Need VERY HELPFULL advice for a friend, thanks Options

[supra12big]

I am posting for a friend, heres his story from him.

Ok, i am debating something right now, and looking for some advice on what i should do. Heres the story: (Right now i have to only pay for my car insurance and car loan= $320/month plus my credit card bill) I live in michigan and im 19, my dad had lost his job back in december and hes flying to go to an interview in san diego as we speak. Now if he gets the job i am debating whether or not i should move down there with my family, or stay. The thing is, im not sure if i can support myself....i took out a 5,400 dollar loan about 2 months ago to buy my $11,600 srt4 and i pay $215/month for insurance. I work partime @ $9.45/hour and i am going to community college full time (so i dont make that much but i plan on working 2 jobs in the summer). If i do stay i have a good freind that would be able to let me stay at his house (if not then im defenitely moving to cali). I really dont want to start a whole new life over there and i would also have to sell my car if i moved there. Basically if i stay, i would have to finish paying my car off, pay for school, all my necessities, and i dont know about health insurance or what? For car insurance, i am under my families plan so i dont know if i have to be taken out or whatever. Im looking for advice with people that had to do something like this on their own, so looking for some MATURE help/advice. What would you do? and let me know if theres other stuff i need to think about living pretty much on my own.

thanks people, its a hard time right now.

[jason]

working part time 4 hours a day, m-f only he would make roughly 600 a month after taxes

so 600
- ~400 for car expenses (loan, insurance, gas)

leaves him with 200 a month to live on

IF he can get a place where they wont charge him rent, but instead pawn off something like grocery shopping (~200 a month for like 2-3 people) i think that would be the thing to do.

1st priority - dont f*ck up your credit with the car loan
2nd priority - GET THAT DEGREE
--- even if its some bullsh*t degree, its still alot better than a HS diploma
3rd priority - living within means - no partying unless he can afford to litterally throw $30-50 out the window on the highway - because that about all you are doing with "fun" activities when you are in a pinch like that.

moving to california does not mean that he would have to sell his car unless its modded to the point where it wont pass inspections. however, the hit he would most likely take trying to unload the car, is not worth giving up what he already has.

plus... see if his parents cannot afford to give him an allowance of say $50 a week once the father starts receiving pay checks and they get back on their feet - that extra $200 a month should help out a bit with living expenses.

i vote to stay, and use this situation as a life lesson, that way, when all is said and done your friend should be a much "better" person (down to earth) having had to struggle - not to mention will appreciate the finer things in life that much more when he does pull outta this and free's his time and finances up

best of luck! (not to mention living on own + hot chicks - parents = ) lol

[supra12big]

He would be living with no rent, and no food expenses, and thanks for the helpful advice.

This post has been edited by supra12big: Apr 13, 2009 - 9:01 PM

[93Mr2T]

I havent been on this forum in forever but this is my situation and i posted this on my srt-4 forum which was a very bad idea.....so many immature kids

This post has been edited by 93Mr2T: Apr 13, 2009 - 9:11 PM

[supra12big]

ya, all of them are so gay.

[93Mr2T]

ya, all of them are so gay.

Ya and all they have to say is....

"if you wanted sympathy you should have posted on the emoforums.
NOONE cares.
please kill yourself!!!! we beg of you."

Thats some great advice coming from immature kids....

[93Mr2T]

working part time 4 hours a day, m-f only he would make roughly 600 a month after taxes

so 600
- ~400 for car expenses (loan, insurance, gas)

leaves him with 200 a month to live on

IF he can get a place where they wont charge him rent, but instead pawn off something like grocery shopping (~200 a month for like 2-3 people) i think that would be the thing to do.

1st priority - dont f*ck up your credit with the car loan
2nd priority - GET THAT DEGREE
--- even if its some bullsh*t degree, its still alot better than a HS diploma
3rd priority - living within means - no partying unless he can afford to litterally throw $30-50 out the window on the highway - because that about all you are doing with "fun" activities when you are in a pinch like that.

moving to california does not mean that he would have to sell his car unless its modded to the point where it wont pass inspections. however, the hit he would most likely take trying to unload the car, is not worth giving up what he already has.

plus... see if his parents cannot afford to give him an allowance of say $50 a week once the father starts receiving pay checks and they get back on their feet - that extra $200 a month should help out a bit with living expenses.

i vote to stay, and use this situation as a life lesson, that way, when all is said and done your friend should be a much "better" person (down to earth) having had to struggle - not to mention will appreciate the finer things in life that much more when he does pull outta this and free's his time and finances up

best of luck! (not to mention living on own + hot chicks - parents = ) lol

Thank you, best answer i got from anyone on all of my forums. Most likely i will try to stay, my dad said he would like to keep the family together but he said its my decision, i think my dad can help me out a little so it is possible. I will have to wait and see...

This post has been edited by 93Mr2T: Apr 13, 2009 - 9:58 PM

[95st-celica]

if hes not to concerned about the srt-4...sell it and pick up a swapped celica..theres a guy selling one on here for like 3k....there goes the insurance down a little bit, use the money you get from the srt-4 and pay the loan back...so your not making paymets there....and he'll have a bad ass car that will run right with a srt-4(assuming hes a motor head and knows about them)...the srt-4 may be a "dream car" for him...but when your in a pinch for money you have to do the responsiable thing...pay off what you can with what you have...and while your at it pick up a nice car thats still got balls to it...seems like a win win...then in a few years when you get on your feet, buy another srt-4 if you want..i dunno thats what i would do if i was hurtin for money...paying a loan, plus going to school, plus insurance, builds up mighty quick, not to mention a phone bill and a lot of other crap that has to get factored in...tell him good luck and dont sweat the small stuff...it'll all work out in the end

[95CelicaST]

Purchasing a newer car with a loan on a part time sub-$10/hr job was the first mistake.

When you're in school you need to minimize the amount of money leaving your wallet each month and maximize savings. I didn't buy my new car until I graduated and was making over $20/hr.

My suggestion (although you probably won't heed the advice of people on teh intarwebz) is that you sell the Neon, get rid of that car loan (I hope you're not upside down(owe more than it's worth) on that loan now). Grab some cheap transportation, and start saving money. Is the car registered to you? Or your parents? If you're on their plan it must be in their name, and will need to be registered to their new address in California, which will require CA plates, which means the car would have to be in CA to pass inspections. Besides, if your family moved to California and your insurance is in their name your insurance card would have a California address and you're in MI. Some police officers would think that was awfully suspicious.


Sell the car, save your money, be less stressed out. Yay!

[93Mr2T]

Purchasing a newer car with a loan on a part time sub-$10/hr job was the first mistake.

When you're in school you need to minimize the amount of money leaving your wallet each month and maximize savings. I didn't buy my new car until I graduated and was making over $20/hr.

My suggestion (although you probably won't heed the advice of people on teh intarwebz) is that you sell the Neon, get rid of that car loan (I hope you're not upside down(owe more than it's worth) on that loan now). Grab some cheap transportation, and start saving money. Is the car registered to you? Or your parents? If you're on their plan it must be in their name, and will need to be registered to their new address in California, which will require CA plates, which means the car would have to be in CA to pass inspections. Besides, if your family moved to California and your insurance is in their name your insurance card would have a California address and you're in MI. Some police officers would think that was awfully suspicious.


Sell the car, save your money, be less stressed out. Yay!

I wouldnt consider it a mistake at the time because i only needed to pay for car insurance, the loan, and credit card bill and i am bringing in about $600 a month (during school). In about a few weeks, my semester is over and im going to be working 2 jobs, my goal is to be bringing in about $1000-$1200 per month and im going to start paying off the car.

I took out a 5,400 dollar loan to buy the car (it was 11,600) So i dont owe more than its worth. I used to have cheap transportation but i had very bad luck with the last few cars i have owned, (which made me spend alot of money on them). The car is registerd under my name, i am the only driver listed on the insurance paper but im in my family plan.

Ill see how everything turns out, could be soon, could be in a few months. So i will think about all of this car insurance and talk with my dad and see whats possible for me to do. I just wanted to see what other people thought about this. thanks for the respones.

This post has been edited by 93Mr2T: Apr 14, 2009 - 11:03 AM

[jason]

family first - im with your dad in wanting to keep the family together.

seems the only thing holding you back from moving is friends & the car

car - eh i personally wouldnt miss it too much, can always get another one someday down the road.

friends - tough one, but you can always come back and visit them - or move back when you finish school

if you stay, you *should* be able to keep your insurance under your parents "umbrella" if you will, however, i think the insurance company determines that by the address - so them moving will most likely increase your rates by ~10%

if i personally were in your shoes, and i have been, just not to that degree, i would stay. force yourself to be resourceful, and build up alot of pride for what you have worked for

just make sure you can work something out to visit your family on at least a monthly/bimonthly basis so you stay 'close' to them

on a side note, i LOVE how srt-4 owners refer to them as "srt's" where as the rest of the car community refers to them as "neon's" lol

[GriffGirl]

One thing to consider about moving to California is that the employment rate in Cali is very bad right now, and also you'll need to be there a year in order to establish residency to go to school as a resident; otherwise, your tuition will be through the roof. You WILL get a $2500 tax credit for completing 4 years of college though, which is nice, but it's even nicer if you're not paying out-of-state tuition rates.

On the other hand, if you stay, basically you'll be soaking off someone else. I personally think that's really lame. You're old enough to get a full time job and live independently. Get roomates. Whatever it takes, but living rent free and mooching off of someone else is hardly responsible. It looks to me like your best bet either way is to sell the car for as much as you can, and learn how to live like a grown up. At 19 you're old enough to start branching out and living more independently. Now if you can get yourself a full time job AND make car payments AND pay your share of rent, that would be the best case scenario. I realize you're going to school full time, but honestly, and not to be a b1tch, but tough sh1t. Suck it up and man up. I did it when I was 19, I worked 6 days a week and went to school at night 5 nights a week. It's hard, and you'll be exhausted and have almost no life, but it's WELL worth it in the end. Plus, at many schools, evening classes cost less than the exact same classes during the day.

I for one know that it would get pretty old pretty quick if I was helping someone out by providing them a place to stay until they get on their feet, and they were living rent free but able to make their $400 a month in car payments and a credit card bill. Just make sure that whatever you decide to do, you're doing it honestly and with dignity and that you're not taking advantage of anyone, or you could wind up out on your ass with much bigger problems than this one. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide. I know moving across the country is a really big step (I did that one, too, but I was 25 when I did it)

[richee3]

I wouldnt consider it a mistake at the time because i only needed to pay for car insurance, the loan, and credit card bill and i am bringing in about $600 a month (during school). In about a few weeks, my semester is over and im going to be working 2 jobs, my goal is to be bringing in about $1000-$1200 per month and im going to start paying off the car.

I took out a 5,400 dollar loan to buy the car (it was 11,600) So i dont owe more than its worth. I used to have cheap transportation but i had very bad luck with the last few cars i have owned, (which made me spend alot of money on them). The car is registerd under my name, i am the only driver listed on the insurance paper but im in my family plan.

Ill see how everything turns out, could be soon, could be in a few months. So i will think about all of this car insurance and talk with my dad and see whats possible for me to do. I just wanted to see what other people thought about this. thanks for the respones.

You got some 'splaining to do... So the car is registered in your name but is on your parent's insurance plan?

BIG no-no. In any small event, like a fender-bender, it doesn't make that big of a difference. But if anything major ever happens, and your parents turn in a claim to the insurance company, you're in deep sh*t. The company will simply laugh at your parents. They are turning in a claim for something they don't own. That's something insurance companies will never tell you. If you have no insurable asset, you get nothing. If your parents' names aren't on the title of that car, and you wreck it, you're up a creek. The insurance companies love cases like that because they get to take all of your money and when something happens, they don't have to give any of it back. That being said, you also worded it so your plan might be available to include you and your car. I'm a little bit confused.

Anyway... I'm a firm believer in not creating debt for myself. I strayed from that a few weeks ago and just about went out and bought a new car. But I'd rather pay cash and not have to ever pay interest or be forced to make payments, no matter what my situation is. And right now, my situation is very similar to yours. I'm 19, working two jobs already and going to school full-time. I'm working 40 hours a week already, making $1000 per month like you are wanting to. I have enough money that I COULD make payments if I wanted to, but man, if I was locked into paying your insurance and loan payments, I wouldn't have a whole lot left over. I'd say your best bet is to sell your car and pay the loan off to keep your credit intact. Stay with your family in California so that they can support you while you try to get your feet off the ground out there, and try to find two jobs that would suit you well. I guess I'm saying combine your two plans. Stay with your family, sell your car, work in California, and do your best.