Hey guys I have this idea that I wanted to run by a few people to see if it makes ANY sense @ all!

Because of this recent news of having to move to miami, I have found myself stumped financially.

I wont have any job lined up and neither will my GF at this point.

Obviously miami is much more expensive than tampa, and between me and the GF we have a decent amount of bills already

So I have been contemplating selling my S , but unfortunately with the prices of these things I know that I am upside down on the car, so in my opinion it just wouldn't be worth it for me to sell it when I will still owe my payments for a @ least another year or so and by then I plan on being more stable financially. So basically I just need help for the next few months.

I have pretty much ruled that out, but now I have seen how cheap some of the 00-01's are these days. So I was wondering if it could make any sense to sell my 03 with 52k and pick up a cheaper 00/01 with around 100k and just pocket the money just to help me out for a couple months for the worst case scenario i.e. not finding a job.

A part of me feels like this doesn't make any sense, but then I think that if I could sell my car for 13-14k and pick up a MY00 with 100k for 9-10k, that extra 3-5k in my pocket could REALLY help!

I just know that I can't get out of the S completely unless I could get it fully paid off which isn't going to happen.

Thoughts?

 

Im in a similar spot with school and stuff. The way I look at it is this: I get my $$s worth of enjoyment out of the S every month - so selling it isn't worth it to me.

I say start your job hunt NOW. Submit resumes, schedule interviews and make a few trips before you move. Get your shit together and figure out whats important. Its all about priorities. Im saving up for my move in a few months for school as well. Not having the S would make life easier, but like I said, not having it would make it pretty shitty.

As for yours, you have a good one - keep it. Soon youll owe less than its worth and youll be good to go.

 

Miami isn't necessarily more expensive than Tampa. Its all dependent on your lifestyle and the neighboorhood you live in, same as here. All the funky cost of living calculators tell you otherwise, but those are samples of the majority. You can still make it down there with where you are in life now, you may just have to make some sacrifices here and there.

But yes, I agree with the above post. Get started NOW. Don't wait.

 

sorry to hear u are going thru this london, i agree start calling, phone interviews are just as important as ones in person. if u are desperate, u can buy my car but i still have some things to get fixed on it before i will sell it. but it wud be a start. good luck to u bro. see u at c & c.

 

Sounds too risky Lodon, trying to Trade your S for an older model with more miles just to pocket a few K.

You could probably go on a full financial lock-down and eliminate serveral bills which would result is 3-5K (over time) and you'd keep your S. For example, lower your cell phone to the cheapest plan (cut out the text messaging and all the extras...just a phone) or trade it more one of those pay-as-you-go phones. That would get you a quick 100, then cancel your cable/internet/phone plan and there's another 100. If you really took a disciplined apporach, you'd probably find ways to save 500 a month. It will really suck for a while but you could spend all your time searching for jobs in Miami and maybe even pick up a few temp jobs in Tampa to help generate that extra money.

My best friend had to do the extreme-budget thing when he was adopting his baby. He survived and now has a beatiful two year old.

Just stay focused on your goals. You're too young to get mired down in the here and now. You got the rest of your life to watch cable and surf the internet.

 

The problem is that I got myself into this situation being young(ish) and not so smart (I wont call myself stupid lol). For many of the bills and such that I could cut back on I don't even pay. I.E. Cable and such, I could save about 15/month on cell phone if I eliminate text messaging, but thats about it. I don't really go out that much, so I can't save much there.

My stupid bills are mostly my car/insurance and CC's, all of which were done by myself obviously! I don't regret these decisions because now I know what it can be like to struggle for money. But that doesnt make any of this any easier.

I have made these decisions and now I must live by them. So with that said I am actively job hunting/apartment hunting. I have been down there once so far, and I will be going back next week and hopefully have some interviews scheduled and such.

I just love my S so much, it has been my (realistic) dream car since I first saw it in 99. But I know that it would be smarter/easier if I got rid of it, because the other issue is once I really get going with engineering @ UM I dont want to have to worry about working a lot just to get by and pay bills, while going to school full time and getting my a** handed to me by my profs lol. So I am in quite a predicament!

I appreciate all the advice guys, keep it coming with any other ideas, but unfortunately I don't know what I am going to do @ this point.

 

damm...and i just bought my 03 3-4 months ago....and it was yellow the color i wanted...sorry to hear about that dude....

ok here is some advice...1st consoladate you cc's that will save you a tone of money...go to your school credit union and tell em you want to consoldat all your cc's in 1 loan....even if its a higher than usual % you will still save money esp if you have 3 or more cards you owe.

I just told a buddy this about a job opening, HSN is hiring reps that work at home...all they do is take orders. you can work anytime during the day or nite, all you have to do is full fill you Hr agreement by the end of the week...you can work 8 hrs one day or nite and say..2hr another day....Hsn will also provide you with the equpment..but you have to have a good internet connection, thats the only rub.

Try looking for private resendences for an apartment, with the housing issues even the renters are hurting and you could get a good deal

good luck bro

 

Sounds like you got a good plan. Good luck with the job interviews.

 

Go buy the book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey, read it, apply his principles to your life and your financial situation will change for the better.

The book outlines how you can get your priorities in order and help you make a plan to get out of debt and live that way the rest of your life. The interesting part is the vast majority of it is just a common sense approach.

Take it from someone who knows, me.

Good Luck!

 

Yea thanks ghostrider for the advice I never really thought about consolidating everything because I do have 3 CC's that I owe on! I will look into this!

And Barry my father is a huge Dave Ramsey fan, and has been trying to instill a lot of what he says to me. And I do agree with pretty much all that he says, but you know I am "young and invincible" as my dad would say, and I needed to see everything myself and how hard it can be. But like I said I am glad I did it now with a 15k car, and 6-7k in CC's as opposed to later in life with a 50k car and a 500k mortgage etc etc.

I am currently looking into other vehicles and I am just keeping my options open now, maybe this wasn't the best time in my life to get my S, who knows.

I just want to be wise with whatever decision I make, and hopefully I make it for the right reasons.

Thanks again everyone!