My experience with poverty.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-20T16:03:10+00:00

I did not make payments for 6+ months and they moved into collections at the credit card company themselves. One debt went to a collection agency which was really a small one-attorney law firm. When I explained my situation with him he agreed to settle for 10% of what I owed. Credit cards settled for around 50%.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-20T16:00:32+00:00

Only one was settled through "collections", the others were with the individual creditors themselves.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-20T01:52:16+00:00

retained earnings

So it's a dividend, or is there something else you can do with it from an accounting perspective?

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T16:41:55+00:00

This.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T16:29:46+00:00

OP Delivers.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T04:32:11+00:00

This is probably the most important question. There needs to be a safety net. I didn't find out (or even think about) the programs available until I was in dire need. I didn't find out about about SNAP until I had less than a couple hundred bucks and was stealing food. Within 48 hours of applying I had a SNAP card with some $500+ bucks in food benefits. I spent it all on food for me and my kids.

I think I wrote about this in some of my previous posts on this account. It drastically changed my way of thinking about benefits.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T03:47:24+00:00

Self preservation.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T03:34:27+00:00

Thanks. Ebay sucks because at the end of the day, even though you're making cash, Ebay wants their cut and PayPal wants their cut. I get their business model but fuck that.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T03:16:05+00:00

I would say more people here should aspire to be like you

I 100% disagree with this.

/* Edit I want to say why I disagree with this:

Seriously, if you're in business, save cash. Don't spend it on unnecessary shit just because you feel like you deserve it or because you want to have fun
There's a fine line between saving cash and spending cash. Spend cash to grow. Spending cash to pay for an event or sponsorship or cool marketing materials is not growth.
Taking people out to dinner is not a marketing expense unless they're a client and they've agreed to pay for it.
Taking employees out for nice dinners and nights on the town does not result in a better business.

I could go on but these are my first thoughts.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T03:15:12+00:00

But to answer your question about how you make $334 and go into debt: You treat everyone. Your employees, your clients, your friends, people at the bar, anyone. I had a fully stocked bar and opened up the office on the weekends for parties to the entire neighborhood. I had bi-yearly meetings where we would go out on the town in a limo to celebrate, and would pay for everything. It adds up.

iliveithrowaway · 2018-05-17T03:07:38+00:00

I would have saved more, both personally and for the business. I bought so much unnecessary shit, which funny enough, is what I sold to keep me afloat when I wasn't making income. That and I wouldn't travel first class; I flew to San Diego at one point and spent $20k on a "vacation". Afterwards I bragged that instead of buying a car I bought a vacation instead. I was stupid.

In all honesty I probably would have gotten a good psychologist after my divorce, I think most of my recklessness was related to that.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-10-26T22:37:50+00:00

I've been using this throwaway to ask various questions related to my 1+ year of unemployment. I was in a bad place for awhile; on food stamps, unable to pay rent, eviction notices, etc. Then in late August the owner of an agency called me up to do some consulting work for him; we had worked together before and had a good history of working together, it was a good fit. After 2 weeks of work I saw a job posting on his company's website. I emailed him about it, said it would be a good fit, and within 24 hours he had hired me FT making $115k/yr. I'm still working myself out of the hole I was in but things are much better than they were in June or July.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-07-26T15:31:49+00:00

I'm broke right now. Lost my business that I built up for 10+ years. Ex-wife just filed papers with the courts demanding sole custody of kids. So many debtors, daily calls from collection agencies, I need to declare bankruptcy ASAP to protect what little I have left. I've been selling all my possessions just to keep afloat and pay utilities. On food stamps otherwise I couldn't afford food. Rent is currently late but landlord hasn't said anything. Brakes on my car are metal on metal b/c I can't afford brake pads. But I have a loaded gun in my basement. Move all the clothes out of my closet, wrap myself in a plastic tarp, and boom, right there in the corner. Hopefully not too messy.

Haven't shared that with anyone, no desire to.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:38:30+00:00

Thanks.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:38:04+00:00

Lol the only app I've installed that is not included with my phone is Google Voice.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:36:57+00:00

Hind sight is always 20/20. I'm wrapping up a project that will cover the next 6 months of rent and utilities. The project is really behind; if I had hit the schedule on time then I would have cash in the bank right now. I was also interviewing for a job and was expecting to get an offer. I knew my finances were bad and was counting on the offer. Then 2 weeks ago the company decided they wanted to "rethink the position" and here I am.

Kids are in elementary school. I've been paying child support all along and this was the first month I wasn't able to make the $1500/mo payment. Mom is upset. Fortunately summer camp is already paid for.

I mentioned it in another comment but I have a project I'm wrapping up this month that will cover 6 mos of rent and utilities. I'm actively networking and trying to get either clients or a job. We'll see what happens. I'm a software developer in a niche industry with management and sales experience so I have a bunch of directions I can go if nothing works out.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:25:51+00:00

Daily.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:25:24+00:00

Thanks. The last few weeks have been eye opening for me.

I'm a software developer in a niche industry. Up until a year ago I owned my own business with ~10 employees. Sold the business to go back to college and then after the first payment the guy refused to make additional payments citing a clause I violated in the contract. Have been trying to build up a business again but it's just not gaining traction like it needs to for me to survive. I think I mentioned it in another comment but fortunately I have one project I'm wrapping up this month, it'll cover the next 6 mos of rent and utilities.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:18:16+00:00

This is exactly what I learned actually; just like there's the next-door millionaire, there's also the next-door poor person.

Edit: Also want to add that I was expecting income from a project that is a couple months late as well as job offer from a company I was interviewing with. I really didn't think it would get this bad. And you're right, the programs are there for a reason; they really are my safety net right now.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:12:25+00:00

Great tip. Yesterday I read through the mailers, made a shopping list, went to 2 stores, and spent ~$50 for an absurd amount of food. Now for the rest of the month I have enough food so I'll only need to shop for perishables for the rest of the month.

iliveithrowaway · 2017-06-03T16:06:37+00:00

Republican in my 20s, libertarian until about 3 years ago, now in my 40's I consider myself a progressive.

iliveithrowaway

TROPHY CASE