How do you do.......?

Question

I'm 20 and trying to pay credit card debt, phone bill, get an apartment and a car but i dont think i can do that with the kind of money i'm making (8hr. + comm.). I live in FL where rent and insurance is high. How do you manage to make do every month and any suggestions are welcomed.

How do YOU make do every month?

Answer 1

There are a lot of little tricks that can really help.

First, stop eating out. My wife and I were amazed at how much we were spending eating out. Second, plan all your meals for the month, and go to the grocery store once. Doing these two things alone we were able to go from spending about $600/month on food to spending $200/month on all groceries!

Second, if you have high speed internet, go with Vonage for you phone. For $30/month you get call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, voice mail, unlimited long distance, plus other cool features. This is usually cheaper than most local companies charge for a basic line with no features, and no long distance. Also, get rid of that cell phone! You really DON'T need it. If you must, get a basic pager for $5/month.

Third, for right now, you need to get yourself an ABA car. That means the car will get you from point A to point B and back to point A, and that's about it. You are looking for a used car, small, and CHEAP. Your insurance will also be cheap for getting such a car. You won't have to drive it forever, I promise.

Fourth, you probably do want to get roommates to share the rent with. Better yet, if you have the credit to do so, look into buying a 4 bedroom house, get three roommates, and charge them rent. Most places you can do this in such a way as to have them pay all, or almost all of your mortgage for you, and they will still be getting a pretty good deal on rent, usually. The best thing is, since you own the house, if you have a problem with a roommate, you just tell them to leave! This does not even need to be that nice of a house, or that nice of a neighborhood (not that you need to live between a crack house and a whore house, mind you). You are essentially getting it for free since someone else is making your mortgage payments, and you will be able to sell it later for a good down payment on the house you really want!

Finally, you need to get rid of those credit cards, and get yourself out of debt! You do NOT want to go with a debt consolidation company. There are better, quicker ways to get yourself out of debt, and many of the debt consolidation companies end up really screwing over their customers. For a good explanation on how to get out of credit card debt, see my answer here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061012093907AADufwk&r=w#NbUvWjC5VzFaItbZwzE4

Good luck!

Answer 2

First thing I would say is sit down wright do all your bill each month, and sit up yourself A budget that you work with. must young peopel problem is that they try to live beyond there means that is to try to have more than they can pay for.
Ones you sit your budget up and you see that you don't have the money to pay all the bills. cut out all that you don't have to have.
sit you budget up with what is the most importunes

for example
I get $300 per week so that is $1200 per month

house $500
car (ins.) $200
car(gas to get to work) $100
phone bill $100
heat & air.bill $150
water & sewer bill $100
credit card dedt $50
this adds up to $1200 and I did't add food yet so, you ask yourself what can I live without so I can play what I need too

I hope this helps

Answer 3

Pay all my bills ontime. Credit cards get paid IN FULL each month, so I don't pay any interest. I get back about $400 a year for gas from the credit card company. Every little bit helps.

Answer 4

1. call a credit card consolodation company. that way you will only have to pay one bill per month, instead of all the credit cards.

2. sell your car. take the bus or cabs. this will save on car payments and insurance. Carpool with someone if you have to..just until you get yourself on your feet.

3. get a roommate! to help pay the bills!

Answer 5

I would suggest getting an apartment with roommates. There's no way you'll be able to afford your own place unless your parents help you out. Craig's List www.craigslist.com advertises for roomates but it would probably be better living with people you already know. Living with strangers is kind of a crap shoot. That's the best advice I can think of.

Answer 6

Write down every penny you spend for a month. At the end of the month, analyze the list and pick items that you can live without.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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