April Book Giveaway Month continues! Congrats to all 6 winners from last week’s two giveaways: Doug, Dorothea, “Another Not the Same Brian,” “JOB’s Money – Free By 30,” Alicia, and Judy Lee. Here’s today’s book:
Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too, by Nancy Trejos
Here’s a summary from the ol’ press release – IT’S NOT EVEN OUT IN STORES YET! Do I hook you up, or do I hook you up?
“The personal finance columnist for The Washington Post takes readers along on her journey. She meets with a financial planner and a therapist to deal with all the issues young people face today — from credit card debt and student loans, to impulse buying and emotional spending, to the cost of having a social life, to buying a house with someone during a potentially impermanent relationship and more. Trejos learns what causes these problems in herself, how she can fix them, and how she can pass that advice on to other young people going through the same experiences.”
Want it? Drop a comment telling us the hardest financial problem YOU have ever gotten over – or – one that you’re continuing to struggle with today. If you’re feeling bashful, just make something up ;) I’ll announce the 2 winners this weekend. GOOD LUCK!
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More from Amazon: Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too
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The hardest problem I am dealing with at the moment is credit card spending.
There always seems to be something important that is required of the credit card.
The hardest thing I have dealt with was quitting my second job and having to pay off $2500 worth of credit card debt on a lower income. It may not sound like a lot but on a $38K per year income in DC and on top of student loans, it was a good amount.
In 2006, signed a 7 year car note under my name for my gf of two years. She broke it off 3 months later. This does not include the 10k I let her borrow and the 4k in credit cards that we got for the furniture in what was our place. She is still paying me monthly but sometimes is behind on payments. Is it April 2013 yet???
My wife and I trying to make a career switch and move to a new location, but we’re struggling with an upside down mortgage. Not sure if we should try to sell it and deal with the losses (i.e., the remaining debt), or delay plans with the hope of breaking even on the house.
Current Financial problem = fear
It’s funny what being a finance major does to my confidence in my own money moves when it comes to investing…
Former financial problem = turning down fancy $60K/year private school for a full ride scholarship at less prestigious State U (reminds me of the post on how looking at money makes us happier — certainly applies when I’m reflecting on this decision!)
When I was nineteen, i moved five states away from my immediate family. I promptly got a credit card with a 300 dollar limit and maxed it out in about ten seconds. That credit card took me over five years to pay off. You dont even want to know how many fees i paid on it either. however that is not the biggest financial problem i have “gotten over” by far. The use of Cash Advance loan companies is definatly a giant culprit in my horrible early 20’s money wasting spree.
I used the cash advance ‘service’ for six years and took out a new loan pretty much every paycheck. in a rough calculation of taking out 500every two weeks and paying 60 dollars in intrest each time, the total amount of money i wasted = a crap ton.
and the really sick thing is i paid no rent for any of that time.
Happily, my brain did a flip-flop about two years ago, and EVERYTHING my mother tried to teach me about money made perfect sense…… I have turned my credit score into something i am proud of, I am about a week away from closing on a house i could not have imagined being so lucky to live in, and i feel such contentment inside not worrying about if my account is in the negative.
Its now my goal to learn about all of the things that you talk about in your blog. I would love to learn more about the roth IRA and compound interest So that i can prepare for retirement. (along with wanting to undrestand everything else)
Thanks so much for your sexy advice
My current financial problem I’m dealing with is a change in budget status. I finish grad school next month and the loan payments will be coming quickly. I’m trying to adjust to having an actual income (small, but significantly more than what I’ve been living on for the last 8 years) and budget smartly while having a fulfilling life.
This book sounds like it was written for me :-).
We’re trying to get out of the credit card debt we’ve accrued over our five year marriage. It’s harder now that we have a child, so expenses have increased while our incomes have stayed almost the same, but we’re managing. Slow and steady, but we’ve managed not to accrue any additional debt in the last two years.
Hardest financial problem was taking out a student loan my freshmen year in college to show my “independence.” Needless to say, I ended up paying for the loan and then some. I let my parents cover the other years. I consider myself blessed to have had them offer.
Wow–that sounds like a great book. Honesty, I’ve got nothing very exciting in my financial past–just a little student debt and credit cards that annoyed me for a few years until I paid them off. I don’t expect you to send the book to me in France, but I may try to pick up my own copy at some point. So many issues I see surrounding bad personal finances are, in fact, psychological.
@LeeRoy – I was in a very similar situation. Instead of a 7 year loan it was for 60months. And you know what’s even worse. I got a red light ticket in the mail last year under that car! but I haven’t driven her car for over a year…(what a headache) but luckily I got that sorted out…just gotta wait til 2012 when its all paid off.
When my husband and I got married, he came in with $10K credit card debt and while I knew about it and was there for most of it, it was still difficult to deal with so early in our marriage. Somehow I accepted it as ours instead of just his– we were married now after all– and we set out on an aggressive snowball plan. We were broke then and ate pasta and potatoes for nearly every meal, and we paid it all off in a little over a year. That was the best thing we could have done! Now we look back on that time fondly. Yes we were broke (didn’t have two nickels to rub together!), but we were newlyweds madly in love and starting out our life together. We worked hard TOGETHER and made it work. Since then, we feel as though we can handle anything together.
Right now, the hardest problem I have is paying down credit card debt and trying not to use those cards unless it’s needed for an emergency.
I’ve cut back a lot on luxuries and expenses to clear my credit.
going to school online. The VA is to pay 55% but it turns out that they won’t pay till I complete the course. I am now in debt.
I’m currently struggling with trying to pay off the rest of our debt, while going to school part time (without taking on more debt), and doing this all on a reduced income because of my maternity leave.
The hubs and I had to get over $5k of stupid credit card debt. It was easy in, long way out…. Did it by converting the insane interest card (It was like 20-something%!!) to a personal loan, which we paid off way ahead of schedule. That was all a couple of years ago now, so I’m much better at making sure we don’t get into trouble again!
Right now, I’m stressing about our halfway-cross-country move in a month. Literally, a month. I think I have enough, but some days I freak out about it all over again… Thankfully, it will be a reimbursed move (military), but doing it ourselves means we might be able to make a little bit off of it. :P (Because we have the discipline to save and be able to front the cash, which is more than a lot of military families can do. No lie.)
I think one of my biggest problem is staying “frugal” without being “cheap” and allowing myself the occasional treat to not feel so overwhelmed by the “must save money” mantra.
I am struggling under a hefty credit card debt (spread across 3 cards – until I can clear one off enough to consolidate to two). It piled up from school expenses (a year’s tuition that unexpectedly fell through and I couldn’t get forgiven, books and a computer when I returned to school…), taking my mentees out and not wanting to embarrass the ones who can’t afford it, along with a substantial dose of stupid consumerism, all under the umbrella of Seriously wasn’t paying attention to the balances as they surged. Have capped myself off and working along, but it’ll be YEARS.
my most recent financial-almost-meltdown came in december…after being roped into leasing a brand new car (uugh), i managed to wreck my 2010 car in 2009. the $500 deductible for my car insurance sucked, along with adding close to $500 a month to my monthly expenses with the lease payments and higher car insurance rate..since then i have found a 2nd job and am now working 55-60 hours a week to get by and still have extra cash to have some fun
The hardest financial problem that I’ve been struggling with is the weight of the guilt I’ve been carrying in my marriage because of the credit card debt I brought into the relationship. I’m lucky that I’m married to a man that is super supportive but it still sucks knowing that if I had just not bought that (insert shirt, coffee, movie, trip, etc) 5 years ago I would not have to be reminded of it every month when I pay my bill.
Well, I was once a single mom of three ages 6,4, and 3. I had a single wide trailer and a car with payments. Of course I had the trailer payment and lot rent. I tried to get food stamps but I could only do that if I took off work (I had no paid time off) and stood in line all day. I drove 50 miles round trip to a part time job. By the time I paid everyone and put just enough gas in my car I had $10 for food. Now granted this was 1982 but still! I planned very carefully with what I had, like one gallon of milk, one loaf of bread, etc. I got free lunch for my oldest who was in school. The vending machine company I worked for, the other servicemen would save still good food but too old for the vending machine and give it to me. I ate a leftover sandwich for dinner, no breakfast and whatever I had at lunch. I lost 25 pounds but my children were fed. I have never forgotten where I came from at that time. I did not care about my own needs but only of those of my kids. Now, I always preach to them about being ready for emergencies. I am now debt free but I will never forget how I felt at that time.
Car lease. Bad idea. Too many miles=paying way too much. :( But thankfully that car is gone and history!
We ended up buying a house and got in above our heads. After 3 1/2 years, we just weren’t cutting it anymore. We had the choice to file bankruptcy or try to work things out. We worked things out, sold the house via short sell and are slowing paying back our debt. It was a very stressful situation but it is a relief to be free of the house.
Mine isn’t a big deal really, but I overcame “starting”. Starting to save. Starting to learn about money and making it work for me instead of me work for it.
Starting is always the hardest. But it’s a lot easier when you have the motivation (I got to the motivation by reading people’s success stories. =)
ugh….wedding. making it up to family expectations put us $17k in the hole….
That would be during the time when we were trying to sell our house in Washington State after we moved back to Jersey in 2008. Those 8 months of waiting for the house to sell was a bit stressful.
Getting married and trying to merge our finances and our debt. I dont have much but we need to get rid of my fiance’s 60k of student loans. He just tries to avoid it but for us to ever move or have a family we need to get rid of it.
Debt in general! Credit cards – which I stopped accruing balances on- phew! And I’m working on these student loans… and the guilt I have over going to an expensive university vs. state school!
wanting to finish school without going into more debt yet wanting to be done quick and not have to work full time while doing it!! Feels like an endless battle.
I hope I figure out what I will do with the degree by the time I get it.
Resisting the urge to drive a sweet car has been the hardest. But it’s been worth waiting for to get out of debt.
My hardest financial woe has been recovering from my husband’s layoff last year. Thankfully, he has a new job that he absolutely LOVES; but we obtained alot of debt that 6 months he was not working. We used credit cards to buy those all-important groceries so that the money we did have went to pay that pesky mortgage. We are slowly (and surely) paying those darn credit card balances down.
I’m struggling with the fact that I quit my job without having another one already in place.
But I needed out.
Digging my way out of over $25,000 of credit card debt. Unfortunately, I’m right back where I started approximately 6 years later.
*GIVEAWAY OVER*
Congrats to Lynda and Jen! You gals are the proud new owners of your very own copy of Hot (broke) Messes!
Thanks for participating everyone, we’ve got a few more books lined up this last week of the giveaway month :)