Question: In the seven years we’ve been married we have paid off both of our student loans and paid $40,000 extra principal on mortgage. We have one $7,500 loan left before my husband can drop back to one job — he currently works two. We plan to pay that loan off in 12 months.

I feel like I need to reduce our expenses more so we can make that transition. I ran across your book and filled out the household budget worksheet . . . I became very discouraged. It seems that if I fund our all of our budget categories, he will never get to drop to one job. We have already found cheaper home and auto insurance, increased our health insurance deductible and saved $8,000 for emergencies. Our house payment takes 40 percent of our income, we have two in diapers, and in the last month, all three of our cars have broken down.

What should I do? My husband is really tired.


Answer: First of all, congratulate yourselves for what you have accomplished in paying off loans, decreasing insurance premiums and setting up an emergency fund. Our budget worksheet helps you plan for all of your usual household expenses; you may have to eliminate some categories to make your budget balance.


Here are three things you could do.


1. Sell one or two of your cars – you’ll save on insurance and maintenance. It may be inconvenient, but you’ll have fewer financial headaches.


2. Consider selling or swapping your house for something smaller and less expensive. Or rent out a room — maybe to someone who pays reduced rent in exchange for helping with your kids.


3. Work at reducing your grocery expenses by evaluating your diet, planning your shopping trips more carefully, eliminating non-essential food items, and cooking from scratch.


It sounds like you both are really weary and need someone to encourage you and help you evaluate. See if there is someone at your church, mosque or synagogue who manages their household finances well and could review yours. If not, contact Crown Financial Ministries (crown.org) or Money Management International (MoneyManagement.org) they’ll help get you on track.