I’m totally screwed. Way in over my head. Currently my debt exceeds $500,000. While I make was used to be considered a good income, I’m not even sure that’s the case anymore. How do single moms, any single parent now a days survive as a single income household? I mean, could I live in a smaller house? Yes. Have I made some sacrifices so that my kids could have a decent life? Yes. But I don’t think it should be this hard to make ends meet, set a little aside for savings and live a mediocre life.
At this point I’m feeling like everyday is just digging myself a little deeper into a hole. I know something needs to give, and I’m working on it. I think for a long time I just buried my head in the sand. Seemed like everytime I would get one step ahead something would come up that would derail everything. Recently I had my sewer back up in my basement. Didn’t find it for a bit because the basement is really just a dumping ground for seasonal stuff and storage that I just didn’t want to look at. In my mind it was just an unfinished basement that I didn’t need to check on. Wasn’t until the house started smelling musty that I went down there… and found… well… a bunch of shit.
Anyways that was a $10k derail… it’s always something. I know it needs to change. So I’m just going to put it all out there in an effort to hold myself somewhat accountable. Keeping track of it… telling the world… slapping my own hand… maybe that’ll help. Who knows. I’m out of ideas. I just feel constantly defeated when it comes to money.
So this is where we’re at financially… I’ll break it down, so I can just keep updating these same numbers and I’m focusing on just seeing them decrease, even if it’s ever so slightly. Thinking monthly updates will do. Time to take my dollars seriously as I’ve all but eroded my safety net which, SURPRISE, is just another line of credit… SMH.
So how bad is it?
Mortgage = $476,326.88
Line of Credit = $120,122.30
Credit Card 1 = $0
Credit Card 2 = $25.24
Credit Card 3 = $436.82
Credit Card 4 = $0
Credit Card 5 = $5,204.57
TOTAL DEBT = $602,115.81
See… I thought my debt was ONLY about $500k… just kidding we’re well past that… this is awful. To look at the flip side… let’s see what I actually have for assets to understand how far under water I am.
Total Assets
Primary Residence value = $640,000 (recently appraised by bank)
Secondary Residence value = $300,000 (a conservative guess. I can’t sell this. It’s a family home. This is also were the line of credit comes from. I had initially leveraged this property to pay out martial debt and buy my ex out of our marital home, which is now my primary residence. In March of this year (2025) I increased the mortgage on my principal residence to pay down the line of credit to about $20K, I then also bought out my vehicle with the line of credit, which increased it to about $65K. Then there was the basement flood, about $10k, bringing us up to $75k. So really I’ve just been able to spend an additional $40k on the line of credit in like 7 months… it’s bad. I know.
RRSP = $22,254.02 (embarrassingly low… I’m 40)
TFSA 1 = $802.71
TFSA 2 = $14,717.42
Savings =$1,955.27
Vehicle Value = $38,000 (best guess)
TOTAL ASSETS = $1,017,729.42
What’s the real issue?
I spend too much for what I make. Plain and simple and I have no cash flow, it’s totally tied up in monthly expenses. My mortgage is huge. I increased it from $293,000 in March when I refinanced. What a mess. The worst part is, I need to clear that line of credit by March of 2028 or I am seriously worried I won’t qualify to renew my mortgage, which would be a very bad situation.
What is the plan?
It’s two fold. I have to earn more and I have to spend less. I have ideas, but I am mindful that right now I really can’t spend money to make money. And I will share my budget here in another post, but you’ll see that there’s not a ton left over to work with. I have been investing small amounts (about $200 bi-weekly from my paycheques) but that should probably stop so I can redirect that money towards paying down the debt I have. Truth is I am out of options and every month my debt is going up.
Why am I telling you this?
Because. There are tons of us women in these situations. Whether we’re single, or just the one more concerned about finances in our household, a lot of us are in the dark panicking about how to fix the mess. We know it can’t continue, the anxiety of it is unbearable and yet we feel like it’s a loosing battle.
I know we’re not all in exactly the same scenario. Some of us own our homes, some do not, some have more debt, some of us just can’t save anything because there’s nothing left… so many variations.
My goal here is to make my situation better by putting it out there and showing that it can be done.
I will, as I indicated above, share my current budget (even though I HATE that word and I HATE that I have to follow one… )and I will share some of the ways that I am trying to curb costs as well as potentially increase my income.
None of this is easy. It’s all very sobering. At the end of the day. I can sell my house if I have to, but there is something about being able to keep my kids in the home they love, in the neighborhood that’s home and I will do what I can to make sure that happens.
Gosh this was a downer of a post. If you read this and you can relate. Say hi! Share any of your tips for saving money and real side hustles with me. I need all the help I can get.
XOXO,
That Mama In Charge (she’s trying)