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I need some encouragement ASAP. I am 30 y.o. have 3k left on student loan debt @ 1.71 % interest; 13k in cc debt roughly @ 7.24 % and 184k mortgage @ 5.75 % 30 year fixed. I make about 54k year. I feel that I am drowning. I did not go beyond my means by any standards. I live with the bare minimum. I played by the book/rules if you will and I am just suffocating. For the past 3 months I stopped contributing to my IRA to eliminate this debt. I am going back to contributing in January--not like I was making any money, I lost and now have barely 3k in Roth. What to do? I think I am going to sell the house in 2 years and go back to renting. Life was simple then and I had way less debt. or so it seemed.
Last edited by tigerjack88; 12-07-2008 at 06:02 PM..
Reason: wrong word
All of your interest rates are enviable, if that makes you feel any better.....
This is a good time to get rid of the house, before prices drop even more--or a bad time because nobody's buying and there's too much inventory on the market. Take your pick.
Maybe you could rent out a room in the house?
Your student loans are ridiculously cheap and they'll be paid off in a couple of years. Gone forever! They're probably not a large financial burden. Try to make some major payments on that credit card debt and bring it into stratosphere so that the monthly payments aren't bleeding you dry. That should be a huge improvement. Stop charging things.
Couple of years and you should be ok. Really, I don't think your situation is that desperate and you're young. Time is on your side.
Pay down the credit cards as much as you can. Do not put any more charges on those cards. Credit cards are quicksand. Once you're in over your head on the cards, getting out is nearly impossible. At least you can live in the house you're making payments on. Credit cards are just evil.
I would also eliminate that credit card debt as soon as possible. Then don't buy anything you can 't pay off at the end of the month with them.If you really thnik you have been supplementing your income with that card(s0. You need to make credit cards work for you but you can only do that by managing them. If you can't do it get rid of them.Good luck you are better off than many.
Um, let's do some quick math:
Debt:
184K@5.75% mortgage = PMI 1074
13k@13% credit card (interest plus 1% of balance, 400 month payoff) = $270
3K@1.71% (term unknown, guessing under 5 years) = $85
Income:
$54,000/12 = 4500
Debt to income ratio is 32% -- NOT BAD AT ALL!
How much was your rent? If it was 30% less for about the same house then maybe you should go back to renting. Would you be happy in being your age and paying $700+ in rent? If you like having a place that is YOUR OWN with all the pluses and minuses of that, then bite the bullet, and keep doing what you're doing EXCEPT whittle down the CC debt. 400 months is a LONG time to throw 13% interest into the sewer!!!
I need some encouragement ASAP. I am 30 y.o. have 3k left on student loan debt @ 1.71 % interest; 13k in cc debt roughly @ 7.24 % and 184k mortgage @ 5.75 % 30 year fixed. I make about 54k year. I feel that I am drowning. I did not go beyond my means by any standards. I live with the bare minimum. I played by the book/rules if you will and I am just suffocating. For the past 3 months I stopped contributing to my IRA to eliminate this debt. I am going back to contributing in January--not like I was making any money, I lost and now have barely 3k in Roth. What to do? I think I am going to sell the house in 2 years and go back to renting. Life was simple then and I had way less debt. or so it seemed.
What kind of lifestyle do you live? Do you see a movie every weekend? Do you dine out a lot? Do you have too many club memberships you're paying for? How did your credit card get up to $13,000?
You should sit down and track all of your expenses to see why you're feeling such a pinch.
I cant see where all your $$ is going. Looks like your not listing all your expenses. maybe you should list everything out and see where the hole is.
You need to live very lean for a year and payoff everything off completely CC first then loan. Get it out of the way and then start saving investing. Wait for the next upswing on the housing market before selling, or save it as a rental.
b4 you dump the house. contact radio show host dave ramsey and tell him what you told me.
i think there may be a way out without throwing the baby with the bathwater.
google search him.
If you want it to all go away as fast as possible, plan to give up a year of your life to working as much overtime or a second job as possible. You should be able to pull in an extra $1K a month if you try, and if you're working all the time, you won't spend money because you're bored.
12 months of hard work is a lot better than 400 months of being a slave to the bankers....
If you didn't go beyond your means...you wouldn't have credit card debt.
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They're probably not a large financial burden. Try to make some major payments on that credit card debt and bring it into stratosphere so that the monthly payments aren't bleeding you dry. That should be a huge improvement. Stop charging things.
