Dog Community

Bills, Bills, Bills

Posted : 7/17/2006 6:30:19 PM

I'm extremely frustrated right now. I only have $25.29 in my bank account (no savings) and I know that a charge for gasoline is going to come through for about $35.00. My bank will then charge me an insuffienct funds fee of $34.00 and that money will come out my next check, which I need every penny of.

I hate this. I hate living paycheck to paycheck. I still have to pay my car insurance and I still have to give my brother $40.00 that I told him I'd give him last Friday. The only silver lining I can see is that at least all my other bills are paid on time and my car insurance should be paid within it's grace period. I'm mostly concerned with the $40.00 for my bro because it was his b-day present. He wanted money and I was only able to give him $20.00 on his actual birthday so I said I'd give him $40.00 more on Friday. Friday has come and gone and now I don't have the money for him.

Another concern is how the heck am I going to pay for gas for the next 2 weeks? I have about 3/4 of a tank right now, but that will only last me until about Thursday if I'm lucky. Then what?

My credit cards are maxed out and that's horrible. I need to pay those down ASAP. I'm just stressed out. At least I have a job though and one that pays pretty well. I'm just recovering from an unpaid leave of absence and it's taking me awhile to get ahead of my bills again. I'm not behind or late on any payments, but I'm close to it. And Ash needs more vitamins and more dog food soon! She needs her shots and heartworm test too. Wonderful.

smilee1079

Posted : 7/17/2006 7:02:24 PM

Can you do a second job temporarily? A lot of jobs like target, and supermarkets pay weekly. Babysit even? Do some health studies (quick, easy money).

I think your bro will understand if he needs to wait a bit more for gifts. If he knows how financially strapped you are right now, waiting should not be a concern. Heck, my sis and I don't do gifts at all!

ashland

Posted : 7/17/2006 7:15:44 PM

I would take a second job, but I have Ash. Plus, I also have to do 6-8 hours of mandatory overtime every week starting this week and through the end of October. So the overtime will actually be like a 2nd job, now that I think about it. [

] That actually just made me feel better right now! The overtime will give me the extra money I need (hopefully) to get back on track. It means more time away from Ash, but I'll have to figure out to make up for that. Hmmm . . . . I guess it's just these next two weeks that are gonna be tough. At least I hope so. I can't miss anymore work.

jones

Posted : 7/17/2006 7:33:27 PM

I totally understand where you're coming from! I'm going through similar things myself (see my debt diet thread below for details). It's hard to make a living... period. I wish there was an easy solution. One thing I'm doing is moving to a new city where I can cut some of my living costs (like rent) almost in half. But that's not an option for everyone. I think if you just write out all of your expenses and then try to be creative about where you can cut costs... there may be some things you can scale down, or make substitutions for that are cheaper. (Is public transportation an option?)

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 7/17/2006 8:55:58 PM

All I can tell you Sylvia - and this is from experience - is that when we're looking the *worst case scenario* right smack in the eye, it rarely happens. Things usually start looking up, little by little. None of the things I've ever stayed awake worrying about ever actually happened. [][] Hang in there.

Joyce

boneyjean

Posted : 7/17/2006 9:50:11 PM

Some mandatory overtime is probably a really good thing. If you went and got a second job, I have no idea, but it is likely that you would be making the same as you are now and working more hours. At least with overtime, you work more hours, but you make what you normally make plus half that! Ash will understand. That is what you need to do to take care of her and to make your life with her better.

I saw a little about the debt diet the other day. It had to do with the ratio of expenses and was actually right on in my opinion. I can post the pie chart ratio if you would like. Also, I think your brother will understand that you need gas to get to work and he can get his present later. My brother and I never exchange more than $50 TOPS and we both make a decent living. I think we enjoy going out to lunch with each other more than anything. He will understand.

ashland

Posted : 7/18/2006 11:23:46 AM

Thanks guys. I know it will get better. It's just so frustrating.

I came in and checked my bank account this morning and I have - $28.00. So that will incur a $34.00 insufficient funds fee. Oh well. It's not like that hasn't happened before. My next check is my rent check and I'll be lucky if I have any money left over after I pay that. So in about a month, I should be able to start getting back on track.

This is making me wonder if I should be going on vacation with my family in the first week of September. It's been planned for months now to go to Disneyland. It's my favorite place. I don't know now though because that would mean taking 3 days off of work and about half of that wouldn't be paid. I'd also have to pay to board Ash somewhere. Another thing is that I'm going back to school this fall and school starts that week so I'd be missing my first day of some of my classes. I don't know . . . .

Jones - I just read some of your thread about the Debt Diet and I'm going to print out some of those forms from Oprah.com. That stuff is really interesting!

alieliza

Posted : 7/18/2006 11:45:33 AM

I, personally, would not go on vacation (although it sounds like you need it!). I find myself, very frequently, sacrificing things like vacation, going out for drinks/dinner, going shopping, because I need to get by with what I've got.

Like the others have said, when you expect the worst, it usually doesn't happen.

What I've started to do, now that I have moved into a new, more expensive apt, and that I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US, I have put myself on a budget.
I wrote down *realistic* figures of what I need to pay every month (rent, cable, electric, food, gas/transport, car insurance, cell phone bill, dog costs, etc), and then I figured what I can put into a sep. checking account for spending, and what I should put out into a savings account. I wll then take half of my bills budget out each pay check (I get paid biweekly). I am starting this month.....

Maybe you want to consider a budget??

Karen

Posted : 7/18/2006 2:24:05 PM

I know exactly how you feel living week to week. I seen the debt diet on Oprah last week and going to look into it (I haven't yet), but we are currently writting everything down we spend money on for a month then going to go over it, and find what we are wasting the money on and where we can save money. So far I am shocked but it is costing us more where we live at the moment then were we use to, in that I mean every day essential like fruit and veg and meat. We have cut back on a lot of things and we don't go out for drinks like we used to and I don't go shopping for clothes or anything like that all the time, I hardly buy stuff for myself, maybe once a year I might buy new clothes thats it and thats when I need to.

I know how you feel.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 7/18/2006 3:13:18 PM

Some banks, when you go online to check your account, have a page you can print up that shows every cent you spent on every different thing - it's all broken down into things like *gas & automotive, groceries, vet bills, pet stores, restaurants* etc. It's a real eye-opener because sometimes you just don't realize how much money is going out on some things. When I see how much we spend on gasoline, it makes me want to barf. [:'(]

Joyce