What a mess. And entirely of my own making. Frivolous and careless, I dug myself a deep hole. Now it's time for some harder choices, and even those measures will take a very long time just to reach the break even point. When you've been a fool, you can't help but feel foolish. That's grace, too.
So here are the measures I've come up with so far (in pseudo-chronological order)-- I should have used them to swim, but now I'll need them to tread water:
- Start selling stuff on eBay (my iMac will be first, I think). Said stuff will include extra computer equipment and non-unique collectibles. Much of it, ironically, came from eBay in the first place.
- Start talking to people. See if I can get debts consolidated and reduced, if I can get a raise, and if I can get my rent knocked down a bit. Also, look into subsidized housing and/or property management.
- Cut out regular charitiable contributions as of the end of the year, other than my tithe (before I become a charity case myself). I hate to do it, but it will save me over $100 monthly.
- Sell my comic collection. I'm not sure of the best way to do this for the optimal combination of efficiency and revenue. I'll miss it; I've been building it since I was a boy, but it needs to be done.
- Sell off furniture and electronics locally. In all honesty, I don't need much. I just have much. The leather couch should be a cash cow (couldn't resist). I got a lot of the furniture to have a nice place for entertaining, etc., but that's a luxury. Making my life personal-sized will also hurt.
- Move into a cheaper place. Right now, I'm thinking a studio within my building. Lowering my rent would be great, but if I have to spend money to move, it doesn't make sense. If I sell lots of my stuff and move within the building, it becomes much less costly. Maintaining my location also cuts transportation expenses, etc. I'd also consider a roommate, but there are very few people I'd like to live with (in case anyone missed that in prior reading of this journal).