I'm afraid and I was never prepared for this...

If you see a comment that is unsupportive or unfriendly, please report it using the flag button.

• Novni Guest · 2 years ago

  It all depends on your particular context like dept, savings, education, where you live, age, past etc... but few things that might generally apply: 1) Save the money you do have/make for a while by doing things like cookong for yourself vs eating out; 2) get a job that will cover the bills for now but invest some of the money on your future by taking courses geared towards a job/skill. Something in IT, anywhere in IT starting from data entering roles is in high demand I hear. 3) concider widening your job/business oportunity search to a wider area if the scarcity is tied to your local area.

  ReplyAppreciate this commentFlag this comment
• Mirage · 2 years ago

  You need "a system".

  When I was young and just wrapping up college, I moved to another state with one of my best friends. We had, almost, NOTHING. We took only what we could get in our two cars - clothes, cleaning supplies, a TV, and a computer is all I can remember from those early days. We had no furniture for the living room, TV sat on the floor, no beds so we crashed in sleeping bags, no pots/pans, etc. In terms of money, we took our last paychecks which, back then, was only $200 per or something as it was a long time ago but also because we had entry level jobs that came with little pay.

  So there we were in another state with so little and neither of us knew how to manage finances. I remember the day we drove to an electronics store because we wanted to get the prices of microwaves. We had never purchased one before and our apartment didn't come with one. Neither of us knew how to cook so a microwave seemed like an expense we could justify. In the store, we looked for the least expensive microwave so we'd know how much money we'd need to save to come back and buy it. While browsing, an employee made mention that if we don't have the money, we could finance. Neither of us knew what that was so allowed him to give us the spiel. Once done, he told us the monthly payments would be $15 or $20 so I filled out the paperwork (this was before online applications). I was approved for $500 and we walked out of the store that day with the best microwave they had and a buggy full of DVDs. I had literally, just moments after getting this credit, maxed it out.

  When the first bill came in, the required payment was only $10 and I remember chuckling about it and thinking how easy it is to come with only $10 a month. How silly. I was hooked and wondered if it's possible to finance other items as well. My next stop was a furniture store. I filled out the paperwork, got another approval, and had a nice bedroom suit delivered on the following week. I had the bed, dresser, mirror, two night stands, and a box spring with a super nice mattress. Soon after, my friend jumped on board and it wasn't long before we had filled the whole place with "stuff". And then the bills started rolling in.

  Financing had turned into a way of life for us and over the years, I dug myself further and further into debt. One day, years later, my wife and I decided we needed to fix our financial situation. She, too, had never done such a thing either so it was new to us all. My friend was still living in that other state and we told him about it and the three of us started researching these popular people who preach money management. My friend researched Suzie Orman, my wife researched David Bach, and I researched Dave Ramsey. My friend attempted the, then, Suzier Orman system and he told me it was silly and no good. The David Bach system didn't seem realistic as the book we had was specific for married couples and it was stating unrealistic tasks like IMMEDIATELY saving 50% of your income, or something similar, so you could have money for retirement and such. How can we save 50% if we can't even pay our bills on time?

  We were late on bills, paying late fees, paying overdraft, etc. and it was a nightmare. I knew others who had used the Dave Ramsey system and they ALL told me that it worked or was working for them. The book we got was "Total Money Makeover" and we started ourselves on a budget. This was the system that worked for us. My friend tried this system and it worked for him as well so we are all firm believers in this one.

  In the end, I think you're best bet, at present, is to find a financial system that works for you and your partner and start living on a budget.

  To me, that feels like the foundation and, once you're living on a financial system and a budget, I think you can start focusing on new adventures that can bring in more money or find ways to cut expenses.

  In a not so funny twist, I have further proof that the system worked for us because, when we got off, we fell into a deep financial well of despair. My friend was the first to bail. The financial software we were using for budgeting purposes was bought out by another company and became unavailable to us. My friend decided that he had been living his best life for years and was financially stable so assumed he'd be Ok getting off the system and just not using a budget any more. Several months later, he told me he was in the reverse and warned us to stay on track. About a year later, he confessed that he had found himself in a bad place, financially, and that he should have never stopped using the system.

  I got remarried and my new wife, for some reason, would not get on board with me. If you don't both do this together, it just won't work. I've been off the system for years now and I've not been this bad off since I first moved out of state with my friend so many years ago. It's horrible. My wife says she's ready to get on the system now so we can start making things better for ourselves but, after these last few weeks have gone by, she's not showing as much enthusiasm as I would like. I'm not sure this is going to work for us and I'm so tired of struggling that I'm not sure the relationship can pan out if she doesn't start doing this with me. I've lived on both sides of the fence and I'm sick and tired of being broke.

  Unfortunately, there probably isn't a quick fix for your issue but starting a system, any financial system at all that works for you two, will be a good help. And, while I remember it taking us a long time to get out the hole we dug, I do remember how exiting it was to see the progress we were making each month. After about month 3 or 4, we really started to feel it and knew for sure it was working.

  No matter what you decide, I hope everything pans out for you!

  Good luck on your money management and your food selling venture.

  Thanks!

  ReplyAppreciate this commentFlag this comment