I love movies. Especially when you can so perfectly relate to a character. This weekend I watched “Elizabethtown” a hilarious, fluffy romantic comedy from Cameron Crowe.

The main character is a young shoe designer who just cost his company nearly 1 billion dollars.

OK, so I didn’t quite lose 1 billion, but I really want my story to follow this movie…

My story should go like this…

1. Guy gets girl - When he finally tells the girl (Kristen Dundst) about his 1 billion dollar mistake, her response is: “That’s your big secret? That’s it?”

I only hope whenever I meet someone and have to explain my quarter million dollar mistake that she responds the same way. Hopefully she’s as cute as Kriten DundstKirsten Dunst as well….he he.

2. Guy puts life in perspective - It takes a trip to Kentucky for the funeral of his father, but guy learns what’s really important (family, love, intimacy, laughter, etc).

I feel I’ve got this lesson down pretty well. I wouldn’t be here without my family and their support. Not just through this mistake but earlier ones in my life as well.

I’m still a little weak in the “love” area. And I don’t just mean mushy, romantic love. Lately I’ve been able to “feel” much more….but I’m still not emotionally where I’d like to be. Maybe it’s strange to have emotional goals, but I’d always been an emotional person until the past few years. 2007 was like year of the Robot for me. Stone cold Debtkid….yikes.

Coming this week

• Q1 Financial Reports - Revenue should be in the 20K range for the first quarter
• IRS Meeting - I’ll be chatting with my IRS agent, try to setup a face-to-face meeting
• Possibly completely restructuring how I pay myself from my business (due to a potential w-2 half-time job)
• I will try and talk to a girl I’ve wanted to ask out for ages…
• I will likely fail on the last point
• But gosh darn it I should try…right?

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

This past week something changed in me. Maybe it was me sporting Gen-X goatee, maybe not. Something changed though. For the past year I’ve been on edge constantly, never really feeling stable. Some stability finally showed up this week.

My debt is going to be with me for a long time. I’ve come to accept that this past week. There is no quick solution. There is no easy way out. If it takes me 5 years, then that’s just the way it has to be. If it takes me 10 years, then so be it. I can live with that.

A few months ago there is no way I would admit to being able to live like this for 10 years. Always paying someone back, always censoring what I do and don’t say. Well frack that, I’m in debt, but gosh darn it I’m really trying to get out.

How much have I paid back since I started writing here? I’ve paid back around 10K (off the top of my head, I’m too exhausted to compile stats right now), between my mother, principle payments on my business credit cards, car and student loan debt. 10K. That sounds like a lot of money. That IS a lot of money.

The good news is that between short selling my house and the personal bankruptcy, things are better now. When I first calculated my total unsecured debt, it was $334,442. That included a guesstimate on negative equity in my house. My total unsecured debt now (including of course the huge number to my mother) is probably around $260,000. It’s still a rough estimate because I don’t know what my IRS penalties are going to look like yet. I have another $44,000 in student loans, but those are deferred for 2008 because of the bankruptcy.

All in all, I do have a plan to get out of this mess. It may take longer than I like, but I’m just going to keep working hard, stay frugal, save when I can, and take the long road.

What can I do better? 

• I plan to sell my car once it’s not upside-down, probably another 6-12 months of payments before that happens
• I have to send at least $40/mo to my Mother. My goal is $1000/mo
• I’m trying to save/invest $400/mo
• I have a business savings account setup to build up as a settlement account (most of my debts are in collections)
• I’m eating out less, cooking more. My budget is pretty bare bones in terms of entertainment/clothes/etc.

My best bet seems to keep working on the income side of things? Am I wrong?

If you’re visiting here from JD’s fantastic site, you’ll need a quick catch-up on my story:

but first, don’t forget to subscribe silly.

1. I thought I was the next Warren Buffet and traded away over $250K mostly using credit.
2. I hit rock bottom and started this journal to document my journey back to zero
3. I short sold my house after it went into foreclosure. I have some pride issues sometimes.
4. I work alot. But I have too if I’m ever going to get out of debt. For the most part I really enjoy working.
5. I lived in my office for about 2 months after selling my house. Good times were had. I became a little anal.
6. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with everything, but then I get nice comments like this from readers (see Shel)
7. I sometimes like to rant about women (and my lack/difficulty in dating)

Well, that should at least get you started. My most current update? My Ch. 7 Bankruptcy went through, and my personal finances are actually looking pretty good now. I’m meeting with an IRS agent next week to map out the 18K that I owe them. Should be fun! Thanks for visiting…

and don’t forget to subscribe….

Link: story on coping with financial mistakes @ GRS 

I just need to be alone.

I had a friend in town this week, staying with me for 4 days. I started to get completly brain stir crazy in the evening of Day 2. The fact that I couldn’t work as much as I normally do, combined with the fact that I was always around someone…it drove me nuts. I have an employee working til 5 today….and then I am free! Oh, freedom.

I can’t function without alone time. I’ve gotten so acclimated to spending the majority of my time alone (and not talking to anyone), this week was a complete overload. It will be at least a few days before I’m back up to speed.

And to top it off….it’s been a crazy week outside of my social life:

• I got my paperwork into the IRS (meeting next week)
• my Alpha business is having a huge week and another big call with a client tomorrow and
• I may be accepting a half-time W-2 position.

Congrats to Randall from CreditWithdrawl for winning my dumbest purchase ever (a Nintendo DS Lite). I hope you get more use out of it than I did. It will go out in the mail tomorrow. It feels good to get that off my chest.

TaxCut Premium Online + efile

A friendly marketing rep offered my 2 copies of TaxCut Premium Online + efile on behalf of H&R Block. It seemed like a good offer, so what the heck. I realize they are getting more out of this situation than I am, but I’m a sucker for free stuff. I’m taking one, ’cause I’m cheap and still need to do my personal taxes this year, but the other one I can give away to a reader here ($29.95 value looks like from their website). Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll use random.org to pick a winner at the end of the week.

This Week Craziness…

This next week is going to be pretty big/crazy for me. My Alpha Business (aka new name for “project a”) is getting a work out from a big client, and I have a friend coming into town to visit that doesn’t know my current situation. He’s a close friend, but I don’t feel the need right now to concern him with my past and current troubles. Maybe someday, but not now. Regardless, it’s going to be a bit of a eventful week. I’ll also be chatting with the IRS. I got all the paperwork they requested in last week, and now I want to follow up, make sure they got it, and go for a face to face meeting probably in about a week.

My first goal of saving up $1000 has been achevied. Thanks to a bunch of LC referrals and savings, I’ve been able to sock away $900 in long-term investments and $500 in my emigrant direct account in the past few months. I plan on continuing to try and save/invest around $400 a month. (this is all on the personal side of my finances, the biz side is a whole different ballgame)

New Goal: A Mattress Worth Sleeping On

I’ve had my place to live over 6 months now. Wow. I’m so lucky. Seriously, although I spent sometimes all day here (work + live), I’ll never complain.

I do however have gripe with the mattress I’ve been sleeping on the past 6 months. I got it for $30-odd bucks on craigslist, and well, I think I got what I paid for. The biggest issue is that it’s only a twin. (not a twin-extra long). Twin’s are 6 feet in length…and well, I’m just a hair over 6′ tall. So…I haven’t been able to fully stretch out and sleep in a while. I’ve been sleeping a little better lately, but no thanks to my mattress. So mattress, it’s time for you to go.

New Goal: Foam Mattress + Frame

I used to have a wonderful foam mattress from Costco. I had to sell it when I moved into my office. It’s really one of the few items (of many) that I sold that I actually miss. I don’t know how much to budget for this goal, but I’d love a queen (so I get the 80″ length). Anyway, I’ll refine the specifics of this goal later. I’m hoping by Summer I’ll hit this one!

I have so many projects going on right now it’s just nuts. My main business has changed so much in the last 2 years, when people ask me what I do, I spin a little roulette wheel in my head and pick one of the three businesses I’m running.

My Project “A” plan is still my best bet for a big payout. It’s producing around 2K a month in profit right now, but it still has the best potential. It’s not a whole ton of work though for me at the moment, so I’ve been working on other projects that pay more of the day to day bills.

My biggest problem right now isn’t lack of potential projects, or ideas. It’s lack of capitol. The past few days I’ve been doing a business budget for the next too months, and including IRS back payments I expect to start next month….I have some $ available for new business, but not a whole lot. Just around a $1000 or so. Problem is, $1000 over two months doesn’t do much.

I also have to deal with the fact that I still owe creditors a crapload of money. Besides the IRS, I’ve got a half dozen other outstanding defaulted accounts with collection agencies. Why not pay them? Well, if I pay them some of that extra $1K, I’ll be paying that for the next 20 years. No way. My best chance to settle all this is to keep putting at least some money back into my business. Smart, low-risk reinvestment. Nothing fancy or lavish, but I can get a good ROI now. Smart, low-risk. Get rich slowly….right?

I asked the question, what would you do with $10,000? for a post over at LendingClub today. They are giving out $100 bonuses for commenting on the post (about what you would do with an extra $10K). Go over and comment for your chance to win $100, and if you don’t have a Lending Club account yet, use this link to get a $25 bonus when you sign up.

The dollar is falling. Banks are failing. Foreclosures are rising. Jobs are scarce. Is that a piece of the sky I just saw?

How does one find peace in the midst of financial difficulty?

I don’t have all the answers, but having been through my share of financial turmoil in the last year, here are my best suggestions…

Focus on your family

When everything goes to crap, your family will likely still be with you. Family can support and comfort you even in the midst of a foreclosure, or bankruptcy, or job loss.

Control what you can

You will never be able to control every aspect of your life. You can’t control the housing market, or the federal reserve, so stop worrying about things outside your control!

You CAN however control your spending. You can control a budget. You can control how much you save each month. Control what you can, let everything else go…

“God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
courage to change the things we can,
and wisdom to know the difference.”

It’s not just for addicts : )

Talk about it

Find a family member, or friend you can share your economic thoughts, worries, and war stories with. I can’t stress enough the value of words in financial difficulty. If you’re struggling with your job, your mortgage, credit card bills, whatever. Find someone to talk with.

Many of us were brought up being taught that money was a “dirty” topic for discussion. Bragging about how much money you make isn’t what I’m saying here. I’m talking about sharing budgets, frugal purchases, investment thoughts. These are all very positive, healthy topics that we shouldn’t shy away from. Always be tactful, but don’t be afraid to “talk money”.

Punch stuff (not people)

Financial unrest can make you angry. I like to throw towels when I get angry. I know it’s strange, but it works. Find some inanimate object (pillow, punching bag, etc) to take your wrath out on. You’ll feel better, and it beats taking your rage out on the road.

Learn to find non-circumstantial Peace

Want true Peace? You have to be able to feel peace irregardless of your financial situation. This could come from your faith, or another avenue that is a stable force in your life. Find peace is something that cannot be go into turmoil (like the financial markets) and you’ll be able to weather any financial storm.

This is what I’m working on right now in my life. The ability to have emotional stability irregardless of my financial situation. It isn’t easy, and I have a long way to go, but I’m trying to get there.

I’m not always able to blog my thoughts right away, so more and more often I’ve been using Twitter to post what I’m up too.

If you want a more intimate lens on what I’m going through, why not follow me on Twitter? If you’re already on Twitter, let me know!