money priorities

[lamoncha lover]

If you had to choose between making a house payment( when you have never been late on a mortgage payment in your 30 yr home ownership history) or paying your taxes? What if you are sinking more each month and no light insite. What if your income was cut in half ? what if your health insurance was 800 a month and your pay is only 16/hr ($8.00/hr cut) and you have a family ? would you keep paying for health insurance? would you stop the insurance so that you can make your house payment?> Which is more important..taxes or mortgage or health insurance?

[PerhamMN]

I'd pay my taxes. The government will get their money no matter what, so it might as well just go to them in the first place.

[Immaculate Sublimity]

well you've pretty much described my life....
I let the health insurance go - we're VERY careful - yes I know the danger and possibility of falling into financial ruin -But I also know that if I'm that desperate in an emergency - we go to the hospital - regardless.

between the other two. Which one has the more immediate threat? are yout taxes past the point of reclaiming - or just 'over due'? Every state I have ever lived in had a 1 yr reclaimation period. If you're IN that period and nearing the end - pay the taxes. Once the state sells your home there is no way to undo that.

I dont think the mortgage would foreclose on one late/missed payment - but its always better to CALL them and try to work something out, I have, in the past arranged to have the payment tagged on to the end of the loan. Its a little more paperwork and depends on who holds the note... but its always better to work with the bank than against them in these situations.
Right now - across the nation... banks are laden with foreclosed homes... homes sitting empty and being vandalised... I think negotiating to avoid that is the better plan.

[mom in oklahoma]

Usually property taxes can be made in half payments, not sure about health insurance I would call and see if I could get cheaper payments, maybe different insurance. House payments do have a "grace" period, you can be so many days late without a late fee, if you absolutely CANNOT afford a payment at all, UNLESS the rules have changed we were told by a credit counselor "pay any amount even as low as 50 dollars" do it by mail with a check, keep the duplicates, you ARE paying SOMETHING and they cannot legally foreclose on you, now that does not mean you they won't call asking for more but that is something you can ask a counselor. That should give you some breathing room in regards to deciding what you are going to do.
You will be in my prayers,
Rea

[FarmersDaughter]

As for health insurance, I'd look into whether you qualify for Medicaid. If your income has dropped that much, you might qualify for medical coverage for at least your kids and then can drop your coverage at work to an individual policy which should save you a lot of money. Or you might qualify for coverage for yourself as well. The rules vary from state to state, but it's definitely worth a call to see if you can get assistance in some way.

For the taxes and mortgage payment, call your county and call your bank. Talk to both of them about the situation and see if there are payment options for your taxes, or if you can work something out with your bank. I think it's always a bad idea to just stop paying without communicating with them. They might say there's nothing they can do, but they might be able to work something out. Again, it doesn't hurt to check on what the options are.

[Pam6]

I would cut the health insurance first, then not pay the taxes, and the mortgage would be priority.
If you get sick you can negotiate payments and get charity based on income. Taxes take a while to catch up with you. I have heard from some people that if you have a lawyer you can get up to two years before they foreclose on your house. I agree...call and negotiate with them. That will give you time to pursue other job opportunities.

[Harry Chickpea]

Originally Posted by lamoncha lover

If you had to choose between making a house payment( when you have never been late on a mortgage payment in your 30 yr home ownership history) or paying your taxes? What if you are sinking more each month and no light insite. What if your income was cut in half ? what if your health insurance was 800 a month and your pay is only 16/hr ($8.00/hr cut) and you have a family ? would you keep paying for health insurance? would you stop the insurance so that you can make your house payment?> Which is more important..taxes or mortgage or health insurance?

BTDT. $800/month for insurance is a no go unless you have an ongoing medical condition that requires that level of coverage. Get a catastrophic policy, it will likely save about 1/2 of that. If you have no property, then skip the health insurance if you have to. The key that a lot of folks don't understand is that the contracts between insurance companies and providers is where most of the savings now comes from.

If the house is worth less than the mortgage - don't pay anything. Wait for foreclosure and walk when you find a decent rental.

[lamoncha lover]

I believe in tn if they foreclose you can be left with payments on a house you have lost.we do owe more then it's worth. i see no way of keeping it but can't afford payments on what we wouldn't even have anymore. i would like to call the bank but am afraid to alert them to our problem.
if we drop the insurance the only ones who would not have insurance are me, my 21 and 23 year old children. the minors and husband have other coverage
I am not late on anything yet. But this is the month I have to make massive choices.

[beccachow]

LL, call the bank. They can work with you, stop late payment penalties, etc. Trust me, they do NOT want your house and will be willing to work with you!

I would drop the health insurance. Hospitals take payments and cannot refuse to see you or care for you.

Also, the IRS can make payment plans. I need to do that as well.

As long as everyone gets SOMETHING, they are happy to work with you.

[sunshinytraci]

We are somewhat in the same boat. We had to drop the health insurance. As far as mortgage payments and taxes go, I would see how much being in arrears will cost you (penalties) with each one, plus the length of time you can be in arrears without losing your home. Then I would make the decision accordingly. Foreclosure costs can be quite expensive so find out how many payments you can be behind and for how long without going into that. Just do a cost/benefit analysis on paper and see which is the best route to go.

[Harry Chickpea]

Rough times.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/trave...reclosure.html

Guaranteed problem if you get hit with a deficiency judgment.
POSSIBLE problem of getting sick with no health insurance.

Kids who are 21 and 23 are on their own. I was self-supporting a couple years earlier than that. They can also often get CHEAP health insurance.

The other usual stuff applies - cost of phone and utilities, etc..

[Terri]

Been there done that.

I dropped the health insurance and I ran up the credit cards. It took me what, 7 years to pay them off?

I would not drop the health insurance again, as we are no longer young asnd healthy.

[Terri]

Lamoncha lover, this is my comfort food for hard times.

Mix sugar and cinnamon to taste.

Make bread dough and roll it out.

Drizzle with oil, sprinkle heavily with the sugar mixture, and roll it up.

Slice the sweet rolls and lay them in a pan to rise.

Bake.

Turn them out HOT onto a breadboard or the sweet stuff will stick to the pan!

[HomesteadingSal]

What I'd pay first in order:

1. Mortgage. A roof over your head is a priotity
2. Taxes. Be afraid of the government. Very afraid.
3. Health insurance. If something happens when you've got no coverage, go to the ER, they can't deny you service.

I guess I'm pretty much out of touch with these sort of problems, but $16 an hour translates to $33,000 a year. I think if you're not making ends meet, you probably have some other expenditures that can stand a little trimming.

[beccachow]

Zong, unfortunately that isn't always true. When cost of living keeps going up, but your pay doesn't...well, I make more than enough money to be comfortable, three years ago. But now, we are in foreclosure every other month, my poor old truck is in need of replacement but no way can afford that, we ahve trimmed every bit of excess fat from our budget, and still they keep taxing us, raising prices, raised the cost of HC, etc with no pay raise to help offset the increases in EVERYTHING!

[lamoncha lover]

terri
that would set me into a food binge I wouldn't be able to afford:>) I may have to try it though.
the taxes are real estate taxes.We don't owe the IRS. I know real estate taxes take a few months before you accrue penalties. I have a friend 1 yr behind on hers and she is still in her house....
I am going to look into short sale I think. I just want out from this house. There is no way we will be able to stay afloat with the bills it creates for us. We pay for the 2 20's insurance because it costs no more to put them on the family plan then if we just paid for me. They are both in college. Although I feel no obligation to cover them since it cost us no more we have carried it.
I am also looking at bankrupcy although I don't think that will be a good option for us. If they foreclosed and I could just not have a defeceit payment at this point I would gladly let them have this house.
I am treying to get up the nerve to call a real estate lawyer. dont know why it is so hard to admit..we are in huge financial problems

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by lamoncha lover

If you had to choose between making a house payment( when you have never been late on a mortgage payment in your 30 yr home ownership history) or paying your taxes? What if you are sinking more each month and no light insite. What if your income was cut in half ? what if your health insurance was 800 a month and your pay is only 16/hr ($8.00/hr cut) and you have a family ? would you keep paying for health insurance? would you stop the insurance so that you can make your house payment?> Which is more important..taxes or mortgage or health insurance?

Well considering that I never made anywhere close to 16hr in my entire life and I managed to keep the bills paid while raising a houseful of kids I wouldnt be too worried about it. But just so yer straight on the priorities... Liquor bill gets paid first. followed by smokes. Insurance next, house payment, then the tax bill (you actually have years to pay that one before anything drastic happens in most states) From there you work your way down to the luxuries. Food... that one can almost always be cut in half with minor adjustments to ones eating habits. Utilities... pay the ones you like to keep the most... water would be somewhere near the top in that group, then move on down to clothes, cell phones for the kiddies, cable, internet service.... all the crap people think they need that they really dont. Now, if you STILL cant see any daylight at the end of the tunnel... you increase your income.

[TedH71]

My new company's health insurance company offers a range of health care payments on what you can afford and what you will get. $800 a month is truly a rip off and yes, we do have a plan that charges around $600 a month but there is a cheaper plan that is $190 every 2 weeks for a family. I am fortunate that my wife works for the city and we have health insurance that is cheaper than what my company offers. I'm not sure if it's a Kansas thing but as far as I know, house payments also include property taxes so really there's not much for us to worry about. It's the cost of living in your area that is causing problems. Kansas is a low cost of living state. Other states like Maryland, New York...obviously aren't.

[lamoncha lover]

zong
we bought a house on an income that was over double what we have now. Close to triple.figuring real est taxes at 200 a month..water and electric at about 400 a month...mortgage, and car ins, health ins 800.00
there are still some areas we could cut out. internet..phones etc..i just don't know how you can make up such a large number from cutting coupons
BTW we are a family here of 7