Where Do I Even Start??

[poohstixx]

I need some advice on what to do! We have a ton of money going out which leaves us with little for food, gas, etc. and we're quckly falling behind! Not to mention we often get slapped with overdraft fees in our account, because we struggle to keep track of what's going out, timing with bills, etc.

At the beginning of this year we had two credit cards with high interest and high minimum payments, so we contacted Take Charge America and are using them to help pay that debt off. The good news about this is we have not used ANY credit since that time.

We also had our student loans deferred for one-year, but that time is now up and will have to start paying on them again.

We are way upside down on our vehicle loans, we could maybe get $8,000-$9,000 for each of them, but that leaves close to $10,000 left over.

We have also debated selling our home and renting or buying something for a lower monthly cost, but with the poor market (and our home equity loan) we are also upside down on this and would have about a $20,000 difference if we could sell for top dollar.

Our Debt:
Debt Total Owed Min Pmt Interest
Mortgage $144,714.97 $1,246.97 5.875%
Home Equity Loan $38,766.17 $463.25 10.66%
Car #1 $14,054.99 $415.00 8.84%
Car #2 $11,300.30 $265.00 8.39%
Student Loan #1 $38,192.57 $230.00 3.62%
Student Loan #2 $16,649.01 $131.00 3.62%
TCA $20,100.00 $515.82 2%
TOTAL DEBT $283,778.01 $3267.04

Our Monthly Expenses:
Item Monthly Cost
Utilities $185
Water $65
Phone/Internet $80
Mobile Phone $100
Direct TV $54
Insurance (all) $225
Storage $45
Child Care $600
TOTAL $1354

TOTAL MONTLHY INCOME (TAKE-HOME) = $5,200
TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES (not incl. food, gas, etc.) = $4621.04
LEFT OVER AMOUNT EACH MONTH FOR food, house items, misc. = $578.96

I have tried to set up a budget, but get extremely frustrated when I know I need to budget for food, household items, clothing, car/home repairs, gifts, pet expenses, school expenses, etc. and have a very small amount of money per month to do that with. I don't know how to prioritize these things. AND, if I'm supposed to set money aside for clothing, repairs, etc. and can't, what do I do when those expenses come up and it's either use money for that or to cover all the bills??

We have a 6-year old, 3-year old and one on the way. My mother stays with us during the week and takes care of our kids (she goes home on the weekends), so basically we have a 5-person household (keep in mind grocery expenses, household items).

We have $0 in savings. My husband has started a small photography business and we're starting to gain some small income from this (I would like to put this toward a $1,000 emergency fund for the time being).

We have made EXTREMELY poor choices with our money from the beginning...that is even an understatement! We want to turn this around, but we are so overwhelmed, we don't even know how/where to start! I am open to/desperate for any feedback or suggestions! Please, be kind!

[maat55]

Here is what I would do. BTW, I am of the Dave Ramsey mindset that getting out of debt is job one and what others think does not matter.

I would sell both cars(one at a time). Take out a loan for the difference and look for one or two cars that cost 2k or less.

Build your 1k EF.

Cut cable, eat cheap( cook meals where you get several meals in leftovers). Have a garage sell. Cutting cells and internet will help.

Think of your desire to be debtfree as a boot camp. Your house payment is ok, your cars are out of line. Your getting killed due to car and student loans. Get out of the car loans asap. Yes you will have to borrow the difference but you will still lower your debt.

Once cars are gone, your insurance will drop to liability. You should have freed up roughly 700 to 800 dollars monthly by now. You can start paying off debts smallest to largest or highest interest to lowest, which ever motivates you.

[momcents]

If your mother is taking care of the children, what is the $600 per month in childcare? That would almost double the funds available for food/gas/household, etc.

Do away with the storage fee. Whatever is in storage, either sell or pare down.

Can you raise the insurance deductibles to bring down the premiums?

[Daylily]

Direct TV $54

Dump this ASAP. I've lived without any kind of pay TV for over 10 years and I am still alive to tell about it.

Mobile Phone $100

As soon as your contract is over get rid of this. If you need a cell phone for emergencies (because you drive alone at night or drive in remote areas) then get a prepaid phone and only use it for emergencies.

You CAN dig your way out of this. Your numbers don't seem too bad.

[Daylily]

"pet expenses"

What pet expenses are you referring to? How many pets?

[arthurb999]

The cars, cable, cell phone need to go.

What is TCA?

[LuxLiving]

Whatever else you do going forward? Stop debting.