Well I just have to vent, I have been having a rough several months in my personal life and somethings are on the mend but not really sure how things will turn out.

I have recently found out that I am in some serious credit card debt to the tune of 31K. I'm not late or missing payments, just spread really thin.

On top of all this I just have no ambition to work or even play with the Malibu ( I haven't for a few years) or any other project for that matter.

I realize this is the worst possible time to sell, but the extra money would really help right now.

I know I'm the first to preach "Do not sell" I just don't know what to do at this point.

I have called all the CC company's and got a reduced % plus transferred as much as possible to 0% cards.

Like the title says I'm just burn out and down in the dumps, thanks for letting me vent

Hang in there it will get better. There is nothing more important to me than my family. If selling things helps out then they are gone. Material things can always be replaced. Just my O2. Pete

Bill, go for a bike ride to clear your head. Things get better, I can assure you of that. I'm not posting my financial story here for all to see, but check your pm's.

Jeff

Bill,
Hang in there! Things will get better with time. If you can pay your bills, keep the Chevelle. It is beautiful.
My wife and I just barely squeek by from payday to payday. Just found out myself, that "we" owe 15K in CC bills.
Wondered why things were tighter. Oh well,
Still have a wonderful wife and kids, nice house, and a beautiful Chevelle.
Life could be much much worse.
Money will never make you happy. Happiness is all in the mind.
Taking the Chevelle or the Harley for a ride, going fishing, working in the garden, whatever, really helps me deal with stress.....and remembering that there are many people who would trade life with me or you.
Stress leads to getting down. I work in a social services office and let me tell you....many many people who have never gotten help in their lives are sitting in front of my desk everyday in numbers never seen in my lifetime.
If you can't pay your bills, then by all means do what you have to do.
I wish you the best.

Not to sound too repetitive.... hang in there Bill, things WILL get better, it might take a while...but they will.:thumbsup:

I don’t want to seem callus, but two of you just mention that you recently found out that you were X amount in credit card debt. How didn’t you realize that this debt was building, because that is a chuck of cash? Along with the debt negotiation and paying off your credit cards you should also understand how you got to where you are so as not to repeat it. I hope all does turn out well for you.

Not even going to go into the CC stuff, i'm sure others will, but i do have this advice...

Don't sell the car while you are down & bummed out about things. It probably looks like an easy answer, but if you even think that you will regret it, then you probably will.

Wait 6 months or a year, then think about it again.

I don’t want to seem callus, but two of you just mention that you recently found out that you were X amount in credit card debt. How didn’t you realize that this debt was building, because that is a chuck of cash? Along with the debt negotiation and paying off your credit cards you should also understand how you got to where you are so as not to repeat it. I hope all does turn out well for you.

I admit it was my own stupidity for not being involved in the finances. It is one of the trouble spots we are working on.

Thanks to all for the words on encouragement!!

I think that you have realized what the problem is and what the potential solutions are. Find a way to keep the car; it will be a personal victory to do so. I understand the lack of enthusiasm . I have had the same thing for a few years since I lost the last decent job and now I can address that and work on my return to a more productive life. Mind over matter is the key here. You seem to be on the track to getting it straightened out.

Bill.. My friend Rick gave me a phrase to stand by when I lost my business several years ago. " When you think your Life sucks Just Look around"

I admit it was my own stupidity for not being involved in the finances. It is one of the trouble spots we are working on.

oh my. I've been in that movie. Good for you on working it out.

When you think things are bad,thank god your not in my shoes.I have been laid-off called back to work laid off called back ect ect ect.This has been for the past 4 years.To make ends meet,my wife moved to the other side of the world to teach the school teachers science, the american way, in Quatar, Doha.We do not have to pay taxes on the money she makes there.She is working 14,16, and 18 hour days while I am here in the USA.Today I had to bring her car back to the dealership because the dealership did not send in the paperwork for the buy out at the end of the lease.How am I going to tell my wife about that.My wife is use to teaching a group of 15 teachers and after 6 weeks they are back in the classroom.She has done 2 groups this way in Doha and her third group is a group of 75 teachers she has to teach science.This is unheard of.Now my life,I am in charge of all the bills and I don't have a clue of what I am doing.She did all this before she left.I can't cook much and people invite me over for dinner because they feel sorry for me.The dog craps in the basement and the cat craps behind the entertainment center.They did not do that till my wife left.Dont need to talk about the cold baths and showers.She will be back in July.Let me know if things get worse for you and I'll tell you more about my life

Cheer up Bill!! :thumbsup:
Things could always be worse. You could still be living up north, shoveling snow. ;)

Find a way to keep the car; it will be a personal victory to do so.

:yes: I agree with that! Don't be in such a hurry to sell your ride..better times are coming..its all in the choices we make..keep your car,keep your dignity and pay those damn cards off as you can :)

I admit it was my own stupidity for not being involved in the finances. It is one of the trouble spots we are working on.

Thanks to all for the words on encouragement!!

Bill,
I was there too. Since I have taken over, we do try to share, we are in a much better place. It is something you just don't think about until it becomes an issue. If you can, keep your car sir. I would also suggest hanging out with a few fellow TC'ers in your neck of the woods. Talking cars with fellow gear heads always helps to re-direct my thoughts. Focus on the positive place you will be in soon.
Frank

you owe 31k, you dont need the car, you need the money from it-its a no brainer

It's all about assets vs. debt. If you're living in a one-room apartment with nothing to your name and in 31K debt, you are in trouble. I'm sure most of us could sell lots of non-essential things to pay off debt. Hell, I'd rather be $15,000 in debt with my El Camino than zero debt without it!

You have got to find a way to get your debt out of those cards. 31k at 24% is unfeasible to pay off. You need a second mortgage or refinance to get that debt moved to at least something you can deduct the interest on. Take a loan out on the chevelle to clear the cards and cut them up. Two years ago my wife and decided no more credit cards ever and are sticking to it. We have checking cards and that's it. If we don't have the money we don't buy it period. End of story. If your used to putting debt on cards you cannot have one at all even with a 0 balance. You can't say its just for emergency's. If you got one you will use it. I know because I have been there. I have friends that have cards with 0 balances and do well. Not everyone can do it. If you have debt on them you cannot pay off then neither can you. Get rid of them. Plus all those card companies are starting to do some crazy crap to make money. Chuck'em!:hurray:

Wow. $31000. Thats going to be tough to pay off. I used to get my balance up a little too high, but my wife is so good with $$ that she has showed me how to keep them clean. Now, unless I'm in need of blood to stay alive, it stays in my pocket. Good luck, you show signs of wanting to get this mess cleaned up. Thats the right start. Try to keep the car. Its only going to depress you to sell it.

Whatched my sister-in-law get in deep with her credit cards.
They had 5 or six, two were business cars for the Bowling Alley they were partners in.
They had a set payment they knew was higher than base payment being withdrawn direct every month on all the cards. Every time they got an offer of a limit increase they took it and I doubt they ever looked at a statement for years.
Then she lost her job as they sold out their half the bowling alley (basically just signed their half over to the partner) just to get out of a failing business. That was when they discovered how deep they were in. They did have to accept half the debt on the business cards in the deal. It was only then when they were trying to redo their cards they discovered that in total they were almost 180,000 into the card companies! How can a person get that far in and not know???:sad:

Hang in there. It should get better.

I watched Suze Ormond a month or so ago and I caught a discussion with a woman that had $230k of credit card debt. I almost vomited. On top of that she had a $1 mil mortgage and car payments totalling $1,700 per month. Household income was down to $100k...she had recently lost her job. They just took a loan from his 401k to pay the mortgage payment.

Does that make you feel better? :yes:

Suze told the lady she needed to get rid of everything...the house, the cars, the crap they bought with the cc's, etc. and move into a small apartment. The lady wouldn't hear it. She said "she didn't want to give up her lifestyle and her stuff". Suze was yelling at her saying "you don't have anything!...the bank and the cc companies own everything!" :sad:

I read something shocking in the Atlanta newspaper this morning. Basically, Americans have been spending money like drunken sailors since 1990. An excerpt;

"Phil Larkins, a senior money manager at Northern Trust in Atlanta, said we are reaping what we sowed.

As proof he cites household debt as a percentage of our gross domestic product. In 1990, it stood at 60 percent. It had climbed to nearly 70 percent 10 years later. In 2007, it passed 90 percent on its way well past 100.

“It now stands at 130 percent and that tells me that there is $1.5 to $2 trillion of debt that consumers need to get rid of,” Larkins said."

The full article for those interested...

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/02/18/thomas_oliver.html

Hang in there. Don't sweat it, because it's all small stuff in the scheme of things.

Deal with one thing at a time. I've been there at one point, so I do know things work out. Just imagine, when I was at that point, I had to sell my house! Everything way, way better now, 5 years later.

RMX

I watched Suze Ormond a month or so ago and I caught a discussion with a woman that had $230k of credit card debt. I almost vomited. On top of that she had a $1 mil mortgage and car payments totalling $1,700 per month. Household income was down to $100k...she had recently lost her job. They just took a loan from his 401k to pay the mortgage payment.

Does that make you feel better? :yes:

Suze told the lady she needed to get rid of everything...the house, the cars, the crap they bought with the cc's, etc. and move into a small apartment. The lady wouldn't hear it. She said "she didn't want to give up her lifestyle and her stuff". Suze was yelling at her saying "you don't have anything!...the bank and the cc companies own everything!" :sad:

I REALLY REALLY dislike Suze. Call her and ask if you can buy a 40 year old muscle car that will sit in the garage and see what she says!!

If you want a Coach purse, however, she'll probably "approve" you for the purchase.

RMX

I would not sell the car unless absolutely necessary. What can make you feel better and help financially is look around at parts/tools/other stuff that you have laying around. Take a close look at ebay and see what people are selling, you will be amazed. I sold a car years ago to get ahead financially.......it worked for a little while and now I get sick every time I think about that car and it was 20 years ago.

Good luck with your decision, but do not make the decision while feeling down.

bill,most of the usa is spread thin-keep your head up-im in a bad shape now too,but im tougher than the system-if the chevelle is paid-KEEP IT-selling it will only darken your outlook more-remember-you still have people who care deeply about you-sometimes thats worth its weight in gold--hope you prevaile greatly-
rth 67rat

It's all about assets vs. debt. If you're living in a one-room apartment with nothing to your name and in 31K debt, you are in trouble. I'm sure most of us could sell lots of non-essential things to pay off debt. Hell, I'd rather be $15,000 in debt with my El Camino than zero debt without it!

This is a good prospective here!!

I hope things get better for you soon Bill, I'm in kind of the same boat, but it's not my debt it's the company's...But we're working to find a solution to the problem, all while hoping the economy shows some mercy soon..

I heard a lot of 'hang in there' and 'don't sell'. Sounds to me like you have something else going on besides the CC debt, "...no ambition to work or even play with the Malibu ( I haven't for a few years) or any other project for that matter..."

I'm not an expert but sounds like you're suffering some kind of depression. I think you need to address that problem first before you make any decisions. It's nothing to be ashamed of and it can be bad, really bad. It can ruin your life, your family and your health. If you need to talk to somebody about it, a professional, do it.

Now if I'm wrong and the CC debt is what's really got you down then that's different. If selling the car helps take that weight off your shoulders and removes the cloud hanging over your head then do it. What good is a car you don't enjoy because other things bring you down. You can always buy another car later, you can't replace your health and family. D***, it's only a car, there's a h*** of lot more to life than a car.

Figure out what's got you down and work towards fixing that. If you can't figure it out then get some help.

Best of luck, hope you get things sorted out.

Bill, You have a PM.

Hang in there. Its hard to say if you need to sell your car. If you are able to knock down the principal balance on the credit cards within a couple of years, I say you should keep the Velle. If it takes a quite a bit longer, you may need to take more drastic measures to pay down your debt.

BTDT...

When I realized our debt to income ratio was in the red, I took over all the bills, even the ones from my wife. I formulated a budget sheet to show where the money was going and it really helps. I'm not out of debt yet but I can breath much better.
Time, consolidation loan and persistence, oh and Zoloft helps a little toooo...