How do you ever get ahead, and start saving?

Question

I'm in my 40's, and have never been able to get ahead. I live paycheck to paycheck, don't waste money, just pay the bills that I can and have hardly enough for groceries and gas money to get to work. The bills I don't pay on payday, get further behind, and debts just get bigger! I'm tired of this game, I work long hours at a hospital, so second job is out. I have no reletives to borrow from and my credit is shot!, so can't consolidate. Owe more on my modular home than its worth, and my car also, so between the house, lot rent, insurance, utilities, gas & groceries, I juggle all the time, with never any left to save and get out of this mobile home! Do you think my situation is doomed? Or is there hope??

Answer 1

it's hard. I want you to visit to sources that i trust and can give you ideas for better money management.

it comes down to increasing your income and cutting your expenses. Take your pick.

http://www.daveramsey.com
http://www.reduce-debt-help.com
http://www.totalmoneymakeover.com

Answer 2

If you want to get ahead, then you have to avoid debt like the plague.

When you borrow money to buy things, then you end up increasing your spending. And you end up paying a lot more than the rich people pay for the same things.

It makes sense to borrow money only for something that will increase your income. When you borrow money to get a good education, then this is an investment in yourself that will increase your income in the future. Or when you borrow money to start or expand a business, then this too will increase your income.

But borrowing money to buy things only makes these things cost a lot more than they are worth. And you end up spending your income extravangantly without getting much in return.

If your credit is shot, then you have little to loose by declaring personal bankruptcy. Get rid of all your debts. And then start living within your means. Take the bus to work if you can't afford the car. Rent a cheap apartment, if you can't buy a house. Buy a used older TV, if you can't afford the latest flat-panel model.

That's what it takes to avoid debt and save some money for the future.

And if you want all those new shiny things and a big house of your own, then you need to do something that will increase your income.

Being always in debt is a little bit like being a slave. You are never free to quit your job and take a rest or get some education and look for a better job.

It is better to live in freedom with only bare necessities, than in slavery with all the luxuries.

Answer 3

Yes there is hope.

First just back up a step, look at what you do have and be thankful.

I hear your frustration as I have been there. Understand that you didn't get in your situation over night and it will take time to get out of it. But, if you don't start doing things differently, nothing will change.

You could do a couple things to start. First make a decision that you will get to a better place in your life and out of the mess. If you can keep the "I can" mindset, the "how to" will follow.

Try talking with a debt counsilor, they are professionals that may be able to help guide you with your debt.

Again, there is hope. Seek and ye shall find.

Answer 4

Yes
do not give up hope
Did you apply for aid? Food stamps? Free heating gas?
Your income and your kids (you did not say) will determine
If you hav kids, there are many more options.
Car pool- its only a small save but car ownership, insurnace, and gas is nearly $10 a day!
other small measures, CUT cable tv, cut the wall phone, do not go out to eat, cut internet service, do not subscribe to magazines
do not pay tithe at church, do not gamble
do not drink, or usedrugs, or cigarettes
if you can, take in a room mate with similar situations
it sounds horrible but you can get out, it will take a while
do not buy on credit

Answer 5

I think most of the advice we recieve (a la Suze Orman, etc.... give me a break!) is just garbage- things like waiting for sales to buy, clipping coupons, etc. Please!!! Like going out of my way to save even a few hundred dollars a month by being frugal is going to make a significant difference in my retirement- hogwash! It is just not worth the time and energy expended to be frugal like that... if you believe in...
abundance theory.
My take has always been simply to make more $- and I have. I own my own business and make over 6 figures and have for years. I don't concentrate on saving, I concentrate on making more $. And it has worked. And before your nay-saying conscience yells out "yeah, right, get real...I just can't go out and make more $" realize that kind of attitude is EXACTLY WHAT HAS PREVENTED YOU IN THE PAST FROM ATTAINING MORE WEALTH.
Don't listen to people that clip coupons- listen to people that are rich and make a lot of money.
Not to boast, but that is what I have done.
Go out and get Wayne Dyer's book called "The Power of Intention"- I read it and it wasn't a "wow" thing for me because I have been practicing the philosophy for years. It was nice to read another's confirmation of its power.

There is hope, but it's not going to come from clipping coupons and turning off your phone service and riding your bike to save on gas (all the while you are doing such things you are reiterating to your conscience that you have no abundance and you need to be a miser- and thus you will only perpetuate your state of need. Remember the ol' definition of insanity offered up by none other than Einstein- "Doing the same thing over and ovr again yet expecting different results".

I know some readers will scoff at these words- but that is ok. I still invite you to a world of infinite abundance. For me there is no other way.

Answer 6

How about going back to school part time so you can get better job? Or finding another job that pays more? Or fixing your credit so you can buy a rental property with equity and pull the cash out of the property to pay off your bills?

Answer 7

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Answer 8

same here
welcome to the neocon world of America where you are cattle to be herded by the monolithic corporation always under their thumb without hope