“Dear Steve,
I have personal debt and business debt. My wife and I both have leased cars. We are 28 years old, rent a condo, and have a storage unit. We just had a baby. She makes about 45,000 p/year and I make about 25,000 p/year. (my business isn’t doing well) My credit score is around 640 and my wife’s credit is around 700.
My car payment is $50 p/month with a $14,000 buyout right now. About 7 months in a 3 year lease. (i had a lot of equity in my trade in car and decided to get a lease b/c it was going to significantly lower my monthly payment.)
My wife’s car payment is $333 p/month with a $31,000 buyout. About 3 months in a 3 year lease.
Insurance for cars – $270 p/month
Rent – $1,100 p/month
Storage – $110 p/month
Personal debt:
- $358 @ 6.74%
- $4,135 @ 10.24%
- $17,800 @ 14.24%
- $935 @ 15.24%
Business debt
- $29,210 @ 27.24%
- $25,000 @ 3%
I’m not too sure where to start… We have to do something soon! I think I gave you all of the info I could find about our situation. Thank you for all of your time and help!
Matt”
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The Answer
Dear Matt,
No problem. Happy to help.
I do have a few questions first.
You said that your business is not going well and that you just had a baby. Congratulations on that by the way, the baby that is. My condolences for the business.
What are your plans for your wife to keep working? Since she has the higher salary then I need to know what the game plan is there.
While you gave me some of the numbers, the critical facts I need are if you are negative each month, and if yes, by how much. I’d also like to know how much you have in savings and are you saving for retirement?
It’s clear the credit cards have grown. Was that from making ends meet?
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
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