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If you make over 60 grand a year isn't that enough to support a family of 5? I'd say that spending habits in this case need to change, but that is only what everyone else has told the OP.
Why does he keep making these threads? Maybe in the hopes that we will all send him money.
I think he's looking for a miracle. What he needs to do is tell the wife to get a job and don't take no for an answer. He needs to tell his wife to stop calling the relatives in where ever and he needs to cut the cable.
It's called manning up. If she's not willing to do this, it's time to tell her too bad. It's what needs to be done. Or tell her to hit the road.
the kids aren't in school long enough for her to work. the stupid local public school canceled their full day kindergarten class and so the kids go in at 8, then the youngest one needs to be taken out at 10:45, then the others come home at 3. so basically no, you can't get a job working one hr per day. but she works week-ends a lot of times. Still it doesn't amount to a whole lot, maybe 400-500/month.
Have the youngest one go home with a classmate from your neighborhood a few times a week.
If you make over 60 grand a year isn't that enough to support a family of 5? I'd say that spending habits in this case need to change, but that is only what everyone else has told the OP.
Why does he keep making these threads? Maybe in the hopes that we will all send him money.
I think a lot of people are in his boat. People who bought more house than they could really afford. People who had kids before they were ready. People who bought more car than they could afford.
It's so easy to fall into the consumer traps. The government wants us to spend. The media tells us to spend. There are societal pressures to spend and have the nice things that you see that other people have (that maybe they can't really afford, either, but they got anyway...).
At some point, bad life choices will catch up with you. The OP's bad choices have caught up with him. $60K is plenty - if he had a lower mortgage, less debt, better health, a wife that would help out, etc.
There's really not much he can do but complain, and I'm guessing since he doesn't have the courage to talk to his wife and he can't afford mental help - he vents online.
I hope he wakes up and makes changes soon. Because he and all these other people like him are costing all of us, whether we realize it or not. Everytime someone files for bankruptcy or forelcoses on their home or defaults on loan or doesn't pay their bills, etc. all the rest of us have to buck up and pay those dues in one way or another, and it's not fair, but that's the reality.
They need to bring back home ec in public schools.
Look at the big picture though. Saving $100/month on cable and cell phone isn't even going to make a dent. Personally I would declare bankruptcy and dislodge the CC debt. That is $800+ after-tax a month more in your pocket.
After that is done you might start to think about the small stuff. But to begin with, focus on the biggest money loser which in this case is CC's. The cable will at least keep people at home occupied and not "needing" to find another form of entertainment.
Of course, the key is to not spend the new found money, pay off the car ASAP and save for another used one. Learn to fix it yourself (just the other day my wife's car died. Insisted it was the battery $90+ for replacement, so did the AAA guy. It was the battery terminals and a $3 tool cleaned 'em up good as new, that is how you save $$). Liability only insurance on it (cheap) with minimum coverage. Once that is paid off throw the car payment and the $800/month now-kaput CC payment toward the student loan, which will be gone in <2 years at that point.
Then you are talking $1200/month after tax left over. That is a sizable amount of money on just $64k income for a family. This is doable within 30 months from today but it means using the bankruptcy process for which it was designed - to get out from underneath crippling debt. There is no shame in declaring bankruptcy once. Again? Sure...
Personally I would declare bankruptcy and dislodge the CC debt. That is $800+ after-tax a month more in your pocket.
I've read here and there that a good rule of thumb to know if bankruptcy is the right avenue is if the debts are larger than the combined household income. After a certain point, its really difficult to catch up because of the mounting interest, not necessarily the debt to begin with.
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