Anonymous wrote:Op here. For me, $200/mo for medical is low since I take ozempic, pcos medication, anti depressants, other vitamins, co-pays, regular lab work. I am very tight on groceries too and never eat out.

I am cutting down on my miscellaneous and household stuff but that’s minimum because I need to buy basic items, toiletries, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to become a travel nurse. It pays a lot better.

idk if there are travel jobs for LVN.

Anonymous wrote:I had to get a better car because of my driving due to kids and the area I live in(Gettysburg,Pa). Family is spread out in that area and I need to see them from time to time. My car loan is at 7% apr and got me if the credit card debts reduced to lower apr of 7.99%.

I don’t invest a lot in 401k and max about $2500/year. I got a tax refund this year and used that towards paying down the debt.

Going back to school is I really want to do and it would increase my salary by 30-40% after 18 months of education but worried about the debt.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I am an LPN and work as a nurse in the surgery center. Extra hours are available but it also gets very tiring.

I got some of this debt after my divorce and part of it is me spending a little too much but I hv learned my lesson. Car payment is about $700/mo and I hv some medical issues too that takes away some of the cash. Can’t get rid of car since I do hv to travel to see my family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally the CC debt is the priority as, I assume, it’s at a much higher rate. But, you also can’t stop paying for car as you need it. Can you consolidate CC debt into a smaller loan? When you analyze your monthly spending, where can you cut? Do you go out to lunch each day? Coffee out? You’ll need to make spending cuts. You can do this!9

I am a nurse so get very tired to do another job and going to be very difficult once I start the school.

I don’t hv a lot of extra cash every month and barely breaking even and sometimes go into negative. This is becoming a huge task since my cc debt is almost 1x gross annual income.

Anonymous wrote:I have about $55K of credit card debt and $27K of auto loan. Overall, my minimum monthly payments are about $2700-2800 when my take home per month is about $4500 as a nurse making $60-65K/year. On top of debt, I still have to pay rent, utilities, groceries, gas, etc. I stay very depressed that I would never be able to get out of this. I want to go back to school to get advance nursing degree(paid by hospital) but have to adjust on my hours.

I am 42F and single.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I got a 2022 Camry hybrid XSE and the price of the car would be same as what I owe or may be a little less. I am working extra and picking up shifts as much as possible but it’s not making dent in my situation. I am a nurse at a surgery center and it gets very demanding standing on feet for 10-12 hrs. Not many excuses but telling so that others would understand my pain. My credit score is about 680 and I have been making minimum payments on time. My situation when I was with my fiance was much better and I was making good progress with debt since he didn’t ask for anything but it has gone very tight at my own apartment. I am under one year lease and don’t have extra bedroom to get a roommate. It’s an older building in Gettysburg,PA and I am concerned about big heating bill during winters. I looked into trading cars but not making much sense since loan is going to be close to same after all the fees, taxes etc. I am looking into refinancing current auto loan and start 7 year loan so that payment could come down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have about $55K of credit card debt and $27K of auto loan. Overall, my minimum monthly payments are about $2700-2800 when my take home per month is about $4500 as a nurse making $60-65K/year. On top of debt, I still have to pay rent, utilities, groceries, gas, etc. I stay very depressed that I would never be able to get out of this. I want to go back to school to get advance nursing degree(paid by hospital) but have to adjust on my hours.

I am 42F and single.

Set your budget so that it is below your current salary. Curb your spending. Then add an extra shift every week and everything from that goes to pay down your debt. If you are not living with roommates, find a cheaper place and live with roommates - use the savings to pay down your debt.

Anonymous wrote:OP, please know that you are not alone. Lots of people find themselves in what feels like a hopeless financial situation. It does no good to beat yourself up over how it happened (except to acknowledge it and make the necessary changes going forward.

Without going into too much detail which I'm sure would be ripped to shreds by the perfect people of DCUM, I also accumulated a large amount of debt ($35,000). Check out Money Management International. It's a non profit debt management plan. I tried getting my creditors to lower my interest rate and even though I was a long time customer with good credit, they refused. I enrolled in MMI last year and it's been a great experience. The enrollment process was very easy. They work directly with your creditors to lower your interest and work out a payment plan. You make one lump sum to them each month (a $50 monthly fee is added into the payment). Within 10 days of my first payment, all my creditors had accepted the plan and my interest rates are all at 10% or lower. My monthly payment is $200 less than I was paying on just my minimum payments. My debt will be paid off in 4 years. Your credit will take a slight hit at the beginning, but this doesn't tank your credit like the debt plans that tell you to stop making payments and once you're delinquent they work out a deal. There were no missed payments at the start of the plan.

I highly recommend it. They take into consideration all of your expenses when putting together the payment plan, so be sure to list everything.

Additionally, cut back on whatever you can. Cancel streaming services. Clip coupons. Stop eating takeout. All the little things add up.

Good luck!