Financial Woes: IOUs

I have a lot of financial woes. None of the IOUs belong to me, but that of my husband which was acquired before we married. I knew about it and it wasn't an issue when he was making excellent money. Due to an entire year of incurring a substantial home business loss, it took a hit on our personal finances since we had to pay people out of pocket that the business did not have. The money dwindled fast. We had no savings either. It was pretty brutal. They always said 2012 was going to be a bad year and for many, I believe it was. It certainly was for us. However, my husband (fortunately) had a 9 to 5 secondary job which paid well but it's still not what we are used to.

Here are the items below that we have to pay off sooner than later because $732.57 is going out the door every month to them. Last month it was $882 so we thankfully reduced it since with our state tax refund, I spend half of it on paying off the doctor's bill. The other half was spent so my husband could see his mother on her last few days here on Earth. It was tough, but the refund covered it. Now that it's been reduced to $732, I am hoping to reduce it even more to $220 and raise by $180 in order to pay off that last debt faster. On the student loans, we owe more than what he borrowed since he did too many deferments. That's where you say you cannot pay right now but interest still accrues. That interest was $9,000 or so and now it's down to $1,000. 

These are the monthly outgoing numbers:

1. Nissan Titan - $310.79
2. IRS - $200
3. Student Loans: $154.17
4. More Student Loans: $67.61

On top of this, we have RENT at $1,288 (which I got the landlord to agree to have us pay her mortgage instead of a rent of $1,425... that was an awesome moment); and Child Support at $1,721. While I truly believe we are being ripped off on Child Support, the husband wouldn't dare negotiate. He is a lawyer but when it comes to his ex, he turns into a turtle. Sorry, but he does. I have calculated his Florida Child Support  number should be $1,556 which may not sound like much of a difference but that extra $165 would take care of at least one loan. Oh and he gave her $20,000 before the official Child Support Order was given so it's not like he never took care of things. Also he paid off every credit card he had and took a hit on his foreclosure. She took none of that hit since she doesn't have to file taxes. Her income is supposedly $0 and Child Support is not considered income since it's for the child. However, I suspect she's paying her bills with it than her kids. She is married to a man who probably makes $30K-$35K annually. He can't afford the kids either so they have piles of credit cards blatantly on their tables... I've noticed. Tough situations but no reason to rip my husband off. 

Fortunately, his Ex is nice enough to let the Child Support payments be late. We are usually 10-15 days late since Rent falls on the same day Child Support is due and never ever ever do we have $3,009 in our accounts at any given time. But I think we could if we reduced other outgoings to $0. I'm attempting to do the Dave Ramsey debt snowball but it's very difficult considering he's always got something to pay for that's new, like Bar Exam fees of $580 and trips to FL and etc. We have had to ask family members for a loan and add that on top of our repayment loan spreadsheet. Yes, we do pay our family members back. It was their money to begin with, not ours. It is only righteous to return it so that they would be willing to lend again on any other situation. We would do the same.

So after all our expenses... we only have $1,100 to spend on essentials: food, clothing, home supplies, etc. And it may seem like a lot... but come 1st of every month, we just barely have enough to cover Rent. Then the second paycheck comes in and it goes to Child Support. The business money is the only money we get to keep. Poo.