I get $647 a month for disability. $125 a month in food benefits. I have a free phone paid by the gov. I live with my mom so don’t pay any rent just cover the water bill which is $40-80 a month and a credit card bill which I pay the monthly minimum of $25. Right now I don’t have anything saved as I don’t have dental insurance and had to pay over 3k to get my wisdom teeth removed. I also bought a 1.2k plane ticket for my sister’s destination wedding. Now, I want to start saving what is the best way to go about it?
Get dental insurance and stop giving your money away. Have you thought about going to school or buying books? And get rid of the credit card!
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First: pay off the high interest credit card debt. There’s no saving if you have credit card debt
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Yeah dental insurance would help a bunch. I would like to go to school but I don’t have a personal vehicle to get there.
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i don’t know your spending habits but i don’t recommend the credit card either unless your actually working and not in debt at all. that’s my opinion…but IF you want to save…i guess just 25% every month of whatever u get? not sure…i get paid a bit more but i also pay a lot more. i don’t have any credit cards and have little debt which i cant pay off for certain reasons…
Did you put your dental on your credit card?
I think with SSI, you get free dental–at least in California. Have you looked into It? Also check out coursera , edx, and other online courses. Community college could be a goal someday.
Yeah, I will definitely pay off my credit card just one I have left to pay off and the balance is not that high!
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I paid most of the dental in cash! My credit line is only $225 I was using it as a way to build my credit score but used the credit to add to my dental bill. So going to pay the rest of that off.
I will definitely check those out, are the verified and reputable courses?
Yea, you don’t have to pay unless you want a certificate. You can add on LinkedIn account. They won’t transfer to a university though. Very affordable and keeps one busy and increases knowledge. There might be classes you like!
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Look into online courses!
151515
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Do online courses through your local community college. That way they will transfer if needed.
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That’s true. Good point.
I’m just baffled that the water bill is so high. Do you have a pool or something? My water bill is only like $20/month and I take super long showers and run the dishwasher constantly.
I am wondering. You get 647 $ per month for disability, and I get around Rs 45000 per month which is 650 $,. As a regular govt employee. My water bill is 3 $ and electric bill is 15 $ per month. I pay 3 $ per month for land line telephone and 3 $ for 2.5 GB data in mobile. About 34 $ for petrol in car and motorcycle per month. 60 $ for food and other provisions items. And I am able to debt 300 $ home loan. So it is a big difference.
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Haha, we don’t have a pool. Its just the two of us so Idk why the bill is so high. Maybe it is because we live in the actual city of Detroit?
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I make grocery lists which helps me stretch my budget. I also pay bills right when I get my SSDI/SSI. At the hospital they made us make 5 year goals. Mine was to graduate, which hasn’t happened yet, but it will. Having goals will help you to make progress in your life. I don’t make that much with SS, so I hope to have a job with benefits someday.
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I’ll assume your government check goes into your checking account via direct deposit. If that’s true, then you want to open a savings account if you don’t have one already. Next, set up an automatic transfer from checking to savings on the day you receive your government check.
I looked at your expenses, and it seems to me that you have about $450 per month in discretionary income. The rule of thumb is to save a minimum of 25% of your discretionary income, so you want to make the amount of the automatic transfer $112.50 per month ($113).
Lastly, never withdraw any money from your savings account.
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Goals would help me give some sort of purpose to my life, that is for sure!
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