How do I crawl out of this debt? - Fixing my life before a recession happens

[NoReturn]

No new clothes, no entertainment (I miss Netflix), no electronics, no makeup, no coffee shops or restaurants, no hobby items. I've been mending a lot, and making due without. I bought things that promote health (running shoes, a rubber mat for jump roping, collagen, dentist.)

Makes sense. All the things you're spending money on for health are preventative. Saves you from spending more money later.

Pro tip, getting into minimalist lifestyle is a good way to LARP not being a poorfag without having to spend a lot of money.

This is absolutely true. It's fucking wild watching my peers spend money on "essentials" that are very much not essential, but no one bothers me about it because people think I'm choosing to be some kind of hippy.

 

[TATE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODE!!]

This guy said he makes 6 figures, and does not know how to fill out employment paperwork in order to not have the IRS rape him, does not know how to prioritize debt, gets into stupid debt (consumer), and can't sit down at a desk and crunch some numbers on a fucking piece of paper....but comes on to a shit posting site and asks for advice.
OP...what brain dead non productive "job" do you have? Say something related to HR, please god.

Having student debt alone made me lol

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

No way to be debt free in a year. But the student debt may not be that bad interest wise. Don’t buy a house with a girlfriend, that’s for wife’s only.

You need a $35k post tax surplus each year to pay this off in two years. You’ll have to budget a lot more stricter than what you’ve done to get in this mess.

Prioritize the credit card. Never carry a balance in the future and stop using it until it’s paid off fully.

Noted. Already started to implement stricter budgeting. Wanted to get a vibe check from fellow kiwis for best path forward with realistic expectations. Thank you so much.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

Stop spending on credit cards. Rewards are nice but you are in a drowning situation. Literally put your cards in a goddamn block of ice or something.

Start sending some money to the IRS immediately. Even if a small amount. Get on a payment plan ASAP but sending payments shows you’re trying. https://www.irs.gov/payments/payment-plans-installment-agreements

pay the ass minimums on student loans and the car.

those debts are relatively small and can’t increase. Pay down the credit cards as fast as you can. Use cash to buy shit, and don’t carry it with you. The idea is if you see the new SexBoxWhoreRaper9000 at Walmart for only $399.99 you have to actually drive to the damn bank and get the cash out by which time your laziness will have overcome the spend for euphoria desire.

Whatever your job allows for retirement, maximize it in steps. Money you never see is easiest to save, and there may be matching available. If not, run the numbers on whether an IRA contribution can tax-help. If you are a contractor or self employed or something investigate SEP-IRA.

If your girlfriend makes not much money look into a Roth for her, the government basically pays you to put money into it and it has advantages when you house buy.

Read the bogleheads forum for fun insanity.

Now for the advice tending towards potentially disastrous.

Marry the girl and knock her up fast. Married with kid triggers EITC and would reduce your federal tax burden quick. Get triplets and you might even be eligible for government cheese.

Lmao. Thank you. Already curbed most impulses the past couple weeks, so no sexboywhoreraper9000 from walmart for me.

I’ll pace myself with my girlfriend.

Thank you again!

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

Don't over do it or you'll give up. It's like when fatties try to lose weight. They go all or nothing and give up. Ideally you'd pay it off asap but you don't want to be so miserable that you give up and make things worse. Be realistic. If it takes a bit longer but you get there in the end then it's all good

I understand. I am a bit of a masochist- sometimes I use to spend 2-3 months at any given time isolated, just being really fucking frugal. It’s just got a bit more difficult to accomplish that being in a relationship.

Thank you so much. I’ll do my absolute best. Will act like my goal is a year, with a more realistic time frame of two years. I think I can make great strides in the next couple of months. I’ll follow up later this year.

Cheers, and thank you for the kind words.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

If you were not Kiwi you would be mocked. But because you are one of many in-debt moron Kiwis out here you gain support.

I just want to tell you to watch your budget next time.

All I want to do is solve this issue. If I cared about being mocked I wouldn’t have asked it here. And I have what I need. Thank you.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

You'll be fine because you have income. The part that's missing in your post is your expenses or bank account. You say you didn't have any withholding. So either you have the money in your bank account or you have a huge spending problem. Fix that before thinking about debt. Pay cc first. Work out a payment plan with IRS and student loans to get a low minimum.

Actually the more I read your post, the clearer it is that you are actually retarded. How can you think it is a good idea to save cash and pay off your loans in one payment.

When I transferred over to a new employer, my witholdings changed, and did not notice until a late message from HR during winter.

Thank you. Really appreciate the advice.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

You could feasibly knock all of that out in a year making 120k. Especially if you're willing to put your foot down and be frugal about everything. Yes it'll suck for the year because I'm going to assume that 120k is before taxes.
Credit card should be your first priority. I would honestly buckle down on that and chucking money at it like mad to just avoid interest for the entire year. Anything that you save at the end in interest you can effectively use elsewhere.
Another poster suggested working out some sort of payment plan with the IRS. You need to do this. Those guys are going to be hitting with you with interest as well. But that'll all depend on what you work out with them.

Okay! Thank you thank you. Already been super frugal the past few weeks. Been cooking all meals at home.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

Pretty sure if you make 120k+ and your debt is 40k-ish you can make your case that you will pay the debt gradually in 2 years.

Just look determined and make a strong case.

I’m game. Thank you. Going to make this happen.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

83000 in debt.
Let's face it it's over for you, you will never recover, this will only get worse.
At the end of this year your debt will have at least tripled.
Might as well start playing the lottery and pray for a miracle.

Here you go my friend do a flip with dignity.

California | Death With Dignity

California

deathwithdignity.org

Lmao and this is why I ask the kiwis.

Thank you.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

here you go, feel better

https://twitter.com/sportynory/status/1645918001651421184

yeah, it really hits hardest if you're in the "sweet spot" but don't pop out a kid just to get EITC (make sure you get WIC and all the other g'vt cheese if you go that way)

i once helped a military dude with taxes and that nigger got all sorts of cheese on the return, ended up being like $8k on $30k income lol

Jesus christ. I appreciate the example, but I don’t look at people’s horrible situations to feel grateful. Just want to solve my own.

And I’m definitely not interested in making children just for benefits.

That’s great to hear.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[8mm Cunningham]

Bro, learn how to use the multi-quote instead of chain posting.

 

[Da Brony Unchained]

Take your normal paycheck and pay down the highest interest debt first you stupid fuck.
Then, don't get in debt again. Your either trolling or just plain fucking dumb.
Here is an idea, learn how to fill out your tax forms correctly, file as single 0, and fill out a 1040EZ with nothing weird.

I imagine you guys get shit in the mouth quite often with troll posts, but this isn’t one. My only concern is about making this right. I really appreciate the advice. Thank you.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

And I’m definitely not interested in making children just for benefits.

You're not, but if you DO, be sure to name them something that acronyms out to WIC or EITC or something, hell name them "tax rebate" (It's pronounced "tah rebah-teh" you racist assholes)

 

[NoReturn]

It’s just got a bit more difficult to accomplish that being in a relationship.

Actual relationships should be mutually supportive.
Also, learn to multi-quote already. The link is right there.

 

[malleusmaleficarum]

how did you accrue $40k in debt???

 

[Otoya Yamaguchi]

i dont know if you can crawl out. you could declare bankruptcy maybe?

 

[The Rockafire Explosion]

No new clothes, no entertainment (I miss Netflix), no electronics, no makeup, no coffee shops or restaurants, no hobby items. I've been mending a lot, and making due without. I bought things that promote health (running shoes, a rubber mat for jump roping, collagen, dentist.)

If you aren't a total boomer, know how to pirate and have a half decent connection you really don't need Netflix. I haven't paid for any streaming service in years because fuck having to pay more than cable to watch a movie that will just get rotated to some new C tier channel full of reality shows and the USA Network's back catalog. You can also pirate games, music, and books, and if you feel guilty about piracy or have a shit connection, a library card is still free and will have more stuff to read or watch than you can feasibly get to in a lifetime. Basically, you don't need to spend money on even the most mindless of entertainment if you're trying to save.

 

[Dyn]

Meth lab.

 

[♦️ King of Diamonds ♦️]

You have an amazing income the vast majority of people on planet earn would commit murder for, so hopefully knowing that relieves some stress.

I would argue the Student Loan Debt is your biggest problem. Student Loan Debt in the USA is absolutely the worst form of debt you can possibly have and makes the old British colonial system of indentured servitude look tame in comparison. Literally every other form of debt you have, even IRS and Credit Cards, can be discharged in a chapter 7 bankruptcy- Student Loans Can't. You could theoretically rack up 22k of payday loan debt with an interest rate of 489% and it would be less crippling to your life than the 22k of student loan debt because of bankruptcy protections. I would go so far as to argue not paying your child support damages your finances less than not paying your student loans- they can revoke your professional licenses (ex. Pharmacist License) and even driver's license if you default on student loans

If it's Federal Student loan debt- DO NOT touch it/refinance it/consolidate it until the Supreme Court issues their verdict and the payment pause stops- otherwise you WILL fuck yourself out of 1the possibility of 10k or even 20k forgiveness. If it's private student loan debt, try seeing if your state has a refinancing option.

For example, I graduated from the university at the worst possible time in human history to graduate college (January 2020) with a completely worthless Bachelor's degree and 19k in Federal Student Loan debt, but 17k in private fuck-you-up-the-ass-with-a-chainsaw private student loan debt from Discover with a 12% interest rate. that wasn't even fixed The private student loan was not affected by the payment pause at all, and I paid it for over 3 years and the balance only *increased*. However, I did some research and my state offered a public refinancing option for private loans that reduced my monthly payment amount and reduced the interest rate to a fixed 4%- and since then I've been making good progress paying it off.

My wife dropped out of college with 55k of federal student loan debt and only has a HS diploma- but she completed a trade program and now makes double my salary (and I'm currently in grad school trying to do a career shift to finance). Me and my wife both got Pell grants so we both got approved for 20k forgiveness each, fingers crossed. My advice to any Zoomers reading this is this: Don't go to college. Just fucking don't. Join the military- and if you're ineligible to enlist fresh out of high school like I was (medical shit a waiver couldn't cover) go to trade school. If college enrollment rates just crater Universities will either reduce tuition rates to more sane rates or Employers will stop searching for unicorns and have every entry-level job position stop requiring a four-year bachelor's degree in a very specific field with 2 years of experience paying $18 an hour max.