5/21/2006

Advice from Nashville's leading Financial Aid Advisor Dave Ramsey

 
Dave Says
By Dave Ramsey
Author of:
Financial Peace and
The Total Money Makeover

"Not much money left at the end of the month!"

Dear Dave,

I’m 25-year old, married and we have three kids. We owe about $100,000 on our house, with monthly payments of a little over $800. We also owe $8,000 on a car and have hospital bills totaling $1,000. Our total monthly bills are about $2,000, while my take-home pay is only $2,100. We’ve also got no savings. What can we do to keep from going under and losing the house?

Chris

Dear Chris,

Wow, things really are tight. You’ve got too much house for your income – way too much. Selling a house is painful, but if you don’t get your income up immediately with a new job or extra jobs, you’re going to have to sell. Your car is pretty expensive, too, for someone making less than $30,000 a year. If I were you, I’d consider selling it, too, if you’re not able to increase your income pretty quickly.

I’d sit down a write out a game plan to just get vicious about it and attack that debt. First, get a beginner emergency fund of $500 in place. Then, just go crazy - have a yard sale, pick up an extra job and live on a really tight written budget. If you do all this, I think you could have the hospital bills and car paid off and be debt-free except for your house in a little over a year.

You guys have been doing what lots of folks do. You’ve spent your lives just rolling along, living without a plan, then suddenly you both look up and, whoa, we can’t breathe!

- Dave

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