I make $42,500/yr (that is including a new 10% raise that goes into effect on my next pay period), my wife makes $36,000. Between 9 credit cards, we owe just short of $24K (I know, I'm so mad I let myself get this out of hand). I owe $11K on my car (which is only worth $7,800), and my wife's car is leased at $500/month. No student loans - neither of us has a degree. We have absolutely no savings.
In our budget, the minimum payments on the above credit/loan/lease equate to over one-third of our monthly take-home pay. We don't eat out, we don't buy stuff we don't need (alcohol, clothes, video games, none of that kinda stuff). We just don't seem able to find the cash to throw at the debt and get on our feet. I know the raise will help, but I feel like it's not enough.
What frustrates me the most is that our combined salaries place us in a fairly enviable position for a lot Americans, but we can't enjoy where we are because we made way too many stupid decisions with credit cards in the first couple years of our relationship and are struggling month-to-month just to stay afloat.
And next year, I'll age out of my parents' health insurance. I don't know how we're going to get above the water enough to afford health insurance - which would put us in a relatively similar situation as now.
It all comes down to, I feel like we're doing everything right, but we're still being dragged down and can't get a hold on the debt. I've been too proud for too long - I need help, advice, whatever you have to offer.
Submitted September 21, 2017 at 03:47PM by post-mortemism http://ift.tt/2xWpDLq
