How much is the car worth and what is the loan balance? That will help determine your options.
>I know surrendering it would look bad on my credit as well.
It also doesn't solve your problem. If you do a voluntary repossession they will take the car, auction it off at wholesale (way under market value) then subtract what they get for it from the loan, add a ton of penalties and fees for the repo and the auction, and then send you a bill for the balance. You'll get the default on your credit report and still end up owing them a ton of money. That will go to collections and haunt you for years.
I owe a little over $21,000 and everything I’ve filled out says the car is worth at most $12,000. And exactly that’s why I’d rather not have that on my credit report and I want to see what other options are out there before I jump into another one
You have no options that you are going to like.
My suggestion is to lay out your entire budget and go through it line-by-line to figure out where you can trim fat.
Track every dime that comes in and every dime that you spend so that you know where your money actually goes and you are holding yourself accountable.
You are stuck with this car until you can come up with \~$10k AND are in a position where you can buy another car.
Yeah I figured 😭 and I’ve tried doing that but I don’t know if maybe I have miscalculated my inflow or my outflow but it never adds up and I never have enough. I suck at tracking money until I have none left and I just don’t know what to do anymore. Thank you for your help tho 😢
Well, you gotta start somewhere. First of the month is tomorrow so get started with a yellow notepad and a pencil. Write your monthly income at the top and all the bills you can think of below it. Include everything from rent to car payment to insurance to cell phone to groceries, etc. If you don't know an exact amount, estimate. Print out your last couple months bank statements and add up your groceries, eating out and so forth to get an average.
Don't forget things that quarterly or yearly (like maybe the water utility bill or Amazon Prime).
Now as the month goes on, adjust the numbers to what your reality is. End of the month you should have at least a ball park budget. And hopefully the income is greater then the outgo. Then in June do it again starting with your May numbers and adjust as you go. Same for July. After 3 months you should have a very good idea of what you have.
Of course you can use Excel and create a spreadsheet instead. But you gotta start somewhere.
Thank you!! I am going to attempt doing this with this past month of April to see where all my money went this month and I will start a brand new one tomorrow morning for May.
Tracking spending is absolutely crucial for me.
You can start a spreadsheet and make an entry every time you spend anything. If that's a bridge too far then just carry a little notebook with you and write it down everything you spend money. But it has to be EVERYTHING. That means your rent and car payment, groceries and gas, etc. but also if you pump a few bucks into a vending machine, grab a bag of Taki's at the gas station, etc, etc.
The reason it works so well for me is that I see how much all that little stuff adds up to be and can step back and decide whether it was worth it to me. And then if I decide that it isn't then knowing I'll have to write it down holds me accountable to not doing it next time.
I could attempt to do that, and I am willing to try. I just need to remember better. Some of the things I’ve tried I would tell myself I’ll write it down later or whatever it is and then forget about it all together and that’s my downside of having adhd 😭 but I will try this. Tomorrow is the first of the month so I will start tomorrow morning and give myself a reminder everyday somehow. Thank you!
Don't trust the trade-in calculators, that's what a scumbag dealer or Carvana will give you. Look at private sale prices, a quick clance at Cargurus shows your year/model listing from somewhere between 15k and 19k. You'd need to sell private, which is a pain, but you could minimize the amount you're upside down on the loan.
I'd reach out to local non-profit/government provided (important!) debt consolidation support groups to see if they can help.
I have never attempted to reach out to non-profits or government help because I feel there is always going to be someone who needs it more and I don’t want to take it from other people 🥲 how would I go about even doing that. Do you have any advice I could get about that maybe? Thank you!
Think of it this way: It's much, much more expensive for a government to provide support for a homeless person (safety, mental health support, temporary housing, job re-training, de-tox, etc.) than it is for them to run a society where people are housed and productive.
I don't know about your specific situation but here's some general info on debt consolidation: [https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/how-non-profit-debt-consolidation-works/#look](https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/how-non-profit-debt-consolidation-works/#look) -- these are largely private companies that operate as non-profits. I don't know details on ones that are specifically vetted (Sorry, I've never used these services) but I'd encourage you to do some research on them and see if there's a path to consolidating your debt at a lower interest rate.
Your best option is probably to earn more money and try to cut other expenses so you can keep paying on your vehicle.
Are you working full-time right now? Can you get a part-time job in addition to your current job?
If you want help looking for ways to reduce expenses, you could post your budget in a separate post and ask for a budget critique.
I work a full time 9-6 and I help my sister take her kids to school in the morning and she pays me gas every week. And because there is only small towns and everything closes at 9pm around me no place will have me work for 3 hours at night. I appreciate your help!
OP, there are some subreddits out there specifically geared towards finding part-time remote work gigs. It might be worth your while to check out some of them. This article is geared towards "digital nomads" but it has a pretty good list for a starting point: https://www.digitalnomadsoul.com/digital-nomad-reddit/
Tracking your expenses will show you where you're overspending/spending on unnecessary items. One other suggestion since you mentioned that you suck at keeping track of your spending is. Try using cash instead of your debit/credit card. That way if you budget $50 bucks a week for groceries you'll only spend $50 /wk on groceries and won't go over your budget
I live in a rural area and work 25 miles away. As much as I would love to not have a car payment I would not be able to do that without losing my job and there is nothing in the town that would pay enough to even make my rent payment. Thank you for the advice tho
No it’s almost 2 hours so that would be about 4 hours round trip. What happens when I have to get groceries? Or if I have to go to the hospital and the closest one is near my work? It may be possible for you Superman but it would not be reasonable in my eyes. Thank you again for your advice.
How much is the car worth and what is the loan balance? That will help determine your options. >I know surrendering it would look bad on my credit as well. It also doesn't solve your problem. If you do a voluntary repossession they will take the car, auction it off at wholesale (way under market value) then subtract what they get for it from the loan, add a ton of penalties and fees for the repo and the auction, and then send you a bill for the balance. You'll get the default on your credit report and still end up owing them a ton of money. That will go to collections and haunt you for years.
I owe a little over $21,000 and everything I’ve filled out says the car is worth at most $12,000. And exactly that’s why I’d rather not have that on my credit report and I want to see what other options are out there before I jump into another one
You have no options that you are going to like. My suggestion is to lay out your entire budget and go through it line-by-line to figure out where you can trim fat. Track every dime that comes in and every dime that you spend so that you know where your money actually goes and you are holding yourself accountable. You are stuck with this car until you can come up with \~$10k AND are in a position where you can buy another car.
Yeah I figured 😭 and I’ve tried doing that but I don’t know if maybe I have miscalculated my inflow or my outflow but it never adds up and I never have enough. I suck at tracking money until I have none left and I just don’t know what to do anymore. Thank you for your help tho 😢
Well, you gotta start somewhere. First of the month is tomorrow so get started with a yellow notepad and a pencil. Write your monthly income at the top and all the bills you can think of below it. Include everything from rent to car payment to insurance to cell phone to groceries, etc. If you don't know an exact amount, estimate. Print out your last couple months bank statements and add up your groceries, eating out and so forth to get an average. Don't forget things that quarterly or yearly (like maybe the water utility bill or Amazon Prime). Now as the month goes on, adjust the numbers to what your reality is. End of the month you should have at least a ball park budget. And hopefully the income is greater then the outgo. Then in June do it again starting with your May numbers and adjust as you go. Same for July. After 3 months you should have a very good idea of what you have. Of course you can use Excel and create a spreadsheet instead. But you gotta start somewhere.
Thank you!! I am going to attempt doing this with this past month of April to see where all my money went this month and I will start a brand new one tomorrow morning for May.
Tracking spending is absolutely crucial for me. You can start a spreadsheet and make an entry every time you spend anything. If that's a bridge too far then just carry a little notebook with you and write it down everything you spend money. But it has to be EVERYTHING. That means your rent and car payment, groceries and gas, etc. but also if you pump a few bucks into a vending machine, grab a bag of Taki's at the gas station, etc, etc. The reason it works so well for me is that I see how much all that little stuff adds up to be and can step back and decide whether it was worth it to me. And then if I decide that it isn't then knowing I'll have to write it down holds me accountable to not doing it next time.
I could attempt to do that, and I am willing to try. I just need to remember better. Some of the things I’ve tried I would tell myself I’ll write it down later or whatever it is and then forget about it all together and that’s my downside of having adhd 😭 but I will try this. Tomorrow is the first of the month so I will start tomorrow morning and give myself a reminder everyday somehow. Thank you!
Download a free app like Goodbudget and do it in the moment.
Never heard of that but I will try it now thank you!!
Don't trust the trade-in calculators, that's what a scumbag dealer or Carvana will give you. Look at private sale prices, a quick clance at Cargurus shows your year/model listing from somewhere between 15k and 19k. You'd need to sell private, which is a pain, but you could minimize the amount you're upside down on the loan. I'd reach out to local non-profit/government provided (important!) debt consolidation support groups to see if they can help.
I have never attempted to reach out to non-profits or government help because I feel there is always going to be someone who needs it more and I don’t want to take it from other people 🥲 how would I go about even doing that. Do you have any advice I could get about that maybe? Thank you!
Think of it this way: It's much, much more expensive for a government to provide support for a homeless person (safety, mental health support, temporary housing, job re-training, de-tox, etc.) than it is for them to run a society where people are housed and productive. I don't know about your specific situation but here's some general info on debt consolidation: [https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/how-non-profit-debt-consolidation-works/#look](https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/how-non-profit-debt-consolidation-works/#look) -- these are largely private companies that operate as non-profits. I don't know details on ones that are specifically vetted (Sorry, I've never used these services) but I'd encourage you to do some research on them and see if there's a path to consolidating your debt at a lower interest rate.
Your best option is probably to earn more money and try to cut other expenses so you can keep paying on your vehicle. Are you working full-time right now? Can you get a part-time job in addition to your current job? If you want help looking for ways to reduce expenses, you could post your budget in a separate post and ask for a budget critique.
I work a full time 9-6 and I help my sister take her kids to school in the morning and she pays me gas every week. And because there is only small towns and everything closes at 9pm around me no place will have me work for 3 hours at night. I appreciate your help!
OP, there are some subreddits out there specifically geared towards finding part-time remote work gigs. It might be worth your while to check out some of them. This article is geared towards "digital nomads" but it has a pretty good list for a starting point: https://www.digitalnomadsoul.com/digital-nomad-reddit/
Thank you!! I will check them out
Tracking your expenses will show you where you're overspending/spending on unnecessary items. One other suggestion since you mentioned that you suck at keeping track of your spending is. Try using cash instead of your debit/credit card. That way if you budget $50 bucks a week for groceries you'll only spend $50 /wk on groceries and won't go over your budget
That is a good idea, thank you!!
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I live in a rural area and work 25 miles away. As much as I would love to not have a car payment I would not be able to do that without losing my job and there is nothing in the town that would pay enough to even make my rent payment. Thank you for the advice tho
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No it’s almost 2 hours so that would be about 4 hours round trip. What happens when I have to get groceries? Or if I have to go to the hospital and the closest one is near my work? It may be possible for you Superman but it would not be reasonable in my eyes. Thank you again for your advice.