I (late 20s) and my husband (early 30s) have made some really poor financial choices. I am mainly making this post to hear experiences from other people and to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We had a repeating history of maxing out our credit cards then refinancing our personal loan to pay the cards off and we would inevitably max them out again. In December we decided we would do a refinance and make serious life changes.
We started using the YNAB app in January and it helped us see our true expenses and that the reason we used credit cards is because we were living above our means and we weren't prepared for any unexpected expenses.
We've made adjustments to our spending and cut back where we would and we're still cutting back spending each month.
Currently we have 3 debts, our mortgage, car loan, and personal loan
We did owner financing on our home in 2024 and just renegotiated for a lower interest rate (9% -> 7%). So we have a 30 year term and our monthly payment is $1049.26
We are about 3k upside down on my husband's car but it is our daily driver. We owe $7,900 and our payment is $331 a month. We have 2 years and 2 months to go.
Then we have our personal loan..... our balance is $67,110 and our bi-weekly payment is $645 so around $1397.50 a month when you account for 26 payments a year. We still have 68 months to go.
We are current on everything but our current DTI is 40%. I keep kicking myself for having such a high loan payment. The rest of our income goes to our other bills, groceries, monthly medical expenses, saving for future expenses and pet expenses (we have multiple pets).
Using a debt management company or defaulting on either of the loans is not really possible because we bank with a credit union. I know the only way out is through it but I could use some encouragement.