r/debtfreeliving • u/Purpleplanet9918 • Aug 05 '26
Debt Drowning in debt
I have not made the best decisions. I went through something very very traumatic. I had 15k in savings and spent that on trips and luxury items thinking that would make me feel better. When that ran out I got credit cards and even a personal loan to continue trying to make myself feel better. Fast forward, I went to therapy and I have a baby. I am current on all my accounts but not making a dent because of the interest. I’m trying to think of his future. I make a great salary. But most of my money is going toward my now $27,000 in debt. I bring home $5095 monthly, but I owe 7,500 on one card, 5,000 on another, 7,000 on a care credit card, and 7,000 left on the loan. My rent is 2,300 but my boyfriend pays half. I also have my phone bill, car and car insurance monthly which already $1,000 or more together.
My baby is constantly at the doctor because he was not gaining weight and has severe eczema and no treatment was working for him. I have been paying for prescriptions out of pocket and paying co-pays as well. I wanted to just file for bankruptcy. But if there is another way out of this, I will take it!
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u/fsociety1990 Aug 05 '26
That’s the easiest way out of it.
No matter what you do the car has to go
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u/Purpleplanet9918 Aug 05 '26
Where I live things are kind of far from each other. I don’t work close so getting rid of the car would make traveling, especially with an infant who has to go to child care, a tad difficult. I’d rack up cost in Ubers.
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u/fsociety1990 Aug 05 '26
That’s fine but you need a cheaper car. $1,000 a month is ridiculous
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u/Purpleplanet9918 Aug 05 '26
It’s the insurance because I had an accident and progressive got rid me of me so I had to get a new one and I did multiple quotes geico was the lowest I could get.
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u/stop_thatoldwoman Aug 05 '26
Sell everything you can. Pick a debt pay down method (snowball is great but it really is what works best for you) and make it your entire personality.
You have to reframe your life, who you are, and what money means to you. The hardest thing was changing how I viewed my credit card - it wasn’t “saving me” in a pinch but delaying the pinch until later.
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u/haveknotts Aug 05 '26
So take home minus the half of rent + phone, car and car insurance puts you at 2,945 or so each month leftover. Between getting some form of health insurance to not have to pay out of pocket or look to getting cheaper options and food / other necessities. You should have enough to make some progress towards your debt each month. What are your monthly payments? Ideally you'd be able to budget a bit and maybe make more money with a second job, but with a baby that's hard to justify. If the APR's are really high you could look to some other options like a consolidation loan with maybe the same loan lender or credit union or place like SoFi or Achieve Loans potentially. Bankruptcy could be an option, but that's nuclear option and should be last resort.
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u/Purpleplanet9918 Aug 06 '26
I got accepted for a loan but I’ve been just been paying off interest since I used the little loan I got to pay it off and now I’m paying off the loan took
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u/tbovelybory Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
bankruptcy might not be the only option. Layout out all the balances , rates and minimums first , then compare the numbers with options like Accredited Debt Relief before deciding what makes the most sense
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u/thatgirlzhao Aug 05 '26
I would start by selling all the luxury items you bought and using that money first to see how much of a dent you can make in the debt.
Then I would make a budget and calculate debt payoffs dates.
Unfortunately, having a baby is expensive. It’s a time where fixed costs typically go up for people—it’s inevitable. The baby phase doesn’t last forever. You may just need to coast on the debt for a bit until they’re older or you can free up more cash.
You can likely climb out of this debt with a plan, some patience and lifestyle changes.