New to this - advice needed

[lizmc1779]

Hello all! Making the move to become less of a financial idiot and looking for advice....

Husband and I are 37 with three kids (a 4 year old and 10 month old twins). I make $280K base and husband stays home. Living inside major city with five mile commute.

Debt and other details:

-mortgage - $390K at 3.75%
-second lien - $33K at 5.75%
-student loan 1 - $28K at 1.625%
-student loan 2 - $14K at 4.5%
-student loan 3 - $36K at 4% (refi through sofi at lower rate and quicker repayment schedule)
-personal loan - $33K at 6% (through sofi - used for home repairs when you-need-new-roof turned into holy-crap-your-house-is falling down - roof budgeted and paid for in cash.)
-car loan 1 - $12K at 1.49%
-car loan 2 - $30K at 1.9%
-no credit card debt

We keep a few thousand kicking around in cash. I contribute the max to my 401(k) - company match is $2 for $1 of contributions up to 2% of pay and dollar for dollar after that up to 7%.

Admittedly we haven't been the best with our money (see car loan for brand new car that I have vowed to drive until it dies). But now I'm determined to put out this giant trash fire that it our debt. While we work through the spending side of the equation, tackling the debt part seems overwhelming. I am lucky to have the resources we have but it still all seems so insurmountable. Hence, why I'm here.

I come into money a few times a year for bonuses and things like that and should have about $40K coming this summer. debating whether to pay off personal loan (bigger monthly payments and higher interest rate) versus paying off second lien (its presence means we don't have option for HELOC). I'm leaning towards second lien given already-aggressive repayment schedule of the personal loan and the fact that we could then potentially get a HELOC should more your-house-is-falling-down emergencies come up.

Beyond this immediate question, any tips or encouragement welcome!!

[Mother Fussbudget]

Welcome, and Congratulations on taking the first steps!  Listing out your assets, and debts is a good first step. 

You have debt, but your highest interest debt is 6% - many people are in much worse shape.  Read MMM's post, and decide if you have a Hair-On-Fire-Debt-Emergency.

You've identified you have some work to do.  The top 3 things to do are probably:

1) Establish an emergency fund (EF) of 3-6 months expenses in cash.
2) Start paying off the 6% personal loan.
3) Contribute to your company 401K up to the company match (if any).

Once you have a plan-in-place for tackling these first 3 issues, consider posting a full "Case Study" (see the forum 'sticky topics' for instructions) to get more detailed help, and money saving ideas.

Again, welcome, and here's to financial freedom through badassity!