please vent with me!

Ok so whenever i start to get depressed over money i post on here and all of you who reply with UR money issues and worries make me feel so much better cause i know im not alone and there are others who are going through the same exact thing..

I look at our account today and theres just a lil over 1,000 in there.. sounds nice right? yeah well in the next week or 2 we will have both car payments due, rent, and other credit card payments and utilities.. so that 1,000 will be gone before u know it.. i just feel like we ALWAYS have that amount in there and then it goes down to 100.00 until one of us gets paid and so on and so on.. im starting to worry about what will happen once i cant work.. i bring home close to 800.00 every 2 weeks which sounds like a lot but we have so many bills and so much debt from college that the 800.00 is gone in 2 or 3 bills out of the 7 or 8 we pay a month.. What are we gonna do once i cant work for those 2 months after the baby comes?? were trying to save but everytime we put 200.00 to the side something comes up that has to be paid for ASAP.. im starting to worry...

I got my KOHLS charge bill teh other day.. i didnt event hink it was gonna be over 300 because ive been making 30.00 payments on it a month and only used the card twice for small xmas gifts last month (so i thought anyway) but i finally opened it today and its about 550.00!!!! im just like WTF?????? I cant even remember what i bought!! i feel like i keep paying all these credit cards and they just keep finding fees and small stuff to charge me so my 30.00 ends up being more like 10.00 that goes twards my bill!!!

DH got a bill last month from VISA and they were charging him 30.00 because the bill was paid one day let.. LITERALLY THEY GOT THE CHECK ONE DAY LATE LIKE I CAN CONTROL THE POST OFFICE.. I UNDERSTAND IF IT WAS 4 OR 5 DAYS, BUT ONE?!?!?!?! Dh called and got some ass hole who said there wasnt anything he could do so i told him to call them back and talk to someone else (dh is a HUGE procrasinator, thats why i pay all the bills.. when we got married and i moved in 3 of his bills were 2 months behind!) but he never did so now for the bull that was due this month i mailed them 2 checks one right before xmas for 15.00 and the other 1/2 the day after new years.. It helps us if we break payments up to biweekly so all of our bills arent due at once, and this visa card only has a limit of 300.00.. so once again, the minimum payment was 16.00 and the 2nd 1/2 of the bill (the other 15.00) didnt get there until 2 days after the bill was due, SO THIS TIME THEY CHARGED US BECAUSE WE MADE OUR MINIMUM PAYMENT 1.00 TO LOW!! so thats 60.00 that we paid them that they basically turned into late fees and his bill has gone UP instead of down because of the finance charges.. I almost cried..

I feel like we pay and pay and pay and its not going anywhere.. our goal was to have this dang credit card paid off by mid march before balise is here so we could use that 30.00 a month on something else than this stupid bill, but now it doesnt look that way.. My parents are great, they arent loaded by any means but they have always saved their money and paid everything in cash (literally they paid for their house in cash and their cars so they have no bills other than water and heat.. we lived in a 1 bedroom apartment until i was 13 cause my parents didnt want to buy a house with a loan) and if i just called and said HEY MOM AND DAD COULD U PAY OUR RENT FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS or HEY COULD U GUYS PAY OUR UTILITY BILLS WHEN BLAISE COMES? they wouldnt even ask why they would just do it, but i HATE asking them for money! my mom has already bought all of my maternity clothes and they are getting the crib and changing table for blaises room.. uhh im just feeling depressed

First off.. you can to the right place. I am glad we can vent here and know that no one is going to bash you and judge you. And you know that probable most of us are in the same boat. There are several SAHM's here so we are used to doing it on one income. Do you get credit card offers in the mail? I have gotten so many in the past to consoladate many cards into one with like 1.9% interest until fully paid off. If you can, try to combine all your cards into one low interest rate. Then it doesnt seem like your paying 5 different places this fee and that fee. There is a condoladate fee though but typically low. And find out how you can pay it online. I pay 80% of my bills on line. There are a few select that doesnt give me the option. If you pay them by like 1pm on the due date your good!

As for utilities.. if you get behind, set up a payment plan. Gather all your bills and write down when they are due on a calender so you can see them in front of you. If something is due Feb 6, mail it this monday. KWIM.. I work better with a visual and thats how i do things. My bills are in order of due date in my box. My computer has a calender to remind me of when bills are due and when to mail them. I am a ditz and would forget... I forget everything!

For food..Only get what you need, make a menu list, shop sales, use coupons, go once a week and not when your hungry.

And if you really need the help, you might need to borrow off your parents. Sometimes we have to put our pride aside. But i know what you mean, my parents have money...but i never ask.

Hugs!

thank you for the reply.. its just getting depressing is all. I really hope we will get at least 1,000 on our tax return (which i doubt but hey wishfull thinking) so we can get rid of some of these cards and pay for our march rent,.. that would help us out MAJOR!!!

Limedrop - I hear your frustration with the late fee's etc. The best advice I can give you is to do exactly what April said, set up your bills to pay them online, that way you can schedule your payments to be made on their due date, that way you are saving money on stamps, and NEVER chancing it with the Post Office. I know you don't want to hear this and I know its much easier said than done, but just paying the minimum payment is barely going to cover your finance charge, most Credit Card Companies are increasing the APR's and since you have been late twice, I am guessing your Interest Rate is VERY high, could be as high as 29%, because you are now likely paying at the default rate.

Like April said, get your balance OFF that Credit Card. Look up 0% Balance Transfer Offers Online, look at the offers, find one that will give you a 0% for the life of the balance, transfer the balance, and DO NOT use the new card. Payment Allocation will hurt you if you spend on that card too, thats why it makes sense to just have a card that you transfer balances to and pay that down. If you need to keep a card open for emergencies use the one you have now that has the $300 Credit Line.

I work for a Credit Card Company so I know how it all works...let me know if you have any other questions, I would be happy to help in anyway I can.

I completely understand your frustrasion also!!!
One bit of advice I can give is about the late charges, I would see if I could talk to someone, they usually will as a courtisy (sp?) take off a late charge... usually only once a year.
maybe u can get at least one of those off.

I so sorry you are going through all this.

You have recvd some great advice already. I do not have any credit cards, for this very reason. My Uncle is a lawyer and he gave me some very good advice when I was leaving for college...he said "Never pay someone to spend your own money." Which is basically what a credit card is.

I have student loan debt, but that is all.

As PPs mentioned pay all your bills online. Keep a calendar and mark off when a particular bill is due, so you can know at all times when it is due, and act accordingly to make sure you have enough in your acct.

I plan to become a SAHM after the birth of this baby too. We have a savings and we have been putting a little here and a little there into the savings acct. Even as little as $20. We have saved a good amount...and its a cushion. I would highly suggest opening a savings acct. and everytime you and DH get paid, transfer some money over...even if its $10. Just make it known that they savings is 'untouchable' except for emergencies of course.

We are putting out entire tax return in our savings.

Also, if you know that DH is a procrastinator...take care of it all. At least it would give you peace of mind. We went through periods where our power would be cut off....once we had to stay in a hotel, because they turned the power off on a Friday (how cruel!). But DH would recv the bill in the mail and completely forget about it.

So I now take care of electric and rent, and he takes care of cable/internet and car insurance.

Also don't eat out...this is a huge issue with alot of people (me included)...we spend on the convenience of not having to cook...it eats up our wallets!

Also I buy things on sale, or out of season (clothes). I buy my son's winter clothes, during the summer...and summer clothes during the winter..Xmas stuff after Xmas is over...and so on.

Save, Save, Save!

HTHs, and Good Luck! We are all stressing, I think many of us are in nesting/organization mode. I know I am! And financial stress is a piece of that pie.

It seems as if we always have bills coming in, but not enough money. I was also paying bills late because dh would open them then put them all over the place.

So I bought this:http: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8206207
Now he puts all bills in this and when I see something something in it I grab it and take it down stairs.

Then I have this calendar. I print 2 off each month. One is for appts, parties, kids sports etc and the other one is just for bills ONLY. When they are due and how much. http://www.printfree.com/Calendars.htm

I just started doing this a couple months ago and works wonders.

Not sure if WIC - is an option for you - but my sister did it and it helped out so much. It is a program that helps pregnant women and infants with buying food. Food costs are a huge part of any budget and any help in that area really helps alot. It is all based on income so I am not sure if you would qualify - but it is important for you and your baby not to be stressed. Here is the federal website http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/. I don't know what state you are in but it is done by state so you would need to go to your state page to find out if you quailfy.

Just a thought - HTH.

I get WIC.. helps out a ton! Just the milk, cheese and cereal alone is a big expense.

I also just started getting WIC when I quit working. It does help out and they told me once I start breastfeeding that they will add more food to my checks, like tuna and carrots I believe. If I can't breastfeed then they will add formula to my checks. I also just found out that I quailfy for a free car seat. I don't have all the details on that other than I have to attend a class. Has anyone else done this?

Dee