Meet Linda
Age: 33
Salary: $5,000 month (net)
Employment: N/A
Savings and Investments:
- Emergency Fund $5,900
Debt:
- Credit card $9,000
- Student loans $4,000
- Car loan $11,000
Linda’s main concerns, in her own words:
Currently, we live in SE MN. My husband has accepted a job that will mean we move to the Michiana area this summer. We are selling our house in MN and purchasing a more expensive home in IN. Our new mortgage will be approximately $1,062 a month. My husband will be making $65,000 a year in his new position.
We are struggling with how to handle the moving expenses that we know are coming.His new job will only provide $3500 towards our moving expenses. We currently have approx $8000 in consumer debt. We have around $7,000 in our savings account but we don’t know how best to use it. Do we pay off the majority of the cc debt and then put more debt back on the cc for our moving expenses or do we use our savings to pay for the moving expenses?
The second part of our dilemma is if I should work after we move. I was working on my BS degree and could finish in approximately 6 mo if I went full time, but it would cost us $12,000 in student loans to do it. If I worked, my check would go towards the debt.
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Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning financial mind and a former comedian. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and is the host of the popular radio show and podcast, The Pete the Planner Show. Pete is considered one of the foremost experts on financial wellness in the world, but he’s just as likely to talk your ear off about bass fishing.