paying the minimum to keep the basics on. Mortgage, electricity, heat, food, your own phone bill… and only your own.
You mentioned keeping your car over your house, but I think you and Beauty wouldn’t be very comfortable in that… and you’d need a storage unit, and you’d still possibly be liable for the cost of the mortgage.
Yes, maintaining the “four walls” as Dave Ramsey has called it has been a priority for me.
If I am forced to sell the house, I won’t get too close to foreclosure, then I would end up moving to Texas with my parents. And if Beauty is able, she would come with me. But that’s a whole other story and a major cause of stress for this mama’s heart as she will most likely not be able to leave the state…yet. If it comes to that.
How far of a drive is it to a larger town? It may be worth the time and gas.