“Dear Steve,

We are in our 50s. We’d been doing well and racked up some serious debt. Ashamed to say how much but … over 70,000. This includes credit cards and loans. Not including our home. Last month I lost my job and have been looking (yes, looking hard!) but have not found anything as yet.

We have already deferred 2 loan payments back 1 month. Also set the car payment back 1 month. My husband has a good job but there’s about a 1,000 a mo. deficiency (which is a little less than my old paycheck). Not sure what to do. We’ve stopped using the cards. I’ve cut groceries to the bone. What else can we do?

Is there a way to temporarily cut expenses until I have another job? I don’t get unemployment.

Kathe”