What to do, what to do

[fuzzybutt]

I need to vent because I must!

I'm currently stressing out over financial issues going on in my family. I've been in college since I was 18. I'm getting close to finishing a 2nd degree.

I'm now 23 and still in school, working part time (getting little hours though) and since I've been in school I've been trying to save my money (free money, other money from jobs) but at the same time I've been the one out of my siblings who has helped the most so I've rarely seen a comma in my check account balance.

Here's the problem: With my parents struggling financially and not knowing how to budget, more than a year ago they took out 2 student loans under my name WHICH I NEVER NEEDED. They needed it to pay more stuff off.

I do not have to pay this back yet. I don't know when. Probably not until 2014. However, at the rate my parents manage their money I'm deciding whether or not to start paying off this loan just to be safe.

(when I mean they don't know how to manage, perfect example: last week my mom paid the cable bill. A couple of days later she asked me for more than $100 to buy groceries. Which one is more important to you? And the warning I gave my dad more than 3 years ago about buying that gas guzzling Jeep. Now he's trying to get the car payment on time so he can swap the car for a more "economical" one -__-...It's been like this since I can remember.)

I don't have a car or a nice phone or anything. I'd like a car but I'm not certain if this debt is going to hold me back. That's why I'm considering beginning to pay it now even if I don't have to. It's a subsidized loan by the way.

Help? This whole week I've been in a pretty bad mood because of this. I won't get out of this until I find a better job, even though I'm a bit contempt where I'm at since I can go to school and my manager tells me in March I'll get more hours.

 

[Bacon]

Here's the problem: With my parents struggling financially and not knowing how to budget, more than a year ago they took out 2 student loans under my name WHICH I NEVER NEEDED. They needed it to pay more stuff off.

Wow. Is there is something like a credit counselling office where you live? They might have some good advice for you. I don't know much about that kind of thing. I wonder if there's a way you can prevent your parents from taking out further loans in your name! Yikes!

 

[perfanoff]

I'm in a very similar predicament. Your family wants to pool the money you make and the money you will be making into their own finances, and as so, they feel like you're their security blanket. What they DON'T plan on doing is paying your debt (that they have taken).

Forget the car. Forget the nice phone. Once you buy those, you will get used to a higher standard of living, and it will be more painful once you accept them. Your idea of starting to pay off the debt even now is brilliant. However. Depending on your family's financial security, you might want to put aside money that you will not tell them about. Since they don't know how to manage their money, you will have funds that you can save for a rainy day.

Check this guy out.

 

[Tiina63]

I agree with perfanoff that your idea of starting to pay off the debt now is a good one, and at the same time do not agree to any more loans/debts being taken out in your name. I also agree that putting money aside and not telling your parents about it is a good idea. They should not be relying on you to bail them out financially all the time. While you are prepared to go on doing it, there is no need for them to get their act together financially.