How would you handle this financial situation?

Question

Between my husband and I we were bringing home 4,500 a month. Yesterday he lost his job leaving us with a 2,200 income each month. Of course he is going to actively seek other jobs but this is a big pay decrease for us and we are also expecting our first child in May. We have a small amount in savings that will last us about one month and then afterwards there are some bills we will struggle paying. We have some credit card debt (we have not used credit cards since Oct of 07) that I will have trouble paying along with 2 car payments. Of course we are upside down in both cars and can't sell them for nearly the amount of our loan. We have already begun to cut corners for the sake of our child and family. I guess what I want to know is... what steps can I take to a.)Not ruin our credit b.) Try to manage 3,500 worth of expenses on 2,200 a month and c.) Better live within our means without going nuts!

Answer 1

Be offensive and call the credit card and car loan companies. Tell them the situation. They should be willing to work with you to lower your payments until your husband can find another job. Be sure and explain that this is a temporary situation and that you will start making a larger payment as soon as you can.



Have your husband go to the grocery store, fast food places, convenience stores, any place that is hiring but keep looking for a better job. Any little bit of money coming in is better than nothing.



Check the grocery ads and buy things that will not go bad as they are on sale. It is hard at first but if you can buy in bulk (and can store) the things like can goods and paper products You will find that you end up spending less money in the long run.



If people ask what you want for birthdays and such, ask for gift cards to Wal-mart, Target, K-mart, places that you can buy groceries and household items.



Good Luck!

Answer 2

Glad to see you have Dave Ramsey's book. I am doing the total money makeover as well. Follow the steps and you'll be fine.



First - the cars. You need to sell them. Both of them. Go to the credit union. They will be the most likely to lend you the difference. You will be asking them for an unsecured loan. So if you owe $5,000 and the car is worth $3,500 - your unsecured loan will be $1500. You will make payments on it the way you would a credit card. Since you have two car payments - I'm guessing that they are somewhere between $600 to $1000 a month. Selling them and getting a loan for the difference will give you a lot of breathing room. This should be your first priority.



Second - Start selling stuff. Anything you don't have an emotional attachment to is up for grabs. Have a garage sale - sell stuff on eBay or craigslist. Sell it all!



Cutting expenses - Get rid of your cable. You can watch regular TV, and you finally will be able to stop saying "all these channels and nothing to watch".

Cook at home. No more eating out. Cook dinner together and have some fun with it.

Answer 3

#1 Separate your love and your devotion to each other from your debt. It is humanly difficult to separate personal relationships from the struggles with drowning in debt but your love and care for one another is more important than your credit. Keep your lines of communication open. Pray together - I personally don't care who you pray to, just get together and have that devotion.



It sounds like you are smarter and more prepared to handle this situation than the average couple - not that this helps with the emotions but it is a big plus. Dave's book is probably good - I haven't read the book but I "know" Dave.



I teach a program called Going APE to Overcome. APE: Assess, Plan, Execute. I have a new book coming out soon called "Can I Keep My Curtains? Facing Foreclosure Uncertain Times" which may also benefit you but it will be a couple of weeks before the rough draft is finished - I will gladly share it with you.



The struggles you face cannot be completely dealt with in a few paragraphs on a Q&A forum but I can give you a few pointers that I would also give Dave:



1. Make sure you have a firm grasp and understanding of your assets and liabilities ON PAPER. Write down what you actually have and not what you hope you can have. Develop your plan on that.

2. Consult a local professional who is licensed and has nothing (or little) to sell.

3. Eat at home even if you are a terrible cook.

4. Turn off your cable (make sure there is no cancellation fee). 5. Sell your old clothes (most major cities have second hand stores that will pay for used clothing).

6. Get rid of your cell phone(s).

7. Keep the heat low (I have mine on 62 - it's cool in the house but I have sweaters).

8. Make sure you are only using the lights you need (we're talking about just a few cents per hour but it counts).

9. Sell your old books at the local used book store.

10. If you have enough assets to sell a car and pay the difference between the payoff and the sales price use simple math to calculate the wisdom of that decision.



There is so much more I could share but I don't want to hog the page. The most important thing is that you believe and do.



Assess your situation.

Plan your way to overcome.

Execute your plan with all of your focus.

Answer 4

Why not consider a side job by selling on ebay? There are a lot of people who scour the thrift stores looking for used furniture, clothing, etc. who resell it on ebay. Smaller items like clothes are better since you can easily ship them in boxes. I live in NC and buy/resell furniture. I happen to be in a good area for that, and love furniture. What started out as a side job is now approaching $1 million in sales, and there are only two of us--my wife lists and manages the business, I fix the furniture and run the warehouse. Find something you really LOVE--clothes, toys, CDs, jewelry, china--and see what you can do to buy LOW and sell HIGH.

Answer 5

I was in a situation like that recently....and one of the good things about all of this is that this will make the two of you stronger as a couple because this will pass and hopefully very soon....



The biggest way that I saved money was taking a list to the store....(and eating before I went). If it was not on the list I could not buy it...that way I knew before hand nearly how much I was going to spend....and it forced me to actually MAKE dinner for the week....which of course doubled as lunch the next day.....

I also sold quite a bit of stuff on ebay. If I hadn't worn in within two years....ebay was going to help me find someone who could...this was a 'double bonus' because it forced me to clean up.....

Lastly, I dedicated HALF of my income tax refund to managing debt! YOu might consider doing this to pay down your cars and get yourself some breathing room.

Before I did ANYTHING else HALF went to pay down debt.



Since you have a little one coming - check out garage sales and thrift stores for great finds on clothing..Because babies grow soo quickly, often times the clothing is new or barely used. Onesies can be had by the bag load at goodwill (a load of bleach with the onesies followed by a load of dreft and they will look brand new) often times you can swings and other stuff you need and sterilze it and save $100.00's if you pick them up at yard sales in one of the more exclusive neighborhoods in your town.

I went to one last year where everything I could fit into a bag was $2.00. i stuffed it full of jeans that my son could play in while playing at the daycare or outside....

I dont know where you live but here the electric company-has a managed pay plan. This will allow you to budget your energy bills and know what it will be in advance.



For entertainment....invite family over to play board games (you can pick these up at goodwill too)

Rent a movie instead of going to the show...

Last night's dinner is tommorrow's lunch....

If you must go out to eat with coworkers...wendy's has a great dollar menu a side salad and a bowl of chilli (with free crackers) and a cup of water is $2.10.



Do you have high speed internet...talk to peoplepc and get interent for $10.00 a month (dial up)...

Cut cable to the basics (no hbo no extended stuff)

Talk to your husband and have him fill out papers for unemployement. That income could help a great deal right now.

Not sure what else you can do but just love and support your hubby I am sure he feels awful right now

and stop stressing your baby wont like that much!



Now to the credit....Contact your creditors and see if they can work with you. SOme credit cards have a clause where if you lose your job they will take over the minimum payments...see if your card is one of those. If not, and you find yourself behind, be sure to write a letter and have them place it in your file at the credit agency.