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[AmbitiousSaver]

I just wanted to introduce myself here... I love talking about finances and savings but I really need to work on my own first

I'm 26, married to my husband of 8 1/2 years, we have four kids 7,6,4, and 3 months... two homes (one we rent out)... and soooo much debt that I'm trying to get rid of. A credit card with over $10K on the balance, a HELOC on the rental for renovations we did, two late model cars both with car loans... and yeah... we are totally paycheck to paycheck... and I'm also pursuing my master's degree.

Needless to say, I deal with the finances by myself cause my husband is in the military and funny enough - my degree is in accounting. So because of that I get even MORE mad at myself that we have so much debt... but we have great credit and make too much so I can't exactly look towards bankruptcy or any "safety nets" to catch us.

DH and I have to get out of this by ourselves. So thats what we are doing... slowly but surely.

I'm getting sort of disappointed though, with the stimulus check & when we refi'd our home to lower the interest rate... we got a great escrow overpayment check... so I was going to use that to pay down the credit card... so we could be out of CC debt by October.

Well, this month... our flood insurance policy renewals came in the mail (for both homes), we were hit up with $750 in property taxes for the vehicles, my husband was told he needed to reimburse his work for a class he failed for $500.... and TODAY my property manager called to let us know the HVAC at our rental isn't working which, its original to the house so its likely it'll be replaced. So ALL that money I was hoping to pay down the CC will now be spent on a new HVAC system likely.

The pessimist in me says "Oh great... just when I thought things were starting to look up"

But the optimist in me says "At least this is hitting us at a time we don't have to add to the CC and can just pay it in cash"

*sigh*

So yeah, I'm hoping that in joining this forum it can help me stay motivated.

Other than that, we do save money every month for retirement... but my husband is such a spender & I'm a sucker for giving into him. His weakness is cars and motorcycles... I think we are on our 15th car/motorcycle in the 8 1/2 years we've been married. But given the current economy... and me getting older/wiser... I've been cracking down and when he complains that we don't have money to go out and eat... I tell him all the money is sitting in the garage.

[MomofFour]

Welcome to you!
Our kids are very close in age! Keeps you hoppin', doesn't it!
Sounds like you know what you need to do, now it's a matter of getting the discipline to do it!
Just a suggestion, any way you could sell some of the things that are contributing to your debt, such as the rental and the cars? You need to get your finances in order before adding "extras" like those! Your top priority right now needs to be getting rid of the credit card debt.

[aida2003]

How many motocycles does your DH have and are they good? He probably won't like to part with his 'babies', but selling one or two of them might help. These days some men with 'macho' cars (trucks, SUVs) wish to save money on gas, so they buy motorcycles instead.

[AmbitiousSaver]

He doesn't have a motorcycle right now... but is bugging to get one. Right now we just have a commuter car '03 and a minivan '07

Thought about selling the rental... but we'd have to sell them at a loss of $22K and that is IF we got a full offer. And we've probably put $20K into it, and if it needs a new HVAC sytem now then $25K... our goal was to eventually keep it to help cover college costs for the kids since we don't have a college fund set up for them. And eventually it would then be used to supplement our retirement since I don't have a pension like DH does.

But yeah... this is really the first time I'm having to work to get out of debt... we've been in and out of debt several times in our life. But we always got rescued because DH would re-enlist in the military and suddenly we had $25K in our bank account.... somedays it does feel overwhelming though cause I know we need to reduce our debt and increase our savings.... but how do you do that all at once? Or focus on the debt while you know you should be saving? Thats my greatest difficulty... but yeah, this is the first time we are having to get out of debt slowly... but I hope that getting out of debt slowly like this will then keep it off once it is finally gone.

Right now the plan is to pay off the cc with our tax return next year & his car within that year. I guess after that is time to tackle the HELOC and my car... then our only debt after that would be the mortgages and my student loan but thats at 2.77% so I'm not worried about the student loan so much.

[disneysteve]

Welcome to the site. I think you'll find a wealth of good advice and support here.

I agree with the previous responses that it sounds like you guys need a shift in priorities. While a rental property can be a good investment, it is one that should come later in the process after you are financially stable, free of other debt and have the means to support the related expenses that are sure to crop up.

Clearly, your husband needs to get onboard as well. 15 cars/cycles in 8 years?!? How many of those are still owned now? Anything more than 1 car per person and 1 bike (maybe 2 if you both ride) needs to go ASAP. You can't afford to be housing, insuring and maintaining surplus vehicles.

Do you guys have a budget/spending plan? My advice is to record all spending for a month, every last penny. Then sit down and list everything you spent broken down into 2 columns, Wants and Needs. Be sure to add to that list recurring bills that might not have been paid during that month, like insurance premiums, taxes, registrations, etc.

Once you have that list, take a hard look at the Wants column and start working on cutting down as many of those things as possible. And don't ignore the Needs column either. See if there are things on that list that you can get cheaper. For example, get new insurance quotes and see if you can save money by switching companies or raising deductibles.

If you are willing to post a detailed list of your expenses and income, we could help out a lot more with specific advice.

[disneysteve]

Right now the plan is to pay off the cc with our tax return next year

We posted at the same time so some of my comments don't apply.

This statement is a problem. If you are planning to get a tax refund next year large enough to pay off your CC debt, you are doing it wrong. Change your withholding NOW so that you pay less in taxes NOW and you get more take-home pay NOW. Use that extra income to pay down your debt NOW. The quicker you repay it, the less you'll pay in interest over time.

[jIM_Ohio]

DisneySteve's second post is excellent. Let me add one other key comment. Most people do not have an income problem, they have a spending problem. People have wants and tend to give themselves what they want, regardless if they can afford it.

Your husband's desire to get a motorcycle is a classic example.

I would look to do the following:

1) create a budget of all expenses
2) track all expenses

Compare 1 and 2 after 3 months. if the budget and expenses do not match, you have a HUGE spending problem.

Then you need to look to cut budget and apply the savings towards the debt. Adjust the tax return so you take home more now and get a lower refund later. Fix all current spending problems.

Then when cars are paid off and debt is paid off you can actually look to get ahead. Right now you are falling further behind every day until you take serious action.

[sounderella]

Welcome!! Both you and I are in the same boat as far as trying to get out of debt. Sadly, I'm the spender though. However, I'm finding a lot of good information and advice on this board......I'm sure it will help you too.

Again, welcome!!

[AmbitiousSaver]

I would change DH's W4 but can't, he won't do it cause he thinks if we did... we'd just use that money during the year and then we wouldn't have anything to "bail us out" if/when we overspend or stuff comes up... we had this discussion a few years ago after I graduated with my degree. I claim 2... but he makes more so whatever I do just doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

We haven't used the credit cards in over a year so we have to at least be doing good there. I use Quicken and we stopped eating out a lot.... we don't really have too many luxuries except I "could" cut out my son's preschool ($360/mo) but he's really flourished in his reading and all... and he won't go during the summer, so we get a break there. In October we owed $17K... now its down to $12500... and depending if the rental needs a new HVAC.... the $3500 I was planning on putting to pay that down to get it under $10K... but since the property manager called yesterday to tell me it needs to be serviced... I'm holding out that $3500 to see if that just needs to go to a new system or the HVAC.

Other than that... other than utilities and loan payments... we put away $220/mo in my retirement, 5% of his pay in his 403b, $22/mo for the dog's vet plan which after he turns 1 year we likely won't due anymore but did it the first year while he has so many vet visits and shots, oh and $40/mo to a very basic cell phone plan - have even disabled internet and texting on the phone. And $18/mo towards Blockbuster since we don't go out to movies or anything so that's our entertainment budget. We go out to eat MAYBE 1-2 times a month which costs around $50-$70/mo

I even cloth diaper the baby and breastfeed so the baby herself is relatively inexpensive.
I also work from home so I don't have costs associated with keeping a uniform or commuting (just taking the kids to school and back)... and medical is free in the sense we don't have to pay health insurance or premiums or copays

BUT I know I still have a TON of work to do... between cars, HELOC, student loan, and CC... I need to work on paying down $77K - the rest is mortgages but those are at 5.5% and 5.75% fixed. Facing all of this does feel overwhelming at times... I guess its like a morbidly obese person trying to lose weight, you know what you have to do but the process is so long that it feels overwhelming. I've lost pregnancy weight 3 times and in the midst of doing it a 4th time... ironically I have about 12 more pounds to go... and I have 12K in credit card debt.

I don't know... I'm really hoping we don't need a new HVAC... but I wouldn't be surprised if we do. But yeah... in October, DH gets a bonus which is going straight to the CC too.

[maat55]

I would change DH's W4 but can't, he won't do it cause he thinks if we did... we'd just use that money during the year and then we wouldn't have anything to "bail us out" if/when we overspend or stuff comes up... we had this discussion a few years ago after I graduated with my degree. I claim 2... but he makes more so whatever I do just doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

We haven't used the credit cards in over a year so we have to at least be doing good there. I use Quicken and we stopped eating out a lot.... we don't really have too many luxuries except I "could" cut out my son's preschool ($360/mo) but he's really flourished in his reading and all... and he won't go during the summer, so we get a break there. In October we owed $17K... now its down to $12500... and depending if the rental needs a new HVAC.... the $3500 I was planning on putting to pay that down to get it under $10K... but since the property manager called yesterday to tell me it needs to be serviced... I'm holding out that $3500 to see if that just needs to go to a new system or the HVAC.

Other than that... other than utilities and loan payments... we put away $220/mo in my retirement, 5% of his pay in his 403b, $22/mo for the dog's vet plan which after he turns 1 year we likely won't due anymore but did it the first year while he has so many vet visits and shots, oh and $40/mo to a very basic cell phone plan - have even disabled internet and texting on the phone. And $18/mo towards Blockbuster since we don't go out to movies or anything so that's our entertainment budget. We go out to eat MAYBE 1-2 times a month which costs around $50-$70/mo

I even cloth diaper the baby and breastfeed so the baby herself is relatively inexpensive.
I also work from home so I don't have costs associated with keeping a uniform or commuting (just taking the kids to school and back)... and medical is free in the sense we don't have to pay health insurance or premiums or copays

BUT I know I still have a TON of work to do... between cars, HELOC, student loan, and CC... I need to work on paying down $77K - the rest is mortgages but those are at 5.5% and 5.75% fixed. Facing all of this does feel overwhelming at times... I guess its like a morbidly obese person trying to lose weight, you know what you have to do but the process is so long that it feels overwhelming. I've lost pregnancy weight 3 times and in the midst of doing it a 4th time... ironically I have about 12 more pounds to go... and I have 12K in credit card debt.

I don't know... I'm really hoping we don't need a new HVAC... but I wouldn't be surprised if we do. But yeah... in October, DH gets a bonus which is going straight to the CC too.

The fact that your husband thinks you need a refund to bail you out, say's that you need to live on a strict budget. Like DisneySteve said, you should be using this money to pay debt now.

Your husband has the financial sense of a child. He should not even consider a motorcycle until you two are debtfree and have an emergency fund. Selling everything you can to lower debt is your quickest way to get your finances under controll. You should read Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover, it will give you a more detailed plan for getting out of debt and then prospering. Good luck.

[SnoopyCool]

Welcome to SA! My first three children and your first three are spaced equally apart... how funny (I also have 4).

I would bring up the witholdings subject again with DH. But I'd be sure that the extra $ per payperiod went to debt. It would be easy to absorb it into your normal day.

I'll second (or third or fourth) this thought: get on a budget (if not already). It is something I struggle with, but I know it is important, that's why I don't give up.

Read and post, read and post. Very helpful, knowledgeable folks here.

[noppenbd]

I second the recommendation to read Dave Ramsey's book, "The Total Money Makeover". It does sound like you have a major cash flow problem, along with a bunch of different debts that are overwhelming you. DR's book is very helpful for those in this situation, in my opinion. He does not take a strictly mathematical approach to finances, but is more focused on getting you motivated and feeling like you are going somewhere.

[creditcardfree]

My DH is in the military and he has given me permission to adjust withholding if necessary on the mypay website. Do you have such access? It is very simple to do. It takes effect the following pay period.

Welcome to Saving advice!

[AmbitiousSaver]

Oh I didn't realize I could do it on MyPay... where do you do so? I know how to adjust his TSP but not the withholding.

[AmbitiousSaver]

Oh wait, nevermind... I found it. Thanks!