Haven't been around much lately, but for good reason. Anyway, for those who remember me, I got my score up from 499 to 650 or so in the span of 8 months to buy a house. Used the new found good credit to get the house and about $12k in furniture to fill it. Made things so that bills would be a stretch for 6-8 months until I got my next raise, but doable. Closed on the house on 11/30. Sure enough, in less than 1 month the shit hit the fan. At the end of December, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 32. We have 3 kids under 4 (youngest just turned 4 months old). The good news is that we live in the Houston area, home to last year's #1, and perennial top 2, cancer hospital in the world. The bad news is that 2 weeks before she was diagnosed, I had elected the cheaper health plan during my company's open enrollment. In the long run, it's a better plan, you just need to stay relatively healthy on it for about a year, we made it negative 10 days or so. So to get in to the cancer hospital, we had to meet our deductible with them - $5k. That was more than just our cushion for the 6-8 months. So now here we are, falling behind on a bunch of stuff. The tax return will probably keep us afloat for an extra month or two, but we can't keep our heads above water until the raise, and when all is said and done, the raise wouldn't buoy us enough anyway since we know we'll have out-of-pocket medical costs this year of about $15k. Alot of what we're falling behind on is the furniture. I've talked to them about returns and we're too far out to do that. They don't want the stuff back, they just want their money. We're already in interest free, short term (a couple of different stores, so anywhere from 18 months to 4 years), but only if we meet all the payments. Considering I live in Texas (no garnishment), my only assets are a car with very little equity, a house with very little equity, and a 401(k) with about $5k (that I can't take a loan on since I took one for the house closing, and no hardship withdrawals are allowed), and that, if need be, my employer offers payroll on a pre-paid debit card (in case someone attaches to my bank account), what kind of advice can y'all give me? Was also planning to take on some moonlighting on the weekends, but with the wife sick, that's now out of the question. So I'm looking for any ideas you may have, either for more money, or where to go from here. Incidentally, since the car is a '96 Honda and we now have a house, I don't anticipate needing any serious credit for 3-6 years. Thanks in advance for your ideas.
Is there any kind of work that you could do from your home? That way you could be there with your wife and kids but when the kids are sleeping maybe you could do something. I don't know what field you're in, but web design, software development, those kinds of things could be done at home. If you're not already, take lunches instead of buying. Tegleg started a thread in the general lounge about tips to save money. There are some good ideas there. Cancel your cable--or at least reduce to basic service. If you have a lawn service, cancel it. Stuff like that. How about selling some of the furniture and using the proceeds to pay off the loans? You could get some used furniture in the meantime. If your credit is still good, there are a few cards out there that still have relatively low BTs. I have a Chase card that regularly sends me offers of 3.9% until it's paid. I don't know if that's only for current account holders or not. If you could get one, you could max it and use the money to pay your bills. Pay it off over time. Do you have enough room in your house to rent out a room to someone? I may think of more later, but it's a start.
Have you talked to anyone at the hospital(s) about your situation? There are programs out there for cancer treatment. You should call the American Cancer Society, as they have many wonderful resources to help with these issues. I recommend doing your homework right now, talk to the hospital, your insurer, the American Cancer Society, even write to your local congressmen and Senators.
