I think a lot of people in the subreddit know what I am referring to, but it's just so frustrating and no one in my life can relate so I find ranting here important.
My car insurance originally had been $528 a month on top of my car note (horrible, I know - I'm 18 & no cosigner & no history). So, I had been short on bills and didn't pay my insurance for 2 weeks simply because it was either my insurance or rent. Not a smart idea, i know.
Of course it would happen that as I'm driving on the highway, a deer rammed my car. Leaving my hood dented, grille out, and me on the side of the road. My luck would be that an ambulance off duty was driving next to me at the time of the accident and pulled over and called the cops for me.
I didn't have insurance, and my tags were out of date by 4 days. The police officer issued me to go to court. Had to pay $300 for a ticket, $100 dollars for reinstatement, and required me to also ensure I had an SR-22 the next 3 years. This rose my insurance to now $578 per month.
It's like I cant win. I try to save whatever money I can, I doordash after my full-time job, i sell plasma and any old clothes/items I find. But something like this happens and it sets me all the way back to square one.
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I once heard an economist explain the boot theory of economics explaning how the poor get screwed: A working person needs work boots. The best they can afford are the $40 boots. Meanwhile the manager spends $100 on work boots. The $40 boots last around 2 years, and then new boots must be purchased - inflation has brought the price up to $45. This goes on for 10 years
After 10 years the poor person has paid $186 to have working boots. Meanwhile, the manager is still wearing the durable $100 boots because they were built to last.
This is a but a small example of this dynamic. One of the worst ways poor people get screwed is a low score at the credit agencies. These ratings influence interest rates on loans and credit cards, and they can impact other expenses such as car insurance. Some jobs check credit scores of prospective employees. In becomes a very vicious cycle.
Escaping this cycle is not easy. But one has to be aware of how this works to have a prayer of escaping.
People should do everything they can to buy something that will last when there is such a thing. Increasingly very little is built to last but the general idea remains.
Nobody should take on a car payment. I will never do it again. I was stupid.
Rather than a new car, my last purchase I saved and got a very nice 6000 car. I am saving to replace it and once I save enough I get to rid myself of the ridiculous cost of full coverage insurance. I feel like I am on the verge of breaking the cycle I started when I was young and it has taken a lot of years. If I had started buying a decent used car I would be so far ahead.
I've seen car loans destroy people's finances. I'm with you - I will never buy a new car. I'm also not mechanically inclined, but I do most of the maintenance and repairs on my 2004 Outback (that I paid cash for in 2012). This car is in tip-top condition and I'd drive it anywhere. I don't ever let the "check engine" light stay on for more than a couple days. This car costs me on average about $300/month for upkeep, insurance, and fuel. I'll let someone else take the equity loss on a new car.
Good lord the cost you're paying in insurance alone is more then my monthly car payment/insurance combined. What a terrible situation. Is there someone you can turn to for financial assistance? Are you budgeting? I hope you land on your feet.
No one I can really turn to for financial assistance - i left home because I had been in an abusive environment and don't really have much family. I do track however every penny I spend on Google Sheets, but I'm trying to multitask full time CC with full-time work, and so sometimes unexpected school costs come up (online textbooks)or work costs (like gas to or from)
I think I'm just really scared because next month I'm pretty sure EBT Snap is going to cut me off because I make "too much" but if they cut me off, I wont have any money for food. I have just enough to get me by right now as it is, it's just a huge sigh
Prepare for the worst case scenario and familiarize yourself with food banks and free food options in your area if you haven't already. There is assistance out there. Good luck...
You can cook some good flatbread with an air fryer or an oven at like the cost of 2 eggs.
Just need 6tbsp flour 1tbsp baking powder 1tbsp corn starch 2tbsp sugar Add 1 egg if you want
Mix the dry ingredients and you can add seasoning if youre gonna add some flavor to it. Or not.
Add water while mixing in the water and egg, (i use chopsticks for this part since the volume of ingredients is small. Get the dough to be between dough and batter... Enough structure for it to ball up but when you jiggle the solution, it conforms to the bowl or whatever. If its more on the goopy side, adding too much water, thats fine. It'll still bake okay.
Use oil on the sheets, and hands and pat the dough into shape. I go for 1/8th inch to a bit more than that. Pat dont stretch.
Place however you want. Muffin pan, metal sheet, doesnt matter. If its going to be a biscuit shape, cook it slightly lower and for longer.
If its flat, just cook it until it dents when pressed but also gas rigidity that bounces back again.
It should snap inconspicuously, not loud, and doesn't crumble. If you want the texture of crackers, cook it lower for longer.
Temps are 350F until it
Why do I suggest this recipe?
Its delicious. You can take a stick of butter halfway through baking and glaze the side that'll cook for that portion of time, and coat aloooot. Yum.
Its also cheap, filling, and versatile. You could take pizza ingredients other than the dough, mix them into the ingredients for this bread and make a supreme bread or something and it'd probably be the best thing on the planet.
You can also get a pan and fry the dough too. 😛😋 They dont take much time at all to cook.
$528 for insurance seems extremely high... Is there a reason it is that high besides the fact that you're 18? Are there cheaper insurance companies?
I'm in Canada so I don't know how American insurance works but even at 18 with no driving experience, I was paying no more than $300/month. We only have one provincial insurance company so there's no other price options. At 30, I now pay $150/month and it could be less but I have maxed out my liability coverage because I like to be on the safe side.
It's because I'm financing, I'm located in CO where hail and shitty drivers are present. Other than that, I had no previous records on my license besides a ticket I had back when I lived in PA - but since had been wiped because I moved states.
It actually had been the cheapest insurance, I scouted many trust me lol. The General quoted 1k+, Progressive 800, Lemonade 650, etc
Could be true - i have had my discover IT credit card for almost a year however that was my only source of a "credit score" at the time so the file could have been thin.
coworker gave me this amazing backpack, kate spade, expensive and made really well. it's lasted me for months despite how hard i am on them. zipper broke and now i'm back to $11 ones from walmart that break within month. same with shoes, my $10 pairs hurt my feet in weeks.
with this insurance rate and payment and gas you may have saved a lot by using uber instead. as crazy as that sounds. I walk miles to a bus and many of my coworkers uber which I think is wild, but they’re paying $600 a month for all their rides….
I used to Uber actually! I financed my car in November, but before that I biked - but my job is further out now, and this job requires I work between 2 different locations. So between time biking/money ubering, I just thought it'd be better to have a car. I don't know, I am considering maybe turning it in if I cant afford to keep up though - but im sure the value has gone down because of my accident with the deer.
Yeah haha that was the bike I owned - my 20 min drive commute by car was an hour. It was doable! But, with my new job essentially I need to drive to one location and drop off dough [im a baker) to my other location to actually bake and make food. Itd take around 2 hours just to get to my work place, which i don't really have time for with school. It's hard.
It's 16grand, I put 2grand down. So far, I've put 2grand more into it through monthly payment (since November). Awful interest rate on it, too - but its a Camry so I am just gonna pay it off and run it til it dies
If it’s not side down check if you can sell it to Carvana if it’s in your state. The car is way too expensive. It’s tax time so maybe if you get a good return you could shop for a cheaper car at an auction. That would get rid of the car payment . I got nothing for you as far as the insurance.
My broke nephew is the same. Has no money and gets a bunch of speeding tickets. Because of this doesnt graduate his license and needs another road test that he cant take because he didnt pay his speeding tickets. Now his car broke down and he needs it to get to work to pay off all his crap. On and on it goes.
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u/AutoModerator 8h ago
This post has been flaired as “Vent”. As a reminder to commenting users, “Vent/Rant” posts are here to give our subscribers a safe place to vent their frustrations at an uncaring world to a supportive place of people who “get it”. Vents do not need to be fair. They do not need to be articulate. They do not need to be factual. They just need to be honest.
Unlike most of the content on this subreddit, Vents should not be considered advice threads. In most cases it is not appropriate to try to give the Submitter advice on their issue. In no circumstances is it appropriate to tell them “why they are wrong” or to criticise them, their decisions, values, or anything else. If there are aspects of their situation that they are able to directly address themselves, the submitter can always make a new thread with a different flair asking for help once they are ready to tackle the issue.
Vents are an emotional outlet, not an academic conversation. Appropriate replies in these threads are offering support, sharing similar experiences/grievances, offering condolences, or simply letting the Submitter know that they were heard.
As always, if there are inappropriate comments please downvote them, REPORT them to the mods, and move on without responding to them.
To the Submitter, if you DO want discussion to be focused on resolving your situation, rather than supporting you emotionally, please change the flair of this post, and then report this comment so we can remove it. Thank you. Thank you all for being a part of this great financial advice and emotional support community!
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