I don't even know where to start....I'm lost.

I owe 53K on my house I purchased 6 months ago. I owe another 52K in student loans (12 yrs to pay them off, can't extend). I lease a modest SUV (live in snow belt, less than $300/month). I just cross the sub-1K in my bank account limit.

People think I'm doing well...bought the new house, new SUV, college education. Truth is, I make less than 30K for what I do and I've been there almost 3 yrs. I've looked for other jobs but part of me has no idea what I want and the other part is afraid I'll fail. I'd like to get into a trade job but lots of schooling/low pay at first/don't want to feel like an embarrassment.

Besides the cable TV of $30/month I just got (held off for 6 months because it was too expensive) and some food bills, there's nothing really I can cut out. My expenses are say 1900/month, income is 1600. Between house, car, gas, student loans and bills (and food budget of less than $100 a month) I'm at over 1700 right there.

I've been looking for PT work but it's things I'm not skilled in, hours I can't do because of my FT job or pay is too low. Since I can't decrease my debt, the only thing I can do is increase my income. I want a job where the more work I do, the more I get paid. I need something that will push me. I work in sales/account support but I'm not a sales-guy, it's more customer service and order entry crap.

I don't expect anything out of this post, except if you can donate 50K to my self-charity fund, but I just need to get it all out. My parents have offered to give me a couple hundred a month but I haven't seen that in 3 months now. I don't want hand-outs, I want to get by this on my own but I don't see how I can go another 1-2 months at this level. I have 4K in long-term stocks, I'm contributing 150-200/month for my 401K. As much as I don't want to touch it, I'd rather sell some of that now and be more comfortable. Yet at the same time, I'd rather get to the sub- $500 bank account to kick my a-- into gear even more.

Cut the cable & stop fleecing cars for starters. If that doesn't put you on solid footing then I'd lower the 401K contributions and/or sell the stock.

You're bleeding to death!

Option 1) Cut the cable, STOP the 401k contribution, look into carpooling/ride sharing, get a part time job doing ANYTHING and increase your income, look into an income based repayment plan for the student loans.. once you're not bleeding money THEN you can look for a better job for you.

Option 2) Sell the house, sell the car, and move close enough to work where you can walk/ride a bike.

Option 3) Rent a room?

Option 4) Move in with family? Sell or rent the house depending on if it can cover the mortgage.

Fleecing cars? The only reason I'm leasing is because I don't have the 300-400/month for a used vehicle. I'd rather pay a low payment for my first car or 2 since I can't afford a higher payment.

I'm looking into the PT jobs and renting a room but I don't know anyone that would bite on the room rental. I've offered to friends/family/acquaintances but nothing, not comfortable enough to let a stranger live here (stupid of me I know).

Can't sell the house, only bought it 6 months ago. Cable is only 30/month, it's the only "luxury" I can afford to give myself. I don't even have a smartphone, too expensive for me.

Any ideas for PT jobs for nights/weekends? I've thought of pizza delivery, warehouse, cleaning, etc. Just something to get by.

I think step 1 is stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're afraid of failing at finding a new job. Who isn't? Finding a new job sucks, but you desperately need the money. You don't have to love your career. That's what outside hobbies are for. Once you are more financially settled, then you can think about going back to school for whatever it is you think you would enjoy more.

Side note, there is nothing embarrassing about trade jobs. My dad started as a truck driver in UPS and makes 6 figures now. Several family members work in welding and/or auto repair. They make good money and can support their families.

I have lived in the snow belt. You do not need an SUV. You really do not need those $300/mo payments for a car you don't even get to keep in the end. Leasing serves a purpose, but not for having more car than you can afford right now. Can you get out of your lease? Sell the stock and buy a cheap car. Yes, it's going backwards in "status," but it will take you from bleeding money to stable, and maybe even able to get ahead.

I'm actually looking into the leasing thing as we speak. I could sell the stock but I keep hanging onto it because I want to get to a point where I have nothing left and kick myself into gear. The reason I went for a lease is because a used car would be almost the same as the RAV4 payments I have but I need to look again.

I would like a trade job...I like plumbing, electrical, thought about welding as well. Average age of a welder is 57 yrs of age but no one wants to do trade jobs because they'd rather be stuck in cubes (which I hate, not for me).

Yikes! $300-$400/mo for a used car? Surely there are cheaper options where you live. FWIW, I've lived in the snow belt, and I agree with kaitlyn142 that you don't need an SUV. A reliable used car with a good set of snow tires or snow chains is plenty. You can even find ones with AWD that are inexpensive.



Excuse me for saying so, but if you have a $300/mo shortfall in your budget, you CAN'T afford cable. You might be telling yourself that it's "only" $30, but that would bring you $30 closer to closing the gap in your monthly budget. Others have posted some really good ideas for making up the rest of the shortfall, so rather than repeat those, I'll just encourage you to take a look at what others have suggested.

Good luck!

For the ranges I wanted, which is 50k-100K at the dealer, they were about 200-250 for used. I could check craigslist but those were just dealer rates. I had a crappy car for 8 yrs and even with good tires and all I'd still get stuck in 6 inches of snow which we had often. I had a few times where I got stock which resulted in me being late to work so I wanted to avoid that option. Also, I think someone brought up moving closer to work. I could do that, but rent would be more (fancier area all around work, I'm 15-20 minutes away) and so would the insurances, bills and taxes.

And I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm shooting everything down. I'm just trying to focus on more income at this point then trying to cut back money. I understand lowering debt is important, which I'm trying to do, but I just feel that I've lowered it enough and sacrificed enough and that the real problem is I'm 28 yrs old and make less than 30K a yr. Give me 35K a yr or 40K a yr like most people I know starting out and I'll be doing cartwheels up and down my street.

A few thoughts I had:

If you are looking at pizza routes and the such, you may want to consider retail. If you can sale yourself to the manager there jobs can start at decent rates (with the mind set that they are jobs that require little to no experience.) I know people that have started at best buy from 12-14 (although i will admit the average is closer to 10-12 and is region dependent.) Again, this isn't any stellar pay, but doing this for just 10 hours a week would cover your budget gap.

Look for a better/higher paying job. Don't be afraid of applying. The worst that can happen is you get no call. If you get a call you may get worried about the interview, but remember, the worse that can happen is they don't offer you a job.

Is there anything you can sale (besides the stock)? This is usually a last ditch effort, but from the sounds of it you only have a couple months left. If there are things you can sale, start working on that now, since if you want the best price you can get it may take some time to sale the items.

Although I am a huge advocate of putting something aside for retirement before everything else, you may want to set your contributions to a lower amount. You don't want to get to the point where you have to pull from your 401k at a penalty.

If there public transportation you can take? I know this was recommended earlier, but family members of mine have lived on Colorado all their lives and their bus system runs even when many cars can't even get out.

Finally, the solution that could answer your short comings in one action is getting a roommate. I know you have asked friends, but there are many sites (such as easy roommate (i have only looked at it, i am not promoting any individual site)) that let you post your place, or look over people looking for rooms in your area. You could also look at craig's list. The great thing about it is you can interview these people, meet up with them, and get to know them before they ever move in. As one site put it, get to know them and become friends before moving in together. It would amaze you how much better roommates you can get when you don't know them for long before moving in together (friends and family members have a much lower retention rate as roommates verse people you barely knew before moving in.)

A room mate would not only give you 300-500 a month (or w/e a fair rate is) but they would split your bills in half. There are a few things you want to do before accepting someone as a roommate, but there are plenty of sites explaining that so i won't dive into it.

...and that's when you'll convince yourself that you need to lease a new SUV with a $500/month payment. Afterall you've worked hard & sacrificed. You deserve it, right?

If I were you, I'd drive a $1,000 clunker & hit that SL head on. It ain't going away!

If you want to make more money, have you ever considered moving somewhere else? Or are you one of those that want to live in Podunk but expect a high paying job to land in your lap?

Ok, let's talk about that.

First, ask for a raise! Worst your employer can do is say no. Since you've been there 3 years at minimum you could ask for a cost of living increase and justify it by inflation. Over the last 3 years CPI inflation has been over 5% http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ so there is justification for asking for a 5% raise.

Honestly, most of the people I know who have taken part time jobs have been in retail in some form or another. Then there's always food service.

Some other options:
1) valet at a fancy restaurant/casino
2) bartender (but you'd need some training)
3) data entry
4) hotel worker (front desk)
5) dental hygienist assistant
6) life guard
7) research assistant
phlebotomist (need a certificate)
9) gas station attendant

hmm, i know there have been articles about different side jobs before on this site. Maybe search GRS history for other ideas.

You might not even need a 2nd employer. Any skills you can monetize? Tree trimming, pool cleaning, dog walking, sewing, etc.

I think my first actions are look for a roommate, see if I can opt out of the lease and get a cheaper vehicle and lower my 401K. I've been looking for things I can sell and most of my items are older or don't really have much value. I'm having a garage sale shortly and I have a lot of books that I can sell but not much more beyond that. Anything that is of value to me my parents bought for me recently for the new house.

I've thought about building items to sell to put my carpentry skills to use but the best thing I can build are cheap basic birdhouses lol

My main thought is either having a second PT job or doing something on the side. I want to have as many possible streams of income as feasible to help but I don't want to crush myself with jobs and tasks I cannot do.

I'm open to moving away; I moved away 1300 mile to Florida for a better job. I live in a pretty populated area, close to 1M people within a 75 mile radius, but it was mostly blue collar/sales/collections. I've never had much money; I don't feel comfortable having an SUV nor would I have many expenses. I have the cheapest cable plan, cheapest internet plan, no smart phone, no gym memberships, I don't drink frappacrappachinos ever, I go out to eat maybe 1x every few months, NEVER drink, don't smoke, I live in a small house in a crappy area. I hate spending money.

I got a raise 2 months ago, 3%....our company is a billion dollar worldwide company so they only give out 2-3% annual raises and not much for promotions. I've looked at other side gigs but it's either the hours don't work with my FT or not something I can work out.

out of curiosity, what is your degree in?

can you work in restaurants? Serving is a good way to get extra cash quickly, and it is very much the work you do is the amount you get paid.

with carpentry skills, learn some basic painting and you can make a killing on etsy.

Degree is in History.....lol. I was one of these idiots who thought that if I went to school for something I loved, I'd find a good career I'd enjoy. And no, I don't want to teach, can't find teaching jobs here anyways, I have unemployed friends who have been out of work for a few yrs now working as retail clerks.

Painting as in how? I'm more of a structural carpenter but not sure how the carpentry and painting would go together for etsy?