Overextended

I have been thinking about calling BOA and just telling them that I can only pay so much of my balance, but I don't want to leave a bad mark on my credit score. I am not sure what to do though because I am paying so much and yet it's only the minimum amount since there is so much debt to pay. I really have no idea what to do.

I may be able to ask them to lower my interest rate and thus hopefully my balance will go down so that I can at least pay off my other credit card so that I can start to pay the BOA cards down. I don't know what they can do, but I feel like this is definitely getting out of hand and I don't know what the best thing to do is.

Suggestions?

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$1451

That's the amount that goes toward debt each month. I can't believe that it's that much! That is why I can never seem to save money. It is just so amazing when you have the numbers in front of you. I am definitely frustrated since it's hard when something comes up and we have to somewhow squeeze it in somewhere.

The $1451 includes student loans and credit cards. It's going to be a long battle.

We are moving to a smaller place so we will save money so I can very excited about that.

One day at a time...

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Splurging

I've been splurging, buying nice new things and thankfully I came on here tonight. I love reading all the personal finance blogs since they put me back on my feet, instead of dreaming away, thinking that my debt problems will solve itself.

Plans for the week:
-Bring lunch everyday
-No buying anything this whole week until Saturday

I read on someone's blog about going to the grocery store every 2 weeks instead of every week. I don't think we stocked up enough for that so we will have to go this coming weekend, but I am going to start trying that.

I also rescheduled one part of my CPA which took me back $95. It sucks, but hopefully this will give me more time to study and hopefully pass on my first try.

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What's my problem?

This Friday, I am getting paid and will have about $3k in the bank. I keep seeing that money and wanting to put it towards credit cards. The other half keeps telling me no. You see, in the past I have put a lot of money towards credit cards and then something comes up and we are out of money once again. And then we turn back towards the credit cards. So I clearly see his point.

The plan is to put some money into the savings account so I don't see the money in the checking account. For some reason, that money in there just makes me itch! I just want to put it somewhere else. So we will put $500 in savings and keep paying 3x the minimum payment on one of the cards so that if something does come up, we'll have some cash in the checking account.

Do you have the same problem as I do?

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Brake Issues

In May of this year, we took my car into the shop to get new brake pads. We went to none other than Just Brakes. I am not sure if they are located everywhere in the US, but they are in Georgia.

After I got my brake pads changed, my steering wheel would shudder when I brake. It was the most annoying thing ever! So we went back to Just Brakes and they said that we needed new calipers. I decided to call Tires Plus and the guy there told me that my car shouldn't need new brakes (only 44,000 miles on it) and for me to take it in to get it inspected.

Well, that was last weekend. We took it in today and he told us that we definitely didn't need new calipers and he totally said that Just Brakes sucks! We needed new brake pads and new rotors since they are warped from the bad job that Just Brakes did. I was worried that we were getting duped again. I'm not very trusting of car mechanics.

So I called Meineke for a second opinion. He said that maybe we can just get the brake pads restuffed and possibly resurface the rotors. He also said that Just Brakes suck. The price was very similar to what Tires Plus offered us so we decided to go with Tires Plus since we were getting new pads and rotors.

The damage: $297.06. It sucks that we had to pay this money, but we learned our lesson and that is, don't go to Just Brakes. I am sure some are better than other, but now we know that if it's too cheap, it is probably not very good quality.

I drove the car afterwards and no shuddering! It's the most comforting feeling ever.

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Things are Looking Up

We have about $2,000 in the bank right now. And this Friday, I get pay again. So that means that we could possibly put another $1,000 onto one of our credit cards. If we keep saving, we could possibly pay off the $3k credit card by the end of October. That is quite ambitious, but with a strong will, there will be a way. Or something like that.

I have been having the urge to buy some nice clothes for work. I keep thinking that it's such a great investment in myself. And it really is, except that I need to pay off my debt and that comes first for me. So I will suck it up and keep shopping at Target and cheaper places for cute pieces.

We are so fortunate to be where we are right now. Remember that it could be worse.

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Refinancing the Car

We went to a credit union to try and refinance the car. Unfortunately, it's the same song again. The last time we called a different credit union, they couldn't refinance the car since it's worth a lot less than what we still owe on it. $8k to be exact. It really sucks. We are paying a little over $500 each month. And it's not even a BMW.

Please, please. Don't rush into buying a car when you are out of options. We got stuck in this situation through a lot of rush-rush chaos. I totaled our one and only car. We had to be in a rental for the weekend, trying to find a new car. Since we didn't have any money and we had little credit, we just took whatever car the dealer would give us. We had no idea about negotiating or anything. We were young then (or that's my excuse anyways!). But just don't rush it.

Ask someone for help. Don't let the car salesman screw you over.

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P.S. For now, we'll be paying our $500 for 3 more years or at least until we can try to refi it again.