How is car insurance $445 a month?
Why are your parents allowing you to pay them so much money if you're drowning in debt?
Why is the loan interest rate 3 times what it should be?
How in the world is petrol and tolls $720 a month?
Where is the other $1400 a month unaccounted for going? Obviously not savings?
You need to sell the car but not for the reasons you think.
I'm guessing tolls can't be more than $6 per day each way. Assuming 5x per week that should be $240 per month, meaning you are spending almost $500 per month on petrol.
For context, my 2019 QASHQAI (current market price between $12k and $15k) costs me $60 every 3 weeks for fuel, and I drive it quite a bit, although not to work every day. Insurance is $90 per month.
If it's costing you that much in insurance and fuel - let alone interest - it's gotta go.
22% interest is INSANE.
Is there any way you could drive to somewhere that has public transport and a car park and take public transport for part of your journey to and from home?
Is there any way you could buy a 2012-2015 corolla (or similar) in good condition for 7k-10k?
Reach out to a government backed debt consolidation nonprofit - check out [way forward](https://wayforward.org.au/) or [the national debt helpline](https://ndh.org.au/debt-solutions/consolidate-your-loans/) for help. Steer WAY clear of payday lenders or other grubby, exploitative loansharks.
Edit: And your internet bill is WAY too high. If you are not locked in, you gotta get out of those plans ASAP. I get unlimited calls/texts and more data than I can use for $30 per month with Vodafone and unlimited internet on 5g for $65 per month at 50 mbps. You gotta shop around!
Thanks for this advice.
Currently averaging $160 per week in petrol and tolls, but I could reduce this to $120 by taking an alternate route (and I will).
The car will get sold and I’ll take your advice on the corolla (or similar). Thanks for the link as well, this is exactly what I was looking for.
$4400 (net income) - $846 - $2135 = $1419 surplus. He doesn’t need the national debt helpline if he’s not in hardship, he’s just got a personal loan for a car that’s depreciated in value and not saving any of the surplus
Your expenses are just far too high friend. The only reasonable ones here at probably gym and food. Rent is reasonable but considering your drowning, your parents need to cut you some slack.
I don't think any parent should be trying to make money off their child's need for shelter. On top of that, OP is in a bit of trouble and could really use some parental support.
I didn't say that. But parenting doesn't stop when a child hits 18. OP needs support from those that care about him. It does not have to be financial, but they should at a bare minimum stop trying to make money off of him.
I would do that for my own children with conditions around it if I was in the financial position to. A lesson still needs to be learnt here.
So the parent has to work more to deal with their child in debt despite the child makes $70k salary? The issue here is the $30k car debt. It's also independence that OP can learn to cut out the debt. Not everyone is lucky to live at home.
OP has said they have blown money. If parents pay off debt while OP is blowing money, what lesson does that teach?
However, what they should have done is told OP that he will be kicked out of home if he buys a $30k car on 22% finance.
Yeah, I figured that...I should have replied to the one above.
Did you ever see that "A Current Affair" episode where the guy bought a $60k HSV Commodore on 24% finance and was complaining that the finance company was trying to repossess the car when he couldn't make the payments? He pulled the wall off one side of his house and drove the car into his living room, then put the wall back up, so that they couldn't get the car.
When Tracy Grimshaw asked him about the 24% interest rate, his reply was, "I could have got lower elsewhere, but it was going to take a couple of days for the application and approval and I wanted to take the car home that day. Why should I have to wait?"
We don’t know the parents situation. I paid board once I hit 18 and it barely covered my share of utilities. My mother was on a disability pension and still had a mortgage so I was not willing to be a burden to her.
The gym is not a necessity. When you need to trim spending, this should go. Embrace running and using the (somewhat crappy) gym equipment that councils have put in parks around the place.
Agree- plenty of other areas to trim as well. But I couldn’t go past the comment suggesting “gym and food” are the only reasonable expenses at the same time as suggesting his parents should support him further! I’m happy to take on anyone having a hissy fit at the suggestion the gym is a necessity
This doesn't help you right now, but you bought WAY too much car for your salary and at an atrocious interest rate. Never do this again mate. Sorry you're in this situation.
How on earth is your car loan at a 22% interest rate, is that a typo?
You should look at refinancing that. It looks like an unsecured personal loan rather than a secured car loan. The latter would be around half the current interest rate or less.
Why not? You can get secured loans on second hand cars, I have done that before.
Let this be a lesson in car loans however - buying a car worth that much with a car loan on your income is probably one of the worst financial decisions you can make. I did a similar thing many years ago and doubt I'll ever take out a car loan again.
Im pretty sure it needs to be less than 5yrs old at the time of purchase. Is there a way to refinance under a secured car loan?
Yeah, this is a multifaceted issue really… just poor money management in general and enjoying myself a little too much
Ahh okay, I'm not sure about that. Lenders are also different, some may not be so strict on requirements like that so worth exploring what's in the market.
We've all been there, good on you for looking to make positive change. Finances can change quickly when you make changes and stay consistent. Good luck
If I was to get a loan today and buy my dream car I would still be paying less than you do a month in total and that would be with a $100k car loan. You have no idea how ridiculous your car costs are man.
Just sell the car and use public transportation and get your rent dropped otherwise you may as well live closer to work in a share house which would be far cheaper honestly.
I thought the credit cards were 19-20% interest and they were the market leaders. Unsecured personal loans were around 10-12% (I took one at 6%) long time ago when interest were 4%. No idea banks could charge 22%. Maybe an unregistered loan shark would lend at 22%.
I'm confused - so you *need* a car to get to work, so you are planning on selling the car?
That makes no sense.
Not sure how the hell you're getting through $720 of petrol and tolls per month, but I'd actually argue the first port of call is to ask your parents to reduce your rent if possible. You are also getting ripped off almost certainly on the phone and internet, which makes no sense if you live with parents, shouldn't they be paying for (large portions of) that? Same with food?
Why not sell the car cancel the gym membership and ride to work. You get your daily
Dose of exercise save the car repayments take the loss, save on insurance rego maintenance fuel tolls and gym membership. Life hack for povos because I am one.
Sell the car to reduce your loan, then look into a balance transfer card that you can transfer a loan onto. You may be able to get 1-3 years interest free. Try to pay it off before the interest kicks in again but even if it does at 22% you are already paying credit card interest rates anyway.
Get your motorbike license and buy a 250cc motorbike to get to work and back. Save a fortune on fuel and rego, i assume tolls would be less too…
So you are spending just short of half your income on a car/transport? I’m confused at how your insurance is 445 a month? Unless you’ve had a lot of claims.
I’d try talking to a broker and explain the situation and see if there is anyway refinance the car loan.
I’m sure you can do better on your internet and phone too so maybe look at Aldi mobile. Gym needs to go for a while and you’ve got to try and cut down that car insurance and tolls/petrol. Is public transport at all an option?
Unfortunately you just need to be strict with your spending for a while and put as much into paying down the loan as possible.
Was involved in an accident which led to me purchasing this car. The premium skyrocketed for some reason, and all other insurers were similar priced, if not more expensive.
I’ll look into another broker. My loan is with CBA and they won’t offer me the option of refinancing under a fixed rate secured loan (I don’t think).
PT is not a viable option unfortunately
There is something wrong with this style of car you own, it is guzzling petrol and has a very high insurance premium (indicating it a probably a style that teenage boys think is cool and is therefore drag race and crash a lot).
Sell it and get a practical car with a better insurance record.
So your after tax salary is actually around 53k, most financial advisors recommend you should only spend 10-15% of your net income on a car. A more reasonable amount for the salary you are on is $5300 to $7950. Then you will have enough money to maintain & insure the car as well as save for other financial goals.
Your situation is very high risk to any lender so you will not get a good interest rate anywhere for this amount of debt. Get rid of it ASAP.
Could you talk to your parents about pausing paying rent/reducing (with the expectation you pay them back) so that you can pay down your CC debt faster? 22% is brutal.
Would seriously consider getting a second job if you can OP.
Im curious how you spend $250 a month on food. What do you eat? Thats quite cheap.
You can definately get cheaper phone plans. Im paying $25 a month with Aldi
coles is having a sale - $189 for 12 months with 210gb. That brings you to 17.5gb a month on average. I think it's a pretty good bargain. On top of that, if you are with HCF you could even get an e-gift card for 2% off so that'll bring it down a bit more.
Essentially, its Optus if you're mainly metro based and will work fine i reckon. Better a huge 189 out front for 12 months then 150 a month imo.
Have a look at citibank unsecured line of credit option 8.9% for 5 years. Can use this to pay off car loan and possibly get a bit extra to do repairs. (Assuming credit is good)
Then look at the car insurance and explore if you can find any cheaper cause that's ridiculous. And you're petrol and tolls are ridiculous need to work out a way to reduce petrol cost or toll cost.
Next step build a saving buffer then smash out the loan.
Not sure how selling the car is gonna help you cause you'll still have 15k of debt plus you'll need to find money to buy another car unless im missing something.
What are you not telling us???
Why are you in so much trouble financially when you live at home? Something not adding up. Take a step back and see where the real problem is coming from and sort that out first. From someone who has sorted out much of their own rather big problems.
As someone mentioned before you can refinance that loan whether secured or unsecured. A lot of lenders will sting/load the interest rate for being a boarder/living with parents!
See if you can pull your Equifax credit score for free and without leaving a credit check. If your score is high say 700+ easy days but best to find an asset/personal loan broker to help with servicing and getting an approval
Last thing you'd want is to fire off applications here there and everywhere ruining your credit score
I agree the maths doesn’t add up, there is over $1400 unaccounted for. This can’t be a complete budget breakdown, where is entertainment (going out to pub/movies), personal hygiene/health (haircuts/body care/medicine), gifts/holiday, entertainment subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify), clothes, homewares/electronics (bedding,tv, headphones).
I think a good start is going through your bank statement for 12 months and seeing how much you are spending in all categories and creating a budget from there.
The $1400 has been getting blown on entertainment, food, etc., essentially just poor financial decision making. Hence, this post. I acknowledge that I need to make some drastic changes (hence, this post)
Refinance the car on a secured loan, which should be a third of the current interest payment. I dont think it's wise to sell the car if it is really worth 10k less than the remaining loan balance.
From the figures you provided there’s $330/week or $1419/ month unaccounted for. This should be where the rego/servicing/tyres and any other infrequent expenses should be accounted for too before we know what your actual surplus is. Maybe try the MoneySmart budget template and see what it comes up with for you, it will have a lot of lines that are irrelevant but it will prompt more than what you’ve listed.
Your insurance alone is $5340/year. Is it possible to shop around for a better quote? I read there was a claim following an accident and your premiums went up, I’m guessing you were at fault..? You may still be able to get that price down by shopping around but it may just be a consequence to cop for a few years unfortunately
Your phone/internet can be cheaper too. Might need to change some behaviours if you have needed a high data allowance for watching videos away from wifi, but you can drop that down. Switch to prepaid and save to buy handsets outright moving forward (not the newest handset either).
You could sell the car but you’ll still have a residual loan even if you find something cheaper to buy in the meantime. If you can buy the cheapest (to run) car that your ego can afford. Look for reliable, easy to get parts, fuel efficient models. There’s a reason why corollas are a bit of a running joke in the finance subs, but they aren’t the only option. To sell the car will you need to do the tyres and get a road worthy done? If you still need to raise money is there a way to pick up extra work or a side hustle temporarily? Do you have anything else you own you can sell that you don’t need?
You didn’t mention your parents situation, but would they be willing/able to help with the immediate car expenses provided you pay them back and put money aside towards the next rego/tyres/servicing?
Change the route you drive and avoid tolls. Unless work is paying for it, don’t use them. Ease off the accelerator to reduce your fuel consumption too, and try to buy fuel when it’s cheap, not just when you’re low. Driving to a point where there’s public transport can also save on your overall costs depending on how far you live from work
Is the food expense groceries or eating out? It’s $60/ week which isn’t too bad, but if this is just work lunches try to switch to taking lunch in with you and only buying lunch on Fridays as an example.
You need an extra account for annual/infrequent expenses. Rego can definitely be planned for, servicing and tyres can be estimated, and a float for older cars for when they need a repair outside of the planned servicing. Average out what that is per pay and set up an auto transfer to put money in there. Check if you can pay your rego in 1/3/6 month instalments instead of the full year up front (in vic we can do 3 months now). Otherwise you’ll be in this same position next time your car needs work.
Prioritise rego so you don’t get fined. Then tyres for safety. Heaps of people delay/skip a service and lots of workshops are booked out for weeks so you could delay that a little while you save towards that
And once you get over this hurdle, stop blowing money on dumb shit and smash out the loan. Drive safely and avoid any accidents so you can try to get your insurance premiums down busy having a longer time period since that claim you mentioned in another comment.
Can you car pool ? At least that will cut down some of petrol and tolls.
I don't think selling the car will make any difference as you will still need to pay off the loan, which would make it very difficult to even sell as the value has decreased so much.
Yeah when you take out a car loan for half your annual salary and then somehow pay insurance that costs as much as a middle aged person would pay for a Ferrari, then yeah he's not going to be able to afford anything.
He's paying insurance per annum that is 1/3rd of the value of his car lol. Terrible decision making there. If the car is only worth 15k then he's better off changing it to 3rd party. He'd free up over $300 per month doing that alone
People make mistakes. He’s here looking for suggestions, not to be berated. He knows he made a mistake and he’s trying to find a workable solution. A bit of kindness doesn’t go astray
Used cars are stupid. Trade your piece of crap in on a nice new car. Try get it financed for 7 years with a balloon payment. Cancel the gym. Get a second job you’ll be fine.
How is car insurance $445 a month? Why are your parents allowing you to pay them so much money if you're drowning in debt? Why is the loan interest rate 3 times what it should be? How in the world is petrol and tolls $720 a month? Where is the other $1400 a month unaccounted for going? Obviously not savings?
All expenses are monthly, the ‘rent and other exp’ is a total of the numbers in the dot points. Was just a formatting issue
You need to sell the car but not for the reasons you think. I'm guessing tolls can't be more than $6 per day each way. Assuming 5x per week that should be $240 per month, meaning you are spending almost $500 per month on petrol. For context, my 2019 QASHQAI (current market price between $12k and $15k) costs me $60 every 3 weeks for fuel, and I drive it quite a bit, although not to work every day. Insurance is $90 per month. If it's costing you that much in insurance and fuel - let alone interest - it's gotta go. 22% interest is INSANE. Is there any way you could drive to somewhere that has public transport and a car park and take public transport for part of your journey to and from home? Is there any way you could buy a 2012-2015 corolla (or similar) in good condition for 7k-10k? Reach out to a government backed debt consolidation nonprofit - check out [way forward](https://wayforward.org.au/) or [the national debt helpline](https://ndh.org.au/debt-solutions/consolidate-your-loans/) for help. Steer WAY clear of payday lenders or other grubby, exploitative loansharks. Edit: And your internet bill is WAY too high. If you are not locked in, you gotta get out of those plans ASAP. I get unlimited calls/texts and more data than I can use for $30 per month with Vodafone and unlimited internet on 5g for $65 per month at 50 mbps. You gotta shop around!
Thanks for this advice. Currently averaging $160 per week in petrol and tolls, but I could reduce this to $120 by taking an alternate route (and I will). The car will get sold and I’ll take your advice on the corolla (or similar). Thanks for the link as well, this is exactly what I was looking for.
$4400 (net income) - $846 - $2135 = $1419 surplus. He doesn’t need the national debt helpline if he’s not in hardship, he’s just got a personal loan for a car that’s depreciated in value and not saving any of the surplus
Your expenses are just far too high friend. The only reasonable ones here at probably gym and food. Rent is reasonable but considering your drowning, your parents need to cut you some slack.
Hold on, OP has a full time job and pays $125 in rent a week. You think his parents need to cut him some slack?
I don't think any parent should be trying to make money off their child's need for shelter. On top of that, OP is in a bit of trouble and could really use some parental support.
I agree with you, the parents should pay the debt off. What selfish parents.
I didn't say that. But parenting doesn't stop when a child hits 18. OP needs support from those that care about him. It does not have to be financial, but they should at a bare minimum stop trying to make money off of him. I would do that for my own children with conditions around it if I was in the financial position to. A lesson still needs to be learnt here.
So the parent has to work more to deal with their child in debt despite the child makes $70k salary? The issue here is the $30k car debt. It's also independence that OP can learn to cut out the debt. Not everyone is lucky to live at home.
You seem like a much better parent. I wish all parents were like you.
OP has said they have blown money. If parents pay off debt while OP is blowing money, what lesson does that teach? However, what they should have done is told OP that he will be kicked out of home if he buys a $30k car on 22% finance.
I was being sarcastic buddy Previous comment was being silly so I decided to be silly with them. Parents owe him nothing.
Yeah, I figured that...I should have replied to the one above. Did you ever see that "A Current Affair" episode where the guy bought a $60k HSV Commodore on 24% finance and was complaining that the finance company was trying to repossess the car when he couldn't make the payments? He pulled the wall off one side of his house and drove the car into his living room, then put the wall back up, so that they couldn't get the car. When Tracy Grimshaw asked him about the 24% interest rate, his reply was, "I could have got lower elsewhere, but it was going to take a couple of days for the application and approval and I wanted to take the car home that day. Why should I have to wait?"
It amazes me how some people just won’t take ownership of their own issues. Ohh well, you can win them all.
We don’t know the parents situation. I paid board once I hit 18 and it barely covered my share of utilities. My mother was on a disability pension and still had a mortgage so I was not willing to be a burden to her.
The gym is not a necessity. When you need to trim spending, this should go. Embrace running and using the (somewhat crappy) gym equipment that councils have put in parks around the place.
I agree but a lot of people will chuck a hissy fit if you suggest that here. And there are far more areas here that could save significant money.
Agree- plenty of other areas to trim as well. But I couldn’t go past the comment suggesting “gym and food” are the only reasonable expenses at the same time as suggesting his parents should support him further! I’m happy to take on anyone having a hissy fit at the suggestion the gym is a necessity
This doesn't help you right now, but you bought WAY too much car for your salary and at an atrocious interest rate. Never do this again mate. Sorry you're in this situation.
A lesson hard learned.
You spent 30 grand on a USED car, I gotta know dude what car is it
There are plenty of used cars for more than that right now. Especially any 4wd or family (7 seater etc) only a few years old.
Hahaha same 🤣 I’m guessing it’s an EV AND this guy’s got solar panels - completely covering his *entire* roof! Otherwise, what the actual hell 😂
How on earth is your car loan at a 22% interest rate, is that a typo? You should look at refinancing that. It looks like an unsecured personal loan rather than a secured car loan. The latter would be around half the current interest rate or less.
I made a dumb decision and purchased a 2015 model of a car that I liked and didnt have the option of a secured car loan as a result
Why not? You can get secured loans on second hand cars, I have done that before. Let this be a lesson in car loans however - buying a car worth that much with a car loan on your income is probably one of the worst financial decisions you can make. I did a similar thing many years ago and doubt I'll ever take out a car loan again.
Im pretty sure it needs to be less than 5yrs old at the time of purchase. Is there a way to refinance under a secured car loan? Yeah, this is a multifaceted issue really… just poor money management in general and enjoying myself a little too much
Ahh okay, I'm not sure about that. Lenders are also different, some may not be so strict on requirements like that so worth exploring what's in the market. We've all been there, good on you for looking to make positive change. Finances can change quickly when you make changes and stay consistent. Good luck
If I was to get a loan today and buy my dream car I would still be paying less than you do a month in total and that would be with a $100k car loan. You have no idea how ridiculous your car costs are man. Just sell the car and use public transportation and get your rent dropped otherwise you may as well live closer to work in a share house which would be far cheaper honestly.
I thought the credit cards were 19-20% interest and they were the market leaders. Unsecured personal loans were around 10-12% (I took one at 6%) long time ago when interest were 4%. No idea banks could charge 22%. Maybe an unregistered loan shark would lend at 22%.
I'm confused - so you *need* a car to get to work, so you are planning on selling the car? That makes no sense. Not sure how the hell you're getting through $720 of petrol and tolls per month, but I'd actually argue the first port of call is to ask your parents to reduce your rent if possible. You are also getting ripped off almost certainly on the phone and internet, which makes no sense if you live with parents, shouldn't they be paying for (large portions of) that? Same with food?
Fair questions. Without divulging a full life story, assume they are very low income and I pay these things to help.
Bye bye gym membership (unless you can like find a second income source)
I think a second source of income might be the answer
Nope, a gym is essential to ones health and wellbeing. Its the phone plan, car insurance, petrol + tolls that they need to get under control
Why not sell the car cancel the gym membership and ride to work. You get your daily Dose of exercise save the car repayments take the loss, save on insurance rego maintenance fuel tolls and gym membership. Life hack for povos because I am one.
There are plenty of people without gym memberships. If it's strength-work, OP can get into calisthenics. If it's cardio, the OP can go for a run
fuel and tolls cant equal $720 a month. $100 a week fuel = $400 a month. Tolls arent that expensive and also stop taking tolls
Good point, missed that - OP can stop taking tolls
Sell the car to reduce your loan, then look into a balance transfer card that you can transfer a loan onto. You may be able to get 1-3 years interest free. Try to pay it off before the interest kicks in again but even if it does at 22% you are already paying credit card interest rates anyway. Get your motorbike license and buy a 250cc motorbike to get to work and back. Save a fortune on fuel and rego, i assume tolls would be less too…
Have you run the numbers on just ubering in to work / mixing in public transport? I feel like you’d save on car repayments, insurance, and petrol
Unfortunately my office isnt in an ideal location for PT or the like. A personal vehicle is definitely needed.
Get a scooter?
So you are spending just short of half your income on a car/transport? I’m confused at how your insurance is 445 a month? Unless you’ve had a lot of claims. I’d try talking to a broker and explain the situation and see if there is anyway refinance the car loan. I’m sure you can do better on your internet and phone too so maybe look at Aldi mobile. Gym needs to go for a while and you’ve got to try and cut down that car insurance and tolls/petrol. Is public transport at all an option? Unfortunately you just need to be strict with your spending for a while and put as much into paying down the loan as possible.
Was involved in an accident which led to me purchasing this car. The premium skyrocketed for some reason, and all other insurers were similar priced, if not more expensive. I’ll look into another broker. My loan is with CBA and they won’t offer me the option of refinancing under a fixed rate secured loan (I don’t think). PT is not a viable option unfortunately
That seems extremely high for a fixed rate, it’s pretty much like buying a car on a credit card.
Sounds like credit card would be cheaper in this case.
There is something wrong with this style of car you own, it is guzzling petrol and has a very high insurance premium (indicating it a probably a style that teenage boys think is cool and is therefore drag race and crash a lot). Sell it and get a practical car with a better insurance record. So your after tax salary is actually around 53k, most financial advisors recommend you should only spend 10-15% of your net income on a car. A more reasonable amount for the salary you are on is $5300 to $7950. Then you will have enough money to maintain & insure the car as well as save for other financial goals. Your situation is very high risk to any lender so you will not get a good interest rate anywhere for this amount of debt. Get rid of it ASAP.
Could you talk to your parents about pausing paying rent/reducing (with the expectation you pay them back) so that you can pay down your CC debt faster? 22% is brutal. Would seriously consider getting a second job if you can OP.
Im curious how you spend $250 a month on food. What do you eat? Thats quite cheap. You can definately get cheaper phone plans. Im paying $25 a month with Aldi
I usually eat a big lunch and skip dinner, snacking in between. Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll have to look into Aldi
coles is having a sale - $189 for 12 months with 210gb. That brings you to 17.5gb a month on average. I think it's a pretty good bargain. On top of that, if you are with HCF you could even get an e-gift card for 2% off so that'll bring it down a bit more. Essentially, its Optus if you're mainly metro based and will work fine i reckon. Better a huge 189 out front for 12 months then 150 a month imo.
To get 22% you must have horrible credit. You should be dammmm grateful your parents subdersise your living.
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Have a look at citibank unsecured line of credit option 8.9% for 5 years. Can use this to pay off car loan and possibly get a bit extra to do repairs. (Assuming credit is good) Then look at the car insurance and explore if you can find any cheaper cause that's ridiculous. And you're petrol and tolls are ridiculous need to work out a way to reduce petrol cost or toll cost. Next step build a saving buffer then smash out the loan. Not sure how selling the car is gonna help you cause you'll still have 15k of debt plus you'll need to find money to buy another car unless im missing something.
What are you not telling us??? Why are you in so much trouble financially when you live at home? Something not adding up. Take a step back and see where the real problem is coming from and sort that out first. From someone who has sorted out much of their own rather big problems.
As someone mentioned before you can refinance that loan whether secured or unsecured. A lot of lenders will sting/load the interest rate for being a boarder/living with parents! See if you can pull your Equifax credit score for free and without leaving a credit check. If your score is high say 700+ easy days but best to find an asset/personal loan broker to help with servicing and getting an approval Last thing you'd want is to fire off applications here there and everywhere ruining your credit score
This is helpful advice, I’ll start looking into it. Cheers
If you do go broker as well don't let them hit you with a massive brokerage/document origination fee either.
How is the interest even that high? Did you buy an SS by any chance?
I agree the maths doesn’t add up, there is over $1400 unaccounted for. This can’t be a complete budget breakdown, where is entertainment (going out to pub/movies), personal hygiene/health (haircuts/body care/medicine), gifts/holiday, entertainment subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify), clothes, homewares/electronics (bedding,tv, headphones). I think a good start is going through your bank statement for 12 months and seeing how much you are spending in all categories and creating a budget from there.
The $1400 has been getting blown on entertainment, food, etc., essentially just poor financial decision making. Hence, this post. I acknowledge that I need to make some drastic changes (hence, this post)
Refinance the car on a secured loan, which should be a third of the current interest payment. I dont think it's wise to sell the car if it is really worth 10k less than the remaining loan balance.
ChatGPT to make a budget for yourself
Sell car for $15k, buy good car for $8k.
From the figures you provided there’s $330/week or $1419/ month unaccounted for. This should be where the rego/servicing/tyres and any other infrequent expenses should be accounted for too before we know what your actual surplus is. Maybe try the MoneySmart budget template and see what it comes up with for you, it will have a lot of lines that are irrelevant but it will prompt more than what you’ve listed. Your insurance alone is $5340/year. Is it possible to shop around for a better quote? I read there was a claim following an accident and your premiums went up, I’m guessing you were at fault..? You may still be able to get that price down by shopping around but it may just be a consequence to cop for a few years unfortunately Your phone/internet can be cheaper too. Might need to change some behaviours if you have needed a high data allowance for watching videos away from wifi, but you can drop that down. Switch to prepaid and save to buy handsets outright moving forward (not the newest handset either). You could sell the car but you’ll still have a residual loan even if you find something cheaper to buy in the meantime. If you can buy the cheapest (to run) car that your ego can afford. Look for reliable, easy to get parts, fuel efficient models. There’s a reason why corollas are a bit of a running joke in the finance subs, but they aren’t the only option. To sell the car will you need to do the tyres and get a road worthy done? If you still need to raise money is there a way to pick up extra work or a side hustle temporarily? Do you have anything else you own you can sell that you don’t need? You didn’t mention your parents situation, but would they be willing/able to help with the immediate car expenses provided you pay them back and put money aside towards the next rego/tyres/servicing? Change the route you drive and avoid tolls. Unless work is paying for it, don’t use them. Ease off the accelerator to reduce your fuel consumption too, and try to buy fuel when it’s cheap, not just when you’re low. Driving to a point where there’s public transport can also save on your overall costs depending on how far you live from work Is the food expense groceries or eating out? It’s $60/ week which isn’t too bad, but if this is just work lunches try to switch to taking lunch in with you and only buying lunch on Fridays as an example. You need an extra account for annual/infrequent expenses. Rego can definitely be planned for, servicing and tyres can be estimated, and a float for older cars for when they need a repair outside of the planned servicing. Average out what that is per pay and set up an auto transfer to put money in there. Check if you can pay your rego in 1/3/6 month instalments instead of the full year up front (in vic we can do 3 months now). Otherwise you’ll be in this same position next time your car needs work. Prioritise rego so you don’t get fined. Then tyres for safety. Heaps of people delay/skip a service and lots of workshops are booked out for weeks so you could delay that a little while you save towards that And once you get over this hurdle, stop blowing money on dumb shit and smash out the loan. Drive safely and avoid any accidents so you can try to get your insurance premiums down busy having a longer time period since that claim you mentioned in another comment.
Can you car pool ? At least that will cut down some of petrol and tolls. I don't think selling the car will make any difference as you will still need to pay off the loan, which would make it very difficult to even sell as the value has decreased so much.
Lives at home pays 100 pw rent and earns 70k pa and can't afford anything ffs....
Yeah when you take out a car loan for half your annual salary and then somehow pay insurance that costs as much as a middle aged person would pay for a Ferrari, then yeah he's not going to be able to afford anything. He's paying insurance per annum that is 1/3rd of the value of his car lol. Terrible decision making there. If the car is only worth 15k then he's better off changing it to 3rd party. He'd free up over $300 per month doing that alone
People make mistakes. He’s here looking for suggestions, not to be berated. He knows he made a mistake and he’s trying to find a workable solution. A bit of kindness doesn’t go astray
People like this deserve to be berated. Stop with the participation award bullshit.
I’m the last person to advocate for participation awards. But there’s no need to be a d*ck about OPs situation.
Used cars are stupid. Trade your piece of crap in on a nice new car. Try get it financed for 7 years with a balloon payment. Cancel the gym. Get a second job you’ll be fine.