Starting Point
Point of Reference
Just so you know I do not claim to be an expert. I am not a CPA, financial planner or a guru of anything. I am going to try not dishing out the same babble that is great if you have money. I have heard of paying yourself first; the 10 percent for savings and 10 percent for tithing and the rest for living; spend less earn more, etc. You have heard it all too. That is why you are searching for answers – answers of how to get out of debt, how to create a filing system, how to make life better. You are trying to Get Ahead in Life.
Starting to dig out
I am starting to dig myself out of hole that never seems to go away. As my step dad says, “Why does it seem like you take 2 steps forward and three back. It seems that bad luck follows you.” I don’t know about the bad luck but the steps backwards seem to be right. We would get a nice big tax refund and then bam the transmission in the car went out. Get a raise or a better job that pays more and then bam, the doctor gives a new prescription that equals or exceeds the raise.
Finances
Let see right now we have 1,100 square foot house with a mortgage and a home equity loan. The home equity was used twice to pay off the credit cards and other debt. That was maxed out. The value of our house could pay off this debt and if we are lucky we could walk away with not owing money.
My wife has applied for disability for fibromyalgia. She has been unable to work for over a year and a half. Our lifestyle was set up for two incomes. Currently we have $100.00 a month for groceries and forget about saving for a rainy day. It is pouring now!
Our finances are in such disarray that we just closed (10/31/07) a checking account at Northshore Bank due to the overdraft fees. Last month we had an addition error. The bank hit us with $290.00 of overdraft fees. We tried to get them to waive some fees since we have been customers of theirs for over 15 years. They refused to help. They used to have great customer service and several years ago when we would fall below $0.00 they would even call us to say you have an overdraft. If you can drop off some money by 11 am, you can avoid the overdraft fee. This was great customer service but those days have gone so we took our business elsewhere.
So right now we have one good income. It is barely enough to pay for shelter and transportation and a few groceries. We are starting to figure out a plan to dig out of the hole, the new credit card debt and the old debt on the home equity. As we develop the plan, I will share with you what we have done. What works. What does not. We are just starting to develop that plan. Details will follow.
Just my 2 cents. Jim @ ChangeJarSavings.com
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