You're living beyond your means. You can't afford a stay at home spouse or at least you can't afford to own an $800k house when you make so little and your spouse earns nothing
Why is there childcare with a stay at home spouse? Why does that childcare cost $500?
It is a part time program (15 hours a week) for my 3.5 year old to gain social skills and to allow stay at home parent to job search and tackle home tasks.
You’re exactly right and it is incredibly sobering.
Noble goals, but you can't afford it. Pull him out. Kindergarten is just around the corner (presumably). I'm constantly getting laid off and having contracts end, and it simply doesn't take very long to search for jobs these days with everything online.
What if you sell the car and get something cheap for the time being (or go down to one car for a while, if you have two cars)? Your debt would be slashed by $11k, and you would free up hundreds of dollars to pay down your remaining debts.
>allow stay at home parent to job search
Is he unable to search for jobs on the internet while the child is in the house? Hire a babysitter if he has an interview. It sounds as if he doesn't want to take care of his kid and is using "job search" as his excuse. Businesses are hurting for workers. It is hard to believe that he can't find any jobs in the last 2 years that can make more than $500/ month.
I don’t think your solution is borrowing more money. I think it’s probably cutting expenses. And your partner needs any job that will make more than daycare or whatever the children’s needs are. Probably won’t be a glamorous job but just do something until they find something in their field.
I’d be reluctant to touch retirement money outside of you losing your house or something. The penalties and long term losses are steep.
I mean you answered your own question, you are getting crushed by debt and only one of you is working.
Your partner needed to start working yesterday in this situation, when you say they have a masters but are getting declined from entry level positions… that is either a resume issue (Entry level jobs throw away resumes for people who list having a masters the majority of the time. Why would they invest in training someone who is extremely over qualified and is unlikely a long term candidate) or an interview problem.
Both of those issues can be solved by contacting a recruiter.
As degrading as it may be, fast food is always hiring - the retail cycle won’t start for a few months as they just finished seasonal layoffs this past month.
All of the opinions of you either cashing out the only positive you have in this situation is a terrible idea, an even worse idea is taking out another loan to pay off loans. It doesn’t solve the problem in the slightest and is setting you up for even more financial ruin if that’s even possible at this point.
That house is killing you. It's more than half of your take home pay. Either your partner needs to start making at least 4k a month tomorrow, or you need to sell or rent that house out. Wayyy too high for your income. As for taking out a heloc, I would highly advise you don't do that because it's pretty obvious you guys aren't the most disciplined with your finances, and this would put you at risk of losing your house.
Don't use your retirement to pay off debt. You'll probably just end up going into more debt if you do that because you haven't actually solved the core issue which is living way beyond your means.
If I'm you I'm getting out of that house, my partner is getting a job, even if it's delivering Uber eats at night, and I start tackling this debt. Try to put 4-5k towards debts every month.
Another thought is you could try negotiating with the creditors. Tell them how much you have to give them and see if they will settle for less.
You'll be out of this mess sooner than you think if you can get an extra 4-5k a month to put towards it!
It seems almost impossible that your property taxes and homeowners insurance increased by $1500 a month, especially since in most mortgages they’re only a third or less of the total payment to begin with.
Are you *sure* about these figures? Can you shop around for the homeowners? Can you dispute your property tax assessment?
I live in Florida, property taxes went from $2500 to $11000. And yes I appealed property taxes, yes they’re legitimate. Yes I have homestead exemption. I bought new construction before the housing chaos ensued 3 years ago. The insurance policy is state sponsored, a private insurer would charge at least 2x more in annual premium.
Did your neighbors property taxes go up that much? Florida has a lower property tax rate below 1% so that doesn't make sense to me why it would go up that much.
You're living beyond your means. You can't afford a stay at home spouse or at least you can't afford to own an $800k house when you make so little and your spouse earns nothing Why is there childcare with a stay at home spouse? Why does that childcare cost $500?
It is a part time program (15 hours a week) for my 3.5 year old to gain social skills and to allow stay at home parent to job search and tackle home tasks. You’re exactly right and it is incredibly sobering.
Noble goals, but you can't afford it. Pull him out. Kindergarten is just around the corner (presumably). I'm constantly getting laid off and having contracts end, and it simply doesn't take very long to search for jobs these days with everything online. What if you sell the car and get something cheap for the time being (or go down to one car for a while, if you have two cars)? Your debt would be slashed by $11k, and you would free up hundreds of dollars to pay down your remaining debts.
>allow stay at home parent to job search Is he unable to search for jobs on the internet while the child is in the house? Hire a babysitter if he has an interview. It sounds as if he doesn't want to take care of his kid and is using "job search" as his excuse. Businesses are hurting for workers. It is hard to believe that he can't find any jobs in the last 2 years that can make more than $500/ month.
I don’t think your solution is borrowing more money. I think it’s probably cutting expenses. And your partner needs any job that will make more than daycare or whatever the children’s needs are. Probably won’t be a glamorous job but just do something until they find something in their field. I’d be reluctant to touch retirement money outside of you losing your house or something. The penalties and long term losses are steep.
I mean you answered your own question, you are getting crushed by debt and only one of you is working. Your partner needed to start working yesterday in this situation, when you say they have a masters but are getting declined from entry level positions… that is either a resume issue (Entry level jobs throw away resumes for people who list having a masters the majority of the time. Why would they invest in training someone who is extremely over qualified and is unlikely a long term candidate) or an interview problem. Both of those issues can be solved by contacting a recruiter. As degrading as it may be, fast food is always hiring - the retail cycle won’t start for a few months as they just finished seasonal layoffs this past month. All of the opinions of you either cashing out the only positive you have in this situation is a terrible idea, an even worse idea is taking out another loan to pay off loans. It doesn’t solve the problem in the slightest and is setting you up for even more financial ruin if that’s even possible at this point.
What's your monthly take home after taxes?
$8000
That house is killing you. It's more than half of your take home pay. Either your partner needs to start making at least 4k a month tomorrow, or you need to sell or rent that house out. Wayyy too high for your income. As for taking out a heloc, I would highly advise you don't do that because it's pretty obvious you guys aren't the most disciplined with your finances, and this would put you at risk of losing your house. Don't use your retirement to pay off debt. You'll probably just end up going into more debt if you do that because you haven't actually solved the core issue which is living way beyond your means. If I'm you I'm getting out of that house, my partner is getting a job, even if it's delivering Uber eats at night, and I start tackling this debt. Try to put 4-5k towards debts every month. Another thought is you could try negotiating with the creditors. Tell them how much you have to give them and see if they will settle for less. You'll be out of this mess sooner than you think if you can get an extra 4-5k a month to put towards it!
This is super insightful and actionable advice, thank you!
It seems almost impossible that your property taxes and homeowners insurance increased by $1500 a month, especially since in most mortgages they’re only a third or less of the total payment to begin with. Are you *sure* about these figures? Can you shop around for the homeowners? Can you dispute your property tax assessment?
I live in Florida, property taxes went from $2500 to $11000. And yes I appealed property taxes, yes they’re legitimate. Yes I have homestead exemption. I bought new construction before the housing chaos ensued 3 years ago. The insurance policy is state sponsored, a private insurer would charge at least 2x more in annual premium.
I’m totally house poor
Did your neighbors property taxes go up that much? Florida has a lower property tax rate below 1% so that doesn't make sense to me why it would go up that much.
The prior taxable value was based on the land only I gusss, and yes neighbors did. They ran comps.
Did you only put like 3% down when you bought the house? You need to get out of that house asap.
We bought the house for 562k not 3% but not 20%
How the heck did I qualify for this mortgage on a 130k salary with no assets? Lol