Everything is Due....Now What?

OK - Well it is Tuesday, June 17 and everything is due. The light bill ($220 with late fee) and the mortgage ($730 with late fee) are due for sure - everything else I can push off another week. My big plans for selling everything over the weekend didn't pan out since I didn't have enough in my account to run the classified ads and we had enough rain on Saturday to soak our plans for a yard sale. Now I am looking at E-bay and Craig's List as a last resort. We have some parts from our Firebird that we can sell and my fiance is willing to part with his stereo and some 10" Sony speakers. The yard sale can be back on at any time this week - I just need to show my fiance how to run it so that he doesn't let everything go for a quarter.

I've always kept in touch with my bank that holds my mortgage so I e-mailed my collection department contact last week and told her what was going on. She said to let her know as soon as I can make the payment but that I couldn't go past 30 days or they would start foreclosure. You see, the same friendly neighborhood bank that I mentioned in my initial post holds the note on my mortgage and I am convinced they love to make what is mine (OK so the house won't be mine technically for another 28 years) theirs. All of the late fees, check fees, etc they have collected from me over the past year could have been used to pay down my mortage enough to drop the PMI.

Don't even get me started on PMI. Where in the hell do they come up with these things? Insurance for the bank so they don't lose their shirts when you can't afford your mortgage. On the flip side, PMI makes my loan $200 a month more expensive than someone with great credit so they are almost charging me $200 a month to insure that I do lose the house. I should have fought when they came at me and said I would have PMI and it would be that high the morning of closing but we were already moved out of the rental we had been in for 10 years and we had no where to go. Everyone has called it a case of predatory lending but who cares? I signed the papers and here we are. I thought because it was a fixed rate and a reputable bank, there was no way they could do that to me but how niave we are at our first dance, right?

I have been reading some very inspiring posts lately from others in similar situations and really liked the post from "Reggie - Another kid with good credit" who is working through his debt by listing his goals and then checking them off as he accomplishes them. I know that works - I see it in my business dealings every day. Setting budgets, goals, etc are great if you are a person that can stick to them (which I am). My trouble is my fiance. He doesn't plan, he doesn't worry (until it's too late), and he doesn't budget. When I left for work this morning I tried to tell him that today at noon the lights would be shut off (along with his beloved cable) and he wasn't even phased. On the other hand, I didn't sleep last night out of worry. Instead he tells me that "everything is going to be fine - it always is". It must be great to be so stress free!

OK - so if I call the local municipal utility they may let us slide another week and I may have a few more days on the mortgage but I know how quickly those days will go by and if I don't do something soon there will be no more extensions. I started to look through loan information for people with bad credit on line yesterday and I quickly decided that I didn't want to do that to myself. First, I don't want to dig myself in further by borrowing to pay bills. Second, they all seem to want one thing - access to your checking account. That's just what I need - more people taking money out of my account! I think I'll stick with selling things and plain old overtime.

Sorry this post is so long - I had to take a break this weekend due to a nasty sunburn I got while we were working in our new veggie garden. This is the first year we've gardened together - it's been really fun but it is soooo much work. Now, if we could just grow hamburger, eggs, and milk we would be set. I could keep the cows in the backyard but they would probably eat the garden and then there is the chicken! It probably wouldn't live long enough to lay its first egg with "our children" in the house! Maybe I should just plant soybeans - you can make everything out of them these days!

Payday - Do you Fear Yours?

Since the garnishments started over 6 months ago, I have grown to hate payday. Everytime I get my check I open it with the naive false hope that somehow there has been a book keeping error and the garnishment won't have been deducted. Yesterday was no different. I knew I owed my mortgage (late from the 1st), the bounced check fees outstanding on my account, the insurance (2 months late), my electric bill (late from the 7th), and my gas bill (late 2 months and ready for disconnect). In total I needed to make $1580. My check pre-garnishment was $1150. Post garnishment = $755. The bank took their fees off the top since my pay goes direct deposit and what is left? I check my balance and cringe when I see $435.

So what now? I was intrigued by the story on Yahoo's front page yesterday about the doorman that won $5,000,000 on a scratch off ticket and still couldn't afford an apartment in his building where he worked on Park Avenue. I don't buy lottery tickets. My fiance's stepdad calls them a "poor man's tax". If I happen to buy one, I have the clerk slide it into the bag and refuse to touch it. I don't want my luck to taint the ticket! I have my fiance scratch it when I get home. In 15 years, we've ever only won about $3.00.

Yesterday felt different. I was already in the hole and I was feeling inspired by the doorman's story so I went to my local Circle K after work and bought $20 in scratch off tickets. Now for all of you responsible soals who feel this was the stupidest thing I could do I would normally agree. Once you hit the type of hole I'm in, your logic tends to fly right out the window. Well, someone must have been smiling on me yesterday because for the first time, all three tickets were winners. I won $122 and you would have thought I'd won $1,000,000. That paid my insurance. I know this isn't usually the luck I have so I stopped there (what with today being the 13th and all) but it does give a person a glimmer of hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel of debt.

The point of this post? If you are struggling with debt, I am there with you. It can leave you with overwhelming feelings of doom but you do have to step back once in a while and remember to feel grateful for the little things.

**The kicker? I got a letter from the lawfirm yesterday that is representing Beneficial and they were demanding that I contact them or they will take further action. Further Action??? They already took me to court twice and put a lien on my home and are garnishing me every week? Do they not even know that they are doing this? Probably not. I've been tempted to call them and rip them a new one for being so lax in their own paperwork but I've restrained myself because I don't want to make things worse. Does anyone else have experiences with Beneficial and debt? I'd love to read your comments.

How to Buy Groceries on a Budget

Have you been to the grocery store lately? $1.99 for a dozen eggs. $3.99 for a gallon of milk. $1.89 for a loaf of bread. It makes my head spin when I start looking at prices and then look at the balance in my account. Buying in bulk doesn't help with these types of items. There are only 2 of us (plus our cats) but even 2 people can go through $100 a week in groceries. My budget for this week was a $40 WalMart gift card given to us by my fiance's parents. We were out of everything (even ketchup, mustard, mayo) so I knew $40 wasn't going to go far. Here are some cheap meal ideas that help if you are in a pinch and need to make a good meal and don't have the time to make everything from scratch:

• Frozen Turkey Roast / Instant Mashed Potatoes / Veggie of your choice / Bread & Butter (Cost = $6.50)
• Spaghetti / Canned Meat Sauce / Bagged Salad / Homemade Garlic Bread (make with mixture of melted butter and garlic salt brushed on bread and baked in 375 degree oven) (Cost = $5.00)
• Potpies (we like the Turkey from Banquet). We can each eat 2 and they can make good cheap lunches. (Cost = $2.66 for 4)
• Soft Tacos (Soft taco shells / hamburger / shredded cheese / tomato / left over lettuce from bagged salad) & refried beans. (Cost = $7.00)
• Grilled Ham & Cheese / Tomato soup. (Cost = $6.00 if you use the bagged lunch meats)

Just a few ideas. Cereal has also come down in price quite a bit and can be a filling snack. Milk is expensive but we can find deals at our local Walgreens or CVS sometimes for $2.50 a gallon. Check out prices on pizza as well. Our local Marcos just ran a special on larges for $5.49. We had to pick it up but it fed us for dinner and lunch the next day. We've found that the $1.00 menus at some fast food restaurants can provide a quick lunch for under $5.00 for the both of us. Not cheaper than eating at home, but that is not always possible.

There are many things we love that we've had to give up (Mt. Dew, Doritos, Lasagna, to name a few) but we do splurge on them once in a while so we don't go into a complete melt down. I shop at WalMart but have found that our local supermarket has better deals most of the time and they are right across the street so they really mark things down to compete. I comparison shop but I don't waste a lot of gas doing it. I can't afford to stock up. I shop daily and buy only what we can afford for that day. Many people think this is a bad thing, but it keeps me from running up a bill for $150 at the market and writing a check I can't cover.

Feel free to post some of your favorite money saving meal ideas!

Is Your Checking Account in the Red?

I checked my bank balance this morning and surprise, I'm overdrawn again. I just put a deposit in the bank 2 days ago for doing a computer repair job and instead of allowing me to use the money to pay bills, my friendly neighborhood bank has once again figured out how to make my money their money. One check bounced by $2.00 and their policy is "if one check for the day bounces, they have to bounce all checks processed that day". They charge $31.50 per check so I ended up bouncing 6 checks in one day all for going over by $2.00. Now I owe the bank $190 out of my paycheck on Thursday (my paycheck that is already being garnished). I've been through this before with my bank. They have "overdraft protection". What a scam. I wish I could make $190 that easy.

I've written my bank, called them, and even tried to explain errors in their logic all to no avail. Now I have to figure out how to recover $190 by Thursday so I can make my already late morgage payment to the same said bank. I think they do this on purpose just so I have to also pay them a late fee on my mortgage payment. If I could have all of my bank fees back from the last year, I could pay off 3 of my creditors in full.

I'm sure if you are have any experience with credit problems, you've realized that those of us with bad credit are the ones paying for luxury cars and million dollar homes for CEO's of banks, credit card companies, and mortgage companies. Our fees and high interest rates combined could finance a third world country for years. In the meantime, we are accused of not paying our bills on time, being freeloaders, thieves, credit risks, bums. If I had the same interest rate as those people with excellent credit scores, I'd be able to pay my bills on time. If I didn't have to come up with that $190 by Thursday, my mortage would be on time. The cycle just repeats itself.

How am I going to deal with this? Aside from hoping that a million people read this blog and click on my adsense ads, I am going to start looking for more items I can sell quickly. We are down to our mattress (no box springs - just the mattress), our camera, and our clothes. The camera is only worth about $20 but that is better than nothing. My stomach feels sick....

Is your Stomach in Knots?

Hello!

I'm just starting my new blog. I'm new to this process so please be patient as I catch up with the 21st century!

Let me give you the basic backstory to my decision to start this blog. I'm frustrated, sick, tired, and out of options when it comes to dealing with my debt situation and I need a sounding board. I've been lied to, taken advantage of (plain out screwed over), and spent many nights crying and fighting with my fiance over money even though we said we would never fight about money.

First of all, I am not unemployed. I am employed for a countertop manufacturer in a small town that is a major supplier to our nations' top home centers. I am in charge of pricing, costing, reporting, commissions, and database administration. I was a project lead when implementing our new ERP system and it was in German so I have worked in international business.

Now you may be thinking that I make $80,000, $100,000 or even $120,000 per year to do all of this. Well, at one point I was making $40,000. I thought for my age and education level that was a fortune. Then the housing bubble burst. All of a sudden I found myself making $26,000 or facing being laid off (code for fired in our business). I had just bought a house and had bought a new (2 year old used) car the year before. How do you go from making $40,000 (plus overtime) to making $28,000 and make ends meet in a small town? You get a second job. You move. You sell everything you own. You prioritize your debts. I only had a few options for a second job since most businesses in our town close at 5:00 and other jobs in my field are rare. Move? Not an option at this point as my parents are here and my fiance was moved from town to town as a child after his father died and now loves the stability I give him by being a creature of habit. We don't own anything but what we did own we sold for a fraction of the cost we owed on it. I prioritized my debts. I got garnished.

When I took the pay cut I was told "Don't worry - we will recover and this will bounce back". That was over a year and a half ago. I did the right thing. I called all of my creditors and told them what was going on and they all were willing to work with me - at first. My employer then told me I would get my wages back in 30 days, 90 days, 120 days...you get the picture. Eventually, I got frustrated and got a second job. It didn't pay enough to make up the difference - I started to get garnished by Beneficial and the picture got bleaker. My earnings at my local video store were not enough to cover my pay cut and the garnishment. Then the local video store filed bankruptcy last month and I got let go. Now I am down to my primary job that is being garnished and in Ohio they garnish 25% of every paycheck. They don't allow you one check a month to live! Once you get garnished, it seems as thought there is nothing you can do but file bankruptcy. But wait! The new bankruptcy laws make bankruptcy too expensive to file. It costs $1,000 to file and $1,000 right now may as well be $1,000,000. I live paycheck to paycheck and most of the time not even until the weekend after my paycheck is issued.

I know I am not alone. I read every day about the foreclosure and unemployment rates in our state. I see people suffering because they can't afford what they could afford yesterday and it hurts. I was an honors student, in the top 10% of my class in high school (out of 183 students) and attended Miami University after high school. I left college due to a family situation in my first semester and have forever paid the price. I understand my bad decisions and get so upset when I read other posts where people who have never had bad luck condone debt and the inability to pay.

I want to make things right but banks can only let you go so long. I understand that. I tried debt consolidation last summer - they stole $900 from me before I could blink an eye and when I tried to fight back I was told to hire an attorney. Right - an attorney - if I could hire one of those, I wouldn't be here. I got a grant from HUD to save my house last fall. Now I am facing losing the house again. I am a good person. I don't deserve this. My stomach hurts. What do you do to battle debt? I am trying to fix this and if you have been through this or are one of the many that are going through this, you should find my posts interesting.