Anonymous wrote:^ not OP, but that is such a helpful post. Thanks for writing that up, appreciate it. This is why I read DCUM!

I wrote that. Thank you! I have benefitted in the past from DCUM and wanted to pay back, so to speak.

^ not OP, but that is such a helpful post. Thanks for writing that up, appreciate it. This is why I read DCUM!

OP, here are your options:

1) HELOC. That will take 30 days or so to close on. That will give you a comfortable financial cushion since you have so much equity. You will likely miss your mortgage payment for November if you take this route. Your rate will probably be 8-10%. The nice thing about this option is that your payment will likely be interest only so the payment amount will be lower than principal and interest. Also, you can use your proceeds from your home equity line to pay your monthly bill, which reduces your need for actual cash.

2) Credit cards. This is the easiest option and immediate. You should call every one of your credit cards and ask them to increase your limit. Then, just pay the minimum. You can use your husband's salary to pay your mortgage and put whatever else on your credit cards. Your rate will probably be 25%+.

3) Personal loan through the bank. Should be able to close in days (inside of a week or less). Interest rate should be 5-10%.

You can combine these options together. For instance, you can start out with the credit card option and then when your HELOC closes, you can pay off your credit cards. You can do a combo of #2 and #3 together if you don't want to tap home equity.

Sorry to hear about your job loss and hope the above options help you get started in your thinking on how to address your cash crunch.

A lot of professors in my town operate side businesses that they own. They run their business at their professor office job. This is really commonplace.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just on the picking up an extra job front: In OP's shoes I would not do substitute teaching, McDonald's, or anything else that requires taking a lot of sh*t. Target, Costco, temp work if your coworkers are good, and other jobs are fine. But substituting and fast food really take it out of you. It's hard to job hunt and take care of a special needs kid after spending all day substituting. Also Uber Eats is unlikely to be worth the paycheck unless you really work to optimize it. Tips are unpredictable and it takes gas money and puts miles on your car. People need to be smarter about their side gigs!

I make a really good salary and do Uber/Uber Eats on the side sometimes. You CAN make money in this area and it’s pretty much the most flexible job you can get. However, I can’t speak to other areas. The gig economy is booming. I’m not sure why you would say it’s not worth OP’s time. There’s Instacart, DoorDash, a million options you can get vetted for and start working within a few days and multi-app.

Plus the professor spouse can tutor

PP here. Exactly. There are a lot of hour in the day that can be maximized working while still applying for jobs, especially with childcare. Babysitting or dog walking for cash is another great one. OP can post on NextDoor/neighborhood pages. I have done those as side work, too. I do a lot of side work because I have the time and like to save money toward house projects, so I know it’s possible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Target is honest work. It’s disgusting that people would rather get themselves into debt or max out credit cards instead of working.you easily could get 20k dog watching too. $50 a dog per day.

I don’t understand why they need childcare.

She explained about special needs kids and being unable to lose the spot. Since she already has childcare the smartest thing would be to work for the interim. Ridiculous that some of you think you are above restaurant work or tutoring.

i keep seeing tutoring (and SAT tutoring!) brought up. Why are posters so sure that OP is qualified to tutor--especially on the SAT?
My kid is a senior in high school and I know I've read about SAT tutors on the college forums--parents are paying hundreds of dollars an hour for these tutors! Are these expensive tutors really just random unemployed people with zero training and poor decision making skills?

The husband is a professor so I assume they were taking about him tutoring

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just on the picking up an extra job front: In OP's shoes I would not do substitute teaching, McDonald's, or anything else that requires taking a lot of sh*t. Target, Costco, temp work if your coworkers are good, and other jobs are fine. But substituting and fast food really take it out of you. It's hard to job hunt and take care of a special needs kid after spending all day substituting. Also Uber Eats is unlikely to be worth the paycheck unless you really work to optimize it. Tips are unpredictable and it takes gas money and puts miles on your car. People need to be smarter about their side gigs!

I make a really good salary and do Uber/Uber Eats on the side sometimes. You CAN make money in this area and it’s pretty much the most flexible job you can get. However, I can’t speak to other areas. The gig economy is booming. I’m not sure why you would say it’s not worth OP’s time. There’s Instacart, DoorDash, a million options you can get vetted for and start working within a few days and multi-app.

Plus the professor spouse can tutor

Anonymous wrote:Just on the picking up an extra job front: In OP's shoes I would not do substitute teaching, McDonald's, or anything else that requires taking a lot of sh*t. Target, Costco, temp work if your coworkers are good, and other jobs are fine. But substituting and fast food really take it out of you. It's hard to job hunt and take care of a special needs kid after spending all day substituting. Also Uber Eats is unlikely to be worth the paycheck unless you really work to optimize it. Tips are unpredictable and it takes gas money and puts miles on your car. People need to be smarter about their side gigs!

I make a really good salary and do Uber/Uber Eats on the side sometimes. You CAN make money in this area and it’s pretty much the most flexible job you can get. However, I can’t speak to other areas. The gig economy is booming. I’m not sure why you would say it’s not worth OP’s time. There’s Instacart, DoorDash, a million options you can get vetted for and start working within a few days and multi-app.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Screaming poverty when you have no savings and an $800K house you clearly don't have the income for is absurd. They cannot afford the lifestyle and need to sell the house and move to somewhere more affordable.

OP needs a personal loan. As a professor, her husband should be eligible for the university credit union. I would start with them.

+1 Might be better than a HELOC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My choice would be to get a part -time job and apply for jobs with the rest of the time. Keep the house and childcare.

If fast food/target feels below her, there are lots of hourly jobs filled with college grads, like bookstores and coffee shops. Tutoring is also a fantastic suggestion and I know tons of people who did this in between jobs, in order to pay their mortgages.

Also, depending on her profession, can she consult somehow?

Getting a loan right now is an extremely risky move that will make them even more house poor, and will negate the "screaming deal" thing.

Years ago, we got th advice to always buy a house that we can afford on one income. Makes life way, way less stressful.

That’s because years ago it was possible. For most worker bees you need two incomes for decent house/schools/commute or one BIG income.

Years ago expectations were lower, maybe? DCUM wants AT LEAST 1000 sqf per person. Must be perfectly up to date with high end flooring, countertops, cabinets, etc. Large yard. Must be with in walking distance of anything and everything, including Great Schools rated 10 schools.
Years ago families were thrilled with 1300 sqf for their family of 5. Didn't need the best of the best of everything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My choice would be to get a part -time job and apply for jobs with the rest of the time. Keep the house and childcare.

If fast food/target feels below her, there are lots of hourly jobs filled with college grads, like bookstores and coffee shops. Tutoring is also a fantastic suggestion and I know tons of people who did this in between jobs, in order to pay their mortgages.

Also, depending on her profession, can she consult somehow?

Getting a loan right now is an extremely risky move that will make them even more house poor, and will negate the "screaming deal" thing.

Years ago, we got th advice to always buy a house that we can afford on one income. Makes life way, way less stressful.

That’s because years ago it was possible. For most worker bees you need two incomes for decent house/schools/commute or one BIG income.

No, you don't, you have to choose your housing wisely. We got a sh@t shack that is 1000square feet as we wanted to make sure with job loss or another emergency we could afford the house.

Anonymous wrote:My choice would be to get a part -time job and apply for jobs with the rest of the time. Keep the house and childcare.

If fast food/target feels below her, there are lots of hourly jobs filled with college grads, like bookstores and coffee shops. Tutoring is also a fantastic suggestion and I know tons of people who did this in between jobs, in order to pay their mortgages.

Also, depending on her profession, can she consult somehow?

Getting a loan right now is an extremely risky move that will make them even more house poor, and will negate the "screaming deal" thing.

Years ago, we got th advice to always buy a house that we can afford on one income. Makes life way, way less stressful.

That’s because years ago it was possible. For most worker bees you need two incomes for decent house/schools/commute or one BIG income.

I would be using credit cards to get through this period. We keep our balances at zero but we would not need to get a loan if we had a cash flow problem because of our high limits. Everything can go on credit cards except your mortgage and childcare--that is a lot of expenses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have a million dollar house and no savings? Start driving uber.

Op here. $1.5 million, but yeah. We had savings but it’s been wiped out in the last few months.

Wow. $1.5m and out of emergency funds in a few months even with one person working...talk about house poor.

Op has an ill child. Don’t be cruel. I’m sure they didn’t plan to be in this position.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Stupid comment.

Anonymous wrote:Screaming poverty when you have no savings and an $800K house you clearly don't have the income for is absurd. They cannot afford the lifestyle and need to sell the house and move to somewhere more affordable.

OP needs a personal loan. As a professor, her husband should be eligible for the university credit union. I would start with them.