View Full Version : Financial dilemma question.
So, I don't normally post about my personal business on the forum, but I have kinda gotten myself into a financial problem here and just wanted to get some general opinions about my potential course of action. I'm just going to speak in general terms here without going into the specific dollar amounts.
Just for the sake of establishing some background here:. Im currently 37 years old. In October of 2016 I closed on my first house. I had joked at the time that it was a risky period to be buying a home what with my union's contract negotiations happening a month later in November, however typically our negotiations basically just maintained the status quo, and after ten years of living in an apartment I desperately wanted my own house. Apartment living was becoming intolerable for a variety of reasons.
Well, of course, our contract negotiations ended up going very badly for my union, and we all took a significant pay cut (Equivalent to about a quarter of my yearly income). And now I had a mortgage for a house that I had bought based on my previous income, I can still afford the house but not as easily as I could before (While house shopping, I made a conscious decision that I did not want to live paycheck to paycheck because every cent I earned was going to my mortgage, so I deliberately chose a smaller, lower priced home). My mortgage payments auto-deduct from a savings account, a certain amount of money goes in every month via direct deposit and every month a broadly equivalent amount of money goes out to pay the mortgage. Up until August of 2016 my car payments came out of that account too, but I paid my car off two months before taking on the mortgage. Otherwise I don't really touch this account and the amount of money in there has remained at more or less the same level since I closed on the house. Aside from the mortgage payments, and my car payments back when I had those, that account is "emergency money" that I generally just leave alone.
Meanwhile, with my reduced income I found myself relying on my credit card more than I ever had before because I was attempting to maintain a lifestyle similar to what I had for the ten years prior to my sudden pay cut.
My monthly minimum payments on the card are now becoming burdensome, and the other day it finally sunk in just how much debt I've racked up on that card - equivalent to about half of what is in my savings account.
I've begun debating taking 25% to 50% of the balance of that savings account and wiping out 50% to 100% of the credit card debt, then once that's done take the difference of what I had been paying in monthly minimum CC payments and via direct deposit adding that amount to the money that is already going into that savings account every week, which would start replacing the money I robbed from it (albeit very slowly, like over the course of several years).
Meanwhile, going forward, I'd be trying to conduct myself more responsibly with regard to my credit card, and accept that life is different now and I just don't have the income that I used to have.
So does this sound like the best of a bunch of bad options? Or should I leave the savings account untouched and just keep chipping away at my CC debt via minimum payments?
Right now, I'm leaning toward robbing the account, paying either a significant portion of my credit card debt, or all of it, and starting over fresh, and trying to budget better and not letting this happen again. but I'm curious if it's a particularly risky or stupid idea to draw my savings down in this way. (It's obviously risky and stupid, but I mean is it riskier and stupider in comparison to what I'm currently doing?)
The idea of cutting my account balance down by that much kinda makes me sick, but so does my credit card debt.
Leaveammoforme
04-20-18, 03:29
While not a financial advisor by any stretch of the imagination... I have BTDT.
---Snip---
The only reason I lay all this out is for you to realize the stress that may be headed your way. Pay off that card.
I would do half like you said.
Paying minimums will take forever and youll get bent over the interest.
On the otherhand, draining you account leaves no emergency $. A 6mo coverage of absolute essentials or enough to buy a used but reliable car are what i personally do not like to fall below.
Try to put a little extra on each month as well. Even $10 will save you a bit in the long run.
Not a pro, but I lived tight for a few years and am paying iff a few loans right now.
Depends on equity in home
Is it in a nice area or ok can you sell and buy something less
Or is it already about a low of area ya want to go
I would pay off the cards for sure cut out any all extra spending etc...
Buckle down get tight
Build back up
But imho don’t do what any of us say talk to someone who can help and knows all sides of where you are at
While not a financial advisor by any stretch of the imagination... I have BTDT.
.
Wow, you weren't kidding. that's certainly frightening. An absolute nightmare scenario.
Yeah, I'm leaning pretty hard toward doing a lump sum payment on that card. I guess right now the question whether I pay half, three-quarters or so, or all if it. Even if I pay the whole card balance I would still have somewhat of a financial cushion left in the account, just not as good of one as I'd prefer.
I guess I should feel fortunate that it's even within my means to get out from under the debt this quickly if need be. I also feel like if I don't take some kind of drastic action now, the situation may deteriorate in another couple years or so to the point where resolving it on my own like this will no longer be feasible.
thepatriot2705
04-20-18, 06:43
Do you have multiple credit cards?
Are you getting a decent tax refund this year?
Depends on equity in home
Is it in a nice area or ok can you sell and buy something less
Or is it already about a low of area ya want to go
I would pay off the cards for sure cut out any all extra spending etc...
Buckle down get tight
Build back up
But imho don’t do what any of us say talk to someone who can help and knows all sides of where you are at
I'm not likely to get a cheaper house that's move-in ready in the vicinity of my job for substantially less than what my current house cost me. I deliberately kinda went with the "economy" route on the house, and got something decent, but small, because with no kids and none planned I didn't have much in the way of space requirements. It's still affordable for me, I can't imagine anything else being much cheaper short of going back to renting again, but taking that pay cut in 2016 really tightened things up.
Do you have multiple credit cards?
Are you getting a decent tax refund this year?
Just the one credit card. I got my refund in February and it's already been spent on some items for the house.
horseman234
04-20-18, 07:06
I'm a non-practicing CPA. Payoff the cards, starting with the highest interest card, and in the future, try to pay the outstanding balance in full every month, unless you are unable to in the case of an emergency. In general, paying interest is a bad idea unless the asset you bought with the borrowed funds is returning a greater return than the amount of interest paid. Unfortunately most of us have to borrow in the case of larger items such as homes, vehicles, and for emergencies. Try to live frugally now, save, and you will have a brighter financial future. That is easy to say, but harder to do.
Ed Latimore recently said the following which I found pretty much sums up how we should live:
"Put yourself through difficult trials now or life will do it for you eventually. And when life does it, it's going to be with the greatest intensity at the worst possible moment."
"The longer you avoid voluntary discomfort, the longer you'll have to endure mandatory suffering."
I'm a mortgage person and have seen this happen many times. As others here have said pay off the credit card completely and shut it down. Pay cash for everything after that. Once you have paid the card off then start putting money back into your savings. Try to get to at least 6 months of reserves and then you can relax up a bit. Until that point forget about the extra's. You said you were trying to maintain your lifestyle before the contract cuts. Unfortunately that is no longer so you have to scale back to where you are now. Depending upon what your employment skills are you may want to start looking for better employment with higher wages. Just a thought. I'm kind of a Dave Ramsey person when it comes to finances. Over the years my wife and I have completely paid off all of our debt and we just have the house payment now. That will be gone in 8 years and we definitely have no plans to relocate. We started paying off the smallest balance card and worked out way up from there. We had kids through all of this and never went out to restaurants. Cheaper to eat at home and the meals were healthier. Took about 4-5 years to pay off a good bit of debt. Wasn't easy but we did it. You have it easier without kids and sounds like you have the means to pay off the credit card and just have a house payment already. I guaranty you that if you get to where you only have the house payment the stress will be dramatically less. Budget yourself out on paper and you will discover funds you were wasting that you didn't realize you were.
I know you don't want to be specific with actual numbers but if you go to a debt counselor that will the first thing they ask. The approach will be based on the numbers. We found ourselves in a similar situation 20+ years ago after buying a home. We put $50,000 cash into the home and dug a $25,000 deep hole with credit cards furnishing it! All along we said.. Let's pay it off next month but next month never came. Suddenly it was all we could do to make the minimum payments without a lifestyle change. We made a list of where every penny went and made cuts everywhere we could. It wasn't that hard to come up with 5-600 a month by cutting some corners. Spending what we had to spend not what we were in the habit of spending. We then applied every dime we saved to the card with the highest balance. Once we got the first card paid off the others became easier and easier to pay off. It took a couple of years but we did it!
Pay down the card. Either cancel it or lock in the safe and only pull it out for emergencies.
We did not get into a jam but my wife and I realized that we were really living a lifestyle that we really could not afford. It felt like we were fine but when I looked around, someone else owned everything that we counted as ours. All of our life choices revolve around making sure we have enough money coming in to pay off debt. We started paying off and eliminating cards. The other thing we did was look at everything we spend money on and went for the most cost effective option. You would be surprised where saving $5 on this and $7 on that on a monthly basis will get you if you go through everything. We did not make drastic changes and we have a ways to go but being out from under the debt monkey and still living comfortably is a good feeling.
We have one credit car between us and I take it with us when we travel in case we have a breakdown or get stuck somewhere. Other than that it is locked in the safe with our important papers. We are not any less happy and don't want for anything. You have been smarter than some of my friends who have charged themselves right into bankruptcy. Just work your plan and stay disciplined and you'll get there. It is a great feeling.
Best few minutes regarding being in debt I have seen. Watch the whole thing it starts slow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJjKP8vYjpQ
Spending what we had to spend not what we were in the habit of spending.
Solid advise that ... live simply & pay off that debt! You had courage to post that here, now go MAKE IT HAPPEN ...
I definitely appreciate the feedback from everyone here. I'm seeing a lot of consensus about just biting the bullet and paying off the card, which felt like the right answer to me, and is technically within my means to do so, but I wanted to get some other opinions before actually going through with it.
Better to deal with this now while it's still just a "dilemma" as opposed to finding myself in truly dire straights later on.
Welcome to the enslavement of credit cards. BTDT. My advice is to do what you can to get the card paid off (I did a loan against my 401k) - then burn it! No more cc! It takes some discipline and a change in mindset, but can be done. We have been cc free for 8 years now and it is liberating.
Remember, the cc companies are not your friends. If they forgive debt as a result of a negotiation, you can expect a 1099 will be filed with the irs on the forgiven debt so it will be counted as taxable income. They don't have to do this, but they will.
pay off the CC from your emergency fund, in full. The 15-20% interest is EATING YOU ALIVE. Turn the CC into the emergency fund while you repay your own emergency fund. Lock the CC in a safe deposit box in a bank that takes 30 minutes to get to and is closed on the weekends.
Welcome to the enslavement of credit cards. BTDT. My advice is to do what you can to get the card paid off (I did a loan against my 401k) - then burn it! No more cc! It takes some discipline and a change in mindset, but can be done. We have been cc free for 8 years now and it is liberating.
Remember, the cc companies are not your friends. If they forgive debt as a result of a negotiation, you can expect a 1099 will be filed with the irs on the forgiven debt so it will be counted as taxable income. They don't have to do this, but they will.
Yeah I've heard negotiating debt forgiveness can harm your credit score as well, last I knew I still had good credit as I haven't been delinquent on any payments. They are just getting harder to make. I'd like to get out of this with my credit score mostly intact.
pay off the CC from your emergency fund, in full. The 15-20% interest is EATING YOU ALIVE. Turn the CC into the emergency fund while you repay your own emergency fund. Lock the CC in a safe deposit box in a bank that takes 30 minutes to get to and is closed on the weekends.
Yep, I think this is probably pretty much what I'm going to do. Although the idea of actually keeping the card off-site and difficult to access hadn't occurred to me, but has merit.
It's weird finding myself in this mess as up until recently I wasn't the "type" of person to overextend himself and get into debt.
I was careful and responsible with money.....until the day I wasn't. I think my financial situation changing so abruptly after a decade was the catalyst, but as others have said here, time to accept that those days are gone.
Desparate times call for desparate measures.
Cc interest is rediculous.
Do you have a budget? Set one. Figure out what you can spend each month and pay off CC quickly (6mo for example).
Critique each $ spent. Eat eggs and vegetables for a month, dont go out, only eat when really hungry.
IME food is the easiest way to blow huge amounts of cash.
Income- bills - gas- food necessities = disposable income for extra CC payments, etc. Use a towel instead of papertowles, No movies, no cable, etc. skimp for 6 months and pay off CC and build savings to a set min before returning to normal.
I disagree with the notion that CC is slavery- its voluntary. If you have the self control, you can make profit from them... but it takes discipline. If you cant handle it, cut it up and use debit after you build a savings to fall back on.
Just my 2 cents.
Rayrevolver
04-20-18, 21:05
Not a financial adviser either...
Bank Of America Americard (or something like that) has zero balance transfer fees and zero interest for ~12-15 months. If you qualify, hopefully move the credit card balance over... and then never use that card. Even if you pay the minimum you should save a bunch on the interest and slowly pay down the card. You can always jump to another card at the end and keep paying it down.
I like keeping the savings up and this way you are not fighting interest.
Best course of action is don't do anything. Go to the library and check out "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Spend the weekend reading cover to cover. Next week make a plan based on what you've read. Then call in on Dave's program and discuss it with him, the problem and your plan. He will give you the best advice. If you follow his plan you'll win.
If you just throw money at it you'll temporarily improve things but time will work against you and do it's best to drag you right back where you started from. A total overhaul is your best bet. Good luck.
1) Get control of your spending that has resulted in the high credit card. It makes no sense to pay the card down only to run it up a year later.
2) Try to get the interest rate reduced by any means possible. Negotiate with CC company, do a balance xfer, or get a loan, or second mortgage. It is the interest that kills most people on credit cards. If you can get a low rate, then make payment plan to pay it off over that fixed time of the loan.
3) I would not lump sum the paying off the card. It is risky to take that much out. Do it in 4-5 installments, hence if something unforeseen happens, you still have some money.
militarymoron
04-20-18, 23:06
Your credit card debt IS your emergency. Pay it off with your emergency fund. If you have a REAL life threatening emergency (other than your credit card debt), you can use the credit card.
Stop using the credit card. Period. That's what Dave Ramsey is going to say. Check out his blog. https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/the-truth-about-credit-card-debt
Buy only what you really need. Nothing new for the house. No booze or non-essentials/luxuries. Swallow that pride until you're out of the credit card debt situation.
Coal Dragger
04-20-18, 23:09
As noted, get control of your spending.
Pay off the card(s) as quickly as possible in larger installments from income and savings so you do have some cushion left over.
Now for the brass tacks....
You need to seriously consider finding a new job. If your union negotiating team did such a poor job with your current contract that you went backwards, it’s most likely time to ditch that job. If your employer cares so little about all of you and doesn’t value your time, then you should let them know what you think of them and find something better.
This may involve relocating. Probably will in fact. So I’d put your house on the market and sell it. It’s not a house for you right now, it’s a prison keeping you chained to a geographical location.
I can say I have been there. In fact I posted about my troubles a few years back right here on the forum.
And first let me say that this too shall pass. Keep your head up and fight through it! As hard as these situations are we can always get out of them.
As to your specific question, I will repeat what others have said. Pay down the Credit Cards above all else. If you don't they will quickly spiral out of control and you will be throwing money away in interest.
After that cut back on everything you can. Slower internet, worse phone plan, get rid of Cable
Look at every single bill and expense you have. It is amazing how quickly the small things add up. $5 or $10 here and there quickly turns into $100 or $200 or more per month.
Luckily the credit card debt was primarily racked up buying non-neccessity items and I cover my day to day living expenses (gas, food, phone) via my checking account, so while tightening my belt is a given, I'm not going to be forced into a situation where I'm going to have to live like a pauper. I just need to exercise some real restraint.
Essentially what happened is I pay most of my essential expenses outright but was using the credit card to replace the formerly disposable part of my income that I lost following the pay cut and after ten years of living fairly high on the hog and basically being able to buy whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, it was hard to suddenly start living like someone with a reduced income and a mortgage (especially because both these things happened within a month of each other).
I'm not really in a position where I'm going to lose my house, or where I have to start selling guns to pay the bills, I just need to stop buying so much "stuff", which is admittedly easier said than done.
This whole problem stems not from being unable to cover my cost of living but trying to live beyond my means, which, in a way, makes me feel better. Because once I address the debt and force myself to cut back on the luxury items, I'll probably be okay
Regarding the ineptitude of my union actually managing to negotiate lower wages for us, yes it was a complete atrocity. Our negotiators completely rolled over. We also get paid straight time for working holidays now too. I already loathed my job back when I was getting paid more, so you can imagine how I feel about it now. But the fact is, I'm probably going to hate any job I have, and even post pay cut, this job is probably the best paying one I'm likely to get with my pretty limited work and educational background. And honestly I really like my house and living where I do so selling the house and going elsewhere is really an utter last resort.
And after getting one of the Dave Ramsey books, start listening to his pod casts as well. That'll help you keep on track until you get ahead. You can dig yourself out of the hole, it'll just take a while. We are cash only with some use of a debit card (mainly fuel purchases). Only CC I have is my company card for business travel.
I also have a separate account that pays all the monthly bills, I put just a little more than the average of all my reoccurring bills. Everything is auto deducted so I never have to right a check. Plus it's liberating not having to worry if there is money in the account or wondering if i need to wait to buy something before I pay a bill. Our walking around account covers gas and anything else we decide to buy, mostly amazon prime junk...lol
RetroRevolver77
04-21-18, 10:20
I was a securities licensed financial adviser and asset manager for over a decade. What I'm going to say is pretty much common sense and doesn't require a degree in Finance. Now granted I can't give you specific advice nor can it be misconstrued as replacement for hiring an financial adviser. Most advisers won't talk to you unless you are investing but a fee based planner will take your case. I wouldn't talk to anyone that isn't running some type of planning software to help you visualize your goals, be it Profiles Professional or something along those lines.
I would look at refinancing the mortgage to reduce your monthly overhead, consolidating debt balances to lower interest rate cards, then using the difference to focus paying off as much debt as possible per month. If you cannot re-finance the house then perhaps look at selling it and moving into one that fits your income level. You cannot however go below at least four to six months of savings, ever- otherwise you risk foreclosure should anything happen. Finally, put together a budget and cut all the luxuries out of your monthly expenditures. If that means eating cheap food for a year and no longer going out then so be it but your biggest concern isn't so much the credit card debt as it is neglecting your retirement. Counting on a pension isn't retirement planning as most pensions aren't doing well these days anyway and might not be there in the long run. Not to mention most pension plans COLA's aren't even keeping pace with inflation as most are factored at simple interest rather than compounding interest.
I was a securities licensed financial adviser and asset manager for over a decade. What I'm going to say is pretty much common sense and doesn't require a degree in Finance. Now granted I can't give you specific advice nor can it be misconstrued as replacement for hiring an financial adviser. Most advisers won't talk to you unless you are investing but a fee based planner will take your case. I wouldn't talk to anyone that isn't running some type of planning software to help you visualize your goals, be it Profiles Professional or something along those lines.
I suppose it couldn't hurt to talk to someone who specializes in this, maybe not necessarily for this specific CC debt issue per se, as I think in the short term I'm going to end up paying down at least a chunk of that debt via a lump sum, but my retirement planning and overall money saving could probably use some help. My job is fairly secure, I have enough seniority that I'm pretty much immune to a department layoff. The biggest risk might be in 2020 if the company tries to replace us all with contractors, but for various reasons it's not likely they will do that, although it is possible they'll try and gut us again like they did in 2016.
For someone who hates his job to the degree I do, the notion of being unable to retire for financial reasons and stuck working until well into old age like some of my co-workers is kind of a nightmare scenario.
I guess this goes beyond a simple credit card debt issue for me.
Yeah I've heard negotiating debt forgiveness can harm your credit score as well, last I knew I still had good credit as I haven't been delinquent on any payments. They are just getting harder to make. I'd like to get out of this with my credit score mostly intact.
Yeah, it depends on where you start from. In our case, it didn't drop as much as expected. we went from pristine to the high side of good. 7-8 years later, we're not that far off from where we were.
We tried negotiating with the cc companies, but as long as we were making payments, they pretty much blew us off. Missed one minimum payment, the APR skyrocketed. They dragged negotiations out while interest accrued at a staggering rate. Basically, the amount that was forgiven was the interest that accrued during negotiations. Would have been better had we simply taken the 401k money and paid them off to start with. Yeah, these shylocks are not your friends.
Yeah, it depends on where you start from. In our case, it didn't drop as much as expected. we went from pristine to the high side of good. 7-8 years later, we're not that far off from where we were.
We tried negotiating with the cc companies, but as long as we were making payments, they pretty much blew us off. Missed one minimum payment, the APR skyrocketed. They dragged negotiations out while interest accrued at a staggering rate. Basically, the amount that was forgiven was the interest that accrued during negotiations. Would have been better had we simply taken the 401k money and paid them off to start with. Yeah, these shylocks are not your friends.
I would run some numbers before taking money out of the 401K. Don't quote me but if you are younger than 63 (I think) you will pay a 15% penalty plus income tax on what you withdraw. Depending on what bracket you are in it could cost you more than the CC rate.
Do not withdraw anything from your 401K. It will never be worth it in the long run. It sounds like you aren't as bad off as you feel. You've got the means to eliminate the CC debt so if that's all you have by all means do it. It's a lot easier paying yourself in lieu of making a lender rich.
I've heard a familiar name in here, Dave Ramsey. I too am a fan and have read several of his books and even took his Financial Peace University class. I would highly recommend his audio book the total money makeover. He's an excellent speaker and makes it easy to listen too. Doing this also put me in contact with a CPA and guy with Raymond James that both follow his principals of investing and goals.
Most people don't make changes until something makes them. Significant life event, career change etc. It happens and you can recover. It's amazing how much we spend and how much we can actually trim off if we need too. I was in the same place at one time with my wife laying in the ICU near death and us with an embarrassing amount of debt. I'm still ashamed that while sitting there I was running numbers in my head trying to figure out what I would do for me and my daughter. Luckily she recovered but it was a serious wake up call to make a change. For some reason I was killing time and downloaded Dave's book and it clicked. I followed it to a T for the most part, eliminating debt from smallest to largest, then putting that payment towards the next smallest (he calls this snowballing). We had two motorcycles, sold them both. Traded in my huge truck for a little Subaru with an almost no interest loan. Sold a lot of guns... Sucked but it's amazing what happens when you're not paying interest making others rich, you start keeping more of your cash. I use a CC only for online purchases and I make it a habit to pay it off EVERY payday. I don't even look at due dates, just click pay in full.
Hang in there, job prospects change and hopefully improve. I wouldn't advise using any credit counselors or any of the fly by night people trying to negotiate pennys on the dollar settlements. Most of them just take your money with little help to you or your credit score. Just pay it off and save save save.
RetroRevolver77
04-21-18, 16:47
I would run some numbers before taking money out of the 401K. Don't quote me but if you are younger than 63 (I think) you will pay a 15% penalty plus income tax on what you withdraw. Depending on what bracket you are in it could cost you more than the CC rate.
Some provisions allow for withdrawal over age 55 for 401K at ordinary income tax if separated from employer. Or an additional 10% penalty if under age 59 1/2 while still still working for the same employer. However, if you have a 403b then it might have a loan provision which you can pay back to yourself- as you pay off the loan. Again, talk to someone who can look over those options as these options change.
OP: I realize this is kind of off topic. You've said 'I' quit a bit, never 'we.' If you are single, living alone, with no child support obligations, why are you contemplating staying in a job you hate?
I get it if you are 5 years out from retirement, but if you are looking at slugging it out long term, maybe it would be better for you all around to take a job you would somewhat enjoy, even if it meant less pay and a requisite change in lifestyle.
From what you've said, the job isn't paying you enough to make it worth the suffering.
I have a long term (almost eight years) GF who lives with me but she handles her own expenses and her name isn't attached to the house in any way and I pay the mortgage, utilities etc. So while she lives with me it is technically "my" house.
As far as the job goes, I might hate it, but I have a lot of seniority, lots of vacation time, and am generally considered by my supervisors to be highly competent at the job. I'd have to find something pretty similar in pay to even consider leaving. With my interests it's unlikely I'll be getting a good paying career that I actually *like*, so I settle for *tolerate*. I don't really want to move out of the area as I like my house and living close to my family (sentimentality warning: even at 37 I think I still idolize my father to some degree, and it's hard watching him get old before my eyes, so I like to be able to visit regularly and learn what I can from him. He's in perfectly good health but, there's just something about seeing him age that bothers me.)
So I put up with the job because it's a necessary evil that allows me to have a life *outside* of work that isn't so bad (as long as I learn to stop buying tons of crap with my credit card)
Have you thought about starting a side business? Even bringing in an extra $1k per month makes a big difference! And in the age of the internet, there are so many options out there to do something that you actually like and make good money doing it. And not to mention all the tax benefits of having your own business.
I have entertained the notion but never all that seriously since I'm not sure what I'd do. My GF has repeatedly encouraged me to actually do something professionally with a lot of my writing and artwork, but I'm not terribly productive with it, and not sure I can really turn it into an actual side gig.
I have a long term (almost eight years) GF who lives with me but she handles her own expenses and her name isn't attached to the house in any way and I pay the mortgage, utilities etc. So while she lives with me it is technically "my" house.
As far as the job goes, I might hate it, but I have a lot of seniority, lots of vacation time, and am generally considered by my supervisors to be highly competent at the job. I'd have to find something pretty similar in pay to even consider leaving. With my interests it's unlikely I'll be getting a good paying career that I actually *like*, so I settle for *tolerate*. I don't really want to move out of the area as I like my house and living close to my family (sentimentality warning: even at 37 I think I still idolize my father to some degree, and it's hard watching him get old before my eyes, so I like to be able to visit regularly and learn what I can from him. He's in perfectly good health but, there's just something about seeing him age that bothers me.)
So I put up with the job because it's a necessary evil that allows me to have a life *outside* of work that isn't so bad (as long as I learn to stop buying tons of crap with my credit card)
Thanks for taking the time to explain. I get that. One thing we did was go totally credit card for a period of time. This gave us the opportunity to download and then go through our statements categorizing each entry. It helped us to see where we were leaking. Daily stops for cokes for the kids at the local stop and rob after swim practice really added up for us, plus we had developed the habit of eating out as a family of four once or twice a week and my wife and I by ourselves once or twice. You know it costs money, but until you put a pencil to it maybe not how much it REALLY costs.
**deleted**Never mind.. looks like you're on the right track
Thanks for taking the time to explain. I get that. One thing we did was go totally credit card for a period of time. This gave us the opportunity to download and then go through our statements categorizing each entry. It helped us to see where we were leaking. Daily stops for cokes for the kids at the local stop and rob after swim practice really added up for us, plus we had developed the habit of eating out as a family of four once or twice a week and my wife and I by ourselves once or twice. You know it costs money, but until you put a pencil to it maybe not how much it REALLY costs.
We dropped eating out, designer coffees, and satellite T.V. We combined our cell phones, internet, and streaming into one account. The savings for that alone pay half the mortgage on an investment property we just bought to develop a new business. It was basically stop those things or I was going to have to stop shooting for fun...and that wasn't going to happen.
"The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Library or bookstore. Read first, then take action.
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