What to do next?

[fosterj]

Been thinking on this some more, Is it worth while to get a low interest line of credit from a bank and use it to pay off our high interest credit cards?

or is it better to just keep trying to pay them down on our own with the high interest rates?

[noppenbd]

It's worth a try, but I doubt the bank is going to give you an unsecured line of credit when you have an admittedly low credit score. Your best bet is to negotiate with your credit card companies.

The other danger with moving debt around is that you run the risk of charging the CCs right back up again if you do not change your spending habits.

[aida2003]

In short, you cannot buy a house now . Your financial 'house' is in havoc. Sorry, if I sound harsh, but the truth always bites.

First follow everyone's advice how to organize everything and decrease your debts. After you've got that in order and have an EF, then you must save for a downpayment. Afterwards you can think of getting a house.

Being an owner of a house brings another list of issues/money spending that you're not dealing with while renting.

[maat55]

Been thinking on this some more, Is it worth while to get a low interest line of credit from a bank and use it to pay off our high interest credit cards?

or is it better to just keep trying to pay them down on our own with the high interest rates?

It makes sense to do this only if you intend to use every extra penny to pay down debt. Most people do this and add to their debt later. You have to get on a strict budget and stick to it, to get out of debt and save.

Again, I recommend that you read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This book is good for having you focus on getting out of debt and budgeting well. There are many good books on personal finance, read them while you are getting out of debt, you will get so much from them.

[Newbie]

Why do you NEED a house when you say you're living paycheck to paycheck? I don't get it..

[AmbitiousSaver]

If you can't stand your apartment, you could always try renting a house instead while you're trying to get the rest of your affairs in order. I agree with the other posters... having a house isn't all its cracked up to be... trust me, I have two

[fosterj]

Thanks to all for the responses. We sat down last night and worked on our budget. We very quickly saw why we are in such a rut of paycheck to paycheck.

Monthly expenses vs. monthly income left us with $17.40 on top at the end of each month.

No way are we even thinking about the house for the near future. We need to get those monthly expenses down. By cutting back in a few key areas it looks like we could increase the amount left over each month to $480.

Then by applying the extra amount to the credit cards we could be well on our way to house in a year or more.. but feeling much better about doing it then before.

Even though we want a house badly it was stressing us out just thinking about it.

Again, thanks for all the replies, they really did help. Now we just have to make this budget work and stick to it.

[tabbycat31]

Is there any way that you could cut down a few more of the monthly expenses. Even not cutting them out completely, but lowering them. For example, do you really need a landline phone AND a cell phone? Perhaps you could downgrade or cut one of them out completely. Your grocery bill is another thing to take a look at because most people could definitely cut back there. If you eat out a lot, there's another thing that could be cut back on. And most people don't need any more clothes (with the exception of the growing toddler) and will be fine with what is in the closet. The kid's close could be found cheaply used from thrift stores or tag sales, even hand me downs from friends/family.

Also even though you have a pretty good income, any ways to increase it. Perhaps you have junk lying around the house that could be put on ebay, or taken to a local flea market.

[maat55]

Thanks to all for the responses. We sat down last night and worked on our budget. We very quickly saw why we are in such a rut of paycheck to paycheck.

Monthly expenses vs. monthly income left us with $17.40 on top at the end of each month.

No way are we even thinking about the house for the near future. We need to get those monthly expenses down. By cutting back in a few key areas it looks like we could increase the amount left over each month to $480.

Then by applying the extra amount to the credit cards we could be well on our way to house in a year or more.. but feeling much better about doing it then before.

Even though we want a house badly it was stressing us out just thinking about it.

Again, thanks for all the replies, they really did help. Now we just have to make this budget work and stick to it.

Once you start seeing results you will thrive on it and the pain of sacrifice will go away. In the stort term you may want to find a second job to speed the process up.

The harder you work out this the faster the debt will leave, then you will feel much more injoyment when you are saving and looking for a good deal on a home.

Once you have controll of your money you will begin to prosper.

[disneysteve]

We sat down last night and worked on our budget. We very quickly saw why we are in such a rut of paycheck to paycheck.

Monthly expenses vs. monthly income left us with $17.40 on top at the end of each month.

By cutting back in a few key areas it looks like we could increase the amount left over each month to $480.

That's great. Sounds like you are making real progress to move forward and get out of debt.

If you would like, there are some real budget-cutting wizards around here. If you post your numbers, you'll get some great tips and advice on how to trim things down and free up cash. Though if you've already found over $460/month in excessive spending, I'd say that's pretty darn good already.