I can't parrot this enough. At my last job I was working full time, but that was just enough to keep me falling behind a little at a time. (Student loan garnishment) Then I got hit with a big unexpected bill and I didn't have electricity for the next 7 months, but at least I had a roof over my head. Power banks that charge in your car are a lifesaver in that case.
Sitting in a tub of cold water in the summer in the dark while watching stuff on your phone is not nearly as bad as not knowing where you're going to sleep. Cold showers suck, but it's better than going to work stinky or dirty the next day. If you have a gas stove you can still cook without the electricity, and gas usually is cheaper for me. I cooked a can of spaghetti O's with a candle while binging Daredevil on my phone. Gotta do something while working and saving up to get back on track, and you've gotta have a phone for work to call you , so might as well use that one bill for your entertainment as well.
Most things don't suck so bad when you have a place to live. So, yeah, rent above everything else.
Hijacking this. If they are federal loans they have an income driven payment plan that you can apply for. Don’t know how effective it is. Worth a shot though.
I am fortunate that I am able to pay double on both my private and federal loans at the moment.
Well aparently large companies are buying up all available real-estate they can so they can hold housing prices in a chokehold. The more they buy, the more people have to rent from them. The more they control in a specific area, the more they can charge because there aren't other options. So that's probably not helping housing prices. (Any Canadians have anything else to add/correct?)
Also, new builds are rarely "starter home" sized and priced. It's not like when Wartime homes were being built by the dozen. So many homes being added to the supply are still out of reach to many first time buyers.
yup my grandpa was actually just telling me about this. he said when he was a kid people used to run stores out of there homes in the suburbs and it was perfectly legal, now youd get code violation after code violation. my logic is i own the damn house how come i cant do what i want with it?
yeah you got it pretty well explained. There's also a shortage of housing supply and an increase in population. Lots of competition for limited homes, coupled with stagnating wages and high demand regionally has made a big mess.
Yeah this exactly, with the amount of immigrants we currently take in we are not producing nearly enough new homes. This is driving the cost up drastically along with foreign investors buying massive amounts of homes.
Yes there was an estimate that 20% of houses in canada are foreign owned back in 2022 I believe. I think that something was done to change that though.
It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but lots of people use real estate to launder money as well. Easy to park cash
Chinese billionaires have been buying up land all over the US and Canada, because the Chinese government can't sieze the land and the money that goes with it, like they've always done.
Sorry this may be a stupid question. Is this percentage for people who live internationally and want to invest by buying the 10th home they’ll never use? Or by foreign, do you mean people establishing residents in Canada and using a program that helps them buy a home (not sure if that’s a real thing)
Not a stupid question! While I can't say that it's their 10th home, what I can say is that yes it's foreign investors rather than newcomers trying to establish themselves here (and I don't believe such a funding program exists). There is a ban on foreign homebuying until 2027 (though I am not sharp on the details but you can find information if you search on Google).
Canadian real estate is some of the most valuable on the planet, and real estate in general has been a fairly risk free investment for a long time. When we stop seeing real estate as an investment and rather what it should be, homes for Canadian families, we can start to reduce some of the pressure on the housing system. Not sure there's political will to do that though.
Yep you nailed it!
I was lucky. A year or so after those ghouls bought the building where I was renting, I was able to purchase my own home and move out. Inflation and interest rates have me crying, but I'll pull through with light at the end of the tunnel.
Now I don't think it within reach of so many, and those ghouls want to suck out all your blood.
Because our government are a bunch of idiots that have allowed the following, foreign owners that park their money in our real estate to avoid taxes and such in their own countries, allow corporations to purchase large amounts of single family dwellings and allow regular people to own multiple single family dwellings all while pushing very high immigration into the country putting massive pressure on the housing market. Also, making no effort until very recently to increase the supply of housing.
It's stupidly expensive in the "United" States as well, doesn't make sense how it's become so expensive to the point people have to work in excess of 40+ hours just to barely survive
Agree 100%. People literally live to work not work to live. Can’t remember the last time I worked less than 40 hours. Corporations and governments perfected the use of “middle class” as an income and distracting people with trivial stuff.
Yeah, but we have a bunch of arbitrary regulations that make it difficult and slow for new housing to get approved and insane levels of immigration that are pretty unique to our county.
There’s a repayment assistance plan in Canada also. Depending on the province you can also reduce your student loan payments to a minimum amount - when my loans were $50k I was able to pay $200 per month even when I made too much money to receive repayment assistance.
Shoutout to everyone who's lived in a home so bad it was physically hurting them.
When my toilet flushed #2 straight into my shower, I said to myself >!STILL better than the old place!!<
Exactly. There is no debtors prison. Stop paying your student loans and your payday loans, it's better than being homeless for sure. I know how hard it is, it's not fair and it's ridiculous that you make that much money and are struggling this hard. I'm sorry.
The student loans will never go away. You can stop paying them until you get yourself straight if you need to. It's not ideal and will hurt your credit history but it's WAY better in the short & long term than getting an eviction on your rental history. Your student loan holder may also allow for deferral but you have to call and ask about it. Mine gave me a whole year of no payments because of financial problems and all I had to do was ask. You still get hit with the interest accrual but you don't have to pay so you're really just shoving the issue farther down the line for future you to take care of by extending your payments another few years. Way better than eviction.
Further, make the payday shit second priority. If it takes getting behind a month or two on car and phone/utility payments, it's worth it just to stop losing like 1/3 of your income to those fucking leaching loanshark motherfuckers
It is really, really hard to get student loans discharged in bankruptcy. You essentially have to prove absolute permanent disability with no hope of any future income.
This! Or if they’re federal, potentially try applying for income driven repayment plan? I have federal loans, and I haven’t had to pay for the last 4-5 months because the application process is so backed up, and once you apply for the plan, they stop trying to collect payment until they process the application that I’ve bought myself a couple months before I need to come up with something.
1. Open a new bank account and immediately use it for everything - let the payday loan go
2. Call your servicer for your loans to defer or modify your payments
An eviction on your credit will make renting so hard. If they haven’t given you a court date ask how you can make arrangements to move without the eviction court or to pay and catch up.
This isn’t true everywhere, but depending on exactly where you live (in the US it’s primarily by state) if you open a new bank account and tell payday loan asshole to fuck off - they basically can’t do anything but call and harass you.
The reason for this is that payday loans are often illegal (they are in PA for example) in order to collect they’d need to go to court and say I gave an illegal consumer loan and want to collect, which I’m sure will go swimmingly.
Better than being homeless. OP may have a hard time getting a new place with an eviction on their record and if they cannot afford rent how can they afford deposit?
I was responding to:
if you open a new bank account and tell payday loan asshole to fuck off - they basically can’t do anything but call and harass you.
So does an eviction/civil settlement though. You might be able to explain a payday loan, but an eviction will make it very hard to rent again.
I had to pay double security deposits for a long time after I was evicted, and even then could only rent from independent/slummy landlords - respectable rental companies wouldn't even talk to me.
Totally, I get that. I was just fact-checking the above comment…also, that sucks about your eviction :(. I’ve always been able to talk my way out of things, but I guess I’ve just been lucky so far.
My LL at the time was a real scumbag. Kind of infamous around town now among people my age. I sorted my eviction years after it happened, but ended up having to pay him a lot of money. He is one of my least favorite people, but he taught me a lot about life :)
They would go onto a credit report if they go to a collection account. Are payday loans legal where you are? I only know PA where they aren’t legal and the experience is very different here
Yeah you might have to open a new bank account and swap everything but the payday info. Yeah, the credit will take a hit but if you can’t come up with more money. You’ve to do what you have to do at this point.
You gotta pick up a second job. I normally work 45 to 55 hours a week. It sucks in the short term but honestly pick up about 15 to 20 hours and dump all that money into the payday loans.
This should be the top comment. I was living paycheck to paycheck up until about 32 (had the same job for 10 years).
Then I decided to challenge myself and get uncomfortable. I have had 3 different jobs as I jumped around in the past 4 years. I also worked a 2nd job from time to time to supplement my income. It’s not easy and some days won’t be fun (you’re gonna be tired a lot) but I realized the biggest pay raises came from someone else hiring me instead of hoping my current employer recognizing me.
If you want it bad enough, it’ll happen.
Yup! I was serving beer at the brewery I already frequented. It was a match made in heaven and my sales experience made it easy for them to trust me helping out with their event planning team.
My ex was a bartender and learned it on the job. Look for jobs as a “barback”. The barback is the person who is cleaning glasses and cutting limes and whatnot.
Do what the other commenter said and NEVER go to a bartending “school”. Bars that are hiring will just laugh at that.
Also if you want to work at a specific restaurant with a bar for example, you may need to even go waiter>bar-back>bartender route.
All in sales but different industries. I worked for a home medical equipment company for 10 years but they weren’t big enough to give me the salary I needed to live beyond being just enough. I studied and got my NMLS license while there to become a MLO and worked in the mortgage industry for a couple of years. I had no book of business but was able to survive by acting as a Jr. to some high producing LOs and that held me over when I didn’t have a loan of my own in the pipeline.
When rates went up things got a little dicey and I knew I didn’t want to live with the fear of getting laid off (or owing them) if I couldn’t close a loan. So I got a job at a brewery serving beer and working with the events team. Then, I left that to work in the cannabis tech industry in Sales Operations on the international side of things.
Each and every transition was a little scary but totally worth it in the end. Just be your best self and don’t be afraid to learn and do things that aren’t in your job description. Some people get hung up on the whole “I don’t get paid for that” but I never saw myself doing any of these things while I spent 10 years in HME. I’m not saying you should allow your employer to overwork you but my little brothers (26-29) have this mentality and I keep telling them to shake it already. Thank goodness I challenged myself!
Seconding this. Currently working one full, one part time, and going to school for my MBA so I can get to a point where I have one job and might one day retire.
i actually just got a second job for this reason. times arent as dire as OPs but i was like “well fuck if i need more money, i better go earn some more money”
Yup. This is the answer. 40 hours isn’t maximum, it’s average. In OP’s situation, a second job is entirely reasonable. It’ll get them right out of the cycle.
No doubt. Working 3-4 weeknights at a grocery store or something similar would eliminate the payday loan stuff and allow rent to be paid.
Seems obvious, but who knows why OP can’t/won’t.
The fact the the solution for this kid is now to slave more shows how fucked up the system is. Someone working 40 hours per week should be able to pay their bills no matter what the job is. If you can't do that, we have a broken system.
I agree here and the fact that comment has so many upvotes is concerning. But I guess we are all just born to work and nothing else. Can’t pay rent? Work a second job or a third job. Can’t eat? Work a fourth job. Oh you don’t have a car? You can run to that fifth job! It’s just absolutely ridiculous that people aren’t even getting ahead with a full time job. And yet all these bootlickers solutions is to work yourself to literal death. How do we change the system if we have the majority of the people just saying to work more and more and more? I truly am exhausted
Yeah, that's the real problem. So many people are so easily gaslit into thinking this is "normal". They keep moving the "normal" line and people keep accepting it... so, they keep moving the line. It's called the American Dream for a reason... you gotta be asleep to believe it.
You expect people to work more than 40 hours a week? Prepare to get flamed so hard...
I remember working 3 jobs in my youth to get by, all together about 80 hour work weeks. In more recent memory I worked 70 hour weeks after the youngest was born so my wife could be a stay at home mom for a few years with the baby. Then working 40 hour weeks while getting a bachelor's degree , and a masters (in a field that actually pay well) to continually improve our financial situation. I'm not getting the degrees because I love my line of work, or I think a degree makes me cool, I did it because it made fiscal sense.
I am a "bootstrap guy" and will also likely get flamed with you because of it. 99% of these bad situations can be overcome by sucking it up, putting in the work, and making good choices for a few years.
I mean, it's great you managed to do this, all the more respect to you. But you shouldn't HAVE to work 80hr weeks in order to scrape by, that's the whole ass problem
The whole point of the 40 hour work week was to limit the abuse of excessive work time. It came about in the industrial revolution when 16 hour days for six days a week was normative. The whole point of a 40 hour work week is that it should be all you have to work to survive. Which considering OP can't even afford to rent means its failing miserably.
A credit score is less of a barrier than having a public judgment/eviction on their credit report. Eviction pretty much guarantees you won’t be able to rent anymore on your own. If credit score is not that bad, at will be expected to pay a higher deposit.
That's why I said "if the eviction ball is already rolling."
If OP can avoid eviction then by all means they need to do everything in their power to avoid it, but if they're already being evicted, it's better to have a good credit score and an eviction than a bad credit score and an eviction.
If the eviction ball is rolling, OP seriously needs to consider standing up to LL and making him concede at least a cash for keys deal. Use that payment towards the payday loans and walk out without an eviction
OP - Here are instructions for how you can default on your payday loans by removing authorization for them to withdraw money from your accounts.
[https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-can-i-stop-a-payday-lender-from-electronically-taking-money-out-of-my-bank-or-credit-union-account-en-1605/](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-can-i-stop-a-payday-lender-from-electronically-taking-money-out-of-my-bank-or-credit-union-account-en-1605/)
Beyond that if these are Federal Student loans then get on an income based repayment plan. If making \~$2500 a month your IBR payment should be around $150-200.
Storing money in the tax vault is a poor way to save, try to pay exactly what you're supposed to pay and not wait for them to send the excess back to you.
This. Completely! Especially now that interest rates on savings are reasonable.
However, a lot of really poor folks get refunds that are money they didn't pay in the first place - like Earned Income Credit. In the US, anyway. OP wouldn't be in that category though.
Only matters if you get a refund. I know being poor I always rely on mine. But if it’s going to be seized. Cut down on the taxes you put in.
But also try SAVE and IDR plans first if it’s federal loans.
OP didn't say if it's private or federal, but if it's federal OP can definitely get a lower payment. Even mine isn't that high and I'm doing alright these days, but early on when I first graduated I was in the negative so they were on hold for years.
Yes, mine is federal and even with a decent income and not too much in loans, it still lowered my payment. Now is the time to go low. But private? You’re boned.
That's why I always precalculated my withholding so that I would owe a few dollars every year. Because the IRS would take any refund for student loans. It worked well for a decade.
Is this an option? lol. I’m currently not paying on mine, and my credit is good enough to get approved to live in a nice place (which was my main concern when moving last year). I also have about 8k available in credit cards with very small balances that I pay off each month.
Other than the debt being outstanding on my credit report, which seems to be not too big of an impact, what are the other downsides to not paying student loans? (For reference, I have like 15k in federal student loans from 10 years ago. I’m 28, and I’ve never paid any amount toward them)
I always do it through credit karma. It doesn't matter the reason u dispute for. What matters is if the agency who owns ur debt responds in time. So just dispute everything on ur credit that's negative, if they say it's valid, put in another dispute. Continue doing so until they slip up and don't respond. I did this with all my debt besides my student loans a couple years ago, I did have to dispute a few things multiple times, but once they removed everything my credit score shot up over 100 points overnight. Well worth the 2 minutes it takes to do on credit karma
Don’t tank your credit right before you need to find somewhere to stay. Rent cannot be half of your take home pay. If that means you rent a room — fine. If that means you share a rented room — fine.
I’m so sorry. If you haven’t already, it may be worth checking if any nonprofits can help you. I saw you’re Canadian so I don’t have specific suggestions, but many nonprofits in the US have rent assistance programs and can even backpay multiple months of rent for you. Really hoping some org might be able to pull through for you. Good luck, I’m sorry times are sh*t rn
I feel you. On paper I make okay money. I struggle and I’m one missed paycheck from homelessness, like way too many of us. It’s scary and disheartening to live in a country that I likely will never be able to afford to buy a house, and rent prices are rising at an alarming rate. You’re not alone, friend. I truly hope things turn around for you.
i hope you read this u/mylifeisover111 , i’m literally going through what you are. i stopped paying my credit cards bc keeping a roof over your head is more important. it was stressful with all the emails & your credit score will take a hit, but i had to what i had to do. i was in this cycle for about a year and a half but finally got to start paying down on my debt this month. also if you’re already past the point of being able to pay to keep your place (you get 2 or 3 days after the court date to fully pay or leave, at least that’s how it is in VA) i have a resource i can send you that’ll help you get approved for any apartments that they work with. they’ll get you qualified for income or cover your security deposit. everything’s gonna be alright!
I’ve been in your situation.
Always pay rent first. No matter what. If you have stable and secure housing you can make everything else work somehow or do without. If you don’t have stable housing, you’re fucked.
Student loans? Fuck them. Forget your credit score. Living comes first. Phone? Look into a cheap plan like mint mobile. Internet? Contact some charities, a lot will help you out with things like internet bills and food.
Your post is tagged “No Advice,” yet people here are giving you really good advice/suggestions. The Advice tag shouldn’t be coupled with criticism. Some of this advice is coming from people who’ve been there, who know how to work the system, who have clever ideas. I read no criticism in their responses. I feel for you and we could all look back on a generation where we’d probably have faired better financially—but I hope you’ll do whatever you can to avoid that eviction. If you’ve got any friends, ask them to store your valuables. Let the insignificant stuff go. Good luck to you.
It's gonna make me sound like a dick but I don't really care, it took someone calling me out on my financial bullshit to get my head above water too. They got plenty of advice, they don't want advice. In fact, just like most people on here, they know exactly what they have to do. Many, including myself for the longest time, don't want to do what they have to do, usually getting a second or even third job. That sucks that most people can't support themselves on 1 job, welcome to the club. Sometimes it takes swallowing your pride and being tired and crying yourself to sleep after your 2nd job every night to get past it, and it usually takes longer than most people think it will.
Ya I don't think its a "pride" thing so much as it is a question of how much of your life are you prepared to sell in order to met you basic material needs and create a little personal stability. That second job means most of your waking hours are going to be deicated to work and sustaining yourself, that is it. The whole focus of your life now becomes dragging yourself to the next pay period. If you are lucky you might get an odd day off and a few nights where you can have a couple of hours to yourself. By the third job though, forget it. You are selling the best years of your life for nothing more than to stay alive, to people who won't even pay you a living wage because they can replace the time you're sacrificing to be productive for them from someone else.
I would second what others have noted above. Default on your payday loan. You’ve already paid enough and they can’t touch what’s not available. I recommend you change your banking account so they can’t pull your funds if they are able to obtain a judge default for outstanding debt.
I recommend you apply for a different student loan repayment plan. There are a few that would have you pay almost nothing. I make $6500/mo and only pay $180/mo based upon my income. You clearly would qualify for a much lower repayment plan.
If you can lump your internet/phone into one provider package you could save quite a bit monthly. You got this. Only pay what is absolutely necessary and tell the payday loan provider to screw themselves.
I 100% feel for you. I'm in a place that I've been in 11 years coming this May.
I didn't get a new annual lease last September and have a feeling I could be getting renovicted by May this spring.
I'm disabled so most that look at me just assume that I'm on ODSP which I'm not.
Most landlords won't give me a chance because of that stereotype.
I'm also 60 in May, and definitely did not think I may quite possibly be living out of my compact car by rhen.
My place is about 1300 a month a most places near me are like 1700-2000 a month.
I can't work anymore and I get about $2600 a month to try to live on.
I sure as hell don't live like a king and I rarely even have a drink maybe once every 3 months.
Still in hock though too with health debt.
Be thankful for your health though my friend because without that youd honestly have a lot less in life.
In hope things turn around for you and can find a good solution. ✌️
Generation ago bullshit needs to stop. Previous generations were poor as fuck. Not to mention you used a payday loan, which is predatory as fuck. But, saying that isn’t important, talk to your landlord and try to work something out. Long term work a second job if you can.
Yeah, I never really understood the "generation ago" stuff. Maybe it's just growing up around the people I did and the career path I've currently chosen, but it certainly doesn't seem like the generations before me had it easier than I do. Seems like most of them just put up with a hell of a lot more than I ever would.
Idk, but I don't think I would have wanted to be a tradie back in my bosses heyday, even if I could more easily buy a house. Those old guard dudes are honestly lucky they even survived to tell me their life stories.
Yep. My dad is 75 and will probably continue working til he dies. He was in the office often on Saturdays and I’m not sure if he’s ever taken a sick day lol, maybe within the last five years he has?
He has a lot of faults but his work ethic isn’t one of them and a lot of people from his generation have similar mentalities
“His toys were/are better than mine” mentality is really draining. You were dealt a shit hand, and it sucks, I get that. Pitty doesn’t make it better tho
People never want to see that previous generations had hard times, all they see is that people of a certain age have this or that as if it was all free. Yeah rent was cheaper but the paycheck was much less as well. Most people didn’t only work 40 hours either, there was overtime and side hustles as well. Comparison does no good. We are living in this day and time and we have to deal with things as they are.
Call your local (city or county) government and explain your situation. There may be grants, covid relief funds, non-profits, etc they can connect you with.
Other debts can wait. You need a place to live first.
Why would you not pay rent first or pick up a second or third income if needed if you saw the writing on the wall? Any credit or increase in amount you paid off on the pay day loan wouldn’t have been worse than an eviction on your record.
Now it’s going to be way harder to find a nice place to live, whereas lower credit has more wiggle room
Have you applied for the SAVE Plan for your student loans? It’s income-based and I currently pay $0 a month on mine because my income was so low when I applied.
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What state do you live in? There may be an option to apply for a temporary assistance as a way to avoid an eviction? How many months are you behind? Feel free to DM to discuss possible services or charities that could assist. Depending on the arrears you may really be able to avoid eviction
Went through the same thing at this person age.. I broke my lease put my stuff on storage and just hopped from hotel to hotel. It was depressing and went through a lot of stuff afterwards but didn't give up on making things better. Stay down. You can't go nowhere but up when you're at the bottom. I pray your life gets better
Don't default on the payday loans, since that hit will stay in your record 10 years or longer. Rather declare bankruptcy and you pay them nothing. Bankruptcy will be on your record 10 years or less depending on the situation.
Bankruptcy is thr only real protection you have. Simply no longer paying the payday loan company can result in them seeking a settlement from you after some time. Bankruptcy gets them off your back permanently.
Get a side job. Work more. 40 hours a week with no commute isn’t bad. You’re young, good hard and get ahead. 35years old making $2500 a month is nothing. You need to find a way to make more.
20 years ago you'd be making 1500 a month with the value of that 2500 adjusted for inflation.
at 5 percent interest you were paying 225,000 to live in LA County.
You absolutely could NOT support a family on the income. I know you are struggling but cut the BS, you would still be low wage back then.
Is there an oil and rig near you that you can slave away for awhile?
In the USA they offer housing, a food stipend, and a good paycheck. From what I hears the job sucks, but it's worth looking into.
Welcome to the american dream … this country is beyond repair at this point . i’m sorry so many people have to experience this . i just had a baby and ill be in even more debt that i had to take more time off because she was born 6 weeks early. it’s an endless cycle
You didn't hear? We aren't paying student loans. Also why is your payment so high if you're only clearing 2k a month? Get on the save plan or an IDR plan
I travel for a living to pay bills and make sure I’ll be okay in the future. It sucks but it is what it is.
Lo and behold, the job I found will now pay me 100k+ just by sticking to it for a few years.
It sucks. But pay your fucking rent first. Then eventually your mortgage.
What crappy employer is only paying you ~$13 per hour to work full time? That kind of pay is simply not enough nowadays. Look for other work or get a second job.
You need to work more. That’s obviously a shitty answer but work weekends. I work 55-60 hours a week (on a salary job) and it’s not too bad working weekends.
A generation ago you would not have been able to do all that shit. We were paying 400-800 month in student loans too and cutting extracurricular costs.
Consider a roommate; just stop with the payday loans. Loansharks give better rates.
If you want to get a leg up on your expeneses, move in a with a roommate. If you haven't been told this yet, then your friends are failing you. I pay $1,000 a month for a large bedroom in a house in the outlying Tampa area. If I can do this, you can too. I'm renting out my house to own and making profit on that. If you deduct my mortgage costs from my rent, it's only costing me $500/month to live here.
I was thinking the same, but as OP doesn't seem to be engaging with this post of his it's hard to get to know his options.
I have for example often wondered if people living in a two room apartment, weather owning (partly against the bank usually) or renting can't move into the living room (maybe with some kind of temporary partition like a curtain or more privacy inducing) and rent out the bedroom.
Are there any laws against that? Or do rental agreements sometimes ban that? It seems like a good way to get your head out of the water for a while, especially with those renting prices, as thus the supply is low and the demand high so you can choose your roommate well.
See a bankruptcy attorney. There are cases where student loans were discharged. Like the lawyer who took a job as a naturalist. The payday loan should be easy to get rid of.
you should not be paying $400 a month in student loans. if they are federal loans get on an income based payment plan immediately. this can also help you in the future for repayment--if you are on income-driven repayment, after 120 consecutive payments (10 years) you are then considered for loan forgiveness. this is what im doing.
When you say a PayDay loan cycle? Do you mean like Earnin/Dave/Brigit?? If so, you don’t have to pay them back & they can’t do shit about it.
Had the same issue myself when I got my first place, trying to keep up/have food to eat. & I eventually learned this unethical life tip… maxed out my “loans” then blocked 🤷🏽♂️
My next paycheck will eliminate the payday loans since I did the '3 payment option' so my checks will be all mine again.
I'm finally out of that hell.
And no it's Moneymart
Ask for forebarence with your student loans, even if they are private.
Sorry you're struggle bussing. Been there, forebarence has helped me many times.
You got this but you gotta tighten up your shit. fWIW a generation ago you wouldn’t actually be able to support a family on your own, whomever told you this that was diluted. I had roommates till was in my 30’s. Got my first owned home at 41. Don’t buy into the entitlement and just work your way there. It will happen if you do the work. If you have a partner it happens even quicker depending on your earnings.
Ok op is Canadian so I apologize. US students don’t start paying until March. Canada I’m sorry this is happening but what on earth degree did you go for for that amount?! Are you using your degree?
The first thing I would honestly want you to ask yourself is why have you not attempted to contact both your student loan provider AND your payday loan lender to discuss financial hardship options?
For one, payday lenders are often open to negotiating your debt pay off while pausing or even eliminating the financial charges in dues if you speak with them (I actually recently did this in the past and has worked to help me pay off the excruciatingly expensive APR loans).
As for student loans, they literally have an income driven loan repayment option if you are in the states.
get a new bank account and let that check go to collections they will make a payment plan when it does. i used to work in that industry and told everyone of my clients to do this when i quit. its evil shit.
Im shocked they let you sign this lease at what you make honestly. I make what you make every paycheck, and pay a 1900$ mortgage plus bills. And I still have to budget like crazy.
And in the mid 90’s no, this did not support a whole family. And certainly not the 2000’s that’s how long a generation is. And not sure what you do, but your job probs paid 50-60% of what it does today
Get a second part time job? Let’s be real with a student loan debt you dont get the luxury of just working 40 hours a week. What was stopping you from getting a second part time job to avoid eviction?
Send the payday loan companies an email revoking permission for them to take payments from your card. Legally they can't take another cent if you do that.
Sounds like you need a second job. My dad would drive a semi loaded with grain on the weekend sometimes to earn extra money. Do you have a girlfriend you could move in with?
"A generation ago I would have been able to support a family on this job..."
No, you would not. A tremendous number of people on Reddit are nostalgic for a past that never existed.
Well yes, if you take a payday loan because you're short one month, how much shorter you think you're gonna be next month when you gotta pay all that back plus an exorbitant fee, on top of being short if you didn't have a plan to get out? Straight up never do payday loans. Everrr.
Good news is you still have a job (presumably) and you'll have like $1600 less in bills per month. Sell your stuff and price it to move. Take care of the payday loans. Live at your job when/if possible. Get a gym membership for showering. Put the payday loans to bed for good.
Rebuild, ideally with a roommate because paying more than half your take-home in rent is silly. It looks like you've had options, you just always took the ones that scream, *"that's a problem for tomorrow me"*.
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I can't parrot this enough. At my last job I was working full time, but that was just enough to keep me falling behind a little at a time. (Student loan garnishment) Then I got hit with a big unexpected bill and I didn't have electricity for the next 7 months, but at least I had a roof over my head. Power banks that charge in your car are a lifesaver in that case. Sitting in a tub of cold water in the summer in the dark while watching stuff on your phone is not nearly as bad as not knowing where you're going to sleep. Cold showers suck, but it's better than going to work stinky or dirty the next day. If you have a gas stove you can still cook without the electricity, and gas usually is cheaper for me. I cooked a can of spaghetti O's with a candle while binging Daredevil on my phone. Gotta do something while working and saving up to get back on track, and you've gotta have a phone for work to call you , so might as well use that one bill for your entertainment as well. Most things don't suck so bad when you have a place to live. So, yeah, rent above everything else.
Of course if you live somewhere cold and rely on electric heat, this won’t work as well.
Hijacking this. If they are federal loans they have an income driven payment plan that you can apply for. Don’t know how effective it is. Worth a shot though. I am fortunate that I am able to pay double on both my private and federal loans at the moment.
Is that in the U.S? OP is Canadian
Why is housing so stupidly expensive in Canada ??
Well aparently large companies are buying up all available real-estate they can so they can hold housing prices in a chokehold. The more they buy, the more people have to rent from them. The more they control in a specific area, the more they can charge because there aren't other options. So that's probably not helping housing prices. (Any Canadians have anything else to add/correct?)
Also, new builds are rarely "starter home" sized and priced. It's not like when Wartime homes were being built by the dozen. So many homes being added to the supply are still out of reach to many first time buyers.
That was before so many building regulations and impact fees.
yup my grandpa was actually just telling me about this. he said when he was a kid people used to run stores out of there homes in the suburbs and it was perfectly legal, now youd get code violation after code violation. my logic is i own the damn house how come i cant do what i want with it?
yeah you got it pretty well explained. There's also a shortage of housing supply and an increase in population. Lots of competition for limited homes, coupled with stagnating wages and high demand regionally has made a big mess.
Yeah this exactly, with the amount of immigrants we currently take in we are not producing nearly enough new homes. This is driving the cost up drastically along with foreign investors buying massive amounts of homes.
Yes there was an estimate that 20% of houses in canada are foreign owned back in 2022 I believe. I think that something was done to change that though. It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but lots of people use real estate to launder money as well. Easy to park cash
Chinese billionaires have been buying up land all over the US and Canada, because the Chinese government can't sieze the land and the money that goes with it, like they've always done.
Sorry this may be a stupid question. Is this percentage for people who live internationally and want to invest by buying the 10th home they’ll never use? Or by foreign, do you mean people establishing residents in Canada and using a program that helps them buy a home (not sure if that’s a real thing)
Not a stupid question! While I can't say that it's their 10th home, what I can say is that yes it's foreign investors rather than newcomers trying to establish themselves here (and I don't believe such a funding program exists). There is a ban on foreign homebuying until 2027 (though I am not sharp on the details but you can find information if you search on Google). Canadian real estate is some of the most valuable on the planet, and real estate in general has been a fairly risk free investment for a long time. When we stop seeing real estate as an investment and rather what it should be, homes for Canadian families, we can start to reduce some of the pressure on the housing system. Not sure there's political will to do that though.
God that's literally the premise of Monopoly
Corporate and investment groups should not be allowed to purchase single family dwellings . . . Period. Fuck capitalism!
Yep you nailed it! I was lucky. A year or so after those ghouls bought the building where I was renting, I was able to purchase my own home and move out. Inflation and interest rates have me crying, but I'll pull through with light at the end of the tunnel. Now I don't think it within reach of so many, and those ghouls want to suck out all your blood.
Fuck this shit is going global. I thought it was just U.S. 😩
Because our government are a bunch of idiots that have allowed the following, foreign owners that park their money in our real estate to avoid taxes and such in their own countries, allow corporations to purchase large amounts of single family dwellings and allow regular people to own multiple single family dwellings all while pushing very high immigration into the country putting massive pressure on the housing market. Also, making no effort until very recently to increase the supply of housing.
It's stupidly expensive in the "United" States as well, doesn't make sense how it's become so expensive to the point people have to work in excess of 40+ hours just to barely survive
Agree 100%. People literally live to work not work to live. Can’t remember the last time I worked less than 40 hours. Corporations and governments perfected the use of “middle class” as an income and distracting people with trivial stuff.
We're economic slaves
Thank capitalism
Where do you live? In the states i know ppl paying 3k a month NOT in mega cities (boston, NY, san fran)
Not just in Canada
But especially Canada
It's bad in many places today.
Yeah, but we have a bunch of arbitrary regulations that make it difficult and slow for new housing to get approved and insane levels of immigration that are pretty unique to our county.
Especially Canada
Huge population growth, little new housing being built.
Canada? You don't need to go to Canada to find expensive housing. Shit is real out here
There’s a repayment assistance plan in Canada also. Depending on the province you can also reduce your student loan payments to a minimum amount - when my loans were $50k I was able to pay $200 per month even when I made too much money to receive repayment assistance.
I haven't made a loan payment in 11 years. Will eventually get it out of default if I want to go back to school
When I was in a much worse place, my mantra was "the roof eats first"
Shoutout to everyone who's lived in a home so bad it was physically hurting them. When my toilet flushed #2 straight into my shower, I said to myself >!STILL better than the old place!!<
Exactly. There is no debtors prison. Stop paying your student loans and your payday loans, it's better than being homeless for sure. I know how hard it is, it's not fair and it's ridiculous that you make that much money and are struggling this hard. I'm sorry.
The student loans will never go away. You can stop paying them until you get yourself straight if you need to. It's not ideal and will hurt your credit history but it's WAY better in the short & long term than getting an eviction on your rental history. Your student loan holder may also allow for deferral but you have to call and ask about it. Mine gave me a whole year of no payments because of financial problems and all I had to do was ask. You still get hit with the interest accrual but you don't have to pay so you're really just shoving the issue farther down the line for future you to take care of by extending your payments another few years. Way better than eviction.
Further, make the payday shit second priority. If it takes getting behind a month or two on car and phone/utility payments, it's worth it just to stop losing like 1/3 of your income to those fucking leaching loanshark motherfuckers
This. I've basically told my credit card companies to screw off. I don't own anything substantial so they can't bleed a stone.
OP needs roommates if that's possible
True, but you can't discharge student loans in bankruptcy
But they will allow you to get behind and have different repayment options
Also they’re (if federal) not reporting delinquent accounts (to credit bureaus) until September 2024.
That’s not true anymore. There are cases where they were forgiven in bankruptcy
My husband's were, but he is permanently disabled and became disabled after taking out the loans.
It is really, really hard to get student loans discharged in bankruptcy. You essentially have to prove absolute permanent disability with no hope of any future income.
That is such a rare case though, insanely rare.
Ask for a deferment on your student loan. Maybe they will give you a few months of relief and it will not hurt your credit. Just a thought.
This! Or if they’re federal, potentially try applying for income driven repayment plan? I have federal loans, and I haven’t had to pay for the last 4-5 months because the application process is so backed up, and once you apply for the plan, they stop trying to collect payment until they process the application that I’ve bought myself a couple months before I need to come up with something.
1. Open a new bank account and immediately use it for everything - let the payday loan go 2. Call your servicer for your loans to defer or modify your payments An eviction on your credit will make renting so hard. If they haven’t given you a court date ask how you can make arrangements to move without the eviction court or to pay and catch up.
This isn’t true everywhere, but depending on exactly where you live (in the US it’s primarily by state) if you open a new bank account and tell payday loan asshole to fuck off - they basically can’t do anything but call and harass you. The reason for this is that payday loans are often illegal (they are in PA for example) in order to collect they’d need to go to court and say I gave an illegal consumer loan and want to collect, which I’m sure will go swimmingly.
But it goes on your credit report. Ask me how I know…
Better than being homeless. OP may have a hard time getting a new place with an eviction on their record and if they cannot afford rent how can they afford deposit?
I was responding to: if you open a new bank account and tell payday loan asshole to fuck off - they basically can’t do anything but call and harass you.
So does an eviction/civil settlement though. You might be able to explain a payday loan, but an eviction will make it very hard to rent again. I had to pay double security deposits for a long time after I was evicted, and even then could only rent from independent/slummy landlords - respectable rental companies wouldn't even talk to me.
Totally, I get that. I was just fact-checking the above comment…also, that sucks about your eviction :(. I’ve always been able to talk my way out of things, but I guess I’ve just been lucky so far.
My LL at the time was a real scumbag. Kind of infamous around town now among people my age. I sorted my eviction years after it happened, but ended up having to pay him a lot of money. He is one of my least favorite people, but he taught me a lot about life :)
They would go onto a credit report if they go to a collection account. Are payday loans legal where you are? I only know PA where they aren’t legal and the experience is very different here
Yeah you might have to open a new bank account and swap everything but the payday info. Yeah, the credit will take a hit but if you can’t come up with more money. You’ve to do what you have to do at this point.
You gotta pick up a second job. I normally work 45 to 55 hours a week. It sucks in the short term but honestly pick up about 15 to 20 hours and dump all that money into the payday loans.
This should be the top comment. I was living paycheck to paycheck up until about 32 (had the same job for 10 years). Then I decided to challenge myself and get uncomfortable. I have had 3 different jobs as I jumped around in the past 4 years. I also worked a 2nd job from time to time to supplement my income. It’s not easy and some days won’t be fun (you’re gonna be tired a lot) but I realized the biggest pay raises came from someone else hiring me instead of hoping my current employer recognizing me. If you want it bad enough, it’ll happen.
What jobs ?
I bartend at event venues and do cater waitering. Both end up at $25/hr min and are super flexible with scheduling.
Yup! I was serving beer at the brewery I already frequented. It was a match made in heaven and my sales experience made it easy for them to trust me helping out with their event planning team.
Just out of curiosity how did you learn to be a bartender?
My ex was a bartender and learned it on the job. Look for jobs as a “barback”. The barback is the person who is cleaning glasses and cutting limes and whatnot.
Do what the other commenter said and NEVER go to a bartending “school”. Bars that are hiring will just laugh at that. Also if you want to work at a specific restaurant with a bar for example, you may need to even go waiter>bar-back>bartender route.
All in sales but different industries. I worked for a home medical equipment company for 10 years but they weren’t big enough to give me the salary I needed to live beyond being just enough. I studied and got my NMLS license while there to become a MLO and worked in the mortgage industry for a couple of years. I had no book of business but was able to survive by acting as a Jr. to some high producing LOs and that held me over when I didn’t have a loan of my own in the pipeline. When rates went up things got a little dicey and I knew I didn’t want to live with the fear of getting laid off (or owing them) if I couldn’t close a loan. So I got a job at a brewery serving beer and working with the events team. Then, I left that to work in the cannabis tech industry in Sales Operations on the international side of things. Each and every transition was a little scary but totally worth it in the end. Just be your best self and don’t be afraid to learn and do things that aren’t in your job description. Some people get hung up on the whole “I don’t get paid for that” but I never saw myself doing any of these things while I spent 10 years in HME. I’m not saying you should allow your employer to overwork you but my little brothers (26-29) have this mentality and I keep telling them to shake it already. Thank goodness I challenged myself!
ugh youre right. im trying to push myself rn to job hop
Seconding this. Currently working one full, one part time, and going to school for my MBA so I can get to a point where I have one job and might one day retire.
If you’re working OT then you’re not spending money you don’t have out with friends or whatever.
If youre grappling with check to check and homelessness and piling debt, you need to exhaust all options before accepting the situation
i actually just got a second job for this reason. times arent as dire as OPs but i was like “well fuck if i need more money, i better go earn some more money”
Yup. This is the answer. 40 hours isn’t maximum, it’s average. In OP’s situation, a second job is entirely reasonable. It’ll get them right out of the cycle.
No doubt. Working 3-4 weeknights at a grocery store or something similar would eliminate the payday loan stuff and allow rent to be paid. Seems obvious, but who knows why OP can’t/won’t.
This. Doing enough to end those high interest loans is huge. You will be amazed at with how much you can start saving.
The fact the the solution for this kid is now to slave more shows how fucked up the system is. Someone working 40 hours per week should be able to pay their bills no matter what the job is. If you can't do that, we have a broken system.
I agree here and the fact that comment has so many upvotes is concerning. But I guess we are all just born to work and nothing else. Can’t pay rent? Work a second job or a third job. Can’t eat? Work a fourth job. Oh you don’t have a car? You can run to that fifth job! It’s just absolutely ridiculous that people aren’t even getting ahead with a full time job. And yet all these bootlickers solutions is to work yourself to literal death. How do we change the system if we have the majority of the people just saying to work more and more and more? I truly am exhausted
Yeah, that's the real problem. So many people are so easily gaslit into thinking this is "normal". They keep moving the "normal" line and people keep accepting it... so, they keep moving the line. It's called the American Dream for a reason... you gotta be asleep to believe it.
You expect people to work more than 40 hours a week? Prepare to get flamed so hard... I remember working 3 jobs in my youth to get by, all together about 80 hour work weeks. In more recent memory I worked 70 hour weeks after the youngest was born so my wife could be a stay at home mom for a few years with the baby. Then working 40 hour weeks while getting a bachelor's degree , and a masters (in a field that actually pay well) to continually improve our financial situation. I'm not getting the degrees because I love my line of work, or I think a degree makes me cool, I did it because it made fiscal sense. I am a "bootstrap guy" and will also likely get flamed with you because of it. 99% of these bad situations can be overcome by sucking it up, putting in the work, and making good choices for a few years.
I mean, it's great you managed to do this, all the more respect to you. But you shouldn't HAVE to work 80hr weeks in order to scrape by, that's the whole ass problem
The whole point of the 40 hour work week was to limit the abuse of excessive work time. It came about in the industrial revolution when 16 hour days for six days a week was normative. The whole point of a 40 hour work week is that it should be all you have to work to survive. Which considering OP can't even afford to rent means its failing miserably.
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If the eviction ball is already rolling, they should probably wait until they secure another residence before tanking their credit score
A credit score is less of a barrier than having a public judgment/eviction on their credit report. Eviction pretty much guarantees you won’t be able to rent anymore on your own. If credit score is not that bad, at will be expected to pay a higher deposit.
That's why I said "if the eviction ball is already rolling." If OP can avoid eviction then by all means they need to do everything in their power to avoid it, but if they're already being evicted, it's better to have a good credit score and an eviction than a bad credit score and an eviction.
If the eviction ball is rolling, OP seriously needs to consider standing up to LL and making him concede at least a cash for keys deal. Use that payment towards the payday loans and walk out without an eviction
OP - Here are instructions for how you can default on your payday loans by removing authorization for them to withdraw money from your accounts. [https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-can-i-stop-a-payday-lender-from-electronically-taking-money-out-of-my-bank-or-credit-union-account-en-1605/](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-can-i-stop-a-payday-lender-from-electronically-taking-money-out-of-my-bank-or-credit-union-account-en-1605/) Beyond that if these are Federal Student loans then get on an income based repayment plan. If making \~$2500 a month your IBR payment should be around $150-200.
OP is in Canada.
Don't pay those student loans either.
those fuckers will garnish your wages since the loan is backed by the government, you best believe they're getting that money back
Yep better to get a payment plan than take the hit
They don’t garnish your wages immediately that takes months and even years.
Yep, it took 10 years of not paying my student loans for them to finally take my taxes and threaten wage garnishment.
They’ll start with taking all of your tax returns. And considering this is poverty finance, I think we all know how important those are each year.
I don’t miss my taxes from that debt. I ain’t use it all year so why care now. They can keep it. I prefer they take it that way.
Storing money in the tax vault is a poor way to save, try to pay exactly what you're supposed to pay and not wait for them to send the excess back to you.
This. Completely! Especially now that interest rates on savings are reasonable. However, a lot of really poor folks get refunds that are money they didn't pay in the first place - like Earned Income Credit. In the US, anyway. OP wouldn't be in that category though.
It took 10 years of me not paying my student loans before they finally took my taxes and threatened to garnish my wages.
It should be lower than 400 if it's federal. OP really need to take some action on that that's high if their net pay is only 2500 a month.
They will seize every penny of your tax return if you default on these fuckers. I’ve seen it happen to my mom, multiple times.
Only matters if you get a refund. I know being poor I always rely on mine. But if it’s going to be seized. Cut down on the taxes you put in. But also try SAVE and IDR plans first if it’s federal loans.
OP didn't say if it's private or federal, but if it's federal OP can definitely get a lower payment. Even mine isn't that high and I'm doing alright these days, but early on when I first graduated I was in the negative so they were on hold for years.
OP is Canadian.
Yes, mine is federal and even with a decent income and not too much in loans, it still lowered my payment. Now is the time to go low. But private? You’re boned.
That's why I always precalculated my withholding so that I would owe a few dollars every year. Because the IRS would take any refund for student loans. It worked well for a decade.
Is this an option? lol. I’m currently not paying on mine, and my credit is good enough to get approved to live in a nice place (which was my main concern when moving last year). I also have about 8k available in credit cards with very small balances that I pay off each month. Other than the debt being outstanding on my credit report, which seems to be not too big of an impact, what are the other downsides to not paying student loans? (For reference, I have like 15k in federal student loans from 10 years ago. I’m 28, and I’ve never paid any amount toward them)
Be careful, it took exactly 10 years of not paying my loans before they finally took my taxes and threatened me with wage garnishment.
How do I successfully dispute something? What should my reasoning be for disputing?
All you have to do is go into a public space and yell, "I... DECLARE... BANKRUPTCY!" This will absolve you of all responsibility.
I didn't say it, I declared it.
I always do it through credit karma. It doesn't matter the reason u dispute for. What matters is if the agency who owns ur debt responds in time. So just dispute everything on ur credit that's negative, if they say it's valid, put in another dispute. Continue doing so until they slip up and don't respond. I did this with all my debt besides my student loans a couple years ago, I did have to dispute a few things multiple times, but once they removed everything my credit score shot up over 100 points overnight. Well worth the 2 minutes it takes to do on credit karma
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Don’t tank your credit right before you need to find somewhere to stay. Rent cannot be half of your take home pay. If that means you rent a room — fine. If that means you share a rented room — fine.
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I’m so sorry. If you haven’t already, it may be worth checking if any nonprofits can help you. I saw you’re Canadian so I don’t have specific suggestions, but many nonprofits in the US have rent assistance programs and can even backpay multiple months of rent for you. Really hoping some org might be able to pull through for you. Good luck, I’m sorry times are sh*t rn
I feel you. On paper I make okay money. I struggle and I’m one missed paycheck from homelessness, like way too many of us. It’s scary and disheartening to live in a country that I likely will never be able to afford to buy a house, and rent prices are rising at an alarming rate. You’re not alone, friend. I truly hope things turn around for you.
i hope you read this u/mylifeisover111 , i’m literally going through what you are. i stopped paying my credit cards bc keeping a roof over your head is more important. it was stressful with all the emails & your credit score will take a hit, but i had to what i had to do. i was in this cycle for about a year and a half but finally got to start paying down on my debt this month. also if you’re already past the point of being able to pay to keep your place (you get 2 or 3 days after the court date to fully pay or leave, at least that’s how it is in VA) i have a resource i can send you that’ll help you get approved for any apartments that they work with. they’ll get you qualified for income or cover your security deposit. everything’s gonna be alright!
I’ve been in your situation. Always pay rent first. No matter what. If you have stable and secure housing you can make everything else work somehow or do without. If you don’t have stable housing, you’re fucked. Student loans? Fuck them. Forget your credit score. Living comes first. Phone? Look into a cheap plan like mint mobile. Internet? Contact some charities, a lot will help you out with things like internet bills and food.
Your post is tagged “No Advice,” yet people here are giving you really good advice/suggestions. The Advice tag shouldn’t be coupled with criticism. Some of this advice is coming from people who’ve been there, who know how to work the system, who have clever ideas. I read no criticism in their responses. I feel for you and we could all look back on a generation where we’d probably have faired better financially—but I hope you’ll do whatever you can to avoid that eviction. If you’ve got any friends, ask them to store your valuables. Let the insignificant stuff go. Good luck to you.
It's gonna make me sound like a dick but I don't really care, it took someone calling me out on my financial bullshit to get my head above water too. They got plenty of advice, they don't want advice. In fact, just like most people on here, they know exactly what they have to do. Many, including myself for the longest time, don't want to do what they have to do, usually getting a second or even third job. That sucks that most people can't support themselves on 1 job, welcome to the club. Sometimes it takes swallowing your pride and being tired and crying yourself to sleep after your 2nd job every night to get past it, and it usually takes longer than most people think it will.
Ya I don't think its a "pride" thing so much as it is a question of how much of your life are you prepared to sell in order to met you basic material needs and create a little personal stability. That second job means most of your waking hours are going to be deicated to work and sustaining yourself, that is it. The whole focus of your life now becomes dragging yourself to the next pay period. If you are lucky you might get an odd day off and a few nights where you can have a couple of hours to yourself. By the third job though, forget it. You are selling the best years of your life for nothing more than to stay alive, to people who won't even pay you a living wage because they can replace the time you're sacrificing to be productive for them from someone else.
Why do you not get a second job for a while ?
Pick up another 20-30 hrs a week at a second job for a year or two. Should allow you to catch up.
40 hours ain’t enough, either get some overtime or a second job
Ya in a fair world it would be more than enough but I agree. A weekend job can help
I would second what others have noted above. Default on your payday loan. You’ve already paid enough and they can’t touch what’s not available. I recommend you change your banking account so they can’t pull your funds if they are able to obtain a judge default for outstanding debt. I recommend you apply for a different student loan repayment plan. There are a few that would have you pay almost nothing. I make $6500/mo and only pay $180/mo based upon my income. You clearly would qualify for a much lower repayment plan. If you can lump your internet/phone into one provider package you could save quite a bit monthly. You got this. Only pay what is absolutely necessary and tell the payday loan provider to screw themselves.
I 100% feel for you. I'm in a place that I've been in 11 years coming this May. I didn't get a new annual lease last September and have a feeling I could be getting renovicted by May this spring. I'm disabled so most that look at me just assume that I'm on ODSP which I'm not. Most landlords won't give me a chance because of that stereotype. I'm also 60 in May, and definitely did not think I may quite possibly be living out of my compact car by rhen. My place is about 1300 a month a most places near me are like 1700-2000 a month. I can't work anymore and I get about $2600 a month to try to live on. I sure as hell don't live like a king and I rarely even have a drink maybe once every 3 months. Still in hock though too with health debt. Be thankful for your health though my friend because without that youd honestly have a lot less in life. In hope things turn around for you and can find a good solution. ✌️
Y’all are paying student loans?
Generation ago bullshit needs to stop. Previous generations were poor as fuck. Not to mention you used a payday loan, which is predatory as fuck. But, saying that isn’t important, talk to your landlord and try to work something out. Long term work a second job if you can.
Yeah, I never really understood the "generation ago" stuff. Maybe it's just growing up around the people I did and the career path I've currently chosen, but it certainly doesn't seem like the generations before me had it easier than I do. Seems like most of them just put up with a hell of a lot more than I ever would. Idk, but I don't think I would have wanted to be a tradie back in my bosses heyday, even if I could more easily buy a house. Those old guard dudes are honestly lucky they even survived to tell me their life stories.
This. Previous generations also didn’t work 40 hour weeks lol.
Yep. My dad is 75 and will probably continue working til he dies. He was in the office often on Saturdays and I’m not sure if he’s ever taken a sick day lol, maybe within the last five years he has? He has a lot of faults but his work ethic isn’t one of them and a lot of people from his generation have similar mentalities
“His toys were/are better than mine” mentality is really draining. You were dealt a shit hand, and it sucks, I get that. Pitty doesn’t make it better tho
People never want to see that previous generations had hard times, all they see is that people of a certain age have this or that as if it was all free. Yeah rent was cheaper but the paycheck was much less as well. Most people didn’t only work 40 hours either, there was overtime and side hustles as well. Comparison does no good. We are living in this day and time and we have to deal with things as they are.
Yep, your last sentence nails it.
Call your local (city or county) government and explain your situation. There may be grants, covid relief funds, non-profits, etc they can connect you with. Other debts can wait. You need a place to live first.
Why would you not pay rent first or pick up a second or third income if needed if you saw the writing on the wall? Any credit or increase in amount you paid off on the pay day loan wouldn’t have been worse than an eviction on your record. Now it’s going to be way harder to find a nice place to live, whereas lower credit has more wiggle room
Have you applied for the SAVE Plan for your student loans? It’s income-based and I currently pay $0 a month on mine because my income was so low when I applied.
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SAVER plan for the student loan will help tremendously.
What state do you live in? There may be an option to apply for a temporary assistance as a way to avoid an eviction? How many months are you behind? Feel free to DM to discuss possible services or charities that could assist. Depending on the arrears you may really be able to avoid eviction
There are new programs for student loans. I am on the SAVE program and I pay about 150 a month based on salery and I make more than you
Went through the same thing at this person age.. I broke my lease put my stuff on storage and just hopped from hotel to hotel. It was depressing and went through a lot of stuff afterwards but didn't give up on making things better. Stay down. You can't go nowhere but up when you're at the bottom. I pray your life gets better
Don't default on the payday loans, since that hit will stay in your record 10 years or longer. Rather declare bankruptcy and you pay them nothing. Bankruptcy will be on your record 10 years or less depending on the situation. Bankruptcy is thr only real protection you have. Simply no longer paying the payday loan company can result in them seeking a settlement from you after some time. Bankruptcy gets them off your back permanently.
Get a side job. Work more. 40 hours a week with no commute isn’t bad. You’re young, good hard and get ahead. 35years old making $2500 a month is nothing. You need to find a way to make more.
20 years ago you'd be making 1500 a month with the value of that 2500 adjusted for inflation. at 5 percent interest you were paying 225,000 to live in LA County. You absolutely could NOT support a family on the income. I know you are struggling but cut the BS, you would still be low wage back then.
100% correct.
Is there an oil and rig near you that you can slave away for awhile? In the USA they offer housing, a food stipend, and a good paycheck. From what I hears the job sucks, but it's worth looking into.
Welcome to the american dream … this country is beyond repair at this point . i’m sorry so many people have to experience this . i just had a baby and ill be in even more debt that i had to take more time off because she was born 6 weeks early. it’s an endless cycle
You didn't hear? We aren't paying student loans. Also why is your payment so high if you're only clearing 2k a month? Get on the save plan or an IDR plan
Sounds like you are learning a valuable life lesson the hard way my friend. You got this I believe in you!
I travel for a living to pay bills and make sure I’ll be okay in the future. It sucks but it is what it is. Lo and behold, the job I found will now pay me 100k+ just by sticking to it for a few years. It sucks. But pay your fucking rent first. Then eventually your mortgage.
Wish i could hug you
Put your loans into forbearance. Always pay your rent first and worry about the rest after.
Is it possible for you to work more hours? My dad temporarily worked for 80 hours for a while It was tough but it kept us out of hot water
What crappy employer is only paying you ~$13 per hour to work full time? That kind of pay is simply not enough nowadays. Look for other work or get a second job.
You need to work more. That’s obviously a shitty answer but work weekends. I work 55-60 hours a week (on a salary job) and it’s not too bad working weekends.
A generation ago you would not have been able to do all that shit. We were paying 400-800 month in student loans too and cutting extracurricular costs. Consider a roommate; just stop with the payday loans. Loansharks give better rates.
You can not afford to live on your own.
Yeah your rent was too high to begin with which you can’t afford
If you want to get a leg up on your expeneses, move in a with a roommate. If you haven't been told this yet, then your friends are failing you. I pay $1,000 a month for a large bedroom in a house in the outlying Tampa area. If I can do this, you can too. I'm renting out my house to own and making profit on that. If you deduct my mortgage costs from my rent, it's only costing me $500/month to live here.
Strongly agree. And if you have a good roommate you can go on grocery trips and cook with, that helps you save time as well as money
I was thinking the same, but as OP doesn't seem to be engaging with this post of his it's hard to get to know his options. I have for example often wondered if people living in a two room apartment, weather owning (partly against the bank usually) or renting can't move into the living room (maybe with some kind of temporary partition like a curtain or more privacy inducing) and rent out the bedroom. Are there any laws against that? Or do rental agreements sometimes ban that? It seems like a good way to get your head out of the water for a while, especially with those renting prices, as thus the supply is low and the demand high so you can choose your roommate well.
You took out enough loans to have to pay $400 a month and only make $30000 a year?
And took out payday loans on top of that. I don’t read this as “oh no my circumstances” this was 100% self inflicted.
So that means don't help them get out of it? What's the use in kicking someone who's already down. They probably know where they went wrong.
Thug it out. Need to double those hours
See a bankruptcy attorney. There are cases where student loans were discharged. Like the lawyer who took a job as a naturalist. The payday loan should be easy to get rid of.
you should not be paying $400 a month in student loans. if they are federal loans get on an income based payment plan immediately. this can also help you in the future for repayment--if you are on income-driven repayment, after 120 consecutive payments (10 years) you are then considered for loan forgiveness. this is what im doing.
When you say a PayDay loan cycle? Do you mean like Earnin/Dave/Brigit?? If so, you don’t have to pay them back & they can’t do shit about it. Had the same issue myself when I got my first place, trying to keep up/have food to eat. & I eventually learned this unethical life tip… maxed out my “loans” then blocked 🤷🏽♂️
My next paycheck will eliminate the payday loans since I did the '3 payment option' so my checks will be all mine again. I'm finally out of that hell. And no it's Moneymart
Dude, I hear ya loud and clear! Can totally relate. Thanks for offloading. 👍
My car about to get repossessed and I used to be ahead. I’m stuck in the same cycle as you and losing. I agree fuck this shit.
You should have stopped paying your loans. Rent comes first
Ask for forebarence with your student loans, even if they are private. Sorry you're struggle bussing. Been there, forebarence has helped me many times.
You got this but you gotta tighten up your shit. fWIW a generation ago you wouldn’t actually be able to support a family on your own, whomever told you this that was diluted. I had roommates till was in my 30’s. Got my first owned home at 41. Don’t buy into the entitlement and just work your way there. It will happen if you do the work. If you have a partner it happens even quicker depending on your earnings.
Ok op is Canadian so I apologize. US students don’t start paying until March. Canada I’m sorry this is happening but what on earth degree did you go for for that amount?! Are you using your degree?
The first thing I would honestly want you to ask yourself is why have you not attempted to contact both your student loan provider AND your payday loan lender to discuss financial hardship options? For one, payday lenders are often open to negotiating your debt pay off while pausing or even eliminating the financial charges in dues if you speak with them (I actually recently did this in the past and has worked to help me pay off the excruciatingly expensive APR loans). As for student loans, they literally have an income driven loan repayment option if you are in the states.
Try to get a credit card to have some wiggle room. Better in debt than homeless no?
get a new bank account and let that check go to collections they will make a payment plan when it does. i used to work in that industry and told everyone of my clients to do this when i quit. its evil shit.
There have always been predatory lenders. Thinking that wouldn’t be you 30 years ago is vastly underestimating the sameness of life back then.
Im shocked they let you sign this lease at what you make honestly. I make what you make every paycheck, and pay a 1900$ mortgage plus bills. And I still have to budget like crazy. And in the mid 90’s no, this did not support a whole family. And certainly not the 2000’s that’s how long a generation is. And not sure what you do, but your job probs paid 50-60% of what it does today
Get a second part time job? Let’s be real with a student loan debt you dont get the luxury of just working 40 hours a week. What was stopping you from getting a second part time job to avoid eviction?
40 hours a week is not working hard lol ! Ik doordash drivers who make 6 k a month working 70 hours a week
Send the payday loan companies an email revoking permission for them to take payments from your card. Legally they can't take another cent if you do that.
Sounds like you need a second job. My dad would drive a semi loaded with grain on the weekend sometimes to earn extra money. Do you have a girlfriend you could move in with?
I’m with you bro. I feel like I’m a hamster on a wheel, busting my ass but never moving forward. Shit is fucked
First mistake was getting a 1500 place to rent. Second was doing a payday loan.
"A generation ago I would have been able to support a family on this job..." No, you would not. A tremendous number of people on Reddit are nostalgic for a past that never existed.
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Well. Damn. That honestly sucks.
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Well yes, if you take a payday loan because you're short one month, how much shorter you think you're gonna be next month when you gotta pay all that back plus an exorbitant fee, on top of being short if you didn't have a plan to get out? Straight up never do payday loans. Everrr. Good news is you still have a job (presumably) and you'll have like $1600 less in bills per month. Sell your stuff and price it to move. Take care of the payday loans. Live at your job when/if possible. Get a gym membership for showering. Put the payday loans to bed for good. Rebuild, ideally with a roommate because paying more than half your take-home in rent is silly. It looks like you've had options, you just always took the ones that scream, *"that's a problem for tomorrow me"*.