Talk to me about personal bankruptcy

[Anonymous]

Okay - I've looked more closely at tax rates and fica, and made an estimate for health insurance, and reduced the take-home. SHe can still live comfortably. Frankly, I'd get rid of the car and ride a bike to work - saves $6400 a year. And have no phone.

Gross Salary $10,833
Taxes - STate and Fed $2,956
FICA $745
Health Insurance $300
Net $6,833
Expenses
Student Loans $2,300
Housing $1,500
Child Care $1,200
Food $750
Utilities $150
Car Note $350
Clothes $100
Gas $100
car insurance $83
Phone $60
MIsc $240


Total Expenses $6,833
Net $0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've done an estimate of your budget, and you should be able to pay off the student loans. I looked them up and $200k of loans at 6.8 percent interest over 10 years would be a $2300 per month payment. If over 30 years, payment would be $1300 per month

I've made up a modest budget for you, based on what you've said, and you should still have plenty of $ left over (for retirement savings or extra loan payments). Where does the rest of your money go?

Budget Per Month

Gross Salary $10,833
Net $8,125

Expenses
Student Loans $2,300
Housing $1,500
Child Care $1,200
Food $750
Utilities $150
Car Note $350
Clothes $100
Gas $100
car insurance $83
Phone $60
MIsc $1,000


Total Expenses $7,593
Net $532

I think she would be taking home around $6000 after taxes and not 8125

I can't find childcare or rent around here for these rates. I could move away but then I doubt I can get this salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've done an estimate of your budget, and you should be able to pay off the student loans. I looked them up and $200k of loans at 6.8 percent interest over 10 years would be a $2300 per month payment. If over 30 years, payment would be $1300 per month

I've made up a modest budget for you, based on what you've said, and you should still have plenty of $ left over (for retirement savings or extra loan payments). Where does the rest of your money go?

Budget Per Month

Gross Salary $10,833
Net $8,125

Expenses
Student Loans $2,300
Housing $1,500
Child Care $1,200
Food $750
Utilities $150
Car Note $350
Clothes $100
Gas $100
car insurance $83
Phone $60
MIsc $1,000


Total Expenses $7,593
Net $532

I think she would be taking home around $6000 after taxes and not 8125

I can't find childcare or rent around here for these rates. I could move away but then I doubt I can get this salary.

Are you in the DC area? 1500 for rent is tough but definitely doable for a one bedroom. It will suck, but I suggest downsizing as much as possible for at least a few years to get your debt down as much as you can.

[Anonymous]

There are 2-BRs out there for only a little more than $1500 - there was a thread in the Real Estate forum which had a bunch of suggestions.

No chance you can bunk with relatives for a year, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 2-BRs out there for only a little more than $1500 - there was a thread in the Real Estate forum which had a bunch of suggestions.

No chance you can bunk with relatives for a year, right?

No relatives. That thread was for low income. With my salary we don't qualify for low income

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've done an estimate of your budget, and you should be able to pay off the student loans. I looked them up and $200k of loans at 6.8 percent interest over 10 years would be a $2300 per month payment. If over 30 years, payment would be $1300 per month

I've made up a modest budget for you, based on what you've said, and you should still have plenty of $ left over (for retirement savings or extra loan payments). Where does the rest of your money go?

Budget Per Month

Gross Salary $10,833
Net $8,125

Expenses
Student Loans $2,300
Housing $1,500
Child Care $1,200
Food $750
Utilities $150
Car Note $350
Clothes $100
Gas $100
car insurance $83
Phone $60
MIsc $1,000


Total Expenses $7,593
Net $532

I think she would be taking home around $6000 after taxes and not 8125

I can't find childcare or rent around here for these rates. I could move away but then I doubt I can get this salary.

Are you in the DC area? 1500 for rent is tough but definitely doable for a one bedroom. It will suck, but I suggest downsizing as much as possible for at least a few years to get your debt down as much as you can.

The cheapest 1 bedrooms I can find don't are $2100 and they don't have laundry in the unit so I either pay for somebody to do the laundry or schlep the baby with me to do laundry. Every night. At least the other expense are low? I don't buy clothes, I sell what I can of the babies clothes, our food is about 400. Utilities are astronomical but that's because of the poor design of our current place. I'll fix that when we move

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've done an estimate of your budget, and you should be able to pay off the student loans. I looked them up and $200k of loans at 6.8 percent interest over 10 years would be a $2300 per month payment. If over 30 years, payment would be $1300 per month

I've made up a modest budget for you, based on what you've said, and you should still have plenty of $ left over (for retirement savings or extra loan payments). Where does the rest of your money go?

Budget Per Month

Gross Salary $10,833
Net $8,125

Expenses
Student Loans $2,300
Housing $1,500
Child Care $1,200
Food $750
Utilities $150
Car Note $350
Clothes $100
Gas $100
car insurance $83
Phone $60
MIsc $1,000


Total Expenses $7,593
Net $532

I think she would be taking home around $6000 after taxes and not 8125

I can't find childcare or rent around here for these rates. I could move away but then I doubt I can get this salary.

Are you in the DC area? 1500 for rent is tough but definitely doable for a one bedroom. It will suck, but I suggest downsizing as much as possible for at least a few years to get your debt down as much as you can.

The cheapest 1 bedrooms I can find don't are $2100 and they don't have laundry in the unit so I either pay for somebody to do the laundry or schlep the baby with me to do laundry. Every night. At least the other expense are low? I don't buy clothes, I sell what I can of the babies clothes, our food is about 400. Utilities are astronomical but that's because of the poor design of our current place. I'll fix that when we move

Sorry, where are the cheapest one bedrooms 2100? Again, I'm assuming you're not in the DC area because if you do a quick search on Craigslist you'll find many one bedrooms close-in, with laundry, for 1500 or less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2-BRs out there for only a little more than $1500 - there was a thread in the Real Estate forum which had a bunch of suggestions.

No chance you can bunk with relatives for a year, right?

No relatives. That thread was for low income. With my salary we don't qualify for low income

The poster of that thread happened to be low-income, and there was a lot of advice for her that pointed her to options that are limited to those who are low-income. But there were a lot of options in that thread that had nothing to do with income. There were just cheaper 2-bedroom apartments. Would a community laundry room on the same floor as your apartment instead of the basement work? Because you really should get some of your core expenses down so you can start working on getting out of debt. Bankruptcy is not a solution for you, so you need to work out a plan to start chipping away,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've done an estimate of your budget, and you should be able to pay off the student loans. I looked them up and $200k of loans at 6.8 percent interest over 10 years would be a $2300 per month payment. If over 30 years, payment would be $1300 per month

I've made up a modest budget for you, based on what you've said, and you should still have plenty of $ left over (for retirement savings or extra loan payments). Where does the rest of your money go?

Budget Per Month

Gross Salary $10,833
Net $8,125

Expenses
Student Loans $2,300
Housing $1,500
Child Care $1,200
Food $750
Utilities $150
Car Note $350
Clothes $100
Gas $100
car insurance $83
Phone $60
MIsc $1,000


Total Expenses $7,593
Net $532

I think she would be taking home around $6000 after taxes and not 8125

I can't find childcare or rent around here for these rates. I could move away but then I doubt I can get this salary.

Are you in the DC area? 1500 for rent is tough but definitely doable for a one bedroom. It will suck, but I suggest downsizing as much as possible for at least a few years to get your debt down as much as you can.

The cheapest 1 bedrooms I can find don't are $2100 and they don't have laundry in the unit so I either pay for somebody to do the laundry or schlep the baby with me to do laundry. Every night. At least the other expense are low? I don't buy clothes, I sell what I can of the babies clothes, our food is about 400. Utilities are astronomical but that's because of the poor design of our current place. I'll fix that when we move

Sorry, where are the cheapest one bedrooms 2100? Again, I'm assuming you're not in the DC area because if you do a quick search on Craigslist you'll find many one bedrooms close-in, with laundry, for 1500 or less.

In DC proper and laundry in the actual apartment. The only things I've found are in the non revisited SE...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2-BRs out there for only a little more than $1500 - there was a thread in the Real Estate forum which had a bunch of suggestions.

No chance you can bunk with relatives for a year, right?

No relatives. That thread was for low income. With my salary we don't qualify for low income

The poster of that thread happened to be low-income, and there was a lot of advice for her that pointed her to options that are limited to those who are low-income. But there were a lot of options in that thread that had nothing to do with income. There were just cheaper 2-bedroom apartments. Would a community laundry room on the same floor as your apartment instead of the basement work? Because you really should get some of your core expenses down so you can start working on getting out of debt. Bankruptcy is not a solution for you, so you need to work out a plan to start chipping away,

I don't have anything to do with the baby if while I do laundry. And there is urine to be washed daily.
Much of my expense would be gone with out the baby. I could toss the car, studio apartment, questionable neighborhood. But with toddler these aren't option.
My grocery expense is about 1/2. A more efficient apartment should get me to lower utilities.

[Anonymous]

OP, I hear a lot of can'ts and won'ts. You've got to accept that you have to make some sacrifices. There seem to be apartments that fit your bill up in Silver Spring. Two years ago I was paying $1200 a month for daycare in downtown DC. Yes, hard to find, but no, not impossible. I'm assuming you can find something up in SS for less.

You need to learn how to increase your planning skills. How were you planning to re-pay the student loans when you got them? How were you planning to pay for child care when you became pregnant? You sound a bit entitled, but as you say, that attitude hasn't gotten you to a good place. Time for change. You can do it. Sometimes life kicks you in the ass, but you created your predicament. Luckily you have a good salary, and in 10 years you can have the student loans paid off, child will be in public school, and then you'll be in much better shape. It's not that far out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hear a lot of can'ts and won'ts. You've got to accept that you have to make some sacrifices. There seem to be apartments that fit your bill up in Silver Spring. Two years ago I was paying $1200 a month for daycare in downtown DC. Yes, hard to find, but no, not impossible. I'm assuming you can find something up in SS for less.

You need to learn how to increase your planning skills. How were you planning to re-pay the student loans when you got them? How were you planning to pay for child care when you became pregnant? You sound a bit entitled, but as you say, that attitude hasn't gotten you to a good place. Time for change. You can do it. Sometimes life kicks you in the ass, but you created your predicament. Luckily you have a good salary, and in 10 years you can have the student loans paid off, child will be in public school, and then you'll be in much better shape. It's not that far out.

This is good advice. Unfortunately, OP, you can't discharge student loans so you have to adjust your life to deal with them. Do you anticipate that your salary will rise within the next few years? If you can get some steady pay increases and make it to kindergarten, your financial picture will look a lot brighter in 4-5 years. But your options until then are limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hear a lot of can'ts and won'ts. You've got to accept that you have to make some sacrifices. There seem to be apartments that fit your bill up in Silver Spring. Two years ago I was paying $1200 a month for daycare in downtown DC. Yes, hard to find, but no, not impossible. I'm assuming you can find something up in SS for less.

You need to learn how to increase your planning skills. How were you planning to re-pay the student loans when you got them? How were you planning to pay for child care when you became pregnant? You sound a bit entitled, but as you say, that attitude hasn't gotten you to a good place. Time for change. You can do it. Sometimes life kicks you in the ass, but you created your predicament. Luckily you have a good salary, and in 10 years you can have the student loans paid off, child will be in public school, and then you'll be in much better shape. It's not that far out.

2nd - please take some responsibility here. Your loan bills are not going to disappear, as much as you want to ignore them. You have a great income and I bet you are more than capable of paying them down if you really try.

I'm the poster who stated above that you can find a one bedroom with laundry for 1500. In DC proper there are English basement rentals for that approximate amount with their own W/D and even some/all utilities included. Look into those and you can live in a nice neighborhood for a reasonable price.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My take home fluctuates between minthly 4200-5200 ( I adjust my withhdings- fed) to cover upcoming bills.- op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hear a lot of can'ts and won'ts. You've got to accept that you have to make some sacrifices. There seem to be apartments that fit your bill up in Silver Spring. Two years ago I was paying $1200 a month for daycare in downtown DC. Yes, hard to find, but no, not impossible. I'm assuming you can find something up in SS for less.

You need to learn how to increase your planning skills. How were you planning to re-pay the student loans when you got them? How were you planning to pay for child care when you became pregnant? You sound a bit entitled, but as you say, that attitude hasn't gotten you to a good place. Time for change. You can do it. Sometimes life kicks you in the ass, but you created your predicament. Luckily you have a good salary, and in 10 years you can have the student loans paid off, child will be in public school, and then you'll be in much better shape. It's not that far out.

2nd - please take some responsibility here. Your loan bills are not going to disappear, as much as you want to ignore them. You have a great income and I bet you are more than capable of paying them down if you really try.

I'm the poster who stated above that you can find a one bedroom with laundry for 1500. In DC proper there are English basement rentals for that approximate amount with their own W/D and even some/all utilities included. Look into those and you can live in a nice neighborhood for a reasonable price.

Where? They've not been on craigslist , livelovely, or realtor.com for the last 45 days. I've spent evey lunch looking. Normally there is a laundry inbuildng (basement) especially if utilities are included. I've unfortunately learned the hard way my 2 year old can not be left alone for 45 seconds it takes to dump trash no