conversation: User (esztervtx): "UPDATE:\n\nNobody mentioned refinancing MIL's house. I found an option which although 10-year it's always possible to pay more every month to shorten the term and would leave us with 15k CASH after closing costs!\n\n(Minimum loan amount is 60k, closing will cost another 5k, mortgage balance is 40k)\n\nThe monthly payment would be roughly half of what it is now, so about the same overall BUT the cash we could just put on CCs!!!!!\n\nI am very happy. I have to confer with husband &amp; MIL, hopefully it will work out.\n\nPlease no bashing, thanks. :)\n\nSo husband &amp; I are in a financial pickle. We live with my MIL, whose Social Security is less than $1000/month. (We have 3 kids who are almost 6, 4 &amp;1)\n\nWe pay in full the approx. $1100/month mortgage otherwise she'd lose her house. There are about 5 years left until it's paid off. Our monthly income is roughly $3500 (not counting MIL's Social Security as we are on separate budgets).\n\nThis is where it gets bad: in our 7 years of marriage we accumulated $30k in CC debt. My bad, hubby didn't want anything to do with credit cards, I should have listened to him.\n\nWe have an empty lot that's worth about $25K.\n\nAt the moment our monthly income is spoken for (I'm talking necessities LOL). Just the minimum payments &amp; some miscellaneous bills that go out directly from the bank account amount to 1k/month plus 1k bills going on credit card, ideally this part also gets paid down that month, plus the mortgage.\n\nOur 14-year-old KIA is close to giving out.\n\nThanks to our high utilization rates, both of our credit scores are very bad (about 560).\n\nHow on Earth can we ever hope to pay our CC debt without winning the lottery? We don't want to go bankrupt....\n\nEDIT: Some clarifications:\n\nI don't work, I only have a Hungarian HS diploma with no US work experience, figuring in gas, car, ect. costs I'd never even make enough to cover childcare (only the oldest will go to school starting next month).\n\nMIL has less than $1000 in Social Security, she pays for her own gas ($100), house &amp; car insurance ($250), electric bill ($200-250), water ($100, I think) and she also buys most of our groceries.\n\nThe house is in her name, we can't sell it without her consent.\n\nWe bought the lot for $18.5K, it's valued at $25k on the tax rolls but will be worth $50k once we solve the driveway issue (TxDot did not allow previous owner to put driveway in because there is a guard rail nearby. Turns out the neighbors built their patio in our backyard basically so we can trade that for some land in front to build driveway.)"
  Self: "How much is the house worth? Is selling it and downsizing an option?\n\nWhy doesn’t your MIL contribute to the mortgage?\n\nSell the lot\n\nHow are you paying $1000 of bills every month *not including the mortgage*?"
  User (esztervtx): "House is worth about $125k, I believe."
  