Best way to describe our family is blended... incomes and credit issues are a bit different from "normal" but hopefully I can give you background and an assessment of the situation/question without having to write too much. 
Ie: hubby is my husband... but not legally so, thus our credit reports do not affect one another.
I was in credit card hell for a while -- late payments, over-extended. Got my act together. current EQ is 683 and that's down 50+ points from this summer primarily due to a $4K charge for roof repairs that took my useage over acceptable limits (as well as inquiries due to the new card that the $4K was charged to and an initial investigation into a new mortgage). I know paying down that card is a key to uppping my score back over 700 -- that and time as my late payments age out.
Hubby's credit is horrid. I'm going to be pulling his report and score this evening but his previous house just went into foreclosure plus there are several late payments and what I would consider high useage on his accounts (not that I know the CLs yet, but it seems high just looking at the balances). Overall, between CCs, private loans and his car he's in debt to teh tune of roughly $25K.
We will hopefully be entering into a contract on a fantastic piece of property within the next week or so (broker is pulling our house's buyer's credit tomorrow and once they're under contract we can begin negotiations on a farm we love). Due to credit issues, the mortgage is ONLY going to be in my name. Broker says I qualify no problems. He even knows about the drop in score and is telling me not to worry. Today he estimated monthly payments for me and they are tight... but definitely doable. I've been trying to figure up a possible budget for the coming year, estimating that we'll be taking over farm mortgage payments in February. Again... doable (provided I put excess from some months into an account to cover a shortfall from other months).
There are a few things that we know we want to eventually do with the farm -- build a new pole barn for horses, add an addition to the house, etc., plus things that we will need along the way -- tractor, truck/trailer for horses, etc. I know our budget is going to change to accommodate these things but I want to set it up now to get us to the best place possible when the time comes. ie: we'll be looking at probably 5 years down the road when we have some equity in the farm (between payments made and the market rebounding -- we're getting the place for a REALLY good price) to do the addition. In my mind, that means fixing hubby's credit as much as possible. I've seen the interest rates he's been getting in the last couple years and I definitely don't want to have to rely on that!
So... I start wondering what is the best thing to look at doing.
1. Increase savings. We have about $2K in savings now for emergencies. While I love the idea of paying cash for things and eventually want to get there, I think paying stuff like the 28% credit cards and 24% back city taxes is more pressing and would do more to help our situation. Please advise me if I'mmaking a wrong assumption. I know we need a fully funded emergency account (3-6 months living expenses) as well as saving for retirement. My numbers already include my automatic deduction for my 401K and he automatically contributes to his pension (firefighter), and I have anywhere from $100 to $400/month already accounted for putting into regular savings.
Important side note: Hubby may have to take a medical retirement sometime this year. It's his back. 
It's up in the air right now really but it could mean anything from 50% of his pay to 100% of his pay to a lump sum payment. Not real sure so I'm kind of not sure what to plan for. Of course I'm hoping he doesn't have to retire - he is as well as he loves his job.
2. Pay down my debt. This was my first pass before I really started to think about our situation as a whole. The $4K (more like $3200 by the time January rolls around) is at 11.9% on a USAA card. In addition I just refi'd my Explorer loan for 6.69% and owe some $$ to my dad. If I go by what I had started for the year, putting everythign extra into "my" stuff, the USAA card is paid off by mid-year. But... not sure that helps enough.
3. Pay down overall debt. I know paying off the cards won't remove the foreclosure -- only time will do that, but it should help him start to rebuild his credit. Plus, eventually I think it would help "faster" for waht we want to be able to do with the property than to pay off my stuff. Especially since his interest rates on almost everything are higher than mine.
I guess my thoughts are to go with #3 but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking something. No... we're not legally married so yes, it will be paying for his stuff without necessary any recourse to get the money back. May be naive of me, but I'm not looking to "get back" anything... just put our family in the best possible position going forward. January is one of those lovely 3 paycheck months for me... so I have almost a full paycheck to "play" with. Then comes february where I never plan anything for my tax refund except to pay bills and put in savings.
So while I tried to have this make sense, I'm not entirely sure I succeeded. I know there are folks on here that have a lot of knowledge and experience and I would appreciate any feedback on my thoughts/ideas and situation.
