How do you make money?

[PieSeXual]

To "make money" it is imperative that you only spend money on things you actually need. As many others have said, get rid of that car quick! As for renting, rent money is dead money, or so they say. Remember a landlord tries her/his hardest to set rent prices so that s/he can make a profit from the property [as well as profit from sale, this is the ideal situation at least]. The other important thing is that its all about saving! I cannot stress enough that you must stick to buying only what you need, work out how much of your income you save and then go through and work out how to make this figure larger. I find saving really is just mind over matter, you need to get through with less in order to save more!

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

When I was in a simular situation, I found that I had to stop and think every time money left my wallet.

This is much harder than it sounds.

When paying bills, stop and review them (you should sit down with your other half for this as well, find out what he is paying). Consider - do you really need cable? Do you really need caller id on the phone? Do you really need both a landline and a cell? Do you really need high-speed internet? Most people think that they do, but really, they are not necessary to life, and you can always get them again once your finances improve. Although, my fiance and I got rid of cable because we couldn't afford it - and after we got past the withdrawal, we found that we really didn't need it, and didn't really want it back.

When shopping - even grocery shopping - stop and think before you put it (whatever it is) in your cart. Is this a want or a need? If it is a want, put it back. If it is a need, stop and think if you really need it, or if you can do without. If you really need it, can a generic or store brand do just as well? Is there something that is less expensive that can serve the same function?

I agree with ebaying. Also, the Craiglist for your area might be an option.

And, if you sell the car (which it looks like you are trying to do, ASAP), make sure that you get at least enough from it to cover what you owe, so you aren't still paying on it when it's gone. Also, another option might be to take it back to the dealership and see if you can trade it straight up for a less expensive, older vehicle. I had a friend who traded in his truck for an old car, free and clear. However, this only works if your car is worth a decent amount of money.

 

[Pbartender]

This is something my wife and I having been dealing with for the last year or so. We had a bad year or two, and ended up with prohibitive credit card bills.

Here's my advice, which will echo much of what people have previous said:

1. Get rid of the car. $600/month is way to much to be spending on a car. Sell it, and then buy a used car. That will eliminate the car payment, if not the insurance.

2. Is it feasible to move somewhere with a lower rent? That alone can possibly free up hundreds of dollars per month.

3. Don't. Eat. Out.

4. Shop around for a cheaper grocery store. We cut our weekly food bill in half simply switching to a different grocery store. Now, we buy groceries every week for a family of four for less than $100.

5. What bills is your other half paying? They count too. Get rid of EVERYTHING you don't need... Cable/satellite TV goes. Movie rentals go (visit the library instead). Long distance phone service goes (use pre-paid phone cards). Cell phone goes. I'm sure you get the idea... There's a lot of things people consider "essential" now-a-days that really aren't.

6. Set aside just a little bit of "fun money" every week, so you can reward yourself for doing well. This also helps prevent you from blowing all your extra money on splurges.

7. Plan ahead. Don't buy anything unless you have the money saved up and set aside for it. Don't save up and set aside money for anything unless you have it written down on a list.

8. Don't buy anything on credit. Ever. Not even a car. A home mortgage is the only exception.

9. You and your other half should both have a good idea of how much money you make every week and when you get paid. Start keeping track of your monthly bills, so you can estimate them ahead of time. When in doubt, it's always guess high on your bills... You can always spend a windfall. Build a budget based on that. Use a spreadsheet, and plan it out for a year ahead of time.

10. If you have debts, pay them off as soon as possible. Sink as much money as you can into which ever debt has the highest interest rate first. Once that one's paid off, do the same for the next highest and so on, until they're all paid off.

11. Be patient. Be tenacious. Especially for someone with limited funds, it can take a long time, sometimes years, to get out of debt and start saving money. dont' get discouraged. Set short term goals that lead to long term goals, and stick to them.

Oof... that's all I can think off the top of my head.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I will disagree with everyone here who is talking about buying instead of renting. While it is true that you build equity when buying, that equity is useless in the short term, when you are paying mostly interest and the small amount of equity you build is locked up in the property. And that is assuming the housing market isn't going down (as is happening in many areas right now) and you won't actually end up with negative equity.

In addition, to buy, you do need some money up front, and the odds are low that you can buy a property that will cost you less per month when you factor in mortgage, property tax, PMI (which he would pay if he has no money for a down payment), and upkeep.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

I will disagree with everyone here who is talking about buying instead of renting. While it is true that you build equity when buying, that equity is useless in the short term, when you are paying mostly interest and the small amount of equity you build is locked up in the property. And that is assuming the housing market isn't going down (as is happening in many areas right now) and you won't actually end up with negative equity.

In addition, to buy, you do need some money up front, and the odds are low that you can buy a property that will cost you less per month when you factor in mortgage, property tax, PMI (which he would pay if he has no money for a down payment), and upkeep.

I do agree - we just bought a house, and it is a lot more than we had hoped (although, fortunately, about what we had planned for). Also, you have to pay for maintenance to the house and lawn - and if you are having trouble making ends meet now, even if you have the money for closing costs and etc., if something major goes wrong with the house, it'd be impossible to find the funds to fix it. Stick with renting for now, it doesn't usually require much up front and you get maintenance as part of the package.

 

[Pbartender]

I will disagree with everyone here who is talking about buying instead of renting.

Absolutely. Buying a house is a very long-term investment, with high initial cost. Don't buy a house until you KNOW you're ready to.

An anecdote:

Last winter, we were offered the opportunity to purchase the house we are renting. Currently, we are renting the house (2 bedrooms, 1 bath, basement, garage, attic, nice yard) for $1,050/month. That's actually a pretty good deal around here -- most houses/duplexes/townhomes of a similar nature rent for $1,300+ per month.

We did a little research and discovered that, since we did not have a downpayment to speak of, if we bought the house we, we would end up with a monthly mortgage payment of about $1,600/month... Far more than we could afford, and that doesn't even take into consideration property taxes, homeowner's insurance, renovations, repairs and maintenance. We decided that it would be far better for us to continue renting for the next four years until our kids are both in middle school. In the meantime, we can use the extra $500+ per month to pay off uor credit cards, save up to buy a new car, pay off our student loans, and then save up enough for a decent downpayment on a house... Plus maybe a little bit extra money to take a nice trip somewhere for 10th wedding anniversary. If we'd bought the house, our monthly budget would be completely tapped out, and if anything went wrong, we'd be sunk financially.

That's exactly why the housing market is in the tank right now... A few years ago, everyone was being encouraged to buy a house, even if they couldn't afford to. A lot of those people took sub-prime mortgages just to be able to make house payments, now all those balloon payments and ARMs are forcing people who didn't think ahead to foreclose.

Wait until you're on solid ground, money-wise, before you even think about buying a house.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

THIS IS A SERIOUS RESPONSE!!

Just thought I'd preface it. If you have a nice body, work at a strip joint. I've been told they can bring home a ton of "side cash" and it won't interfere with almost any other job.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

THIS IS A SERIOUS RESPONSE!!

Just thought I'd preface it. If you have a nice body, work at a strip joint. I've been told they can bring home a ton of "side cash" and it won't interfere with almost any other job.

My sister used to do that for Christmas money. She'd end up earning 200+ a night, sometimes. It's not for everyone, though.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

My sister used to do that for Christmas money. She'd end up earning 200+ a night, sometimes. It's not for everyone, though.

That's for sure. I can think of some people I would never want to see with their clothes off...

 

[ghettognome]

Get custody. Whatever it takes.

Even with BAD interest, 600 a month on a car sound like you got too good of a car.

Renting has to stop. You are buying someone else a home when you rent.

That is with car payment AND car insurance. I would drop the insurance if I got rid of the car. (insuarnce was high because of credit as well, depsite my perfect driving record) I have a '06 Toyota Corolla. Certainly not a fancy car, but I got screwed big time! I have a buyer interested, we shall see what happens, otherwise I found that Carmax will by cars, but I would likely only get trade in value which would put me still having some on my loan to pay.