My dau needs some advice she's 43, never saved money & has less than 2 yrs to save & to pa 3 loans,Ech1000.0

Question

each loan is (2 of the loans are 1000.00 and under, (one is 1400.00 she has no money is on disabililty and is about to lose her daughters part cause she will be 18 soon. Got any advice to offer her? She has 18 months to pay off bills and save money, can you give some good sound advice to save, pay bill, and not be hurting when she loses that extra money? Her credit is bad and she will have to wait 7 or so years to earn it back. She wants some good advice.

Answer 1

Where is all the money going right now?

1. Talk to a credit counselor so maybe those bills can be paused for payments, or put on a better plan.

If not:

2. List out all your expenses (bare necessities like rent, utilities), and see how much you have left over. From that, budget a REASONABLE amount for groceries ( not what you'd LIKE to spend, but how much you really should spend, maybe $25/week or something, and learn how to make satisfying, long-lasting meals at home for cheap)

3. After the bare necessities are taken care of, consider if they are really necessities - TV is not a necessity, telephones can be a necessity, but cell phones are not, etc.

4. From whatever is left over from Income minus bare necessities, save at least 75%, and use the other 25% for emergency things for that month (cough syrup, new umbrella because your old one broke), etc. And if there are NO emergency items (true emergency items, not a pair of earrings), then that money rolls over to the next month to be saved, and bit by bit she gets to save a small nest egg, while paying bills.

5. Think about selling some things - sell your cd player you never use, clothes, etc.

6. $1000 + $1000 + $1400 = $3400 she owes right? $3400 / 18 months *assuming no extra interest is accrued, you haven't mentioned whether they are credit card bills or a family loan*, that means she would have to put away at least $188.88 or $189 a month, which is $47.25 a week towards those bills to squeak by and get out within 18 months.

7. The other option, is to ask her daughters to get jobs at minimum wage and help out with at least $25 a week each, or $50/week each, so that way the rest of the money is theirs to spend - it'll also teach them responsibility. It's also their responsibility too, to help out their mother with the bills.

8. "Hurting" is a relative word. If you consider giving up a latte from Starbucks everyday "hurting", then this is not the advice you want to hear.

9. Worse comes to worst, consider moving to a cheaper apartment, or giving it up all together, moving in with friends/family, and paying them money every month. Or doing the housework/dishes/grocery shopping in that house for free rent.