Meet Timmy
Age: 34
Salary: $15.68/hour
Employment: Post office letter carrier
Timmy’s main concerns, in his own words:
I’m a single father of twins, who will be 3 on Friday. I have joint custody, no child support. I’m a letter carrier with the post office making $15.68 an hour. No guarantee on hours. I just closed on my house November 1, 2014. When I got the house I took out a $5,000 loan. And a couple months ago I took out a $6,000 loan, in hopes of paying that original loan off and a few bills. Well I didn’t get the first loan paid, but I did get a couple old student loans paid off along with credit cards. However, I’m barely making it and missed last months $5,000 loan payment. I also don’t have the money to pay the $6,000 payment on Friday. It is set up for automatic debit though and I did delay it some. I’ll call them today to see if I can get it suspended for a couple months, but I don’t know what to do. I also have a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan payment with 0% interest and right now the payoff is $29,000.
Budget:
- Mortgage: $552.68
- Electric: $77.00
- Gas: $76.00
- Water Bill: $40.00
- Vehicle: $434.77
- Daycare: $388.00
- Insurance (Vehicle and twins life insurance): $115.99
- Cable, internet, phone: $161
- Verizon Wireless: $77.15
- Bank Loan ($4636.21, 15% interest): $218.85, missed last month.
- Avant Loan ($6,000.00, 30% interest) : $194.11
- USAA Credit Card: Maxed ($1,500), minimum monthly is $35. Missed last month.
- SAM’s Club Credit: Maxed ($1,000), minimum monthly is $25. Missed last month.
I’m in talks with a friend that is a branch manager at a bank about getting a personal loan to consolidate the Avant loan and to pay off the two credit cards. I won’t be able to get enough to add the bank loan.
*No updates, except I WASN’T able to combine those two loans at this time.
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Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning financial mind and a former comedian. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and is the host of the popular radio show and podcast, The Pete the Planner Show. Pete is considered one of the foremost experts on financial wellness in the world, but he’s just as likely to talk your ear off about bass fishing.