Hello everybody,

New member to the site and forums. Alittle backround info, I'm currently 24yrs old, I work a full time 40hr a week job (non career) . I currently live with my parents again. it didnt work out when I tried to leave the coop.

I'm currently recovering from a month out of work and a string of bad choices.

I also have about $750.00 in traffic fines due by mid January.

My take home pay bi-weekly is $830.00 after taxes.

My current monthly fixed debt load is

Motorcycle payment $200.00 monthly, 14 payments left. Pay off early??? Thoughts please
IRS Payment $150.00 monthly, approx $800 left. Goal is to be paid by March 2011.
Auto Insurance $50 monthly
Cell Phone $100 monthly.
Credit Card $25.00 monthly, $221.00 balance.
I need to determine what my bare min gas expense is. In November I spent $230.00 but I drove way more than normal.
Food bi weekly is about a $100.00

I have no savings and $42.00 in my wallet.

I also owe about $2800 to my old apartment complex, this debt is approx 2yrs old and they have not tried to collect in almost that much time. Mostlly fee's tacked on. I left with 2months left on my lease.

I have a quick question:

How does a 24-year-old male driving a motorcycle only pay $50/month for auto insurance? Shouldn't that be way, way higher? Is the bike parked in permanent storage or something? Are you actually driving it?

Bare minimum coverage 10/15/30, its actually 46.00 but I rounded up. This rate may be going up due to my recent traffic tickets. Its been parked for about a month when it got too cold to ride.

Pay day is tomorrow $831.00 to be deposited into my checking.

To be paid from this check is $330.00 for a Direct Deposit Advance I used while I was out of work.
Motorcycle Payment $200.00
Insurance Payment $50.00


Leaves me with 251.00 in my checking account.

I'm hoping to keep my food, gas and misc expenses to $150.00 we'll see how well that goes.

Take it out as cash, and make it last. Don't let yourself visit the ATM, don't give yourself any option but to make it work.

So you've got $1,660/mo to spend across:

$200 Motorcycle
$150 IRS
$50 Auto insurance
$100 Cell phone
$25 Credit Card
$200 Food
$200 Gas (?)

Which leaves $735. With that, you need to pay:
$750 Traffic fines (due in 2 months, so $375/mo)
$2800 Apartment (due ???)
$221 Credit Card
$800 IRS
$2,500 Motorcycle (???)

So this month:
$375 to traffic fines
$360 left can go to (any/all): eliminate credit card, pay misc expenses, start paying off apartment debt

Next month:
$375 to traffic fines
$360 can go to (any/all): misc expenses, apartment debt, irs debt, motorcycle

Sounds like, assuming your expenses are listed completely/accurately, you've got a good amount of money available to throw at your obligations each month. Figure out what order you want to deal with them in (presumably traffic fines first, as that's due first) and automate it as much as possible so that you have no choice but to tackle them.

Good luck!

This is a good analysis and I agree.

I hope you are in the process of turning your life around and growing up. Not to beat up on you but you are paying a very high price for being wild. Let's see, traffic fines, higher insurance, extra fees for breaking your lease, etc. are wasted money that you got nothing for. You are probably paying extra fees to pay your insurance monthly and in interest as well. Again, I'm not saying this to beat up on you. I'm just pointing out that even though you have a pretty good income you are burning a LOT of money that you cannot afford.

A few things you should do:

- Pay the court fines and the IRS on time no matter what. Even if it means you go hungry for a few days or have to take the bus to work! Those are important. Realize that if you fail to pay them you are very likely to get locked in jail next time even for traffic offenses. Why would a judge believe you next time?
- Don't let the apartment thing go into collections. Go immediately to them and talk to them. Find out what the deal is and how you can make it right. You will never be able to buy or rent a property again with that kind of thing on your credit report. No landlord is going to rent to you if you screwed the last one over. The reason does not matter at all. I have a rental property. Trust me on that one.
- Pay off the motorcycle loan as scheduled. Preserve your cash for the more serious debts (traffic fines, IRS, apartment complex).
- $200 for food for one person is very high.
- $200 in gas is a LOT of driving. Unless you are doing this for your job I think you need to find a way to cut that at least by half
- Your comment that the first time you flew the coop it "didn't work out" is discouraging. You screwed up. Take responsibility for your actions.

As was pointed out, you should be able to get your debts taken care of and have a good amount of disposable income to invest. I hope by next year at this time we see a post from you that says you are debt free and have saved $xxxx in a Vanguard fund. It is a good sign that you have posted to this forum. Now please take action and stick with it!

Especially since he lives with mom & pop. I suspect this number has a fair amount of junk food in it. Probably a few bar tabs along the way too.


This sounds a little high also. I have three phones on my plan & it's only about $70/month. But I don't have the latest & greatest iPhone with unlimited text, mobile web surfing, & an automatic butt wiper like most 24 year olds have either.


I agree. That's alot. I drive 25 miles each way every day & mine's about half that.

So its payday......... Total deposited into my account is 614.xx I got sick last week and ended up calling off for a couple days.

Total bank balance is 617.xx


To be paid with this check is

IRS $150.00 leaving balance of approx $650.00
Phone $106.00
Credit Card $25.00 leaving balance 243.58..... Went up

Leaving me with 336.xx


So heres my plan, well I really have no other choice. I'm positive I can keep my expenses under $136.00 maybe less, leaving me with $200 to save and put towards my tickets.

$750 due 01/18/2011 is required check 12/17 gives me $200.00, check12/31 should give me $400 and check 01/14/2010 gives me the last $150.

So after thinking about stuff and what i need to pay.......Its looking terrible.

I have somthing in pawn that I might have to let go, I dont see a way to pay the loan by Jan 5th. its $425.00 or $80 to renew it for another 90days.

My trucks registration is due in January should be under $100 if I pass the emissions test with out much complication. My motorcycle registration is also due in Febuary should also be around $100.

I'm also being asked to find a new living situation by the end of Febuary. Its kind of hard to think and plan ahead at the moment so i'm going to do my best to plan for 2 weeks at a time.

You still have 336 leftover for two weeks. Put another 150 towards the IRS. That leaves you with 186. Either put more towards your credit card or more towards the IRS. Do you have food now? Go buy some 14 cans of soup. You don't need 336 just sitting around when interest is accumulating. Of course your CC is going up. It's called interest.

The more you put off, the longer you'll be struggling. Pay those bills. Oh, and call the phone company and reduce your plan. You can't afford $100/month for a phone. I have a feeling that your parents have a phone. Use it.

Wait a minute, you have TWO vehicles? Sell one immediately. And you did not tell us about the pawn debt before. You need to grow up and be a man!

Buy some rice and beans to get you through the next month and STOP SPENDING MONEY! Drop all services you are allowed to drop on your phone (text, extra minutes, internet) - call your provider and ask what you are contractually required to keep and drop everything else.

I don't know why your parents are throwing you out but I bet it is because they have had enough of your irresponsibility. There are probably other factors but this really ought to be a wakeup call! You need to take drastic action.

Hypothetical question - if your bills left you with $498 left, would you be positive you could keep your expenses under $198? If they left you with $203, would you be convinced you could stay under $103?

The reason I ask is that if you're just pulling numbers for your spending limits based on what you have in the bank...you'll never have enough in the bank.

I agree with DH and peachy...buy some super cheap food to last you for 2 weeks, and throw all extra money at whatever debt(s) you value the most...speeding tickets/IRS/credit card/pawn shop. Sell a vehicle (maybe even 2? Can you walk to work?). Find a new place to live, and/or build an actual, mature plan for spending your money and see if your parents will let you stay provided you stick with it. Use any extra time to see if you can get some extra income.

Yes. I agree with this. And I'm sorry if my previous messages came across as being too harsh. But your bad behavior is recent and I get the impression that it is only because you are in a serious bind that you are trying to do anything about it. Your problems are not like others here who got excessive years ago and are finally climbing out. I really get the impression that you just want to get out of the bind and then continue as you did before. I hope for your sake I am wrong.

I see it this way: your parents would not throw you out if this was an unusual bind that resulted from bad luck or a couple of poor choices. It sounds as if they see the situation as it really is and are trying to give you "tough love." You really need to take drastic action and make a significant change in your life.

On the positive side you have good income so if you really make the necessary changes and get your act together you should be in excellent shape in a year or so.

So to clear a couple things up yes I have two vehicals a Chevy s10 truck that is about 15yrs old has 140k & ugly as crap. Its holds more value to me as it has never giving any major repair problems plus it was free. I have an 07 Kawasaki Sport Bike bought it new has 15k on it. Its been laid down twice so its vaule is minimal to other people, plus I have nearly 4yrs of payments into it I dont want to let it go now.

I do think its resonable to allot myself with Approx $150 Biweekly to cover food, gas and misc expenses. Sure I could starve myself & eat noodles everyday. But I really dont feel like I'm that "broke" if you know what i'm saying. Times are hard but not that hard yet.

Priority wise I'd just like to make all my payments on time and in full. Paying the tickets are manditory and I think i have them covered. I should be done with the IRS in Febuary or March when I do my taxes so that'll free up more money. I'm ok with paying $25 on my credit card for now until I'm done with the tickets. My phone is on a new contract, It could possibly go down to $90 if I cut out texing.

I havent been going out and drinking like I'm used to. I didnt buy a single gift this Christmas for my neices or nefews which sucks.

The stuff in pawn are just "toys" that have are worth 3xs what i pawned them for. I'd be sad to see them go but hey whats a guy to do.

My parents dont supply my food or help me in any other way, they give me a place to lay my head at night, they cant afford to do anything else. They are in the process of buying a smaller house thus the need for a new living situation.

Oh & this stuff about me needing to grow up and be a man, take responsiblility, ect. I've made some bad choices sure, there's no dening that. But some stuff was beyond my control.

When I lost my apartment 2+ years ago, I was out of work due to a accident that left me out of work for 6+ weeks, thakfully I recovered ok and all my hosipital bills were covered by insurance. Eventually I plan on pay them the money i owe but not right now.

Recently I was out of work for a month due to bad managment and paper shuffling on my employers part. Not much i could do about it, I shoulda started looking for temp work but I thought I was only going to be out for 10 days tops.

The Traffic tickets, yeah terrible judgment on my behalf considering. But I'm not trying to avoid the problem, I'm going to pony up whats due.

Things just tend to snowball when you minimize or avoid them, I'm not trying to do that but I belive my issues are manageable and should be easy to work out over time.