Looking For Ideas Of What To Do Since I Can't Afford Survival Apparently

[peaceloving]

Long story short (But to give the best context I can for advice) I lived on the west coast when I bought my car for 5K in 2018. It's supposed to be paid off right now, but I still currently owe 6K on the loan due to interest/fees and I've already paid off nearly 10K. They got me good.

I got hit by someone not paying attention a week after driving the car. Took half of my front bumper. Got a 2K loan to get it fixed. The mechanic just glued it back on so poorly it fell back off less than a month later. Yes that 2K loan is still sitting on my credit. I refuse to pay it because the guy didn't do anything to fix it and he had it for almost a month. Moved to the Midwest and drove myself into a ditch during the winter. So now I also have some back end damage. Dealership had to replace my transmission and in doing so they broke my taillight. It still works, it's just missing the cap. They refused to fix it since "Oh that damage was already there" because they had to replace the transmission for free.

Anyways, life happens. Lost a job, was homeless and living in said car, and got into an abusive relationship that was certainly financial pretty much halted any ability to do anything with my life, so I never got the chance to pay to fix my car again because it was hell just making sure I had enough money hiding away to catch up on loan payments. Had to go without insurance/registering it too because I just purely didn't have enough money to get it done. If I did, I would have done so in a heart beat.

So I got away finally this year, immediately got my registration handled in the new state I'm in (N.H) because I was tired of being scared to drive, and I'm slowly trying to pay down what I got behind on in payments (Currently around $500, so I'm teetering on repo by a month or so). I got pulled over after leaving a doctor's visit for not having my state inspection sticker (That I also can't afford because the inspection itself is $50, and I'm positive I won't pass because of body damage) and got a ticket for $75 and the PO let me know it does go on record and if it happens a second time, they tow the car and I have to pay the ticket, the tow charges, AND the repairs to get it back...

However, I also have a fucking slew of medical issues that are extreme that I have to see doctors for (Like the fact I can't take any food whatsoever, I'm just dumping it and bleeding while dumping it and now I'm losing weight rapidly, and my doctors are saying this is something I can't ignore and need to have a GI specialist check on immediately....or my seizures&Migraines I started having that took me out of work for a bit, for some reason my blood pressure is acting like my body wants to have a heart attack now, etc etc) But between catching on up payments and doctors/therapist/psychiatrist visits alone, I'm living off of less than $200 a month to buy food for myself and pay ancillary bills like my school program. My smallest bill being $50 a month. I already cut absolutely EVERYTHING besides the necessary out, up to and including food. Switched to the generic glucema you can get at Walmart for now and just do one of those a day to keep me going in the meantime since I can't take anything anyways. Therapist/Psychiatrist I have to see because I noticed an uptick in my text chats with the national crisis text line. Other than that, all it did was clear up enough money to pay this ticket I just got.

So I was told I won't get a fail sticker that gives me 60 days because of "Safety". I had to get the bodywork fixed (which is STILL a 2K estimate, plus whatever else is wrong with the car they'd be able to find) and THEN do the inspection before I can go on the road again. They only have a hardship waiver with the state for emissions, not safety. So I can't even do that since the issue is under safety.

I'm due for the colonoscopy, an x-ray, and an EKG to figure out the GI and seizure issues and already about 1500 behind on debt from things like getting an MRI as a baseline, but I can't just go on the road and hope for the best and end up worse and I'm sure a cop doesn't care about a sob story that happens to be true.

My credit is still fucked from my relationship. About 5K in credit card debts so I can't get another loan to do the body work. Went from a 660 to a 400, now I'm stuck at 490-500. Can't start paying that down either until I make more so my score isn't going anywhere good anytime soon. My tax return I still never got either, so I can't even depend on that to pay for it because they haven't even processed them yet and I filed in January.

I dabbled on thinking about just scrapping my car and hopefully having enough to do a down payment on another that'll pass, but I'm not sure if I can considering I have this loan on it. I'm debating saying fuck it and also letting that stay on my credit, but I want to do SOMETHING in life like buy a house so I can stop feeling like a stable home doesn't exist, and I know I would have to pay all this debt off to do so, so at the point I'm making things shitty again for future me.

I just need options here on what someone else in my position would do besides ignore everything. I was doing that before and I'm thinking that's how my health got so bad in the first place and now it's just escalated to shit I can't ignore but I can't pay these people, pay to get my car fixed, AND pay all my other bills, AND just get basic necessities like feeding myself. So it's basically like I can't afford survival at this point. Hence the uptick in crisis chats lately.

Already contacted my state to apply for MEAD in April and never heard back and getting jerked around, so I can't use their medical transportation either. I'm too poor to afford shit but too rich to receive help, so MEAD was the only way to get approved, esp since I get health insurance through my job. This medical debt is AFTER hitting my almost 3K deductible and getting financial assistance. I've googled and tried every single avenue so far and just can't think of anything else besides "Die and hope my estate can pay off the debt".

TLDR; Car needs body work to do a state inspection I got a $75 ticket for, can't afford to get the body work done. Living off $200 a month after major bills. Constantly in the red after all bills. Not sure if I can scrap the car and buy another because I still owe 6K on the car. Need emergency medical care ASAP, but also not allowed to drive to appts due to the non inspection. Really need suggestions.

 

[celestialangel18]

@peaceloving Ideally find a shade tree mechanic who can pop a salvage bumper on for a couple hundred. They probably can point you to the most lax inspection stations too.

Alternative would be going to a buy here/pay here dealership and cutting a deal that would likely make your existing car loan look great in retrospect. Then call the lender of your current car and arrange a voluntary repo. That would at least save you legal fees/towing fees/rekeying fees tacked on; the damage to your credit would be the same and you'd still owe the difference between your loan balance and whatever they auction the car off for.

Beyond the car you may want to explore whether it makes sense to reduce your income enough to qualify for Medicaid. If you aren't too far above the threshold and live one of the ~38 Medicaid expansion states you can use pre-tax deductions to reduce your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). Better to contribute thousands to a retirement plan or FSA to get you under the line for Medicaid than spending the same money just to hit your deductible.

 

[peaceloving]

@celestialangel18 Thank you! Actually found my exact year and model bumper for $60, thinking about just buying it and putting it on myself and finding a lax mechanic that'll pass me on safety which would allow me to file for the emissions hardship waiver and I'd be okay. I heard out here it's almost impossible to pass emissions without paying the mechanic for a bunch of repairs they randomly made up first. That'll at least save me from a loan on bodywork and damaging my credit further.

Did consider lowering my income, but in order to do so I'd have to pay less in rent here which I just can't do at all. I am supposed to be making 30K a year, because of FMLA it's more like 25K and that's both before taxes but for some reason Medicaid and the healthcare financial aid count the 30K and not the 25K on my tax returns even though I give them both my tax returns and my paystubs. They just focus on my paystubs. So even though I do bring home usually around 1660 a month, easily 1100 of it I never see because I auto pay on my end to not cause any issues. I do have an HSA though that pretty much just covers therapy/psychiatry. Part of why I end up so low between checks. Explained all that to both of them, said they gotta go off whatever my paycheck would estimate.

 

[resjudicata]

@peaceloving For health insurance, sometimes ACA marketplace is more affordable than the company you're working for is able to provide.

 

[peaceloving]

@resjudicata Did look into that, I work for the company that insures me. It honestly is a somewhat good plan for people who don't have excessive care, but for people who do we always get fucked over no matter the plan just from how the system works. I feel worse for my patients on Medicare or something marketplace that have those should-be-illegal coinsurance costs for stuff.

 

[jnorthey]

@peaceloving If you come in to court showing that you're not able to pay, you may be able to do community service in lieu of payment (depends on the jurisdiction).

 

[james17]

@peaceloving Declare bankruptcy. It’s 7 years and you’ve already spent 7 dealing w this

 

[a]

@james17 Honestly, yeah, it seems like bankruptcy could be your best option.

 

[peaceloving]

@james17 I actually considered that and looked into it. Was pretty much told consolidation is the better way to go rather than bankruptcy since I could double my income in the next year pretty easily, therefore having 6 years of a bankruptcy follow me and no car when I could wait a year and easily get rid of everything/wait for stuff to finally fall off my report. It's just that requires time, which I don't have for the immediate urgent stuff.

 

[hansthompson]

@peaceloving Please visit a food bank for your needs. Sometimes they offer toiletries and hygiene products too. Just saving on food can give you a bit breathing room.