Day 1: Where we are now- $179,727.57

I've recently embarked on a plan to pay off our family debt. Not so long ago, we were in a good place financially with very little debt, aside from my student loans.



In 2007, we bought a house, in a way that we considered to be financially responsible. We calculated what we were paying in rent, how much we were able to save over a six month period, and determined what we were willing to pay for a house. It was just before the housing bust began and when we visited a mortgage broker with our real estate agent, we told them what we were willing to pay. They told us that, given the interest rate we qualified for, we could afford $100,000 house.



The mortgage broker then used our income at the time, put it into a calculator, and told us that we could afford a $170,000 house based on our gross income at the time and pre-approved us for a $170,000 mortgage. My husband and I were pretty steadfast in not wanting our total mortgage payment, including payments, interest, PMI, taxes, and insurance to go over $1,000, so we rejected the $170,000 house our realtor showed us. We rejected the $140,000 house that we were shown.



In the end, we ended up with a house that cost us $112,900; higher than the amount we wanted to pay, but with payments still under $1,000. We came away from the home-buying process feeling pretty proud of ourselves.



I don't know when we stopped thinking logically about money, maybe it was the day we got the keys to our house and went to buy a couch for our living room, but now we find ourselves deeply in debt and I'm struggling to get us out.



We are fortunate in the fact that both of us still have full-time jobs. I am on salary and have actually been promoted and received raises in a time that many have not been so fortunate. My husband is an hourly employee, his wages have not increased in two years, and he's receiving less hours than he was before. We have two young children, and I have a shopping addiction.



Currently we have the following debt:














For those playing at home, that is $20,156.96 in credit card debt, $42,568.15 in student loan debt, a $8724.95 car loan, and a $108,277.51 mortgage, for a total debt of $179,727.57.

It's very depressing to see real numbers.

And so the journey begins.