Struggling with debt and childcare costs , looking for realistic budgeting/repayment advice
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for honest, practical advice on how to get our family back on track financially. I’ve been reading here for a while but finally decided to post because we’re feeling stuck.
We are a family with two young children (including a baby), and childcare has become one of our biggest financial challenges. To avoid extremely high daycare costs, I work from home while caring for both kids during the day. While I’m grateful to be home with them, it’s also overwhelming and makes it difficult to fully focus on increasing income or catching up financially.
Our current debts include:
$15,000 personal loan
$18,000 auto loan
$49,000 student loans
A few smaller debts
We have been trying to budget carefully and reduce expenses where possible, but we’re struggling to make meaningful progress.
After taxes we make 70K
I’m not looking for shortcuts , I’m looking for realistic advice on:
The best strategy to tackle multiple debts (avalanche vs snowball in our situation)
Whether refinancing or consolidation would help or hurt us
Any budgeting strategies for families with very limited childcare options
Ideas for increasing income with a schedule where childcare is a constraint
We’re willing to make changes, I just want to make sure we’re approaching this the smartest way instead of just working harder without direction.
Thank you in advance to anyone willing to offer guidance.