Aaron1124
Regular Member
I've been in a pretty tough spot the last couple of months. I was coming from a long lay off from my job, and struggling to make rent and utilities in my apartment. I have a wife and daughter, and what I was getting from unemployment was just enough to get by. My car even broke down, and needed thousands of dollars of work to even get it running again.
I inherited some money back in December from my late grandmother's estate, and used it to get us another car, and pay off all of our credit card debt, with a little bit left over. I still owed U.S. Bank a couple of thousand, but by the time I paid off my other creditors, I only had about $2,800 left. Well, low and behold, I get a letter from U.S. Bank stating that they were merging my overdrawn checking account and credit card together, and I would either have to pay it, or face a lawsuit in King County District Court and be at risk for wage garnishment. They ended up settling for $1,600 on a $2,100 bill, which left me enough to afford rent and utilities. Thank God, I was able to find another job two weeks ago, to barely get myself out of the hole. I am still behind on a few things, such as my power bill, water, garbage and sewer, and my phone bill, and unfortunately, I won't be getting paid in time before the final deadline.
Basically, I am in a bit of a rut. When I get paid, I'll have to pay the back owed on all of these utilities, and I'll continue to be about this far behind in the future if I can't get caught up. Having a two year old daughter to care for makes it that much more stressful to know that I can't allow myself to get behind anymore. This whole lay off really put a huge dent in my finances, to say the least.
Does anyone have any advice on getting out of this rut? Now that I have a job secured, I am OK in the long run, but I'll continue to be behind on my utilities. I can't get caught up in the payday loan cycle, and I can't qualify for even a small bank loan either, so I am not sure where to take this.
Any finance experts out there have any advice for what I can do for myself and my family right now?
I inherited some money back in December from my late grandmother's estate, and used it to get us another car, and pay off all of our credit card debt, with a little bit left over. I still owed U.S. Bank a couple of thousand, but by the time I paid off my other creditors, I only had about $2,800 left. Well, low and behold, I get a letter from U.S. Bank stating that they were merging my overdrawn checking account and credit card together, and I would either have to pay it, or face a lawsuit in King County District Court and be at risk for wage garnishment. They ended up settling for $1,600 on a $2,100 bill, which left me enough to afford rent and utilities. Thank God, I was able to find another job two weeks ago, to barely get myself out of the hole. I am still behind on a few things, such as my power bill, water, garbage and sewer, and my phone bill, and unfortunately, I won't be getting paid in time before the final deadline.
Basically, I am in a bit of a rut. When I get paid, I'll have to pay the back owed on all of these utilities, and I'll continue to be about this far behind in the future if I can't get caught up. Having a two year old daughter to care for makes it that much more stressful to know that I can't allow myself to get behind anymore. This whole lay off really put a huge dent in my finances, to say the least.
Does anyone have any advice on getting out of this rut? Now that I have a job secured, I am OK in the long run, but I'll continue to be behind on my utilities. I can't get caught up in the payday loan cycle, and I can't qualify for even a small bank loan either, so I am not sure where to take this.
Any finance experts out there have any advice for what I can do for myself and my family right now?
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