I’m not usually prone to commentating about the economy, or the sub-prime meltdown, or any of that stuff. But recently I’ve seen a very significant increase in short sale related traffic/e-mails to my little blog here. This is not good news. I wrote about this a few months ago, wondering if the surge of short sales was coming….It’s definitly here.

As more and more homeowners face foreclosure, many will hear about short selling their house, like I did. So will 2008 be the year of the short sale or the year of the foreclosure? I’m hoping for homeowners sake it will be the year of the short sale. Successfully completing the short sale on my house, and avoiding foreclosure was one of the highlights of my financial journey this year.

I wrote a “short sale advice” type post if you’re looking for advice and tips about short selling your home.

I'm 300K in debt. Gulp. I'm 24 and day traded away a fortune. Now I'm trying to crawl back to zero. Why not subscribe to my RSS feed and join me on this journey. You can also subscribe via e-mail. I appreciate tips and feedback! ~ DebtKid

Had a scheduled conference call with a Client this morning on the East coast, 6am PST. No problem, right?

Well, looks like we had some signals cross and the meeting is actually Noon eastern. Oh well, I can get a few extra Z’s now.

Wednesday’s are also meeting day’s with my Father. We try and check in once a week to go over business stuff as well as debt issues/plans. We’ve been doing it for about 2 months now and it’s been pretty helpful. I know I have to have some good updates for him.

I’ve been thinking of maybe taking up cross country skiiing this winter. I think I could get gear really cheap or free, and it’s way cheaper than most other winter sports and sound kind of fun. I’ve never done it before but I think it would be up my alley.

Well, it’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m officially at least 5 pounds heavier. It feels good.

Good Week

This week has been good. Really good actually. A few of the higher points:

1. I got a date (yep!)
2. I got a date…

and oh yeah, I have a date!

Also, business stuff went well this week and my Project A plan is coming along nicely. It’s only going to be producing another 1K in extra profit this month, but depending on how the next few weeks go that number could go up significantly.

But back to the date…

It’s a big deal for me because I haven’t been on a date in almost exactly two years. My whole secret trading life kinda screwed me up in terms of meeting new people and my emotions, and then my whole transition this year into owning up to everything….well, nothing there is very conducive to dating.

But, alas I’ve been meeting new people and this girl and I had a sort of “connection” when we first met and now I’m excited about the date. She was really easy to talk with, so I’m not too nervous about the date because it should just be fun getting to know her better.

Bankruptcy Update

I’ve been going back and forth with my lawyer this week getting the last few details of the BK filing lined up. One of the issues at the moment is the money that I send to my mother each month. I knew this was going to be an issue, but I’m not sure how to resolve it.

Apparently any payments over $600 in a year can be taken back by the trustee. Well, sorry, but no way in hell that is happening (pardon my language). My mother depends on the $350-$400 I send each month, and there is no way she can pay this back, it’s been spent on just living. So, I don’t know what’s going to happen here. Maybe I have to come up with 2-3K to cover that…I don’t know.

Life Update

One thing that continues to be apparent to me is that I am bored with my life at the moment. Not all the time. But you would think with my current situation (facing hundreds of thousands of $ in debt, bankruptcy, business growth, a date, etc) I would be more excited about life. And while I’m not depressed (trust me, I’ve been depressed before, I am not currently), I am bored a lot.

I think the biggest contributer is that I’m not trading. When I think about last year’s holiday season, my family events were punctuated by me checking my cell phone every five minutes to get forex updates. I was trading tens of thousands of dollars daily. That was pretty exhilarating. And while I have no desire to trade again (even if I had the money), I do need to find something so I don’t feel so bored all the time.

Working helps. That keeps me busy most of the time, but like right now, I’m supposed to be on vacation and I’m utterly bored. I have some things planned with friends this evening, but I don’t know. Maybe I need to take up some extreme sport or something. Problem is I’m broke. Well, when I’m rich someday I’m totally taking up a dozen extreme sports. I’m athletic, and I like risk, so seems like a good fit.

Business Update

The business is doing OK this month. In fact, for the first time this year, I’m actually not worried about paying the bills this or next month. In another few weeks, if I can get my Project A plan really going I may be able to start implementing the debt attack plan. Right now it’s just nice to have a little cushion, no matter how small.

I have an incredibly long way to go.

I’ve been noticing lately that I need what I’m going to call “time fillers”. Ie, activities or mindless movies/tv to occupy me (and some times distract me) when I am not working. I’m still up in the air if these are good distractions, or if I’m just avoiding things sometimes.

While I’ve been getting more involved at my church and meeting some new friends (which is awesome, it’s great to finally recognize people and have people to talk too), it’s still quite limited. My one close friend can’t hang out all the time, and I can’t work all the time, so basically I need some new hobbies and or friends or something.

I obviously don’t have much extra money at the moment, but there are a few things I’ve thought about that aren’t too spendy that I could use to fill up some of my down time when I’m too tired or exausted to work, or just need a change of pace.

Some ideas to kill time…

1. TV Shows - I get the major channels free (attenae! on my computer), I don’t have cable, don’t plan on getting it. But I’ve been renting a few times this month TV shows from Blockbuster. I’ve gotten hooked on a few, and I don’t want to keep spending money here, but these are a great time filler and a way for me to relax. (my thought: maybe a cheap netflix account)

2. The Gym - After living in my office and having to shower at the gym for 2 months straight…I canceled my gym membership (when i got a place to live). I’m not missing the gym showers, but I am missing working out at a gym. It’s something that when I have it (the gym membership), I’m pretty darn consistent at about 3 visits a week. Right now I just run and do push-ups and some free weights I kept. Going to the gym always made me feel better about myself and I enjoyed it…it’s just a matter if I can justify $30/month right now for this…

3. Relationships - One thing I could do is start being a little more proactive with some of the newer acquaintances in my life. Going to coffee, or doing some event (community sports or something with people) would fill time as well. This doesn’t have to cost much, but going to coffee 2 times a week adds up (It’s rare that I get coffee now…maybe once a month at most). I suppose it doesn’t have to be a spending event, but most social things involve food or drink of some sorts, you know how it is.

So, that’s what I have for now. I’m not sure which of the three above (or all three….or a combo of the three) I’m going to do. We’ll see. But I need to find something. I feel lame just working and then waiting all week for the weekend just to have some social interaction. I actually really enjoy my alone time, but I can only take so much of it. And I’m getting much better in social situations as of late. I’m actually kind of proud of myself in that regard, I have been pretty proactive about getting out more, and it’s paying off. I’m feeling more comfortable in social settings, and feeling more like my younger more sociable self.

With my bankruptcy filing coming along, I’m starting to think of how I’m going to attack the debt that is underneath my business. It’s not a small amount by any means. Most of the original creditors are gone, replaced and or hired by collection agencies. The exception being the 0% credit cards at citibank that I negotiated earlier in the year. I have been continuing to pay those monthly amounts and it’s nice to know that the payments going out are going 100% to the principle.

My Strategy

I’m already beginning to get settlement offers from most of the debts I owe on the business side of things. They are mostly in the 70-80% range, and all but a few are still well outside what I can afford at the time being.

My biggest concern is the IRS. In my estimates I have about 6K in back taxes from 2006 to them, and another 5-6K thus far this year. The good thing about the IRS that I’ve discovered thus far is a.) they are very slow and b.) they are very willing to work with you when you call them. I already settled 2005 with them and found them shockingly easy to negotiate with. So, working out a payment plan with them will be my first step on reducing the business side of my debt fiasco. I hope to start discussions with them at the beginning of next year, once I have a better handle on what my business income is looking like.

The other debts I think I’m going to attack via the famous “snowball” method. Since they are nearly all in collections, and with the limited amount of funds (currently none) that I have to offer as a settlement, this seems like the best strategy. I know it will make me feel good to start settling some of these, with the smallest debt being just under $200, I think I should start there.

The Speed of The Attack

The speed at which I attack the business debts is going to vary depending on how the business is doing. If my Project A really shoots up and starts making some cash, I’ll be able to settle some of the smaller amounts right away. If things stay at the level the business is at right now…I can probably only save maybe $500-$1000 a month toward a settlement fund. But, it’s a start.

I haven’t felt like writing much lately. Probably for two reasons:

1. I’ve been swamped with work
2. My life is boring and sucky right now

OK, so it’s not the worst life, and in all reality I don’t have a day of boringness….ever. The longevity of my situation is getting me down lately. I feel more recluse then ever, and I spent some money unwisely (went to a movie, bought popcorn…etc,) and so I feel bad about that.

Business Update

This is shaping up to be a decent month business wise. We’re on track to do over 9K in revenue maybe even top 10K for the first time this year. All good stuff….but nothing is going as quickly as I would like.

And when things don’t go as quickly as I would like…I start thinking about the rest of my life. The non-business part of my life. And then I realize…I don’t have a non-business part of my life. Except for rare church events and the once or twice a week hangout with my one close friend…my life is all business.

I walk to the store…I carry a notepad to write down business thoughts. I try and watch some TV…I have to check my e-mail or write down a good idea. I think about calling one of the 3-4 people I owe calls…and all I can think about is, “I have absolutely nothing to talk about except my debt (not gonna happen yet) or the business”.

Even the girl that I thought maybe something was gonna happen with….well, I haven’t heard from her since last week. Our seemingly active communication has come to a halt. All the more time to work, right?

Except I’m not always getting the things done I need to get done. I know what I need to do, but here it is 9pm and I’ve been working all day, and I look at my to-do list and half of it still isn’t done. And at this point I’m exhausted, and can’t do half the work anyway.

The thing is….even if I was at zero right now with my debt…I don’t know if I’d be feeling any different right now. That’s the scary part. Even if i had no debt right now, nothing in my day-today life would be that much different. That’s scary.

Car Payments

I finally got my car payments caught up on today. I was about 55 days behind, and last month the darn thing almost got taken away.

I did something for the first time today (well, yesterday technically now)…

I voted.

I am growing up…