[greedy4chips]

I would also get rid of the "whole life" insurance policies, especially on the kids. Insurance is only to replace one's income. Your DH should have a term policy for at most 20 yrs, actually until the kids are out of college. At that point there is really no reason to have insurance, since you could work. The only exception might be if the house is not paid for. And even that is questionable since you really have no reason to have a huge house when all the kids are grown.

Term insurance on your hubby would allow you to put the difference into paying off debt.

If you can come up with $1500 per month by selling the house as you stated you are trying to do and renting, I think you will be debt free in 2 yrs. I don't think selling the house is the best idea. You are going to pay 6% or $14000 in fees to the realtor. That is huge, plus when you rebuy in a yr or 2 the home prices will appreciate (hopefully for them, but not you) so your $238k house may be $250k. If you like the house keep it. If its the only way to balance the budget then sell it.

My steps to freedom...
1. I would transfer the $8300 to another 0% card or to one of the 2 you currently have or pay that one off first!

2. Stop the whole life policies ($100/ month saved + any cashout of the cash value can be used to reduce debt).

3. Stop the 529 for now. In 1 yr you will be able to put much more in to make up for the lost year's contributions.

4. Pay off the personal loan ASAP. This will allow you to get another loan if needed and they will be more apt to do it since you paid this one back quickly.

5. Check into refinancing the student loan #1...you may be able to get a better rate. If not, I would put extra money towards this one only after all other debts are paid for.

6. Check into getting out of the van lease. At $600+/month that is killing your budget.

7. Look into refinancing the house. You should be able to get a 30 yr for much less than 7.5%. This also allows you to have a free month with no mortgage. This helped us a ton when we refinanced. We put the closing costs into our mortgage and paid extra principal to cover that amt within a yr. I would never finance closing costs for 30 yrs.

My honest opinion of your finances is you have too much insurance payments and that van lease.

I think you have a very workable debt amt. Do you get a big tax refund? I am thinking you must be itemizing on your taxes and getting a huge refund or taking home $1500/wk, if not you should be.

You are not in any worse position than I was 4 yrs ago! I have 8, 6, and 4 yr old children. I worked 60+ hrs/wk and made $78k my best yr. We had comparable debt, mortgage, and insurance. We just did a few things and voila we are basically debt free with just a mortgage and 0% CC (that money is sitting in CDs making us interest). We paid for our $28k loan on our SUV, my $6k car loan, wife's student loans ($2600 or so), ended our universal life insurance ($160/month), redid my W-4 to take home an extra $160/wk, lowered my 401k to save another $150/wk (reduced to 6% company match amt), and just stopped eating out and spending wildly for 1 yr. It was amazing how fast the debts disappeared!!!!!

Good luck! Keep us up to date.