Money problems

You should look up a budgeting site to help you figure things out. Most banks have them.

Start a spreadsheet and enter everything you MUST pay for every month, in order of priority. Once it's added up, you'll see how much discretionary income you have to play with.

You'll likely have to do away with some of your wants, like presents, vacations, etc., until you earn more or save. Back in the day, we didn't use credit cards so we saved up for things.

Once you determine your budget as Mame says - come up with ways to have fun without money or very little money.

Instead of going out to eat - have a picnic or grill outside. Instead of going on a big vacation - drive to the mountains and camp. Instead of giving an expensive gift come up with an alternative - make homemade candy; offer to baby sit someone's kids instead of giving a gift or simply come clean with your friends and family - you cannot afford to buy a gift.

When budgeting - to be honest in your situation, I would not save for a home yet. You NEED to pay off that 200,000 first. And not get into any other debt. And pay more than the minimum or it will take you quite a while to pay this off. Not sure what sort of debt this is - but there is also the option to find a lower interest rate - interest rates are very low right now so if you have for example credit card debt - look into getting a personal loan to pay this off for something with lower interest rate (now you would have to have good credit ranking).

You could also search in the mean time for a better paying job. Babysitters around where I am get paid $20/hour cash. Of course, I am sure this depends on where you live we have a high cost of living.

And cleaning ladies here charge between $30 and $40 - the $200K is her boyfriend's school debt. All great ideas, Linkat - in my family, regardless of whether we have money, we give coupons which are favours, too.

$200k is all school debt? The poster did not say it was all school debt just that he was finishing school and had $200k in debt (does seem to imply it is all school debt). But that seems high unless you went on to get a doctorate degree. That would be $50k a year for a four year degree. That means he would have received no scholarships or grants or anything so unless his family is wealthy that is not realistic (unless they just did not apply for financial aid).

Both my daughters had more than half of their tuition and room and board covered with scholarship and grants and so forth. They each took out the lower government loan that is offered - about 5K a year and we paid the difference. That is for a school that would cost about $50k (all fees for the year).

If he did get a doctorate degree - you would think he would get a good high paying job eventually - what are his prospects? If that is the case, just be patient - you are looking longer term and once he gets his "real" job hopefully you two will be in a better situation - again though - pay off that loan first! The quicker you do, the less interest and overall money you will be paying out.

Then you can start putting money away for a home - and it won't take you as long.

Yes, you're right - I just assumed it was all school debt given the price of some schools in the US.

Yeah the initial sticker price looks high - but pretty much all of them (besides the Ivy) give some sort of academic scholarship - typically the higher your gpa the more money they give you. And some have these other "talent" scholarships or some other stray name. It depends if there is some reason they want you - you play sports or a music instrument or you are from a certain state...most colleges want a diverse student body so if there is someone there on campus that has a really good reason to have you there - they will get you more money. So depending on the school it may seem expensive on the surface but after the scholarships a private college can be close to or even cheaper than a state public school.

As an aside - Ivy leagues do not give out scholarships - it is all based on financial need and typically without loans. So when someone says so and so got a full ride scholarship to Harvard - ain't true - they probably have a large financial need - now they may direct someone to some scholarships that are outside the school and someone that smart is likely to get some sort(s) of private scholarships not directly associated with the school.

Complicated!!

And dumb in my opinion - just give a normal price to begin with.

My daughter's coach kept sending her links to scholarships offered at the school - she would say you just need to write an essay and you will get $1,000 - the better the essay the more money. Or something like that - attend this seminar and you get another $1,000. You have someone helping you and directing you - those smaller amounts add up. They were all offered through the school you just needed to know about them.

That's really good of the coach. When I went, years ago, they had just ended the grants but you could still apply for bursaries (which were for different things, like your scholarships). I never received one and I had a 4.93 GPA. Buggers!

People buy new clothes when the old were worn out, change furniture when the origin looks old and replace a cell phone screen when it cracks. Your fiancé is having a heavy debt, why not ... You get it.

A wealthy husband would sort things out.

Save your money forget about trips just go on cheap dates and make investing your business. Do other jobs and other businesses ops on the side.
Like start a small business, invest in something.

Save up for the house, ( just save the money do not worry about buying right now because....let me tell you a trick "out of sight out of mind". Which is my grandpa method of thinking which is cruel. ). If you keep looking at these houses and apartments and keep thinking about burning your cash and keeping up appearances, then by all means burn into it.

For me I would use my parents as a storage, and live out of my car. Because god almighty the requirements to buy property sucks. Saving up is infinity times better.

I know this guy who works two small jobs back to back, just so he could "afford " his own property. He is happy even if his place is empty like garbage.

You got each other so be happy.