good midlife crisis/debt?
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good midlife crisis/debt?
| Mon, 05-09-2005 - 10:50pm |
What would you do if this were your situation? I am 48 y/o w/f, work fulltime,have diabetes(controlled) and HBP(hypertension0controlled) have good job w retirement, benefits etc, also have two daughters 18 y/o and 14 y/o. Been divorced 8 yrs and ex gets to claim youngest for taxes. I have mortg $76,800(plain 3/2 brick in great 'hood) home equity loan 21,000, car $15,000 left to pay, cc-$7600 cc-$84(yeah!)(some debt due to ex would pay cs for the 8 mo while divorce getting done, now looking at college for daugther and they are "approving" me for PLUS loan and I am going to court in Sept to try to get her Dad to help pay (Alabama does post minority support and see about child support modification and change the tax situation) He has pd $288moeach child for the past yrs and not much other than that.I am up to my ears in debt and so worried and am wondering if I dont need to sell the house, move into apt with my youngest in town(its 26 miles into Mobile) I know it would be smaller and we have two little dogs and cat.This house is going to be in serious need of more repairs and its a monster to take care of (the yard, the house) and I am tired and never have time and you know getting teenagers to clean is like pulling teeth, I have enjoyed living here and it was good for the children because schools just arnd corner but I am worried about taxes etc and if I will ever be able to buy another house. I was trying desperately to get out of debt all these yrs and just can barely make it paychk to paychk with the girls school fees, field trips and not buying unness things. I am not talking about iPods or stuff like that--my oldest has worked two jobs just to pay me for her part of the car insurance and her cell phone (added line to mine cause its cheaper) and I just have a basic cell phone not latest do-dad cameras etc and oldest drives my old Nissan car. I really would like to embark on a "remake of my life" but worry about supporting the children right. I divorced my ex due to domestic violence ( he was never arrested though and I have just done the best I could) I would make a u-turn and make a different life for us and for some reason I think that would be good except, finances have been such an issue and I dont want to make it worse for myself. Would you sell the house? I will barely break even if I can even do that. Hurricane Ivan did mess up so much, the fence etc but thats not so bad-i just have no $$ to make requested repairs if a buyer asked. Maybe taking a loss(little) would be worth my "peace of mind?
Signatures On
| Tue, 05-10-2005 - 9:48am |
Do you have any equity left in your home? I would consider a refinance option to combine your 1st and 2nd mortgages, plus pay off the car and credit cards and make any necessary repairs. Is that a possibility? Especially if it's in a great neighbourhood.
| Tue, 05-10-2005 - 11:43pm |
I am not sure if I have any equity left in the house or not. Would I need to get an appraisal to find out? If I have any its not much but I went to Consumer credit counseling and the counselor mentioned the combining of the two mortgages so maybe its a good idea? My youngest has 4 more yrs of high school here if we stay. If I did that option of combining the mortgages, I certainly couldnt think of selling any tie in the near future, it wouldnt be an option then. But, I would still be a "home owner", could save on car insurance by having it all pd off, and I could look into getting "renter, roomate" to help offset$$ and get a tax break (if the renter is a good reliable roomie) and possibly start some kind of home based business(use my going off to college daughters room for office) and use that as tax break also but it would have to be the right kind of business that wasnt something else I was busting myself at. Thank you, thank you for reading and responding. In four yrs, I could possibly make a little dent in the combined mortg and then sell? What experience have you had with this kind of thing? Are you a "financial person?"
