How often do your worry about money and losing your house?

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of equity in my house, 6 months of living expenses in savings, and about the same amount in taxable investments (not including retirement funds and 529s) as I owe on the mortgage so theoretically, I should never lose my house. But if I lose my income and can't replace it in a reasonable amount of time, I'd have to rethink my living arrangements. I'd rather live in a less expensive house and let my investments continue to grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a period of 18 months recently, no one had a job in our house. The money we had saved for renovations and our emergency fund all went into covering essential expenses (mortgage, food, etc) during that period.

Sometimes when the stress is unrelenting you become numb and your brain starts compartmentalizing the worry out of necessity. Thus I could do playdates, be invited by friends, and still enjoy simple social events. And other times, especially at night, I would be completely submerged by worry.

Now we are still dealing with the financial aftermath, have taken significant paycuts and are living paycheck to paycheck - no emergency savings yet.

This too shall pass.

This. We barely saved our house (which we could easily afford before we both lost our jobs), and now live paycheck to paycheck. But we are together, and the kids are ok, and we have to believe that things are on the upswing. The stress was/is horrendous, and while compartmentalizing gets you through and helps with the kids, it can take a real toll on your health.