January 2009 Debt Report
Debt balances:
- Dentist: $415
- Attorney: $449
- IRS: $2,397.38 (TY 2007)
- LDR: $2,735.00 (Louisiana Department of Revenue, TY 2007, no payments scheduled yet)
- Chase HELOC: $4,815.82 (2 months behind)
- CFCU Visa: $5,002.91 (1 month behind)
- Capital One HELOC: $21,504.57 (1 month behind)
First mortgage balance: $116,089
Debt Balance excluding co-signed student loans and first mortgage: $37,320
Total debt including first mortgage, excluding student loans: $153,409
Student Loans:
- Co-signed student loans, approximate balance: $48,318 (got a letter from these folks; need a complete audit on these accounts; not sure this balance is correct)
Possible total balance including 1st mortgage: $201,727
Discussion
What a difference a month and a serious recession can make. Earning enough income is tougher than last month, which was tougher than in November.
I haven’t been able to get a pizza delivery job this month. I’m still on the waiting list. Selling websites was at a rate of 1 in 15 phone calls. Now it’s 1 in 35 phone calls. Getting 4 hours of consulting on WordPress a week has also been challenging. I can still make enough income, but I have to work a lot harder to do it. Such is life. At least I have a way to earn money.
Tutoring is going well for a change. This month is a half month because of the Christmas/New Year’s break, but I’ll still make $670. It would have been a bit more, but some of my kids have gotten sick and have had to cancel sessions.
Unfortunately, February will also be a short month because of Mardi Gras week (they’re all off school and most will cancel). I anticipate making at least $675, assuming all students cancel during Mardi Gras week. March will be a full month with no breaks, and spring break will come the first full week of April. Then there will be a hard push through final exams in May. I already have a couple of kids lined up for summer enrichment tutoring.
Getting people who owe me refunds to pay is much tougher. I’ve been working on 3 substantial refunds from 2 months, and I still don’t have my money. I’m finding significant barriers in the form of requirements of more information and more paperwork than in the past, and one private vendor has put me off by just not responding at all until he feels like it. He was supposed to have paid me last week on Saturday, but I still don’t have my money and I haven’t gotten a reply since I asked him why not.
Catching Up Back Payments Due
I’m not just behind on some of the above payments, I’m behind on our utilities this month. If I don’t come up with the money to at least pay those soon, like within the next week, they’ll shut us off. Then I won’t be able to make any online income from home. I’ll have to work out of a coffee shop or restaurant, and that slows down my ability to earn.
I’ve given a lot of thought to taking money out of one of my retirement accounts to catch up on everything, and I’ve decided to bite the bullet, take the tax hit and withdraw enough to catch everything up so my income can go to keeping everything up. I’ll also take out enough to pay my dentist and my attorney.
Once payments are caught up and my income is more stable, I hope the bankruptcy judge will require one of the banks I have a second mortgage with to refinance the two seconds into a single second, and make it a standard second mortgage.
I’m behind on my Chase HELOC because my Capital One second turned out to be a sub-prime loan, and every time I get some money, they call and demand payment to stop foreclosure proceedings. I had a good job and good credit when I applied for my Capital One second and I don’t recall it being a sub-prime loan. I guess I needed to read the fine print more carefully.
My Chase HELOC is a standard HELOC, so they won’t come after me for 6 months. Capital One comes after me after missing 2 payments. It’s supposed to be 3 payments, but they’re jacking me around and threatening to add the appraisal fee to my balance if I don’t pay the past due balance by certain dates. If anyone knows any of my rights about this, I’d appreciate you commenting and letting me know. I haven’t been able to find specific information about this situation.
If I could get my attorney paid off I could proceed with my bankruptcy and hopefully get the second mortgage problem solved.
Taxes for 2008
I’m collecting my tax information as it arrives, and I made substantially less money than in 2007. That will mean a lower tax bracket, and with the economic stimulus, I might get enough of a refund to settle my balance with the IRS and get rid of that payment entirely. Then I can start making payments to the State of Louisiana and get that tax bill off my plate.
It really scares me to owe the IRS and LDR. They can come into your life and wreak total havoc if they choose to do so. So far I’m able to meet that obligation, but I’m scared of what will happen if I no longer can meet it for whatever reason that might come up.
Co-Signed Student Loans
When I call them to discuss an account audit and payment they won’t be happy because I’m not paying them a penny until all my debts and my second mortgages are paid off, except for my first mortgage. Then I’ll agree to start paying them. Hopefully, the bankruptcy judge can intervene on that issue as well. Those loans are not bankruptable, but they are modifiable.
We’ll see…
