Comments on: the dorm life I never had

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:49:57 +0000

Hey Debt Kid,

I just ran across your site following a link from someone who linked to me. You can definetely climb out of your hole without bankruptcy.

I lost my business 17 months ago and started paying everything back about 15 months ago. I started with $556,848 in debt and have brought that down to $350k. If you go to my site and then read in order the links to “Steps to Freedom” on the left side bar, it will tell you most of what I have been through.

You are lucky, you still have your business which makes it even easier for you. I will tell you, with focused intensity, following Dave’s plan absolutely works. Best of luck!

By: Gobsmacked

Gobsmacked — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:39:57 +0000

DK,

I have been through some tough financial situations throughout my life. It?s not easy. In the long run, things worked out and they will work out for you. Yes it does get depressing. That will pass. A book worth reading (go to the library) is ‘How to get out of Debt Stay out of Debt & Live Prosperously’ Jerrold Mundis. If you can?t find it in the library, go to Amazon.com. A used book is $4.00 and $3.49 shipping. Worth every penny. Also check out this website:
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm

By: debt kid

debt kid — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:26:16 +0000

Testing widget blog adder thingy...copy this to your site?

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 05:08:26 +0000

Hey,

I hope you feel happier soon. It sounds like the business is doing well – 7k!

I think the housesitting idea is good too – I know for a lot of people around here, their insurance policy requires someone to check on the house quite often, so it’s easier to have someone stay in the house.

Sounds like you did well on the groceries.

By: good will

good will — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:27:57 +0000

I just want to wish you good luck with all you do. And don’t forget to give yourself a break from time to time and even have fun, otherwise what’s the point

By: debt kid

debt kid — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:58:58 +0000

George,

The house sitting idea is genius. I will look into this. I had though about http://www.couchsurfing.com as well. Thanks.

PMSPMS,

I will e-mail my roommates a 3-4 point bulletin e-mail tonite or tomorrow. Thanks.

By: PMSPMS

PMSPMS — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:12:09 +0000

I have room mates. I have found that you need to assert your will on them. Do not assume anything about the arrangement you have with them, even if they are friends. Be very clear and specific in your dealings. If you don’t like confrontation send it by email or text message. I suggest you write to them a simple 3 point email listing the items that concern you (move out date, last months rent and cleaning). No need to be mean but it helps prevent ugly misunderstandings. They can’t then turn around and say – “Oh I didn’t think you’d mind if I left the old mattress…”, “didn’t pay the last weeks rent cause I needed it for the new place”, “The rooms wasn’t clean when I moved in and I didn’t have time cause you didn’t tell me to clean it…”.

Good luck.

PS Do your room mates owe you utilities as well? Make sure you get that covered in the last rent from them. Once they’ve gone you have no leverage.

By: George

George — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:50:19 +0000

Hang in there. You’re going through a sh*ty situation, that’s going to make you depressed. It’s (and I’m not a doctor), real clinical depression, I think they call it “situational depression”. Interestingly, the same drugs that work on it too. However, they can be expensive.

If you ever start feeling like you can’t handle it anymore and have suicidal thoughts, you should get some treatment for the depression. Immediately. It will help!

You don’t need to go to a psychiatrist, any doctor can and will prescribe antidepressant drugs. You could even get them at a free clinic.

A second though on your housing situation. I can’t figure out where you live, but I have two suggestions; house sitting, and living on a boat.

Rich people like to have their houses occupied when they are out of the country. You can end up living for short periods of time in really nice houses, rent free. Put an add in craigslist.com.

If you live near the water, another alternative is living on a boat. You can get a broken down boat very cheap. If you are never leaving the dock or mooring, you don’t need the engines on the boat to work. It does need to float, however!

Finally, be aware that google adsense will cancel your account and keep a couple of months worth of money they owe you if people start repeatedly clicking your adsense ads. If someone tells you that they are clicking your ads just to help you out, ask them to stop.

Good Luck. I think you are going to end up fine.

By: Living Options

Living Options — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:00:22 +0000

Once again, I want to discourage you from attempting to “live out of your office.” It would be better for you to stay at the “Y” (you don’t say where you live) or find a “roommate” situation where you rent a room in someone’s home.

Why this advice? Because of zoning and building codes, not to mention the fact your office landlord could evict you.

I’m certain with some creative thinking you could come up with an alternate living situation.

By: debt kid

debt kid — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:38:49 +0000

As for renting out the house to different tenant, that was one of my options I looked at back in Dec/Jan. But, my total mortgage payments are 4K a month, and I could probably rent the house out for 2500 at most. So, still a negative net. Now, If I didn’t have all my other debts, I could probably swing it.

I listened to Mr. Dave Ramsey this last weekend for the first time actually. Seems interesting…maybe I will give him a call.

And when I have a couple free hours, I’ll explain the military story (I wrote a 10 page journal entry on it once, just to give you an idea of length). It was a dream of mine, that just didn’t work out like I was hoping.

Thanks all for the comments. Back to work…