Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is insanity.
1. You need a cheaper car. Immediately.
2. You need to work more. Period.
3. You need to pay off debt before going for more school Extra time should be spent working to pay down debt.

From someone who paid off 100k in debt in my 20s (all but 20k was high interest private student loans because my parents refused to contribute to college and I could not get enough financial aid due to their salary--I finished college in 1999--my debt burden was unheard of then). I worked three jobs. All my debt was paid off at 31. I lived on beans and rice mostly for years. I did not spend money. Everything went to debt repayment, retirement savings.

This is an acceptable approach for someone in their 20s - although mostly because at that time, the $80,000 student loan debt was not dischargeable in bankruptcy! Presumably you were healthy and able to work 3 jobs with few side effects.

It's not a great approach for someone age 43 who is physically not in good health and whose job skills require physical activity (nursing)

Anonymous wrote:Holy Moly! that's a lot of credit card debt. I read through the thread but really didn't see how she accumulated it. Most importantly, I hope she don't go down the same path again if she has a spending problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

$700 a month car payment on $65k a year? You need to sell that thing and get a $20k car.

I'm not PP, but my car payment is $700 a month for a $20k car. 36 month loan, but still.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

$700 a month car payment on $65k a year? You need to sell that thing and get a $20k car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a bad advice to recommend live it up a little. Op needs to get a second job and try to pay down as much as possible. Not sure how she got there but that’s a lot of CC debt.

+1
The second job idea is a good one. OP, you need to also save for retirement once you get the debt paid off.

Anonymous wrote:Can you moonlight?

Anonymous wrote:It’s a bad advice to recommend live it up a little. Op needs to get a second job and try to pay down as much as possible. Not sure how she got there but that’s a lot of CC debt.

Anonymous wrote:OP, in order for you to make progress on your debt, instead of paying $2000 in 8 months, you need to pay $2000 EVERY month.

Are you able to do that?

Anonymous wrote:OP, I went back and read all the comments on this thread, because I remember it very well.
I was the posted pushing hard for you to consider declaring bankruptcy to clear your debts and start fresh.

I was arguing with one poster in particular, who felt it was entirely possible for you to pay off your $55,000 in CC debt in just three years, if you worked hard and spent 80% of your take-home pay on rent+CC payment+Car loan.
S/he said in just three short years, you would have all your debts cleared?

I thought it was highly unlikely you could sustain that level of repayment on a $60,000 income. Was I correct?

Reading your update - you say you have managed to pay off $2,000 of your debt over the last 8 months? So do you now owe $53,000 instead of $55,000?

So perhaps in a full calendar year you might be able to pay off another $1,000 of the debt. That would bringyou to $52,000 owed instead of $55,000?

I think I was correct then, that at $3,000 a year you are not going to be paying down this debt in just 3 years.

I also was concerned that you needed disability insurance and would be in big trouble if you got sick and weren't able to bring in a paycheck for a period of time. And I see from your post, that's exactly what happened.

I strongly urge you to reread the advice from earlier this year and consider bankruptcy filing. You need to start protecting your financial future moving forward and thinking about retirement, pension, social security, and an emergency savings account.

You are in a really vulnerable situation depending on your income to survive, and you have bad health and a physically tiring job.

Anonymous wrote:This is insanity.
1. You need a cheaper car. Immediately.
2. You need to work more. Period.
3. You need to pay off debt before going for more school Extra time should be spent working to pay down debt.

From someone who paid off 100k in debt in my 20s (all but 20k was high interest private student loans because my parents refused to contribute to college and I could not get enough financial aid due to their salary--I finished college in 1999--my debt burden was unheard of then). I worked three jobs. All my debt was paid off at 31. I lived on beans and rice mostly for years. I did not spend money. Everything went to debt repayment, retirement savings.