In this thread I get out of debt. $10K to be exact.

[Barry]

Happy belated birthday man!

Been through worse, so I can handle this. Already mapped out a plan of attack.

As of this moment I owe $9,905.

Thanks man, Goodluck with your plan of attack. How long have you been in the vending machine business? I wanted to get an expresso machine for my the community college I went but turns out the company doesn't "sell" them they loan them to companies not individuals and you have to be able to meet certain projections for the company to consider giving you a machine so the idea got tanked. Tried going around it but couldn't get pass that the can't give an individual. But I notice there are websites that sell them in the states I'm from jamaica



Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser394]

Hey, great to see you posting again. We missed you! Can you give me some of your thoughts and resources re: vending business? Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

PS: The invitation to chat still stands if you ever find yourself in Toronto!

Most of what I know comes via two books.

'Small Change, Vending INSIDERS Secrets Revealed' from 'my vending uncle'

And

'Locating Vending Locations' by Rob and Patti Farnham

My mother was actually looking into moving to Toronto.. no idea if she intends to ever act on it. Hopefully I'll be back out east sooner rather than later! Lunch is on me haha (I shouldn't be in 'bad' debt by then.. only the 'good' kind)

 

[DeletedUser394]

Thanks man, Goodluck with your plan of attack. How long have you been in the vending machine business? I wanted to get an expresso machine for my the community college I went but turns out the company doesn't "sell" them they loan them to companies not individuals and you have to be able to meet certain projections for the company to consider giving you a machine so the idea got tanked. Tried going around it but couldn't get pass that the can't give an individual. But I notice there are websites that sell them in the states I'm from jamaica



Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

Not long, been researching this for years only took action a few months ago. Wish I had done so sooner, but better late than never.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Decided that I'm going to start logging all the money that's coming in and out of my accounts. That's the first step to taking control I think. Rather than just throwing out receipts and things of that nature I'm going to make note of them to see where my money is going,etc which will lead to a proper budget being made.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[theag]

Decided that I'm going to start logging all the money that's coming in and out of my accounts. That's the first step to taking control I think. Rather than just throwing out receipts and things of that nature I'm going to make note of them to see where my money is going,etc which will lead to a proper budget being made.

I have to do that too. I nearly always paying with a debit card so I just have to export all the transactions once a week. I think this will be very helpful. There are so many little transactions you do each week/month that you forget about but add up.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Awesome! Very true.

 

[DeletedUser394]

I started moving in the right direction! Used the money from my first contractor gig to pay my 'cool friend' half of what I owed him.

Here's the new breakdown;

Total Owed Previously: $9,905
Current Total Owed: $9,655

Credit Card Company 51%
Dearest Mother Figure 26%
Past due gym membership fees 15%
Cool Friend 3%
Lovely Coworker 2%
Overdue Cell Bill 2%

I'm receiving a substantial cheque for services rendered on Monday which will make a nice dent in my debts. I want to hopefully wipe out the 3 smallest sums owed.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser394]

So it's been a grand total of 8 days, and I've wiped out 25% of the debt that I started with.

What I did realize, is that I have no idea how a credit card (or more specifically my credit card) works. Considering I was (and may still be) maxed out, I don't know when they start to charge interest. I vaguely remember reading that there was a 21 day grace period or something like that, in any case this is the second month it's held a balance so I'm waiting to see the interest.. Regardless I'm going to be reading up on consumer credit.

Biggest thing I did this past week was reject a really attractive female friend that wanted to go to an event with me (and have me pay obviously). The tickets weren't exorbitant (about $100-$150 for the two of us) but I basically told her the truth and said that I wasn't in any position to be spending money on anything for a while, but I did promise to take her out in the future when I'm I've got it all together again (financially), and I have no plans of ever allowing this to happen again (falling into the consumer debt trap over stupid things).

Anywho I also completely paid off the 'cool friend', paid some to my mom too, paid a bit on my credit card to free up some room, and paid more than half the amount I owe my coworker, so here's the breakdown now;

Total Owed Previously: $9,655
Current Total Owed: $7,460

Credit Card: 56%
Dearest Mother Figure: 20%
Past due gym membership fees: 20%
Overdue cell bill: 3%
Lovely Coworker: 1%

 

[Pete799p]

My personal opinoin, your milage will very, is pay off your credit card, gym membership, and cell phone first to avoid being sent to collections and ruining your credit etc. Then pay back you family and freinds. I know it is a dick move but I am going to bet that your credit card has right around a 20% interest rate and your mom probably has a 0% rate.

Best of luck to you I am sure you will have it taken care of.

 

[miked_d]

Biggest thing I did this past week was reject a really attractive female friend that wanted to go to an event with me (and have me pay obviously). The tickets weren't exorbitant (about $100-$150 for the two of us) but I basically told her the truth and said that I wasn't in any position to be spending money on anything for a while, but I did promise to take her out in the future when I'm I've got it all together again (financially), and I have no plans of ever allowing this to happen again (falling into the consumer debt trap over stupid things).

Why do you need to pay all the time? It doesn't matter whether you have extra money or not.

Why can't you go out to Starbucks for coffee?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser394]

Why do you need to pay all the time? It doesn't matter whether you have extra money or not.

Why can't you go out to Starbucks for coffee?

I just enjoy it. They aren't even dates for the most part.

 

[DeletedUser394]

My personal opinoin, your milage will very, is pay off your credit card, gym membership, and cell phone first to avoid being sent to collections and ruining your credit etc. Then pay back you family and freinds. I know it is a dick move but I am going to bet that your credit card has right around a 20% interest rate and your mom probably has a 0% rate.

Best of luck to you I am sure you will have it taken care of.

haha I believe my credit card is 29%. Everything you say is dead on, however for reasons I won't disclose I had to pay out how I chose to this time around.

 

[PatrickP]

I mean that if your goal is to erase debt, you should be doing the routes yourself and using the money saved to pay that off. Unless, during the time you are not working in the route, are you doing something more productive towards making money?

Agree with this for sure.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Barry]

Awesome Job thus far man!

 

[DeletedUser394]

Going in the wrong direction

Total Owed Previously: $7,460
Current Total Owed: $8,205

Credit Card: 64%
Past due gym membership fees: 18%
Dearest Mother Figure: 16%
Overdue cell bill: 2%

 

[Entourage]

How did you manage to accumulate more debt?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[dknise]

Going in the wrong direction

Is this from signing up for Beer & Pancakes?

Less consuming, more producing.

 

[DeletedUser394]

How did you manage to accumulate more debt?

Is this from signing up for Beer & Pancakes?

Less consuming, more producing.

Interest + living expenses.

I haven't purchased or spent a dime outside of necessity or investment.

 

[mrsilva]

A tip on the credit card. I owned about $4,205 (my limit was $4k). They closed the credit card and were making tons of phone calls everyday to get the money.

After a month or so before sending to a collection agency they send me a settlement letter to pay $2,300 and that's it, no more calls, no interest and no collection!

Before you start making payments call them and ask to pay the whole thing once!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser394]

Well, this would qualify as the lowest of low days in my financial history.

The business is gone. Completely, and so is the $70k. I don't want to talk about what happened to it, and why I no longer control it, but I'll say this. I didn't do enough due dilligence and I had absolutely no plan in place when I started or while it was being run. I got some money out of it before I lost control, which is okay I guess.

Next, I went to a pawn shop today and sold most anything and everything in my possession that was of any value. What an eye opener that was. Waiting in line watching all these people desperate for cash being forced to sell their prized possessions for this reason or that. For me, I didn't really care, it's just stuff, I can get it back some day.

It was a shock to see the power the pawnbroker had over me though. I was in no position to negotiate, I was on his turf and his domain. In an odd sense I found the entire ordeal to be kind of inspiring/motivating.

Also, it finally came a time to admit to myself that I am/was an addicted gambler. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I've wasted to it over the years (to be honest I think I was only 13-14 when I first got hooked, saw the wsop on tv and downloaded all the internet sites and made deposit after deposit.) Every time I would deposit, the money would be gone within a few days, most times within a few hours. And every time I told myself, lied to myself, that I could win it back. This has gone on for years and I've never admitted it to anyone until now. Easily lost over $10,000 (including my entire life savings when I turned 18).

It's not just talk though, I had all of the internet sites permanently ban me, so I no longer have access to them even if I tried. This ban is permanent, irreversible, forever, and damn fine by me.

Girls have also largely influenced me. Buying a shitload of nonsense for people that now it's clear were for the most part only using me. That also ends now. Until I'm in a MUCH better position (where the purchases represent miniscule percentages of my income), I'm not buying anything for anyone and that's not negotiable. This includes gifts and what have you.

I'm also an impulse buyer. Yesterday, honestly it was 4 oclock in the morning and I got onto ebay and bought about $80 worth of crap I don't need. Not a big number so I'll let it slide, but things like this will not, and can not happen often, ideally never.

So that's it, that's me in a nutshell. I no longer have anything of value except my computer, a watch, and that's about it.

I no longer have a positive networth, or any networth at all.

Assets: $0
Debts: $1,500

The good thing is I now only owe 1.5k. I paid off everyone except the credit card and the gym, and I've already paid for all my expenses in November (the month upcoming), so I can spend the whole month bringing that debt down. If I pore my entire paycheck into my debts and mandatory expenses, and do nothing else, I'll have it all paid off within 2 months, but I'll figure out a way to do more faster.

I would quote something to the effect of 'if you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose' because that's kind of what I'm feeling right now. I have nothing except my brain, my drive, my ambition, my health and my friends and family. That's all I need to get this done.

 

[PatrickP]

I would strongly suggest you get professional help. I would google the city you live in for addiction help based upon income.

You have gambling addiction, shopping and more.

This is much stronger than you and until you get help you will continue to repeat the same mistakes again and again.

 

[miked_d]

Sorry to hear. I didn't doubt for a second that you would make that $. I still don't.

I also believe you will spend it all due to this:

Until I'm in a MUCH better position (where the purchases represent miniscule percentages of my income), I'm not buying anything for anyone and that's not negotiable. This includes gifts and what have you.

Once you get in a comfortable money position you spend. The ebay story is classic impulse buying.

I am totally guilty of this which is why it popped out for me.

Few extra dollars? Buy that girl drinks.

Someone I don't really know mentions they need $40 for doctor... bamm - here you go.

Got a few thousand saved? Take a trip to an exotic place.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[theag]

The business is gone. Completely, and so is the $70k.

Wow, thats hard.

I'm sure you'll be fine Ryan. Have a chat with one of the reputable members here, I'm sure they can help you much more than any "professional help" with understanding the mistakes you made in your business and personal life, learn from them and get back on your feet.

If you at some point decide to talk about the business failure, I think a lot of people would be very thankful to learn from it.

Keep your head up!

 

[mrsilva]

Man... I'm shocked! You come and go buddy... wow! You need to focus and start all over again!

 

[Vigilante]

Kid one of these times you are going to create a ricochet that you won't be able to come back from. You are too young for the tremendous swings you have. You need to figure out how to stabilize your thought process and impulses.

You're intelligent, capable, and some day might make it. But... you will never make yourself into anything until you can control the swings. I have seen a lot of different personalities from you over several months --- several highs, several lows, several successes (mirages?) and several "I'm coming clean and starting over" posts.

If this is an internet persona, it's not attractive. If it's real... I mean this with 100% sincerity and without malice intended... take Patrick's advice above and find someone to talk with.

You need a life coach, and some times that can come in the form of a psychologist. I really don't think it's a business coach you need. You know how to make money. If you made $1m, my gut is you would blow $1.2m on a trip to Vegas. You need to look outside of "business" as to how you can stabilize your life. You can't always start again, handicapped with baggage, and hope to have a clear head.

You are too young to spend the rest of your days on this roller coaster. You need to figure out how to level things out, and that might come with a coach of some sort that can help you.

I see you as one down turn away from an irrecoverable path.

I wish you well.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[dknise]

Ego: Fake it till you make it.
Age: Unknown.

Now I get it.

Best of luck.:smxB:

 

[The-J]

Stop buying shit for women and provide them with REAL value. If you enjoy buying shit for women, you probably think that's the way you provide value to them, or it gives you a rush of power. Stop it.

As for your addictions, you should probably join a support group. I know that sounds all Fight Club and stuff but a tight backbone of people who are trying to change their lives for the better will lead you into the direction you want to go. They may become your best friends.

As Vigilante said: you don't need help making money. You obviously know how to do that. You're willing to get up at 4 am and wash windows until 8 at night. I can tell: we can all tell. You want it. But you've got a major liability on your back, and I'm not talking about your debts.

You'll make it if you are committed to the long road ahead. Best of luck to you.

Also, if you ever find yourself in Toronto, I'd love to hang out. Just make sure money is on your side when that happens.

 

[socaldude]

are you depressed? having depression can really cloud your judgment.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser394]

are you depressed? having depression can really cloud your judgment.

No, not at all. I used to be uber depressed (more than a year ago), so I can definitely tell the difference.

This thing with buying stupid things without thinking it through is behavior that I see mirrored by most, if not all of my family members. Anyway, I should be good, not everything is bad right now. I'm doing extremely well academically for example, so I want to keep that going.

 

[The-J]

I'm doing extremely well academically for example, so I want to keep that going.

Look at you with your 99% GPA.

You have discipline. You had 3 jobs plus your hustling gig at one point. Do that again. No more trips across the country until you're back on top.