My Baby Sent Me Broke

Hi Scott,

Over the last two-and-a-half years we have had two babies and a wedding. Our first baby came earlier than planned so it wasn’t covered by private health, and we made the silly choice to pay for it out of pocket. Then, over a couple of years on one income ($240,000), we have accumulated two credit card bills totalling a hefty $60,000. We have now read your book and managed to pay off two large loans using your method, but we do not know how to get these credit cards paid off. Please help!

Katie

Katie,

Look, I’m all for blaming my kids for everything (especially on a Sunday morning), but $60,000?

Seriously?

The cost of having a kid in a private hospital, assuming no complications, is about $10k.

Other parents have weddings and babies, but they don’t have $60k on the never-never.

You’re earning $13k a month in the hand, but you’re broke.

Why?

Because you’re spending too much.

If you’re looking for a magic wand, you can go to MyBudget (see above).

But if you ask me, you’ve already proved to yourself twice that you can pay down debt, so three times is a charm.

Besides, you guys are high income earners ‒ you could have this debt paid off within the year.

Even better, you’ll set a great example for your kids.

Scott