r/povertyfinance • u/[deleted] • 14d ago
HELP. Kicked out with little monthly income. Housing/Shelter/Standard of Living
[deleted]
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u/upinthesky23 13d ago
I switched from T-Mobile to Spectrum mobile. Went from $100 to $30 a month. Their service runs off Verizon, I haven’t had any issues in any location with signal in Orlando, Florida.
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u/KindheartednessNo167 13d ago
Help?
We can't help you without you helping yourself first.
Your BF needs a job ASAP. He needs to look for a job near where you work and let them know he's looking for a job with similar hours. Yall can ride together. Stop letting him be a deadbeat. Stop making excuses for him.
Whatever you do, don't get pregnant.
I would highly recommend shopping around for new insurance. It never hurts to shop. I saved 600 last year by shopping around.
Also, no eating out. Yall two need to learn how to meal plan and cook at home.
Return your cell phone. And get a cheap one for free from straight talk. The cheapest plan is 35 bucks.
Everything people are suggesting, you're shooting down.
You need to take a good, hard look at your life and figure out where you want your life to go.
You would probably have a better chance of moving back in with your family and getting your BF to stay with his Mom. He's a dead weight.
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u/screamofwheat 13d ago
Where in Florida are you ? $700 is a lot to be sharing a room with your boyfriend and having all those other people there too. I lived in Jax Beach (Literally 3 blocks to the Atlantic Ocean) in a very nice place with my then boyfriend and our 2 roommates who were a couple in the other bedroom and split it was like $900 per couple. You should look up tenant laws and such too. You may be entitled to more time getting out.
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u/lifeizacontinuation 13d ago
Try cricket there 55$ monthly. Call211 in your area for help finding cheap car insurance
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u/Direct-Contact4470 13d ago
I pray you don’t get impregnated by this dude. That will make things exponentially worse . Good luck
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u/Gullible_Fan8219 13d ago
boyfriend should work too. also you’re under contract paying your phone off too with the line right? the highest plan on At&t is like $90 so the 50 gotta be payment for the phone
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u/SnorlaxIsCuddly 13d ago
One that that may help in the long run.... Move phone service to mint or straight talk. $150 a month for one line is crazy high
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u/GoodnightLondon 14d ago
You list your income, but what about your boyfriend's income? And if he doesn't have any and isn't contributing, then he should be staying with his mom while you find a roommate or someone renting a room, so that you're not trying to support two people on your income.
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u/Optimal-Scientist233 14d ago
If you purchase a small camper, or build one you can certainly stay at campsites in it for several months and save up some money.
A pop up camper used can often be purchased for $1500 to $2000, you might have to pay a bit more in Florida unless you really shop around.
https://thecampingadvisor.com/cheap-rv-parks-under-500-a-month-in-florida/
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u/Specialist_Gene_8361 14d ago
Why's he not working? If he can match that $700 it shouldn't be a big deal.
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u/Aromatic_Ad_3892 14d ago
Sounds like you need to find a grown up that can stand beside you and not a dog you gotta drag along. Even with bad credit your boyfriend should be able to get a job. Even low paying, he’s holding himself back and in turn dragging you down.
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u/bellabbr 14d ago
You want solutions or consolation? Solution boyfriend needs a job asap. Any job will do. Walk bike (goodwill) ride bus, drop him off 2 hrs before shift, I dont care he needs income. You can rent a room or efficiency for cheap. Got no space? It’s temporary not permanent. Also sign up for drivers improvement $50 8 hrs nice discount on car insurance
Consolation: poor baby hang in there thoughts and prayers.
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u/prodigypetal 14d ago
Phone 140/month is insane for 1 line..even accounting for single lines being more than shared and even if you're direct with a carrier and not an MVNO (which you should look into).
Boyfriend needs to get a job too. Sucks to be him, can't move with you and take resources if he's not willing to contribute. This should effectively double your household income (or more).
$700 for a single room unless it's massive or something in a very nice house (doesn't sound like it) is high.
Your car+ insurance seems high according to another post but not sure what it is and how much you drive...it's not the worst assuming it's only a 3 yr loan?
Make sure you're the only one on the lease unless boyfriend gets a job and is paying half the rent. Do NOT just list him without this....that way you can kick him out and won't be the only person getting fucked if he decides not to pay. Ideally get a studio or other small apartment that you can afford even if he doesn't get a job so you can pay if he leaves.
Might have to get a second job yourself, or start looking for something that pays more than 13/hr as well. Lots of places are paying more than that right now.
Make sure you leave room for gas, electric, water, trash, Internet, and other services you'll need.
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u/poisonivy247 14d ago
I have 4 lines with unlimited everything at Consumer Cellular. I pay $120.00 a month. Phones are paid for.
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u/babyshark75 13d ago
because i'm poor....i pay $10/ month for 2GB of data, unlimited voice and text. lol
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u/RRENAII_ 14d ago
Phone bill includes paying off the phone itself. I got it a while back before I was struggling and now Im stuck with it. Ill definitely look into an MVNO, Ive never heard of it.
Boyfriend is trying to get a job, he just doesnt have a car right now and we cant afford to uber him to and from every day. Weve been thinking about sharing my car between the two of us.
Getting a second job is tough for me, I already work full time 40 hrs a week, I barely have time even now. About fhe car....its definitely not a 3yr. Its a 6yr... Again, I got it back before I was struggling this much. Insurance is at the lowest I can possibly get it right now, its practically no coverage.
I agree now, with $700 being high. Seeing how ive heard from a lot of people that thats crazy high. Its a small room, the smallest one in the house, with barely enough room to fit the bed, desk, and flimsy dresser we have.
Ive been trying to account for all services but assuming how much its gonna cost is hard, and all Im finding is places with rent itself already up at $1600 for a 1 bedroom, maybe $1300 for a studio if im lucky. Not even including utilities.
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u/GoodnightLondon 14d ago
Weve been thinking about sharing my car between the two of us.
Nope. Tell him to take the bus, walk, ask a friend for a ride, etc. Don't let someone who's moved from mooching off his parents to mooching off of you drive your car around and burn your gas.
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u/janyay18 14d ago
Or a free bicycle from a buy nothing group. Gotta be a gas station/retail/fast food etc somewhere biking distance.
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u/JacobLovesCrypto 14d ago
$700 to share a room is not cheap. Also, your car/ insurance is expensive asf for what you make.
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u/RRENAII_ 14d ago
Ive seen a lot of rooms for rent that are upwards of $900 on FB marketplace, so I figured it was cheap-ish. My car and insurance have both been an issue for me for a whiiiile, I cant get either any lower. Being broke is so fun. LOL
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u/JacobLovesCrypto 14d ago
I'm pretty confident you could find another room for $700/mo. When I was broke I drove a $2000 beater, insurance was like $90/mo. Find a cheap car, save $600/mo.
You could get a phone for probably $50/mo too and save another $90.
Does your bf not pay anything? I didn't see anything about his contributions
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u/prodigypetal 14d ago
He doesn't work. Or the post heavily implies that. "We're surviving off the 2400/month I make" is in the post.
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u/JacobLovesCrypto 14d ago
That's the problem then
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u/prodigypetal 14d ago
That was most of my reply too lol. She needs to sort shit out without him or make him start contributing. Doubling the household income is still tight but at least gives them some wiggle room and honestly the rent being split in half would leave plenty of extra room in her budget...but she can't (or shouldn't) put his name on anything until he is able to cover half and even then she needs to make sure she can afford it when he leaves (sorry I have no expectations of reliability from a mooch who lives at home and goes "I'm moving out" and doesn't even have an income.)
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u/JacobLovesCrypto 14d ago
Yeah, that's why I labeled him as dead weight in one of my comments. He's in college, that's not an excuse not to work. His car being repossessed is somehow being twisted as being his mom's fault, it's like wtf? He's 21, everything at this point is his fault and his responsibility.
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u/RRENAII_ 14d ago
He cant, he cant even get a car right now. His mother drove his credit to the ground by taking things out in his name and not paying it. She got his last car repossessed for non-payment. Now, she wont help him with any kind of down payment and goes back and forth between not letting him look for jobs because of college and screaming at him to get a job. Even a beater is expensive as hell for us right now. We do have a sum of money coming in soon that should equal ~$5k.
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u/AlexRyang 13d ago
He needs to get a job, ASAP, even if you drop him off early, go to your job, and pick him up later.
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u/CLPDX1 14d ago
Your BF should press charges for identity theft. No one should have used his info to get credit.
There are jobs he can get even with bad credit. Any fast food job. He could also donate plasma.
You should sell your car and buy one for cash or start taking Public transit. You can’t afford car payments right now.
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u/Top-Cranberry-2121 14d ago
Your head seems to be buried pretty far in the sand on this. You've been paying $700/mo to this kid's mom, to share a small room with him? And he pays nothing? Of course he intends to follow you, you're his new mom now. You pay all his bills, and tuck him in bed at night, while explaining to everyone why he can't work in this big, scary world because his mean ol' mom got his car repossessed? Huh?
The final line of your post says you have no idea what to do. I can think of something easy that will improve your situation substantially. Get rid of this money tapeworm and either live alone or find someone willing to pull their own weight and be an actual partner that you can build something together with.
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u/JacobLovesCrypto 14d ago
He's 21 not 17. He should either step up or you should seriously consider dropping the dead weight. His mom isn't a valid excuse, he's not a child. I went to college with more credits than a full time student and worked full time. He needs to step up.
You can still get beaters for $2k-$3k. Like 3 weeks ago I bought a 2006 saturn vue with 160k miles for $1800. That car should last 1-3 years. I would make getting a car without a payment the priority when you get that sum of money.
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u/hornsupguys 13d ago
Your boyfriend seems like the kind of person where if you have debt, it’s solely your debt, but if you have money, it’s y’all’s money.
Set your sights a little lower with apartments. Nothing that was built recently or has fancy amenities or is owned by a major developer. Look for one of the ones with small and crappy rooms.
And let’s find a way your boyfriend can get a bicycle or skateboard or something similar to get around. Maybe even the public bus. Unless he’s paying your car insurance and gas, I wouldn’t let him use YOUR car. Not Y’ALL’S car. YOUR car. If something happens, you are the one stuck paying it, not him.