Very obvious throwaway. My husband has passed and I am in turmoil. I've never handled the finances.. any finances my whole life really.. and I dont know if I can afford to keep my home. He made triple what I bring home and was the sole borrower, I dont even have a degree. I also dont know if I can even sell it because it is now worth less than the amount owed on the loan. The HOA rules for my neighborhood stipulate you cannot rent bedrooms of your home out or have any sort of "tenant" on the property I'm not sure how they enforce that but it is explicitly stated in the paperwork. I need serious advice. I dont know where to start and I'm finding it hard to do anything at all every single day so I figure this is better than doing nothing and drowning in my own debt. I read some other posts so I think I've included all the important bits to make my budget clear. Mobile user.
The details - I(26f) bring $5500 a month after taxes home. I work hourly not salary no benefits. I care for my three underage siblings they are my only family.
Mortgage - $3,315 per mo @ 5.125% interest, no HOA payments required yet but may be in the future
( Principal balance $477,958 & $2,404 in escrow) I dont know what escrow balance means. We purchased for $507,500 currently valued at $457,000.
Phones - $290 per mo for 4 phones contract until January
Home/auto Insurance - $130 per mo
All utilities - $300 per mo
Internet - $80 per mo contract until may
Streaming - $35 per mo
Gas for car - $200 per mo
Medical debt - $500 per month paid off in 5 more months
Groceries - $ 4/500 a month
No credit card or auto loan debts. We did not have any life insurance policy or mortgage insurance where the home is paid off on death.
Savings - $19,890 Retirement - $21,000
I'm just barely hanging in there covering the bottom line but what is the smart thing to do? No decision seems like a good one. Selling seems like a bad decision to me because I will owe the balance which will wipe out every penny of saving. Do I stick it out until loans are paid and some money is freed up, then try to live as frugal as possible and be house poor? Again this is my first time having to make any sort of financial decision and it's all too much! What would you all do??? Thank you anyone who sees this
Submitted July 15, 2019 at 08:20PM by JsjsThrowaway https://ift.tt/2XRhTTx
