General Anxiety about $$ this summer

[mdorrell]

I'm 35 and have generalized anxiety disorder and for the past four years I was REALLY struggling with finances, which increased my anxiety significantly. I owed a ton of back mortgage on my house and owed other people thousands of dollars. I had my car repossessed. I was behind on bills by thousands of dollars. Then in January this year God blessed me with a job and I was able to break even! Even getting laid off due to covid worked out because God knew I needed to be able to stay up on my bills and I have been able to AND save $! Now the problem is that when summer comes I will be back to work and will go off unemployment, but regardless of that I won't make enough to pay all of my bills and pay off a giant bill that just came in: when your car gets repossessed, you are responsible for the balance between what you owed and what the company is unable to unload the car for. I called them today and worked out a settlement with them and on July 15th I'll owe them $6400. I'm going to be able to find this money but also on July 15th I'll do my taxes and I'll owe $7k in taxes due to having to withdrawal my pension from my last job to pay my summer bills last year. I know I can go on a payment plan with the IRS but I'm not sure if NJ will do the same. I'm very worried and scared about having to save all this money and I am just so afraid I'll fall behind again. I worry that me doing everything I can with the gifts I'm being given now will not be enough. I feel like crying and I hold this anxiety in my stomach and shoulders and it's definitely affected my mood today. I know if I remain hardworking and consistent and prayerful it will all work out but that doesn't make me feel less scared in the moment. I wrote a "disaster doom and gloom" journal entry which is what one therapist had me do a few years ago but this is all fresh and I'm terrified of the "what if" so I needed some additional support.

[Jason_16]

My first bit of advice would be to take some deep breaths and then attack this money issue in small steps I think its already a great sign that you know what payments you have to make and when. Worrying about your problems will not change anything, but doing something about them will. Try and start a gofundme or take some loans or work overtime when you can. In the moment you might be scared, but you just need to focus on your goals and then achive them. God is on your side he has helped you out before and he will again just keep praying, keep staying true to your faith and work hard and the results will come. I believe in you

[mdorrell in reply to Jason_16]

Thank you so much

[Jason_16 in reply to mdorrell]

ya no problem take care of yourself and comment if you want to talk more

[Hidden]

Hi there, I'm glad you feel safe enough to share you feelings here. I totally understand get what you are saying about being stressed and worried about money. I know that you are not alone; and my hunch is that you will certainly be able to be on a payment plan with NJ. I agree with the other reply: write out a plan. You have a great handle on your current situation (you've taken the first step, which I have not yet done), and to move forward, you need a plan on how you're going to move forward with the information that you have now. Of course, as we all have seen, the information might change. You may get overtime, a second job, payment plans etc. We can only deal with what it is today. I agree that the worry-even though completely understandable-will not change anything. Dave Ramsey and his team (Ramsey Solutions or whatever they're all called now) has some wonderful things going on right now so you might want to check out those website(s). Best of luck and continue posting when you want/need to. Have a wonderful day.

[mdorrell in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so very much!