I've been so lost for years.....

[hotpockets118]

I am 26 years old. Recently married (May 2011) and a financial mess! Ok, so I might not be in as bad of a situation as some....but poor enough for my own liking. I have over $15,000 worth of debt and I have no clue how to tackle it. Oh and there is a plus, my newlywed husband is in the same situation. Most of the debt is from hospital bills, and miscellaneous things left unpaid as an irresponsible teen and young adult. The major (most expensive) things are a auto loan, ONE credit card that was put in my name when I was about 17 by a family member, and an unjust court judgement placed against me.

 

We want to buy a house in the near future, we NEED to buy a car AND we have a baby on the way!

 

I'm scared, lost, confused and not to mention full of pregnancy hormones that aren't making me worry any less.

 

Needless to say, I need help.

 

 

~Jacquelyn

[DialerGuy]

Order hard copies of all three reports and work to remove old addresses first.

[encoder]

Do you have copies of your credit reports? You should start there. There's a good beginners section. Cleaning up bad credit takes time and dedication. I know it can be hard to initiate yourself to it, but the beginners information is well written and is a must read.

 

People say the first half of credit repair is understanding your reports and cleaning them up, and the the second half is getting new credit in your name. It takes time for all of this. For minor issues, a few months, for more serious issues a year or longer. Along the way your credit gradually improves. It's not a magic cure. It helps to have money, which brings me to: my own belief is that the third "half" of credit repair is building real wealth. That's not discussed as much, but it's just as important.

 

Do you have a budget? Do you know how much money you make and spend in an average month? Do you save? Contribute to a 401k? Do you have any assets? I sympathize with your issues, I did the same thing (ruin my credit) when I was 18, 19, 20. You can clean it up in time with hard work. So if you give more details, people here are really good about helping out, with all 3 "halves" of repair.

[Guest]

I am 26 years old. Recently married (May 2011) and a financial mess! Ok, so I might not be in as bad of a situation as some....but poor enough for my own liking. I have over $15,000 worth of debt and I have no clue how to tackle it. Oh and there is a plus, my newlywed husband is in the same situation. Most of the debt is from hospital bills, and miscellaneous things left unpaid as an irresponsible teen and young adult. The major (most expensive) things are a auto loan, ONE credit card that was put in my name when I was about 17 by a family member, and an unjust court judgement placed against me.

 

We want to buy a house in the near future, we NEED to buy a car AND we have a baby on the way!

 

I'm scared, lost, confused and not to mention full of pregnancy hormones that aren't making me worry any less.

 

Needless to say, I need help.

 

 

~Jacquelyn

 

30 years old here. Welcome to life!

[Guest]

To OP:

 

 

We want to buy a house in the near future, we NEED to buy a car AND we have a baby on the way!

 

As to the house.. wait on that for a little bit, even if you save up!

 

 

we NEED to buy a car

 

The best car(s) I have had, previous to this year 2000 Volvo I have now which cost a flat $2000, were some $300 vehicles sourced from Craigslist. Sometimes, $500 to below $1000 can get you the best car. However.. With a good search, you shouldn't/needen't have to ever spend more than approximately $2000 o a vehicle.. Anything from a 1994 Chevrolet/GMC Suburban or Tahoe (for huge vehicle with room that can handle snow) to a station wagon (my Volvo is that) to.. a family sedan that is reliable (Buick. Buick. BUICK. Park Ave, or Olds Aurora, or 1999 Century Limited.. sorry, I am passionate about cars) - you don't need to spend a lot of money on here, you can end up with something good, and it doesn't have to break the bank.

 

PM me when you reach member status, I would love to help in that department

 

 

and we have a baby on the way

 

Congrats!

 

As to the credit.. You should definitely get your credit reports, all three, first thing! Start there!

[BDK]

I am 26 years old. Recently married (May 2011) and a financial mess! Ok, so I might not be in as bad of a situation as some....but poor enough for my own liking. I have over $15,000 worth of debt and I have no clue how to tackle it. Oh and there is a plus, my newlywed husband is in the same situation. Most of the debt is from hospital bills, and miscellaneous things left unpaid as an irresponsible teen and young adult. The major (most expensive) things are a auto loan, ONE credit card that was put in my name when I was about 17 by a family member, and an unjust court judgement placed against me.

 

We want to buy a house in the near future, we NEED to buy a car AND we have a baby on the way!

 

I'm scared, lost, confused and not to mention full of pregnancy hormones that aren't making me worry any less.

 

Needless to say, I need help.

 

 

~Jacquelyn

Welcome to CB!

[hotpockets118]

Thank you EVERYONE for your responses. I am working on getting hard copies of my credit reports. And I am now in route to the beginners section to give a thorough read! Any bit of advice helps...

 

FYI....My husband is active duty Army. We just PCS to Texas so I'm just now finding a job here that doesn't involve an apron. The pay grade here is very minimal, even with my work exp. and education. But for now, I'm blessed to have this job...at least until something better comes along.

So as for savings, I havent really gotten a chance to do much of any with all of the moving expenses and such. But once we're settled I definitely plan on serious budgeting and cutting back.

 

The only other thing about that is, I dont plan on working for at least 9 months after I have my baby. My husband and I both agreed that we don't want to put our infant in daycare and neither of us have family here. So much planning in so little time.