advice needed.

Thought that I would ask on here for a couple of other thoughts on subject. I make about $600 or so a month, truck payment is $225, phone is $125 or so, issureance and other things add up also, the magor issuse is simple, I hate the truckni drive with a passion, I am upsidevdown right in whats its worth. Chevy trailblazers have a lot of known isdues that seem to cost and arm and a leg to fix and lots of crap that should be failing soon from milage when they happen. I have a backup car right thats not in great shape. Taking in for a good going over next week to find out just how much of a basket case it might be. Right now I can even seem to get any extra cash to get my credit card paid off sine the truck seems to eat everything up with gas and such. My credit is pretty good tight now and I know it would take a magor hit, but at this point I am really thinking of taking the hit and calling the bank and say here is the truck, where do you me to drop it off? This way I could try getting my life put back together cause I might be able to some freelance work if I can up grade my camra for photography. I also need to start looking at craigslist also for a better job orvjust something extra. I amthingink if I get ridvof truck, getting a different cheap car would help in lower insuance, paid off, might be able to get bills dealth with.

Why on earth is your phone $125

Sell the vehicle outright to someone else. You'll get more for it that way. The debt becomes unsecured, but if you haven't missed any payments yet you shouldn't have any issues. Happens all the time.

Also, are you able to carry 20-40 pounds on your back for about 6 miles? Then head over to Lake Forest and start calling on various Country Clubs and Golf Clubs and start caddying come April. Money is pretty good, to the tune of over $100 a day cash.

ProDarwin wrote: Why on earth is your phone $125

This. I had Verizon that was $90 a month and switched to Boost. Saving $50 month with a better phone and unlimited talk/text/data. Next, I would see if there is anything that you can do to make some more cash on the side. Stock shelves at a grocery store, help out at a bar, sell stuff on eBay? I had a buddy that got on Craigslist and answered a lot of the "Free" item ads and resold the items. He just hustled for a year and made it work.

Amazon has some simple Nokia phones, unlocked, for $35 or less out the door. One of those + the $30/mo plan from Straight Talk would be a great way to save some money.

After that, I would get to know the magic of a Geo/Chevy Metro after selling this truck that was mentioned.

pres589 wrote: Amazon has some simple Nokia phones, unlocked, for $35 or less out the door. One of those + the $30/mo plan from Straight Talk would be a great way to save some money. After that, I would get to know the magic of a Geo/Chevy Metro after selling this truck that was mentioned.

Walmart, Meijer, Walgreens, CVS, etc. have pay as you go for $15.

In reply to mtn:

Those may be better, although I think ST's minutes are "unlimited" so that could factor into this. Either way, there's a lot cheaper ways to go.

What i'm wondering is how much you'd truly save by ditching the truck. I don't think the credit hit would be worth a maximum of $225 saved a month. A beater is going to need maintenance.

The thing is, the beater would be easy to by parts for then cause you whats needs to be fixed and go pick it up easy enough. Version is thebphone company and I have one more year on the contract with smart phone and a tablet.

Does anyone know any events that nedd someone to cover the event with a camera at all this coming year, car shows, odd events?

Swank Force One wrote: What i'm wondering is how much you'd truly save by ditching the truck. I don't think the credit hit would be worth a maximum of $225 saved a month. A beater is going to need maintenance.

Not a maximum of $225 a month. He does have some equity in the truck, so assuming that it is worth 1/2 of what he has left on the loan, he could put that towards paying off the loan and he could also refinance it as well, after or before selling.

Go into the bank and ask your options. They want to get the money, even if it takes a longer time and you need to work out a payment program.

• The max saved can be MUCH greater than $225. The time value of whatever is currently tied up in truck equity is probably significant ($10K or so = ~$70/mo) , as is the cost of insuring a larger, expensive, newer vehicle (vs. liability only on the beater). Additionally, I'm assuming that the beater, whatever it may be, will get significantly better mileage than the truck.

• Ditch the phone. If you can pay the ETF, do it and get out. That will probably pay for itself really quickly. If you can't... tell off Verizon. The credit hit is going to be much less on having your phone bill turned off vs. getting the truck reposessed. Ting, Airvoice, etc. all have plans you can get into for less than $30/month. You could keep a Ting plan under $15/month if you are being frugal.

I feel for you, man. We went through a similar rough stretch when my hours were cut in late 2009. We had an '05 berkeleyus that had issues the dealer said could not be replicated or were not covered under the warranty. We were also terribly upside down on the car. We eventually had to do a voluntary repo and bankruptcy.

(Edit: The left over payoff on the car after the voluntary repo was just the final straw that broke our financial backs. We didn't file on $5,000.)

I wouldn't do a voluntary repo unless it is your last resort. They will sell the truck at auction and you'll be on the hook for the difference between what you owe and what they get. With our car it was $5,000 or so, IIRC. Not an option with the state of our finances at the time.

Try to make cuts elsewhere before letting the truck go, it will bite you on the ass.

What kind of phone? Most smartphones you can sell to cover the ETF if it's new enough.

Might want to check, I recall that some carriers were planning to have it in their contract that you have to pay the UNSUBSIDIZED price for a phone if you cancel early.

How upside-down are you in the truck? Any way you could just sell it and come out about even?

Sounds like you might need to pick up a second job until things stabilize. A lot better of an idea vs. taking the credit hit.

Right now the truck is most about 7000 or so I can get, have aroind 9000 payoff. I have also been trying to live with if I can not pay cash I dont need it. The truck came about after a couple of very annoying weeks withncars breaking down and got talked into thevdamn thing.

First off, o agree with the consensus on the phone. I make a lot more, but have a lot more expenses I call Tunakids. I made a bad call which drained my savings and I replaced an aging car with a lease on a Leaf we've discussed on here endlessly since I had not-enough-cash. If I were you, I would ditch the spare car, pare down the phone, and look into a "Steve Lang esque" car dealer. Steve is a writer for TTAC and sells cars for money per week on handshakes with reasonable terms. With your income being rather low, you don't want a giant lease payment that you can't get out of like I have, even though it costs about the same to lease and 'fuel' as two of your phone bills.

For the record, the wife and I have no house phone, and our combined phone bill for the month is $57 after taxes, we have no cable, no dish, a $40 per year Amazon Prime account, and a $40 per month internet service, so things can be done cheaper.

I would find the best car you can get for about half of what you're going to sell the Trailblazer for until you can get some cash together.

My advice is worth exactly what you paid for it, and the tunakids have undoubtedly made sure that the message I am writing came across as rude, jumbles and annoying, as they are trying their best right now to destroy the earth.

The_Jed wrote: I wouldn't do a voluntary repo unless it is your last resort. They will sell the truck at auction and you'll be on the hook for the difference between what you owe and what they get. With our car it was $5,000 or so, IIRC. Not an option with the state of our finances at the time. Try to make cuts elsewhere before letting the truck go, it will bite you on the ass.

^^^^This. People think it all ends by giving the vehicle to the bank. Doesn't work that way. You still owe the money and they will still go after you for it. And the deficit will be greater on a vehicle sold at auction. If the bank forgives the debt (rarely happens) then they issue a 1099 and you have to pay taxes on the amount forgiven as if it were income.

Your income is less than half the minimum unemployment payment.

Is there a reason?

You've GOT to stop spending money you don't have, and start earning a paycheck.

A new vehicle is not in the cards for you right now, no matter how much you hate it. You are inches away from going negative on everything, and blowing whatever credit rating you've got left.

Seriously...you really need to work on the income side. Immediately.

If you get rid of the truck, have an emergency plan for when the car isn't running. I would not expect the maintenance on the beater to be +/> the payments on the truck. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Get out there and make money at a shop, store, or restaurant if you can. If you're good with people, you'll make good connections in no time. That's why I have jobs I can enjoy.

The other magor reason for posting this is helping to get my butt into gear for taking back my life again. Two thing I comment on with people about my life. I dont have one and work. I seem to be the person left holding the bag with work an cleaning up thevmess when no one else can work and work my ass off when I am there....sigh...

get rid of any payments for things you can live without... ditch the truck and get a $300 beater or two (you always need a running backup if you rely on $300 beaters).

if you must have a cell phone, get the cheapest prepaid one that will do the job for you.

pretend that it's the early 90's and the internet, digital cable, and cell phones aren't things that you have to have to survive. i was living a pretty decent life in 1995 making $6 an hour- my take home pay was $212 a week and i always had a little spending money in my pocket... i lived in a 30 year old trailer house and got my cable tv for free since the cable company left the box behind the trailer unlocked. of course, i also chose to keep the house heated and lit up instead of paying for silly things like car insurance, which kind of bit me in the ass a couple of times once the local cops figured out that i was driving without insurance..

Thanks everyone for advice.