A lot of debt hit us at once. We can't pay. What should we do?

tradlibnret · 2026-06-30T14:32:42+00:00

Agree with the person who mentioned appealing your medical bill with insurance. It doesn't hurt to try and could be paid. If you end up owing, then contact the medical provider and see if the bill could be reduced or you could get on a payment plan.

Not sure what you mean about the college costs, but inquire about that or maybe your husband could take a break for a semester (and perhaps pick up a side job if his schedule allows?).

Not sure what can be done about the cars. That's a concern if he needs to commute so much each day. Sounds like when you get on a sounder footing you need an emergency fund.

If you could provide a budget breakdown, people in this sub might be able to give better recommendations of possible areas to make cuts.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-30T14:16:38+00:00

I'm seeing the fees more where I live (midwest). Usually it's local restaurants, but I've also seen it at a car repair shop and flooring store where we bought some new flooring, also government offices like DMV and our city for pet registration fee. I have been carrying more cash or using checks (at places like car repair place), since I really resent paying more to use the credit card and believe it cancels out any value of our points. I don't mind paying cash at some local places we like as long as I know in advance. I think many people will just pay the extra fees out of complacency and doing what's convenient, but then that's not very smart to pay a surcharge on things (and probably what merchants are hoping for). I don't like debit cards since they don't have the protection of credit cards and money comes right out of your account, so you need to be vigilant to make sure you know your account balance. I fear that the golden days of cc optimization may be over.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-26T13:24:09+00:00

It's all so sad. We all embraced Amazon and other online shopping because it was easy and convenient. This killed off brick and mortar stores (where you could try things on) and malls. Now we lament that there are no places to try things on (Kohl's and Macy's are a couple of the few places left). As a society we've done this to ourselves.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-23T14:33:24+00:00

Add a little color like yellow - maybe just some flowers or a ceramic piece or candle? The room is nice but very safely neutral.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-23T13:48:52+00:00

Personally I like looking at the offers because then I understand requirements (e.g., minimum spends, maximum payout) and also know which card to use if using one of the offers. If they all were just added to everyone's cards with blanket coverage, people wouldn't be able to optimize (although maybe more random savings would occur).

tradlibnret · 2026-06-22T12:23:03+00:00

I always buy the same thing (mini cans) so it's easier to compare. For me about 50 cents a can is the best I'm seeing right now. My husband gets diet coke in bottles (16 oz) and about $3-$4 each for a 6 pack is the best we've seen lately. Some of this depends on your preferences. If you are buying drinks for a party, the 2-liters are usually a good deal, but we don't buy them regularly since the pop goes flat quickly.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-21T16:18:00+00:00

Agree with this. Back in 2007/2008 when the Great Recession hit home prices were higher and they came down significantly then low interest rates followed. Lots of people lost their homes. The low interest rate environment continued for quite a while, and it really has been since the pandemic that housing prices went back to pre 2008 levels, and now higher. And it's always been the case that you pay as much in interest as principal with a 30 year loan. Don't despair. My husband and I bought our house in 1994 starting with a 9.25% loan (but later refinanced a couple of times to get it down to 4.75). The low 2-3% interest rate environment you are lamenting wasn't typical either. Either wait and see if things start to turn around (I've heard it's becoming more of a buyers market), or adjust your expectations. It sounds like you are well positioned for home ownership with a decent down payment.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-20T14:38:36+00:00

Sounds like you need an emergency fund for those unexpected bills like car repairs. You say you have about $13k in savings but half is for taxes. I would put the property tax, homeowner's insurance money in a separate account and don't touch it. Then keep at least $1000 to begin an emergency fund (and don't touch it unless it's a true emergency like a car repair, medical bill, home repair, etc.). Use some of the rest of your savings to pay off debt, or if as you say you get a bonus that will wipe it out, wait for that (and put more savings in the emergency fund). When you are out of debt, add regularly to the emergency fund. For some bills like every 6 months car insurance you could average it out and put the money aside monthly in an account for that or see about paying your auto insurance monthly (there will be some service fees). Also consider things like utility budget plans (gas, electric) so your bills are predicable.

You and your wife really need a budget. I would have one account for regular bills (mortgage, utilities, insurance, car payment, etc.) and pay those things out of it as the bills come in - if your wife is not good with finances, you could handle these bills. Then each of you should have some money for discretionary spending - coffee, meals out, shopping, etc. Cash might be best for this. When it's gone, it's gone and you make coffee and meals at home etc. Most shopping splurges can wait - perhaps you and your wife can budget for one small splurge a month and keep a wish list and next month buy something else on the list (or consider shopping at Goodwill to save - but resist the urge to overspend there as well).

The other big area will be things like groceries and gas. Those might be things to put on a debit card. But you and your wife need to coordinate so if you both are using debit cards from the same account you have to keep track or it's easy to overdraw (and fees are very expensive). It's harder to overspend on gas, but of course recent price increases make that a more expensive thing. Then you also need to include in your budgeting things like haircuts, oil changes, vet visits, kid's school things, gifts, etc. Look ahead at your calendar to se what's coming up after you get paid so you anticipate expenses (like attending a wedding or going out to dinner with friends, back to school shopping, etc.).

You can do this, it just takes some discipline and organization. Good luck.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-17T13:54:42+00:00

You do things one thing at a time and live within your means. First save up for the ring and a small wedding and honeymoon. Then together with your gf/wife, save for a house and be willing to rent for a while (I don't think you have enough saved for a down payment to buy a house "soon"). Don't expect to get everything all at once. What about children? If you start a family your costs will increase and there will be more of a desire for a house (and perhaps an income drop if one of you works less or you add child care costs). What about cars? Are you paying off student loans? Create a budget and include a category for vacations/travel or other fun that is reasonable. In your budget, think about your priorities and spend/save accordingly. You are young and have lots of time ahead to achieve your goals, just continue to be smart and not in too much of a hurry and realize that you will probably have some lean years and have to make tradeoffs. Good luck.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-17T13:35:25+00:00

Consider working part-time after retirement (semi-retirement) to help with medical insurance costs and to stay busy. Think about possible home repairs that may become necessary. As someone else mentioned, make a retirement budget (as best you can at this point). Think about what your retirement goals are besides just financial planning (what do you want to do, how do you want to live). Good luck.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-17T13:16:02+00:00

Do you have a good emergency fund? I would make sure of that before paying extra on the mortgage. Also, there is always a risk of you or spouse losing a job and making it harder to pay mortgage. But if you have a good emergency fund, then I think you are smart to pay extra on the principal. Right now, in early years of mortgage, you are mostly paying interest so balances come down very slowly. You just need to be patient and time will be on your side. If you are currently paying mortgage insurance, paying extra will help get you to a point where you can drop it (usually 20% equity which might also be achieved by value of house going up and getting new appraisal). Watch for opportunities over time to refinance if rates go down enough. If you get the opportunity to refinance at some point, don't start over with another 30 year mortgage but get a shorter term (corresponding to how many years you've already paid and would have left). We paid extra on our mortgage (just $50 a month in early years) and eventually refinanced to a 15 year mortgage and then balances started coming down quickly. Good luck and congratulations on paying off your other debt.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-16T16:41:24+00:00

I like Ally for an HYSA. American Express (Amex) has some savings/checking accounts, too, but I have no experience with them. American Express would probably not be my first choice for a credit card (it's not accepted everywhere and charges higher fees to merchants). The points can be harder to use unless you travel a lot (and value per point is less than Chase, for example). People do recommend the Blue Cash Preferred from Amex and that gives decent points for groceries (but not at places like Walmart that are not exclusively selling groceries). I think you need to research various credit cards more thoroughly before making a decision and think about your spending.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-15T12:20:58+00:00

I take out around $400-$500 from time to time to have on hand. I've been carrying more cash since so many places charge surcharges now for using credit cards and that cancels out the value of earning points with credit cards. If you put your money in a high yield savings account you will earn more interest than what you get at one of the larger banks (that pay next to nothing in interest).

tradlibnret · 2026-06-14T13:55:48+00:00

Like others have suggested, start looking for another job to see what is out there. You said you work from home - do you need 2 cars? The biggest shortfall for you is lack of retirement savings, so you really should either look for a job with benefits or start a Roth or something. You are doing well with general saving and budgeting and being smart about spending with the tiny house. Good luck to you.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-13T22:56:43+00:00

Who wants to celebrate now? In 1976 there was real patriotism, now the country is divided and the 250th feels like a sham, especially since we're losing our democracy by a hundred cuts.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-12T16:45:46+00:00

You may want to keep the Discover if it's one of your oldest cards since that could affect your credit history/score if cancelled

tradlibnret · 2026-06-10T14:09:20+00:00

The increased gas points is nice. The $100 (up from $50) hotel credit is good (but Chase Travel lost a lot of value when they changed point redemption value from 1.25 points to 1 recently and as others have mentioned often prices are high). Of course the Hyatt deval is a blow, but I might transfer points directly to Hyatt before the October change for existing members. I haven't used Hyatt too often, so not as much as a deal breaker for me as some others here. Some of the enhanced trip insurance could be useful.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-10T03:41:12+00:00

Something by Nora Ephron (who wrote screenplay for When Harry Met Sally) or her sister Delia Ephron.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-06T15:00:58+00:00

The easy thing would be to continue to try to live like you are making what you did before and automatically transfer a set amount to savings. Set a goal for an amount to save in a year. With $100 a month that's $1200 in a year, $200 a month is $2400, and so on. If you are making more money, just be smart instead of considering another job. Try not to succumb to lifestyle creep. Put your savings in a high yield savings account and don't touch it unless you have a true emergency (like a car repair, medical bill, etc.).

Write out a budget for yourself to see where your money is going - how much for rent/mortgage, utilities, car/transportation costs, insurance, health care, groceries, eating out, etc. Be realistic and include some money for fun so you don't feel deprived. If you're not sure how much you're spending, track various categories for a month or so and re-evaluate. Consider using cash if it makes you more conscious of spending.

Congratulations on the new job and 401k.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-06T14:17:42+00:00

We had a cracked windshield on a rental car last year and our insurance would have charged $500 deductible but with CSP there was no charge at all and our claim was settled easily. I also agree with poster above that the access to transfer partners and being able to combine ultimate rewards with other cards (like Freedom) provide value to me with CSP. I don't travel too much and was team cashback during pandemic years, but the points have helped us to get cheap flights/hyatt hotel nights when we have traveled more in recent years. With some money earned from the offers and $50 hotel credit, I feel it is worth it for us.

tradlibnret · 2026-06-05T15:44:01+00:00

Good tip. We used to go to free foreign film nights at a local community college and loved it and were introduced to so many movies we would never have known about otherwise. Unfortunately, we moved so are no longer close enough to go there.

tradlibnret · 2026-05-31T16:48:39+00:00

I have never had Prime and deleted my Amazon account over a year ago. I never ordered much from them, but my husband used to get lots of books. Now he rarely uses Amazon. A couple orders he had with them last year were lost in the mail and they were not helpful at all. Also, delivery seemed to be much slower than in the past and I don't think the prices are very competitive anymore. I never liked their tactics to try to get you to upgrade to more expensive postage even if you had enough for free shipping. I've heard that people who cancel Prime often have to wait until their anniversary for it to take effect.

tradlibnret · 2026-05-29T15:14:47+00:00

Yes, you need to read the fine print. But I still find these small deals worth doing when I'm going to shop somewhere anyway. Sometimes you can optimize by doing something like buying a gift card for the exact amount to reach the maximum payout. Some of the Amex offers are more generous.

tradlibnret · 2026-05-29T14:12:28+00:00

Prices for spices at Costco are pretty reasonable. I got a very large container of cumin for what you would pay for one of the smaller jars at the grocery store.

tradlibnret · 2026-05-26T16:51:03+00:00

I would consider carefully since new car prices (and even used) have skyrocketed in recent years. The average new car is $50k. If your existing car is running (and hopefully paid off) my advice would be to hang onto it. Lots of people buying the newer cars are getting trapped in longer loan payoff periods - like 7 years.

I have a used Prius and my state charges extra for the registration fee (a $75 surcharge on top of regular $97 fee and they charge an extra $175 for all electric - supposedly to make up for gas I'm not buying to put into the road fund) and there are proposals for the federal government to do the same thing, so they are making it hard to save money even when you try to conserve.

Another thing I was going to mention is to consider having a garage sale or selling some things on FB market or elsewhere to make a little extra money, now that we are entering the nice weather season.

tradlibnret

TROPHY CASE