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You may be asking yourself why I started this page. How bad could it possibly be for a young married couple in their early 20s? Well, we’re in over our head in debt and I want to change that.

About 2 weeks after we got married, my husband lost his job. They were downsizing because of financial issue and they just couldn’t keep him on. This was devestating to me. We were able to live off the money we got from the wedding, but this prohibited us from starting up the emergency fund that I so wanted. He found a better paying job within a few months, and it was closer to home and he was still given a company vehicle.

Not only that, but I got promoted within my company around the same time (November 2006) from an hourly position to a very nice salaried position. I almost doubled my income. We were doing very well, got our savings rolling, invested in 401(k) through our employers, and started paying down debt faster than we had ever before. At that point we had roughly $24, 600 racked up in credit card debt alone.

Just how well off were we?

We were able to pay for a 9-day trip to Hawaii (in cash!) for our 1-year anniversary (September 2007) and also funded a trip to Florida with my family for New Year’s a few months after. Most all of this was paid in cash. I was putting $500 into savings every month. We got approved for a car loan for the car I had so badly wanted (2006 Pontiac G6 GTP). We were doing so well. I really thought we were on our way up. We were just about to start looking for a house (we’ve been in apartments since 2002!) when I lost my job.

Yeah. Without digging too much into it (legal reasons, really), I was basically terminated because I had been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disorder (Behcet’s). Two weeks after being officially diagnosed (after months of testing, doctor appointments, specialist…you name it), I lost my job with a company I had been with for nearly six years. That was the end of my $35,000 annual salary (not including the $6,000 bonus I got the week I got fired), the end of my health insurance, the end of my 401(k) and profit sharing.

That happened just over three months ago (March). Although I’m getting unemployment, we are bringing in roughly $1000 less than before. And because Dave had to switch from his high deductible HSA to a low deductible family health plan, we are paying more in that area, too. And his health insurance isn’t as good as I was getting from my former employer! Health insurance is one area I can’t skimp on because of my autoimmune disorder (that’s another post for another day).

Anyway, after all is said and done…here we are. I was thisclose to cashing out my 401(k) but refused to do it. I transferred it into an IRA before I could do anything stupid. There’s a little over $6,000 in there, and although it may not sound like much to some…it was something I was proud of. We are now living paycheck to paycheck with bills crashing down around us. To date we are $44,574.26 in debt (credit cards, Dave’s student loans, and a car loan).

I’m hoping with this blog I can get insight from readers, encouragement, and even just accountability on my own part. Kacie over at sensetosave was a huge inspiration to me. I stumbled upon her personal finance blog a few weeks ago and caught up in reading almost everything she had posted.