What to do, what to do...

[marsvolta619]

Looking for advice for people who've been through this before. After my initial successes at 10/20, I celebrated and bought a new truck. Being 20 at the time, I had no bills or worries. Ran bad for a little bit, and then I moved on my own to finish up my school. Also put about 2 grand on a credit card with a very high max to pay for my first semester(bad move #1)

I have a really good APR on my card and I always make monthly payments. Now, fast forward to... now. After building my BR back up to a reasonable level, disaster struck again. Fiance's car completely went to hell, and ended up just buying her a new car. With the new semester started, I had to put another ~3k on my card, giving me about $6,000 I have to pay off.

I've re-bought in twice in the past 2 months. Ran $300 up to $2500 once and ended up losing it all after taking a shot at 30/60 to try and luckbox my way back even. Did the same thing with my next buyin, except topping out at $1600 this time.

This has been a real burden on me lately, and I've been getting pretty down about it. I've already moved to a full-time position in my real job so I can get my tuition reimbursed, but what should my poker plans be? And will this slow payment totally kill my credit score?

Any replies welcome and appreciated

[Harv72b]

In life, just as in poker, you need to play within your bankroll. It looks as if you've done neither thus far.

But, what's done is done. You're keeping up with your bills, and as long as you keep making your minimum payments on your credit card it shouldn't have an adverse effect on your credit score (I think?). You did the right thing by moving to full time at your job, although I'm sure it isn't easy to do that, go to school, and play some poker (oh yeah, and spend time with a fiance). I think the wisest thing you can do right now would be to find a way to cut down on your expenses somewhat...whether that means trading in your new truck for a cheaper one, finding an alternate living arrangement, or whatever.

And stop taking shots at games you aren't bankrolled for. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Warren Whitmore]

I agree with Harv. Live at about 75% of your means in poker and everything else. The only time you should borrow money is if it will cost you more not to. A decent finantual goal is to increase your net worth at a rate of 1% per month. Its easy and will make your life a much more pleasant one than the path you are currently traveling. I could easily afford to drive anything I choose but have never payed more than $400 for a vehicle in my life. I predict I never will.

[tomdemaine]

playing 30/60 with a $2500 bankroll not the best idea ever. your like 260BB's short [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Emperor]

1. There was an article on MSN talking about the only way to save for emergency's, and retirement is to only spend 60% of your monthly income at most.

2. "Fiance" and "Car went to hell" - Is she a passenger on this ride or is she part of the crew? I married a high maintenance "taker" the first time around. I am marrying a "giver" the next time around. (Found one already.) Personally if she can't afford to buy a new one / pay someone to fix it, then she needed to go pick up a chiltons and some tools and get dirty.

3. You will bust your bankroll if you keep gambling

[ QUOTE ]
I agree with Harv. Live at about 75% of your means in poker and everything else. The only time you should borrow money is if it will cost you more not to. A decent finantual goal is to increase your net worth at a rate of 1% per month. Its easy and will make your life a much more pleasant one than the path you are currently traveling. I could easily afford to drive anything I choose but have never payed more than $400 for a vehicle in my life. I predict I never will.

[/ QUOTE ]

$400 for a car? Geesh tires cost more than that.

I have always bought CHEAP used cars (I have an 88 Mustang GT), and have always done all the work myself. $400 though??? Did you get the cars from Klepton?

[jb9]

There's been some good advice already in this thread, I'll just add "don't try to get even all at once".

I think that is true for both poker and personal finance. It can be real easy to get in a hole fast -- especially when unexpected expenses/problems come up. The best way out of the hole usually takes a bit longer and requires a clear understanding of the situation, a good common sense plan for improving things, and discipline to stick to the plan (and a little good luck never ever hurts...).

FWIW, I've been there (lots of debt in early/mid-twenties), and I know it's not a fun situation (and finally paying off that last bit of debt was such a great feeling). There is one stupid cliche I really learned to take to heart as I slowly paid off those bills:

[ QUOTE ]
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.

[/ QUOTE ]

1) Stop pouring money into poker. Buy in for a certain amount and play within the limits appropriate for your bankroll. Stop trying to solve your financial problems via poker. That is a BAD idea. But you probably already figured that out. The thing you may not realize is that this is a pathway to addiction. You aren't there yet, but I would say you are showing some of the warning signs.

2) pay off your credit card as fast as possible. Even if your APR is good, its still probably no less than about 9%. If you are just making the minimum payments you will never pay it back. Your credit score is not the problem. The problem is that you need to get back to living within your means - and that means no credit cards. You can probably expect the company to come to you and offer to raise your limit - they like people like you because you are basically just paying off interest each month. If you make a plan to pay off your credit card through your wages and stick to it, you can probably pay off almost all of it within a year - and then you don't have to worry about it any more.

You are in a precarious situation and its important that you start changing your decisions as soon as possible. You do not want to be moving on to the next phase of your life with all this debt hanging over you.

My wife had over $20,000 in credit card debt at one point - paying it off was extremely difficult, but she did it (with some help from me) and it has made a huge difference on our quality of life.

[beekeeper]

Speaking strictly with regard to your credit card debt--in the short term it won't hurt your credit because you won't need to take out a loan.

However, making minimum payments will hurt you in the long term because you won't be paying down your premium, and there will always be unexpected expenses. The older you get, the more unexpected expenses you will run into.

Down the road, if you haven't been making more than the minimum payments (I always double my minimum payments at least if I have to carry a balance), this will affect your ability to borrow. You won't be able to use your income from poker on a loan application, so creditors will look only at your income from your job. They will look at how much outstanding debt you have relative to your ability to pay, factoring in cost of living expenses.

So, looking to the future, pay as much as possible monthly on that credit card. It's very -EV to carry a balance, especially in the long term.

[TheHip41]

[ QUOTE ]
playing 30/60 with a $2500 bankroll not the best idea ever. your like 260BB's short [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]


Playing 30-60 when you suck is even worse

[ZenMusician]

[ QUOTE ]
Did you get the cars from Klepton?

[/ QUOTE ]

Looooooooool!

Ni Han Sa!

-ZEN