Honest Financial advice needed

[TexasTB]

Bear with me, this may be a little on the long side.

I recently came into a hole, hole being in the hole, money being tight. OK, so money is tight for everyone. But I have a few decisions that need to be made that may or may not better the future in the long run.

I have a 2003 TrailBlazer, payments of $475 a month, everything is fine, not a bad payment. But like I said, money got tight, wasn't managed right, yadda yadda yadda. It happens. Not all my fault, yet I am not pointing fingers either.

I am behind on my payments. Behind enough to be in REPO status.:worried:
I use the TB to pull my trailer, which is MY BUSINESS and only source of income. So it the truck goes, no money comes in.

Here is where the trouble comes in.... I can make a payment, 1, but will still be in REPO status. I have to come up with a 2nd payment, somehow, to keep it out os REPO status. I have no idea how too come up with the 2nd payment, I have other payments/bills that need to be made (electric, phone, water, insurance) Things that are needed, not wanted.
I can ask family for the $$, but will still be behind on the payment, which if I go any further, will be in REPO status again. Now, I found a nice little truck, $1k down, payment of $175 a month, $300 less than the SUV. I have half for the down, but again, will need to ask family for the other half.

So I have to either chose between the 2. Ask for the $500 for the truck payment, or $500 for the other truck. Either way, I need help. But I am looking at it from down the road. I do not want to keep the SUV and fall back more and more....just to be in the same position.... Where I can get this cheaper truck, save money on payments, and save the rest....

Now I bought the truck for my Wife to drive, but I use it all day, every day to pull my detailing trailer. So she rarely gets behind the wheel. SO I am wasting money in gas IMHO with the SUV. Where the other truck will save me some gas.
My Wife wants to keep up the payments, and "when" she starts working, I can get a truck for myself, which will be 2 payments....

When I said "when" she starts working, her Aunt and cousin are opening a dance studio, then she will be a dance teacher.... She is "betting" on everything going to plan, which scares me...lol

So, I am looking for suggestions, let the SUV go and get a cheaper truck for now, until everything gets better, or struggle to keep the payments up, and hope I do not fall again. Now, as much as I do not want to let the truck go, if it going to keep my in this position, then I will suck it up like a man, and accept what will go on my Credit report. It happens, and I admit, I will not deny it.

I'm sure there is a few things I forgot to put in there, so if I remember, I will post.

Any insight will be appreciated a million times, as the truck could be taken any time unfortunatly. I need to figure out if I should let it go, or pay and pray.......

TIA and sorry you had to hear me vent my financial problems, I have noone else to talk to about it and I am stressed out.....

Oh, and I just flew my daughter back to her mothers house in Missouri....and they are going to Japan for 3 years..... SO I won't see my daughter for 3 years.......:sadcry:

[Dust2Glory]

chris my wife says let the suv go and get the truck!!! and "when" your wife starts working she can get a new car.

[TexasTB]

that is what I wanted to do. I thought it would be better in the long run, minus the fat repo on the credit.
Wife says keep it, I dunno why. I want it, but do not want to drive it. It is sucking too much in gas with my trailer. I drive it all the time, a 3rd row seating SUV for nothing.

[dengood1]

TB, I feel for you man. Unfortunately, if you let the Trailblazer get reposessed and it is worth less than what you owe, you will still owe the difference. Can you get some clients lined up and bust your ass to make enough money to make the payments? If not, go ahead and make one payment (only if you want to keep it) which will show the lender you still want to pay on it. Sometimes a lender will even "extend" the loan by placing the payment that you are in arrears at the back of the loan. Did you talk to the lender, are they willing to work with you? Can you sell something of value to get the money for the payments? Believe me man, I've been where you're at and it sucks, but things always seem to work out if you take the time to think about what you need to do and make the necessary sacrifices. Obviously you need the Trailblazer for your income to feed your family, pay bills, etc., then get out there and try to drum up some business in a hurry(office buildings, Dr.'s offices, etc., somewhere where you can do multiple jobs in one day(or a few days) to make a lot of money quickly. Obviously you need to pay your electric, rent(or mortgage), and water, other than that I would use what's left to pay for the truck(if you plan on keeping it). Like I said though, if you let it go and you are upside down in it, you are liable for that amount(or whatever amount is owed if it is reposessed and sold at auction or elsewhere). If you are not upside down and you are willing to take the large hit on your credit report and you won't lose any money by them reposessing it (if you owe less than it's worth), then let it go if it's unnecessary and it will help you and your family's livelihood. There's a lot of things to think about and I'm sure you will make the right choices/sacrifices. I'm sure Surfer, Killr, and Tonya will be around to help you with some advice as this is what puts food on the table for them. Keep your head up and DO NOT let this get you down and beat you----there's a good solution, you'll find it. Good luck man, wish you all the best.

PS. Sorry to hear about your daughter, that would be a tough pill for me to swallow. I mean EVERYONE needs a break from their kids every once in a while, but 3 years? When things work out(which they will), start putting some money aside for a round trip ticket for her to come back and be with you every once in a while!

[sneek]

If the truck meets all your needs get the truck. Is this truck new or used? If the truck is used, will it look good enough to make a good first impression? I mean, your TB might be taken away at anytime, so I would just part with it before anything happens. If you don't feel that the truck will meet all your needs then you could borrow against your home, even though it is risky. If you do borrow against your home, you MUST work your arse off to pay that back ASAP. The only reason that I would suggest borrowing against your home is because a vehicle is nessasary for you to keep money coming in. If you are renting and cannot borrow on your house, then I think your only real choice is to get the truck and make it work, as I can't really see how you would make keeping the TB work.

Have you also considered how you are going to make more money to get yourself out of all of this, pay down the truck and everything else? ( I am assuming that the TB is not the only thing you owe money on) Maybe you can work longer days doing extra "express" details for a little extra money, also look at all your expenses and cut out almost everything that is unnessasary (to some extent you need some luxury items to keep you happy and sane).


I don't know if my advice is worth anything. I wish you the best of luck in making everything work out. I know you will be fine.

[Jimmie]

There are some things that you can do that used to work. Don't know about now days. Here are my thoughts. Contact the lender and ask to meet in person. Explain your situations and ask if they can work with you on this one. Just let them know that you are sincerely interested in them getting paid. They know that the financial ups and downs go in cycles. If you get ahead and can sell the SUV for enough to pay it off do that and then look for your new one. Just some thoughts.

[Gary Sword]

Unless the SUV is worth a lot less then the amount you owe on it I would try to sell it and pay it off. If they REPO it they will probably say it's worth even less then you could sell it for and still say you own them the money for the difference. Besides ruining your credit (which will also cost you more money in the long run because of higher interest rates) and Reposing the SUV they can also get a judgement for the against you for the balance and start charging you interest on it. The interest will add up and you will be in an even bigger hole.

I think letting them REPO the SUV would be the last thing I would want to do. Either sell it or try and catch up with the payments.

Best of luck Chris. I hope it works out for you and your family.

[Rsurfer]

I agree with everyone's suggestions. Try working with the lender face to face if possible. There are only two things you can do. Cut expenses or bring in more income. If you can't drum up more business then get a part time job at night. You probably have some credit card debt, seek the advise of a reputable credit counseling. Good luck.

[TexasTB]

only big things I pay are Truck payment and mortgage.
No credit cards at all, big trouble in my opinion.

I have tried to contact and work something out with the lender, Wells Fargo.
I cannot get them to budge.

As far as the truck I was looking at, it was a white S-10. great shape.
I was looking at it as a last resort. You know, just in-case my truck was gone in the morning type thing...hehe

I have nothing to sell of my own, not selling the Kids' stuff...... business is fine. I can work it out, but need to within the week, as I was told the truck could be picked up any day.
So that is why I am in a panic, I cannot do it in a week, lender could care less.

[Rsurfer]

Originally Posted by TexasTB

only big things I pay are Truck payment and mortgage.
No credit cards at all, big trouble in my opinion.

I have tried to contact and work something out with the lender, Wells Fargo.
I cannot get them to budge.

As far as the truck I was looking at, it was a white S-10. great shape.
I was looking at it as a last resort. You know, just in-case my truck was gone in the morning type thing...hehe

I have nothing to sell of my own, not selling the Kids' stuff...... business is fine. I can work it out, but need to within the week, as I was told the truck could be picked up any day.
So that is why I am in a panic, I cannot do it in a week, lender could care less.

Good that you have no credit card debt cause this can bury you with excessive charges and interest for being late. Can you refinance and get cash out or get a home equity line of credit? If so, you can borrow from relatives until the loan goes thru, usually 30 days.