For context, I (21F) and my husband (19M) have a one year old daughter, we are both in the national guard but don’t have legit civilian jobs. He’s currently deployed and prior to that I was on active guard orders for 2 years.
We bought a house for 175000 in Pittsburg Kansas. There are no job opportunities here so we need to move to find work when he returns from deployment. I want to go active duty and be stationed at ft. Riley so we don’t have to deal with the interstate transfer crap for a while since he is in college to be an electrical engineer. The problem is that I have to get a conditional release from the Gaurd in order to go active and I have to wait 3-6 month just to hear wether or not they are going to approve it and then start the enlisted process. I have no idea how long it would actually take to get my discharge paperwork. My husband gets home in about 5 months so I would like to believe the timing could work perfect but I know that’s not how the army works. It’s more likely that if I do get released It would be more like 6-9 months before I actually get anywhere on it. As of now we have no way to support ourselves once he gets home. He’s technically still employed with at an oil rig so that’s our plan for the last resort, we both hated that lifestyle but the money is undeniably good.
Back to the house situation, when we inevitably move, He wants to keep our current house and rent it out and I don’t. Our monthly payments are 1500$ so if we rented it out I’d want about 1800$ to account for repairs and maybe add a bit for principal. It is a 3bd 2ba (about 1600 square ft.) it’s half a mile from the university with a garage, shed, basement, privacy fence and all new appliances including washer and dryer. It also has a back up generator and I would probably include trash, water and lawn service. Does 1800 sound like a bad deal? I feel like it’s reasonable in this climate but it still sounds high… I feel like keeping it is a liability because we can’t afford to cover the mortgage in between tenants and we can’t afford any major repairs either. Also it needs a little bit of work done before we rent it out, the electrical in an entire wall and bathroom doesn’t work and it’s not connected to the breaker box, we need to put new flooring in the living room, the toilet “whistles” and I don’t know why, the dishwasher needs maintenance because the top rack never comes out clean and the bathroom sink doesn’t drain properly… there’s just a-lot of little things that I don’t want a future tenant to have to deal with. I could fit most of those repairs on my credit card, but my husband doesn’t want me taking out any more debt which I understand but at this point, I don’t see any other options unless we just way sell the house and get out from under our debt.
We are also upside down on 2 car loans and I don’t know a way out of that situation. I want to get out of all this debt but I don’t know how. I’d rather sell everything we own and buy a nice RV, get insurance license’s and work on the road traveling and spending time with family for a while. I’m thinking about getting my CNA certification so that I have some sort of civilian job opportunity if the active duty thing doesn’t work out. I REALLY REALLY don’t want to go to school, I’d rather support my husband so he can get his degree and hopefully he can get a good paying job in time for me to start homeschooling our kids…
I know internet strangers aren’t the best option for advice but our family is all over the place and most of them aren’t worth taking advice from anyway. I like doing this because people can share thier experiences and hindsight they’ve lived through so I can learn from their mistakes and what worked well for them and piece together what would work for my family’s lifestyle and goals.
Please tell me what you would do in this situation because I feel so lost and kinda scared for the months to come.
Posted by Prudent-Succotash-25
1 Comment
First of all, breathe. You got this. You aren’t in an impossible situation, and with the right focus/effort you can be out of it and well on your way to financial security.
These are my initial thoughts:
1) Do you ABSOLUTELY need two vehicles? If not, go down to one.
2) Go to school and get something that can get you a job (either remote or otherwise). Relying on your husband to be the only one to get advanced education puts you at a disadvantage.
3) Do you have a budget? If not, download the app “you need a budget” and start on it. Cut the unnecessary expenses.
4) if you can’t afford a major repair on that house or a gap in tenants, selling is probably the right answer. Nobody here can really tell you what rent for that area would be, but look up your neighborhood on Zillow and see what comparable rates are going for.
5) Build up an emergency fund.
6) Personally I think active duty would be a huge win for you, especially since you have a young child.
7) call and get free financial advice from military one source. They will help you come up with a strategy to pay down your debt. [Military One Source](https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/)
You have a great window in the next five months to make significant changes, all while your husband is deployed.