Hey all -- it's been a while. I don't know if I'm posting this more to vent, or to gain some perspective. My mom (and the rest of my family) has always been really horrible with money. She filed for bankruptcy once in my early 20s. She then filed for bankruptcy a second time in my mid 20s. The second bankruptcy filing was Chapter 13 bankruptcy, so she has been paying $900 a month for the past 5 years. She will finally be done with this in February 2017. She was so close to the finish line, but of course, everything she owns is very old. Recently, her TV died and she financed a new one for $1200 (made me so mad). She also has a lot of medical expenses, and had to credit $800. So now she's $2k in debt. She earns good money - about $103k per year, gets a $5k bonus after taxes each year, and just started working two part-time jobs last month (Barnes & Noble and Dick's Sporting Goods). The part-time jobs just break my heart because she has SO many health issues and her doctor says she's the perfect candidate for a heart attack. I feel like at 52, she should be more focused on trying to better her health by eating better and getting some exercise in. However, her financial situation prevents her from doing so. She's living paycheck to paycheck because admittedly, she was assisting me with $400 a month for 5 years (I'm not receiving help anymore); $900 a month toward her Chapter 13 repayment; $1250 a month for rent (she has two large dogs and this was the only place that would rent to her in her small town); my brother has a drug addiction for which she has had to pay much of his treatment/rehab; repairs to her very old car; and lastly, her healthcare bills along with the two dogs' bills too (one is 12 and the other is 2, but has very bad eyes); and then obviously utilities/cell phones/gas/groceries/household goods/etc.
My brother is now working a minimum wage job and still lives with my mom, but they have to share a car because obviously no one will give her a loan. Unfortunately, my brother got into a car accident the other morning and totaled their one and only car. Thankfully, everyone is alright. But now they have no car. My mom has no money saved and can't get a loan. My brother also has a horrible financial history of writing bad checks, overdraft fees that were never paid back, owes the IRS $8,000.00, etc. I have great credit, but feel very uncomfortable taking out a loan for them, but how do I let my mom potentially lose her jobs because she has no way to get to work? Her auto insurance covers a rental for a week, so that's how much time she has to figure out what to do.
I don't personally have the money to give her, unfortunately, otherwise I would in a heartbeat. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? What direction can I give her?