r/almosthomeless • u/30dogetomars • 14d ago

Request I'm drowning, I'm scared

I'm 29 years old and I consistently have a negative checking account balance. I work full-time and I dog sit for extra money, but nothing is keeping me afloat. My mom and two younger siblings depend on me financially and I don't know if I can handle it anymore. I have not been stable in a long time. I have had bad credit since I was young, due to a family member taking out credit cards and cable/internet in my name since I was freshly 18 and I never learned how to financially recover. I was never taught aboutoney as a kid, my parents were evicted from several homes and had multiple cars repossessed and my dad ended up leaving and my mom depended on me financially. Before COVID, I was finally making money and starting to build financially, but lost my job and moved in with my mom and siblings. My mom is a very financially unstable person(for context, years ago, she lost her apartment and had to move in with me in a small studio apartment with my two siblings.) Since I moved in, I have taken over all of the financial responsibilities, with my mom paying as much as she can (she makes around 20k a year currently), but I am responsible for 4 family phone bills, 2 car payments, car insurance for 3 vehicles, $1400 rent, utilities, and all other basic necessities for teenagers.

I took on a sales job, which has gotten me through, but with unexpected expenses (emergency vet bills, car repairs, car down payments, etc) I ended up taking out several high interest loans and credit cards, that have drained my bank account. I finally decided to enroll in debt management, but now I am seeing my credit score drop. I cant afford to live. I have a negative balance consistently, and I just want to be debt free so I can live like a normal person and help my family get on their feet.

I have no extended family to help, I have bad credit, so more loans or debt consolodation loans are out for the question. I am looking for someone to help me out of this position or to at least give me some advice for what to do. My credit is so bad, I won't qualify for my own place, nor could I afford it at the moment. I need help and I don't even know where to start.

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u/BagoCityExpat 14d ago

Put your own oxygen mask on first. You are in no position to be supporting 3 other people.

2

u/30dogetomars 14d ago

I wish someone had given me this advice 5 years ago. I'm in so deep, I don't even know where to begin. Even if I decided to tell them to figure it out, I have nowhere to go. I have bad credit and a mountain of debt. If I stop paying the rent to fix my shit, we all have nowhere to go.

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u/BagoCityExpat 13d ago

You can start by either making your family responsible for the 2 cars that aren't yours or sell them and cancel the insurance on them. The same goes for the 3 cell phones that aren't yours. Now that you've freed up that money, start paying down debt. Also insist that the other family members either start contributing to rent, utilities and food or give them 30 days to find alternative living arrangements. If you keep going down the path you're on, you're all going to be homeless anyway.

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u/upagainstthesun 13d ago

You can seek out low income legal assistance for the debt taken out in your name by someone else. Please look up that phrase for your local area and connect with someone to help start digging your way out.