Maturity means recognizing that things can happen and taking steps to mitigate their impact. There is disability insurance to cover the impact of an accident that could put you out of work. You can buy that on your own and you should if you have obligations such as lease payments. And where was your emergency fund?



Excuse me? Read what you just wrote. You screwed your landlord out of money 2 years ago. You legally owed the money then. You don't get to choose when to pay it back. If anything says immature deadbeat, THAT does. Tomorrow would be a good day to go talk with them about it.


Again, where was that emergency fund?


You are not taking responsibility. You are doing what little you have to to get out of the current jam. You want to keep your two vehicles along with their expenses, your expensive eating and driving habits, you don't want to pay your landlord. You want to keep the stuff you pawned. You make no mention though of building an emergency fund or otherwise taking steps to avoid the same problems in the future.

Your problems are manageable. But the right approach is to live within your means, pay off your debts (landlord), carry insurance/emergency fund for the future and THEN have fun. You seem only to want to maintain your current lifestyle while your creditors wait to be paid debt they were owed years ago. People like you used to get locked up.

Good luck to you.

DoingHomework, most of what your saying is right in a way, I'm not trying to agure with you. I do think you out of line in some respects. Ok I came here for some advice and criticism not to be labeled a deadbeat nor to be tarred & feathered. I think your way to harsh in your "assessment" of me. I'm not exactly running around writting bad checks or ripping people off. I'm not completly ignoring my responsibilities.

Ok sure I didnt have an emergency fund when I was injured, I was 21yrs old living on my own taking home $1200 monthly with a good $900 due in rent & utilitys. How could I, who would in that situation let be real. I moved out when I was 19 and was in my apartment 3years I'm sorry I shafted my apartment complex for 2 months of rent approx $1300 total. Its not like I wanted to "screw" them it was out of my hands. No offence to you or them but that debt isnt high on my priority list, infact its dead last. If that makes me a deatbeat fine ok I'm a immature deadbeat.


I dont exactly want to keep both vehicels, I'd be more than happy to sell my motorcycle for the balance of the loan and take the loss. But then i get to thinking hey my truck is 15yrs old not the greatest thing and one day its going to kick the bucket. So hey why not keep my motorcycle since i'm already so invested in it. Why not sell my truck its worth maybe $1000? Well lets since its winter its freaking cold, its raining outside. Truthfully I'm undecided in this area. Do I sell both & spend 2hrs on the bus each way just for work? Doesnt make sense to me. Maybe I'm a spoiled brat.


Expensive eating? Hmm lets see I had cereal for breakfast and a can of chilli beans for dinner. Yuppers I'm a big spender there. I'm having a difficult time finding where I'm not living within my means at the moment. Its not like Im pretending I dont have money issues, I can only do what I can do. When it comes down to it this is my problem, only I can fix it. My bad I'll go turn myself into county jail now.

Peace

But you ARE. That's what you are failing to grasp. Not paying your former landlord is no different from ripping them off.

I think you need to give up a lot so you can squeeze out as much as possible to get these debts behind you as soon as possible. That means cutting your food budget to the bone, cutting back the phone, even if only for $10, letting the pawned stuff go, cutting way back on gas by only driving to work, basically doing everything you possibly can to get them paid. Have you considered a second job?

The bottom line is that you are going to need a place to live in February. Do you actually think you'll get a lease when you still owe your former landlord?

Yes, I was harsh. But you STILL don't seem to get it. You got where you are because of poor lifestyle choices. Everything you are saying is centered on maintaining your lifestyle and just getting out of the current mess so you don't have to think about it anymore. I've seen no commitment to change your attitude and avoid the same problems in the future.

Let's say we flash forward to March. You've somehow managed to pay your court fines and settled with the IRS when you file your taxes. What are you going to do differently so that you don't repeat the same mistakes and an injury or paperwork screwup at work does not set you back again? Where are you going to live? How much will you pay in rent? What will your budget look like. Will you have spoken with your old landlord or will you still be letting them involuntarily loan you money?

Sell the motorcycle. They are money pits - I know, I have one. Yes, you've put a lot of money into it, but you wouldn't get that money back no matter what - it is a sunk cost and you need to walk away. Plus you have no emergency fund and have already had 2 accidents. What happens if you lay it down again? Even if health insurance covers the bulk of hospital bills, you will still have some copays and/or deductible to pay. My DBF was in a serious motorcycle accident a year and a half ago. It didn't end up costing him a huge amount out of pocket, but it wasn't pocket change either. The bigger expense was the time off work, which since he is self employed was not cheap. He made it because of the health insurance and having savings to survive on during his recovery. You say you had an accident 2 years ago which left you out of work for 6 weeks, so you should be well familiar with the possible consequences (even if that accident wasn't motorcycle related).

Motorcycles are also generally impractical. I live in one of the few places in the US with a year round riding season (San Diego) and will hop on my bike rain or shine, but I don't know a single person (including myself) who gets by with only a motorcycle. Motorcycles are a passion. But after over 6 years of riding and helping my life partner recover from a life-altering accident I wouldn't advise anyone to get one until they have good health insurance, a life insurance policy as appropriate, disability insurance, a fully funded EF, the financial capacity to handle the additional expenses, legal paperwork such as a will and advanced health care directive executed, proper training, a reasonable and clear understanding of the possible consequences of an accident, and a GOOD set of gear.