Entertainment will have to take a back seat for me temporarily.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

As the title says I'm come to the conclusion that entertainment will have to take a major backseat for me over the next little over a year. Not something of my choice, but something I have to do.

The house I currently live in belongs to my parents, it's the house I grew up in. I rent it from them right now with plans of purchasing it. I just talked with a loan specialist at a bank about getting and FHA because they take lower scores and only need 3.5% down. Anyway after playing phone tag with him and talking it out it turns out I don't qualify for enough for the house with how my score and my debt to income sits right now. I need to lose about $450 in monthly payments to qualify. Unfortunately my parents need the house purchased pretty quickly because they can't afford the two houses easily and our rent doesn't even cover everything such as the taxes. My parents are stretching till the start of 2018, but that will be my deadline to buy this place.

That brings me to the unfortunate truth that going to movies, renting movies, buying movies, video games, vinyl, etc...all needs to take a backseat until I get the cards paid down and the score comes up to buy this place. A year and a couple months may sound like a long time to turn things around, but it really isn't to pay down $11,000 I'm credit cards.

I'm looking at the bright side though of all the movies and music that'll be new to me once I purchase the place. Right now though i suppose I'll need to stop to what I have, Netflix, and cable.

Anyone else need to massively scale back their favorite hobby for a bit?

[Scarriere]

No, not massively.
I've saved or did OT when I've wanted expensive purchases.

You're doing the right thing AoD. Short term pain, for long time gain.
I admire your resolve!

Best of luck to you!

[civiclx]

I've had to do the same thing. I recently lost my job and don't know when I'll get a new one. I went to the theater a lot but won't really miss that too much. I will miss buying new Blu Rays however.

I hope everything works out for you. A year or so isn't too long and then like you said, there will be all these new movies for you to enjoy.

[Groot]

Have you looked into subprime loans? They seem to be back in full force. While they are risky in the long term, if you refinance out of it in a year or two you won't have a skyrocketed payment.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by Scarriere

No, not massively.
I've saved or did OT when I've wanted expensive purchases.

You're doing the right thing AoD. Short term pain, for long time gain.
I admire your resolve!

Best of luck to you!

Thanks. It'll be odd not going to the movies or buying new movies for awhile, but it's all for the best. My parents are counting on this.

Originally Posted by civiclx

I've had to do the same thing. I recently lost my job and don't know when I'll get a new one. I went to the theater a lot but won't really miss that too much. I will miss buying new Blu Rays however.

I hope everything works out for you. A year or so isn't too long and then like you said, there will be all these new movies for you to enjoy.

That really sucks...I hope things turn around for you. What kind of job did you have? Hopefully you find a suitable replacement soon enough.

Originally Posted by Groot

Have you looked into subprime loans? They seem to be back in full force. While they are risky in the long term, if you refinance out of it in a year or two you won't have a skyrocketed payment.

I slightly looked into it. The banker and I talked over many options. Collectively between the bankers recommendation and what my parents thought we opted to push off a year to get a high enough loan at a good APR. My score right now is 605 however that has a ton to do with my debt to available credit ratio and the amount of times I had my credit pulled. I don't have any collections against me and all of my payments are made one time. Best I can figure from score simulators it can jump up to 690-710 range of I can pay all the cards down and a couple of the credit pulls drop off.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

I slightly looked into it. The banker and I talked over many options. Collectively between the bankers recommendation and what my parents thought we opted to push off a year to get a high enough loan at a good APR. My score right now is 605 however that has a ton to do with my debt to available credit ratio and the amount of times I had my credit pulled. I don't have any collections against me and all of my payments are made one time. Best I can figure from score simulators it can jump up to 690-710 range of I can pay all the cards down and a couple of the credit pulls drop off.

You'll be fine if it's just a D-T-I issue. I'm surprised the bank didn't push a subprime loan, but in the end if you can hold off a year you'll be better off as you won't have to deal with pre-payment penalties and the worry of refinancing in a 2 years.

Maybe a silly suggestion, but after you pay down your debt a bit you should try to get them up your credit line. It's a little bit faster way to drop the DTI. I did it when I was younger to get my score up to get an AMEX Gold.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by Groot

You'll be fine if it's just a D-T-I issue. I'm surprised the bank didn't push a subprime loan, but in the end if you can hold off a year you'll be better off as you won't have to deal with pre-payment penalties and the worry of refinancing in a 2 years.

Maybe a silly suggestion, but after you pay down your debt a bit you should try to get them up your credit line. It's a little bit faster way to drop the DTI. I did it when I was younger to get my score up to get an AMEX Gold.

I honestly didn't even think of asking for increases I'm limits to help the ratio. Thanks for the advice. With my payment history I can't see why they wouldn't once I get them down to a reasonable level.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Thanks. It'll be odd not going to the movies or buying new movies for awhile, but it's all for the best. My parents are counting on this.



That really sucks...I hope things turn around for you. What kind of job did you have? Hopefully you find a suitable replacement soon enough.

I worked for the postal service. I was in jail for six months and I lost my job during that time for being AWOL. So now not only do I have the pressure of trying to find a new job, but I have to do it as a convicted felon I am hoping that I might be able to go back to my old job but I haven't been real motivated to try yet. I just want to hurry up and die!

[Groot]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

I honestly didn't even think of asking for increases I'm limits to help the ratio. Thanks for the advice. With my payment history I can't see why they wouldn't once I get them down to a reasonable level.

Absolutely. A few of my cards, like Capital One, increase every other month it seems. A lot of them you can do the request online in the credit portal, most don't even run your credit. It's based on payment history.

Originally Posted by civiclx

I worked for the postal service. I was in jail for six months and I lost my job during that time for being AWOL. So now not only do I have the pressure of trying to find a new job, but I have to do it as a convicted felon I am hoping that I might be able to go back to my old job but I haven't been real motivated to try yet. I just want to hurry up and die!

Damn. Is your conviction from being AWOL, if I may ask? The way it was worded I didn't know if you meant AWOL from work or AWOL from service.

Have you thought about being self employed?

[Batman1980]

I feel ya, OP. I'm a poor college student who's going to have to go into debt just to go back to school and I can't really afford to go to the movies or buy BDs right. Thank goodness for the movies I do have and streaming services.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by civiclx

I worked for the postal service. I was in jail for six months and I lost my job during that time for being AWOL. So now not only do I have the pressure of trying to find a new job, but I have to do it as a convicted felon I am hoping that I might be able to go back to my old job but I haven't been real motivated to try yet. I just want to hurry up and die!

Aww man don't think that way. If you can't get your old job back there are plenty out there that hire someone who was convicted. Heck I have a new guy on my shift who is currently on house arrest after 3 months in jail and they hired him. Your new opportunity is out there.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Groot

Absolutely. A few of my cards, like Capital One, increase every other month it seems. A lot of them you can do the request online in the credit portal, most don't even run your credit. It's based on payment history.



Damn. Is your conviction from being AWOL, if I may ask? The way it was worded I didn't know if you meant AWOL from work or AWOL from service.

Have you thought about being self employed?

No, I was off work with a note from the doctor from Nov-Feb. Once I was in jail, I was no longer missing work due to a medical issue. I was considered AWOL and got fired I think in April. I was in jail from Feb 5th to Aug 5th.

So there OP, now your situation doesn't seem so bad

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by civiclx

No, I was off work with a note from the doctor from Nov-Feb. Once I was in jail, I was no longer missing work due to a medical issue. I was considered AWOL and got fired I think in April. I was in jail from Feb 5th to Aug 5th.

So there OP, now your situation doesn't seem so bad

I'm not one of those who likes to take pleasure in someone else's misfortunes and I doubt the OP is either.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by civiclx

No, I was off work with a note from the doctor from Nov-Feb. Once I was in jail, I was no longer missing work due to a medical issue. I was considered AWOL and got fired I think in April. I was in jail from Feb 5th to Aug 5th.

So there OP, now your situation doesn't seem so bad

Oh, damn. I don't know what you did, given the short sentence probably not much, so hopefully someone would give you a chance. Otherwise, self employment is always a good way to go.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Groot

Oh, damn. I don't know what you did, given the short sentence probably not much, so hopefully someone would give you a chance. Otherwise, self employment is always a good way to go.

I wish I could do something I love. I think hosting a travel show on The Travel Channel would be an awesome gig

[Jett Rink]

I went from buying $3K in books in a 6 month period to buying one a month.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Jett Rink

I went from buying $3K in books in a 6 month period to buying one a month.

Wow you're a nerd!

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Groot

Oh, damn. I don't know what you did, given the short sentence probably not much, so hopefully someone would give you a chance. Otherwise, self employment is always a good way to go.

He did say he's now a convicted felon, though. Given how eager they are to plea things down for first offenders nowadays, I'm guessing it was something fairly serious (and probably violent.)

[Groot]

Originally Posted by WhySoBlu?

He did say he's now a convicted felon, though. Given how eager they are to plea things down for first offenders nowadays, I'm guessing it was something fairly serious (and probably violent.)

Or white collar and not a big deal? Or weed? Not everything is violent and six months doesn't really reflect that. But hey, we could sit here guessing all day long as a lot of things fit that bill.

[civiclx]

Violent verbally, not physically