Me and my girlfriend that I live with are always fighting. We are always fighting because we are stressed out of our god damn minds over financial matters. I am $300 behind on my power bill, rent comes out tomorrow ($575), I am $400 behind on my cell phone bill, I am $87 behind on my internet bill. I get paid ~$750/bi-weekly from my full time job. I also have to buy us food. How much money do I have? $0 after paying some of the bills to avoid being cut off of things and buying a bit of food. $500 on a credit card available. She works as a waitress as a strip club part time because she goes to school, but can only work once or twice a week, bringing in a tiny less than me, but has to pay for school and her own diet foods.
Lately, our fighting has gotten out of hand. We are always arguing. I can't stand it. I love her, but we are so stressed all the time and we can't relieve it. And it's all because of money. How can I get myself out of debt? I need it done as soon as possible. I will do illegal things, or legal things. Whatever the fuck is fastest. I am literally willing to kill to get out of this situation. I can hardly eat and I am losing my girlfriend. I spent my day asking for a small loan from friends just so I can send her a bouqet of flowers at work, just to boost her mood a tiny bit because I know she is extremely stressed as well. She goes to school from 9am-5pm, and works 8pm-3am 1 or 2 times on weekdays and usually a 3rd on Saturday.
Loan sharks? Legal loans from legit business? Drug dealing?
Sucking dick for money is almost always an option somewhere
Why is your power bill so high?
Turn off the heater, turn off your computer when you aren't home. Don't use oven/ or anything electronically intensive from 4-7 pm
If you don't need internet for job, cut it off. It's a luxury, not a necessity. Go bum off mcdonalds and starbucks for your internet needs.
Your cell bill is also outrageous. More than my parents pay for 5 people
These numbers don't make sense to me. Break down your budget completely. I want to see itemized shit.
Reduce your spending (don't buy shit you can't afford)
Your debt isn't that bad. You can take out a loan and pay it off, but it will only come back again.
Find a cheaper place to live, get rid of things you don't absolutely need (cable, house phone, etc) and make sure you're not wasting anything. Unplug appliances when not in use, unplug cellphone chargers, etc.
As for your gf, just try to avoid making it worse. Maybe get some weed and smoke a joint with her. It's hard to unwind your emotions while sober.
Do you tree connects? Maybe pick up and start selling on the low to people you know well enough not to fuck up your future. You could try selling things as well? Damn OP that really sucks. I hope it turns out for the better.
>>16863273
I live in a small bachelor basement apartment for $575.
My power bill is so high because the power company asked me to pay a $250 Down Payment/Deposit, which I wasn't able to pay. My power bill ends up being somewhere between $50-$100/bi-monthly.
The internet bill is $70/month. It was $367 a few days ago.
I am not home most of the day. I am gone for 10 hours a day for work and my girlfriend is almost never home either.
The reason I paid my internet bill and brought it down to $87: I am experienced in web design and I am trying to find work in that, but so far I am having shit luck. I am also searching for a second part-time job that I can do at night for a while.
The power company legally can't cut off my power for a few more months because that is the law where I live, because it is winter.
My landlord is a fantastic guy and has been working with me throughout all of this, occasionally bringing me gift cards and cases of beer, or just dropping in to see if there is anything he can help me with. He normally permitted me to pay my rent half-way through the month so I can focus on other bills.
>>16863279
We haven't bought anything luxury once throughout February.
The place I am currently living is the cheapest place I could find to live after 2 months of searching, so I took it.
I don't even have a TV let alone cable, house phone, etc.
As for my GF, we do occasionally smoke a joint. The other night we were also given free MDMA from some friends who wanted us to go out. So that was a nice get-away.
>>16863281
The only thing that has value that I could trade is a guitar that my grandfather left me when he died. 1964 Gibson J-45. Other than that, I have nothing to my name that is worth more than $30 other than this laptop that I am on, which is my girlfriends.
>>16863319
so who's bright idea was it to move in together? Also being a waitress at a titty bar should be bringing in enough money to offset some of these costs.
If the card has any interest free period take advantage of that. Why didn't you pay security deposit? Also
>50-100$ bimonthly power bill
>tiny 1 bedroom apartment
What assbackwards place do you live?
If you should take anything from this it's to always have emergency savings. I only make about $400 more than you do a month (950 twice a month) yet I manage to pay for a $750/month apartment, $80 electric bill/month, $60 internet/month, as well as gas, food, and insurance, and I still end up with a profit after everything.
It's great having $10k saved up from working over the years. That's money I don't even touch, so in the event I get in a car wreck, hospital bills, emergency flight, moving expenses, or any other bullshit I'm covered.
Cut internet, pay power, live off rice and beans until you are out of the red.
You make 1500 a month. That's not much in the grand scheme of things, but it's workable. That's what I used to make, and I afforded my $690 apt. Of course, no internet and a $45 cell bill helped, but I had a $184 car note every month. I still managed.
You've got to sit down and budget, make a plan. Cut back on your food, buy something cheaper. Dry goods, pasta, these go a long way. It's stressful, but try to relax.
And if you're using a lot of money on weed, I'm done advising
>>16863264
try buying in bulk if you can. at smart in final in los angeles, i got chicken for like 1.19 cents a pound. versus the 3 to 5 pounds you might pay for a smaller pack elsewhere. pork is also under 2 bucks a pound. red meat more expensive but its like 3 bucks a pound if you buy ten pounds at once (as opposed to the 10 bucks if you buy just 1 pound).
take up weekend jobs if you can to catch up.
>>16863319
If you make $1500 a month, how the fuck can you not pay those bills?
Sounds like you could've afforded your expenses, so why the hell did you let the bills pile up?
