Looking to start a new life. Need advice...

tobymac987 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-20-2010, 11:03 PM

Me and my wife are looking to start over and make a new life in roughly about 9 months to a year. Here is some background to go off of to help. We are now in the process of filing bankruptcy due to a auto loan gone bad. We are both 23 going on 24. We currently live in Illinois where i work alone and make about 58 thousand a year but the cost of living is killing us here. We are going to be moving out to somwhere in Colorado where the cost of living is about 13% less than IL and much cleaner air. We are looking to move somewhere around the Boulder area probally Fort Collins. We are trying to figure out how much to save in order to move and start a new life out in Colorado i was hoping maybe some people on this form are from around there and can vouch for the cheap cost of living. I plan to go out and Feburary and look for work and all before we move out there and also look at apartments. We are looking to spend somewhere between 500-800 on rent out in Colorado. We want to save up and have spending money for when we move out here. At the end i will post a summary of my monthly cost to help get a jist of how much i spend a month and how much i need to save. The thing that helps but also burdens is my current employer has a 401K set up for me right now i have about 10K in it since I have been working there for about 3 years and put 10% of my check into it a week. They are going to make me withdrawl it when i quit because it is a union and they will not alow you to use there 401k if you do not intend to go into printing again which i do not. So here is a break down of my month spendings and how much i make.

Weekly Paycheck- Base pay $450 I can accept to work weekends when avaliable and i make about $840 because i make time and half saturday and double time sunday.

Cable-$94 Month
Electric-$149 Month
Gas-$94 Month
Rent-$670 (This is only because we own the property we have to pay a lot fee that is why it is so cheap, Most places in IL are about 800-1400 for rent)
Grocerys- $125 every 2 weeks
Enetertainment- $125 a month
Water-$90 month
Cell Phone- $100 Month

So when we move i will have my 401K money which is about 10K and also i have about $350 in my savings right now, Now the questions is minus my 401K how much should i try to save to live and be able to serve for a while to live in Colorado without having to struggle. Thank you guys so much for your help and all it means the world to me.

Toby Mac

sapphirecapital · #2 (**permalink**) 06-21-2010, 10:21 PM

a. you roll your 401k over to a new employer sponsored or your own, thats easy, it is nt money you have available easy because you pay a penalty if you access the funds.
You may thinking about doing that and it is possible since you are young but I do not advise to do that.
b. Cost in Boulder are high, its nice there but you will have to move into the lower end areas which means you are getting into the countryside. 500 to 800 a month gets you a dormlike room, do your homework.
c. loose the entertainment for 6 month and restart it at half, overtime is good, I do not understand your car loan problem, bankruptcy due to a car loan? bought a Ferrari or what? If you can handle to negotiate do that with the lender, they are usually flexible, especially nowadays they do not want the car back nor you able to get a new one due to bankruptcy, car loans are sales driven, there is usually a solution and even in Colorado you will need a car.

so my friend, I can understand you are looking for greener pastures but do your homework and for gods sake get a job before you move there

tobymac987 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-22-2010, 04:00 AM

Ok i dont think you understand what im trying to say. Here is the car loan issue. We were late on our car payment for 2 1/2 months and they threatened to repo our car. Well we came up with the money and paid it so our car would no be repossed thought well at least we got that out of the way. So the next month rolls around car payment comes due, I think ok well i get paid on Thursday and its tuesday now so i will just pay it on Thursday. Wedensday morning i wake up and my car is not in my driveway. So i freak out dunno wth is going on so i wait till 9 am call Toyota Financial they said by being late even 24 hours i defaulted on my car loan and now i owe the entire balance of $17,500. Well the car goes to auction the get $7,000 for it so they still want $10,000 and they refuse to work with me. So i had no option but to file bankruptcy and it has already been filed.

Also i said I want to move to the Boulder area, I am looking at propertys in Louisville and Fort collins. They are about 750 for a 2 bed 1 bath.

My 401K can NOT be rolled over. I have already asked for that and was told they refuse to roll it over and once i quit I will have a check sent to me with the amount minus taxes. I am not pentilized as long as I do not go back into printing after i quit or else they come after you once you rejoin the union. So i do plan to put the money into a savings account till i find a really good job, but im saying it can not be rolled over so i will have it avaliable in extreme needs.

Last like i said I do plan to go out in Feburary and spend at least a week going to job interviews and all, Come late December i am going to start applying for jobs on Monster and Careerbuilder.

Thank you for your help

redyouch · #4 (**permalink**) 06-30-2010, 11:10 AM

It is my understanding that the money your old employers gives you with a check needs to be rolled into a new 401k, or you are going to get taxed and penalized significantly at the end of the year. As far as the auto loan, it is quite incredible that you declared bankcruptcy for $10k. Did you ever consider taking out a personal loan for $10k to pay Toyota and then paying that off over time? ...7 Years of your credit in the dumpster is certainly worth $10k to most people...

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