Whoops - looks like I posted while you were still editing. Here's what I've got now:
* Credit Cards: $400.00/month
* Taxes: $100.00/month
* Insurance: $50.00/month
* Homeowners': $25.00/month
* Cars: $450.00/month
* Mortgage: $1000.00/month
* Family Loan: $110.00/month
* Food & Misc.: $200.00/week ($800.00/month for Dec.)
* Gas: $75.00/week ($300.00/month for Dec.)
* Car Insurance: $150.00/month
* Electric: $140.00/month
* Gas: $150.00/month
* Cell Phone: $120.00/month
* Cable/Internet: $130.00/month
* Total Expenses (for Dec.): $3925.00/month
Now, to break even on 5-week months, and to give yourself some extra to pay down on the 4-week months, you'd need to bring in $4200/month, or $50,400/year after taxes. This is probably getting very close to your $56k/year gross, depending on your tax rate - probably even a bit over.
Like I said before, this definitely isn't the end of the world. At this point you'd want to start looking at ways to boost your incoming, or slim down your outgoing. You could probably start deal-hunting to save a bit on groceries, look at potentially cutting out some or all of your cable, toning down your cell phone plans, etc.
The important thing is not to get intimidated or frustrated. 
These are just numbers, and they can constantly be fiddled with until the balance works out and it's something you're comfortable with.
Great so as long as my husband does not get layed off we should be okay ..
If so he would be finding another job but would most likely not make 15.00 hr
Usually he makes around 10-12 hr but he got lucky through a temp agency.
As far as the credit cards with the income gross currently we claim 1 dependant not sure if we will be getting
anything back anyways because we owe hospital bills that we are not paying on about 2800.00 .. The state takes our taxes when you owe the hospital system .. So not counting on much this year or next year to come.
Our modification is still in the works and waiting if we will get approved to lower rate 8.75 down and possible waive late fees about 1000 .. that we are behind.. It is very hard to pay the mortgage on the 1st and by the 30th we dont have enough for late fees so we dont pay them.. That is why we are delinquet on that and the taxes not really sure how they will be paid this year so if the modification gets approved that will be taken care of in the mortgage hopefully... That was my goal anyways.. we will see how that works out..
But your plan looks great and I was looking for a part time job online which is very hard to find .. With my hours and my husband working nights it is hard for either of us to get a second job with my daughter and all. I am home at 6pm so there is not much extra time to get a second right now. We really dont like to leave her home alone too much ..I will have to think on that one..
So if I call the credit cards and see what they can do again which wont hurt and pay off the extra you see maybe we will be okay.. Thanks for the hope and your awesome help....
You will make it through this, for sure.
Just keep tinkering with those numbers - calling in and talking to your lenders to see if they would drop those interest rates is a great way to help do that, absolutely.
I'd wish you luck, but I don't think you'll need it. You're going to do just fine!
One thing I might suggest if you're having trouble with timing your mortgage payment is that you put all of your expenses monthly on a credit card, and then you pay that balance in full (the "in full" part being key!) every month.
So basically, instead of having a lot of little payments coming out of your checking account at random intervals every month (whenever you need groceries, whenever your utility bills come due, etc.), it looks like this instead:
* Mortgage/Rent Payment
* Car Payments
* Credit Card Bill
So when you spend $40 on groceries, subtract $40 from your groceries column for the month and add it to your credit card balance. At the end of the month, you pay off your credit card balance.
Credit card companies will almost always allow you to choose the time of month you want your statement to cut (and by extension, when the payment will be do). So, this gives you the advantage of allowing you to space out the deductions from your checking account - you can get this to all coincide with the timing on your income deposits so you always have enough "float" money and never have to worry about payment timing.
Obviously, the key part here is to NOT let yourself fall into the trap of not paying in full on that stuff you put on your card - you're just moving it from one expense column on your monthly budget to another. Either way, it still needs to get paid off at the end of the month - this is just giving you some predictable float time every month to help out until you can build up some reserves and the timing isn't as critical for you.
Just a thought. Keep us updated with how things turn out for you. You can do it!
Thats a great idea I keep telling my husband no spending credit cards that are open.. But what you said about the monthly deal with he mortgage makes total sense as a option. We will attempt that one we don't have much left available but I will see what I have to work with and like you said pay it off at the end of the month.. I know I can do that it is my husband I worry about he is the credit card spender believe it or not.. I am always the one nagging dont use the credit cards whats left anyways he has a credit limit with the credit union that charges 1.00 per transaction but then a 18% interest rate .. he uses it and it makes me so mad sometimes because it is at a convenient store etc .. I understand sometimes cause every week there is no money left after I pay what I have figured out for the monthly weeks. I think we owe out more than we can chew... lol That is why I want to get it paid off asap.. I thought a loan one solid loan all credit cards it would make it easier to pay one payment instead of several on me anyways. Do you think WAMU would do a consolidation loan on a amount that large???
I will def keep you updated ..Is what you do for work in this line if not it should be..
Thanks a million
Nope, this is stuff I just picked up after being burned when I was younger. Thanks though.
I would definitely stay the heck away from any card that charges you a fee per transaction! And if you're worried about DH's charging habits it may be safer to just go all cash or all debit card until you get this settled.
Someone will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe consolidation loans are almost always pretty hard to get, and in this climate it's even worse. If you can find one with a lower interest rate to help knock off some of that interest from accruing while you're paying down your accounts it might not be a bad idea.
On the other hand, I know when I was looking for one back in the day, in all honesty if I'd found one I probably would've just run my cards right back up again and been worse off than before - that's just something you'd have to discuss with your husband. Give it some good hard thought and be honest with yourself.
Either way, the important thing is to just get your plan of attack down on paper, and stick to it. Those debts will be paid off before you know it - once those balances start dropping it just gets easier and easier.
I try to save on our food bill but we use to spend less ..It seems that I can not find any savings more than walmart but the fruits and vegetables, salads believe it or not are more expensive in the past year ..
I had found that sam's club did not save us as much in buying bulk because we would have to be ahead with extra money just to get the basics since the bulk would only get so much and walking out spending 200.00 and asking yourself what did I really get for the week?? having only three people sometimes the bulk deals did not pan out. That happened to us a few times so going back to walmart always seems cheaper...
We use to spend 150.00 weekly .. Maybe we are just not good at finding good deals when food shopping but walmart we seem to always go back to .. I think food got expensive as well as the gas prices went up .. So the gas prices went down so when will the food go down???
Our cell bill is a two year contract we have three phones 1000 minutes to share between all of us .. Once the contract is up I most likely will get rid of that service and maybe go with a cheaper company we have alltel.
I looked at the plan below our grandfathered plan but that would make us loose our circle numbers down which we try to stick to those numbers since we have no home phone. The cable bill is what I was thinking about cutting but the internet we need due to my daughters schooling..
I am really worried about my husbands job especially since he is in the auto industry manufacturing they are laying off so many people right now it is scary..I have been reading about ford and all the other company industry's laying off everywhere I am starting to wonder what really is going on and what the future will bring.. Somebody in our goverment really needs to make sure there plans are going to work otherwise we as a country are going to be completely bankrupted if we are not already.. who knows what is really going on behind closed doors but from the sites I came across tonight alone are just not promising.. Not really sure what to believe at this point but will hope and try to just pay off our debt the best we can. Lowes project card did actually give me a monthly fee reducement for the next 6 months to 50.00 a month so that will help the interest rate they said will be 1/2.. but then go back of coarse so we will see how much progress we have in the next 6 months..
Thanks
These programs don't really do anything you can't do for yourself. And they charge a fee to do it. From what I understand, they make you close your cards and then they make the payments for you. They also ask for lower interest rates.
If you do decide to go this route, you could probably get suggestions from folks here on companies they have used and would recommend. There are a lot of slimy companies out there so be careful using one that just called you up out of the blue. If you don't get any recommendations, check the NFCC to either find an accredited organization or check the one you found to make sure it is legitimate.
Also, I've seen a few folks mention that late payments were made on their behalf. So check every account every month to make sure your payment is posted in time and be ready to make an extra payment if not.
One last dribble. Assuming you have $14,000 in debt at average rate of 14%, you can make the same $426 payment a month and have them paid off in 3.5 years. So you can see there is no magic here except you make one payment a month instead of a few. And for that privilege you pay a fee. BTW, there's a cool calculator at bankrate.com. Let's say you make it $445 a month, then you'll be done 2 months early. Let's say you talk some creditors down to 13% and pay $426 a month, then you'll be done 1 month early.
Sorry, this is kind of biased. I'm one of those people that hates to pay other people to do something I can do myself. Whichever route you go, you're making a great step to slay the debt dragon. Keep on