At the start of 2008 my income was ramping up but I was still no where near my previous salary…and my expenses were still in line with a six figure income. We were banking on the hope that my income would continue to increase.
The real estate market had been hot for years but now it had stalled. My husband’s house had been on the market for 7 months with no offers. How long could we carry two mortgages? We consulted with multiple real estate professionals about our situation. He originally paid $250K for the house and currently owed $200K. The valuations we received placed it around $140K. Gah! Could we lower the price and come to the table with $60K? Uh no, we didn’t have the cash or liquid assets. Could we rent it out? No, there wasn’t an inhabitable structure to rent out.
We considered selling my house and using the profits to rebuild his house and live there. But the value of my house had come down so much we would be lucky to break even on the mortgage. And there was no guarantee that it would even sell. So our only option seemed to be to let his house go into foreclosure. Neither of us had so much as missed a payment on anything before. How could we just stop paying and give the house back to the bank? In the end we decided we had no other choice but to let it go.
We were embarrassed and ashamed. But at the same time it was a relief to cut our expenses by $1500 a month. I thought that now we were in a position to pay our bills and even start rebuilding our dwindling savings. We cut our expenses in every way possible and my income was really kicking in. But we were still just making ends meet.
“Never spend your money before you have it.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
Or start from the beginning here.
Hi, I’m Cathy! I’m a former career-driven professional turned stay-at-home mom. Living on one salary has its challenges, but it is possible to live the good life while spending less. Cool to be Frugal is all about how we’re thriving, not just surviving, on a single income.
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