How can I help a friend? (2 Viewers)

[krafticus]

First, and foremost, I am NOT soliciting for donations, contributions, gifts, hand-outs, etc....

I have a very good friend of mine who recently sustained a fairly substantial injury which is now preventing him from working. He will be placed on long-term disability, so he will have some income, but nowhere near what is "normal".

my friend drives a truck for a living, as has torn his ACL and meniscus in his right knee. Said friend has been in a financial struggle for many years due to some poor choices in the past. His wife was out of work for almost 3 years due to a really bad bout with long COVID (still dealing with it), but is now back to work full time. He works 20-30 hours of overtime, plus Saturdays to try and get back into the black. (They've been working very hard to get out of the hole). Without the OT and such, they're going to struggle to make ends meet, since he'll be off of his feet for a while. Their credit profile is not good, and getting a personal loan is mostly out of the question. I know they've already taken 401k loans to assist with payments for college for their son, so that's not an option. They currently rent their house, so they have no equity there.

I cannot really help them with with much financially, and wondering what options there could be to assist? Again, I'm not looking for donations, hand-outs, contributions, etc... Asking essentially what options are out there for my buddy and his wife to help them get through this rough patch. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks !!

Mark

 

[Labrat]

Is he union, and if so, is there any support there?

 

[elemeno]

Bringing food over or having food delivered to them

 

[iLogik]

Are they in debt with cc payments?

 

[ekricket]

Elks, Rotary, Moose, Shriners, contact some of them and I bet they can steer you where you need to go faster than we can

 

[krafticus]

Are they in debt with cc payments?

unfortunately, yes

 

[Highli99]

Ooof, that’s a tough one. Lots of unshareable problems there. Probably the best thing is to be a good friend, which I think you already are for them.

 

[Budha]

My first job while in college was in collections for a big CC company. A couple of ideas you could suggest to him:

- See if he can defer any payments. Most car, college, and simple interest loans will allow you to defer 1 or 2 payments with no penalty. (The deferred payment gets tacked to the end of the loan, the pay off would be in say 37 months, instead of 36)

- Make all efforts to get rid of or convert all credit card debt to simple interest. Seek a consolidation loan.

- Sign up with a consumer credit Counseling Service. Make sure it’s a free service, they are out there. Do NOT go with one that charges a fee, many CC and banks won’t work with them if they charge a fee. They can sometimes get lowered payments/interest.

Cut back or eliminate ALL nonessential expenses. Get cheap cell phones/service. Cut cable TV, etc. It’s not fun, but necessary and the only way.

Unfortunately there no silver bullet. It’s hard work and discipline. Talking to his creditors early is key, they often have programs that can help!

Note: if he calls his CC’s they will likely restrict the account, so just an FYi if he needs to keep using one.

 

[Roslindale]

Time.

Being present with him helps. Knowing that someone is by his side can help.

 

[Marius L]

Vote for a party that focuses on a system to help the unfortunate such as your friend. If such a party exist in the US..?

 

[krafticus]

Vote for a party that focuses on a system to help the unfortunate such as your friend. If such a party exist in the US..?

yeah, well, that's not really an option

 

[sethwanab]

This seems short term so you could justify a gofundme page for friends and relatives to help out a little until he is back up again.

 

[tabletalker7]

Not knowing what all the owed money is, I am left questioning if maybe bankruptcy is a viable option here?

 

[buzzmonkey]

This won't be a huge help, but https://www.modestneeds.org/ is a charity that may be able to help. They normally cover one-time unexpected bills and it may be a drop in the bucket for these folks, but every little bit can help in situations like these. I think tightening the belt as much as possible is their best bet as mentioned before. Avoid eating out/delivery as much as possible, cut cable and get a low cost cell service like Mint or something. Do a deep dive into various subscriptions they have. f it won't negatively affect his disability, see if there is anything he can do for extra money from home? Data entry type job or something.

Something you can do, if you have things like DVDs to lend that they can watch in lieu of cable TV, books to read, an old gaming system. Anything to help pass the time.