I’m House Poor & in Desperate Need of Financial Help

I originally became house poor after I was divorced. My ex-husband wanted nothing to do with the house. I loved the house. It was a no brainer to take over the payments until I realized suddenly that only I was responsible for making sure the mortgage was paid every month with my modest paycheck.

So I decided to do something about it. I got a master’s degree and a better job (read: I got really, really lucky). Things were going well for a while. The mortgage payment wasn’t bad at all, I even added a car payment and was still doing ok.

Then I decided to make improvements on the house and take out a bigger mortgage. This wasn’t such a big deal because the house was a foreclosure and the aforementioned ex was a contractor that had done a significant amount of work already. The original price was a steal and the once rough house was showing nothing but potential to be my dream home.

With a job I loved, a boyfriend I planned to keep around for a while and my parents in the same town it seemed I would be sticking around and since I had been putting off these renovations thinking I would eventually move and find my dream house, it was time to put the effort into making this house my dream house.

So I did it. I refinanced. A scary process but I made it through with minimal collateral damage. My yard took the majority of the hit when the guy that came to notarize my closing documents got stuck in the mud and two tow truck companies had to make an appearance.

Besides a few awkward hours with a stranger it was mostly a night that went well, I was mentally past the point of no return. Legally I still had the right of recision (which I got through without freaking out too much). Now my mortgage was almost three times what the old one was.

I’m house poor again. I just wrote out the check for my first of 360 larger payments. And with that I need to make some changes. This will be about my journey to spend less, save more and pay off my debt. While still trying to have a social life. It’s not going to be easy but I think it’s possible. Wish me luck! I’m going to need it.