I figured this was the place to go for financial advice. My husband and I have gotten into a terrible financial situation. I have worked for a bank for 13 years and I have a banker's salary. My husband is self employed managing several rental properties. He recently lost his biggest contract which decreased our annual income by $50,000. We have been scrambling to make our debt payments but have almost used the last of our savings. I've been trying to get an equity loan to payoff everything and buy us some time but I've been having trouble with that because of the late payments on my credit report. I feel stuck. I really want to avoid loosing my assets or claiming bankruptcy. Does anyone have a suggestion?

You could contact your nearest Consumer Credit Counseling Service. They should be able to help you or give you suggestions on what to do.

Thanks for the suggestion but, we tried that and they said they could only help with the unsecured debt. Most of ours is secured.

Sell one of your rental properties. Also when you say you make a 'bankers salary are we talking a tellers salary or a President's salary? And is it a 70 Million Dollar bank, or a 100 billion dollar bank. Real Advice is sell a property, or find some other item you can liquidate if possible. If you work in banking you probably already know that taking on more debt to pay your existing debt doesn't usually work. Unless you have some knowledge that the $50K will be back in the picture very soon.

It doesn't hurt talking to your creditors too. Most reputable creditors would much rather work the situation out rather than having to forclose or repossess.

Have you checked into refi? It's probably a stupid question but if you have property(ies) than why wouldn't you be able to?

She said he managed rental properties, not owned them. You need to look at what in your current monthly budget is needed. Do you need cable? That's at least $50. If you have cell and home phones, cancel the home phone. That's at least another $50. What about your cars? Carrying 2 notes? Can you sell one and buy a used car with no note? At least $350, and you can also decrease your insurance. Try packing your lunch every day instead of going out to eat. Restaurants, movies, etc. also eat into your budget. How about downgrading the home you live in? Selling and moving into something smaller?

Sadly, a loss of $50,000 in income is going to be extremely hard to make up just by cutting your budget, that is over $4,000 a month, and you will really need to replace this income, or radically alter your lifestyle. One option is also part-time work (I hate to say this as it puts a serious crimp on your personal life).

Bankruptcy should be avoided if at all possible. Depending on your position at the bank, declaring bankruptcy could jeapordize your current job, forcing the bank to move you to a non-monetary handling position, which could have a reduction in pay.