Hello,
As I said, I'm new here. I got directed from somewhere online about helping with finances. I've been reading a bunch on the site, and it seems really great. I'm going to just throw a lot out there on my first post, and try not to have it sound like a counseling session. haha.
Seems like most people on this site are either a lot younger or in a lot better shape financially, so still not sure if this is the right place. Wife and I are both 36. 3 kids- 8, 6, 3. We have a total of 80k in student loans. Both Masters's degrees. I make about 52k/year, but my wife is only making 30k because she stayed at home with our kids because of developmental issues with 1 son. He's doing really well now, so that was the best decision we've ever made. She was running a daycare out of our home because we couldn't afford for her to just stay home, so she took 7 years off of her career, and just started a new entry level job to get back in the door. I've been at the same job for 8 years, and we were probably getting ready to move until this opportunity came up quickly and she wanted to take it.
We owe 85k on a house that just appraised this year at 140k. I have about 60k in a 403(b) and we have about 3k in credit card debt. Not enough in savings to even speak of. I turned a hobby into some side cash for about a year and a half, helping a local brewpub get opened up. I developed the beers, marketing, brewed, did a lot of stuff. Made a decent amount, but we put it all back into fixing our house, which payed off with refinancing. It was like a startup thing, so I'm no longer involved there. There's actually another guy in town that is trying to get me to help him do the same thing. He has the place, some capital, but I don't think he knows how to run a business. That's just a side note, and something I'm considering just to make some extra cash.
Not even sure where I'm going with this, except that my wife and I are really getting sick of being broke. We feel like we work so hard for our family, but things are always so tight, and that makes things really stressful between us at times. Overall, we have a really good marriage. Bottom line is we need to get better about spending the small amount of money we do have. There are times we both blow money we don't have. We are terrible and budgeting, which is really tough considering we both get paid monthly!!
I guess I'll stop there for a minute, so this doesn't turn into a novel. The basics of where we should start would be greatly appreciated. I feel really lousy that I'm 36 and have this many problems with money.