Wow, I just found this post and I can totally relate! My husband lost his job a year and a half ago, very unexpectedly! Off work for 10 months! Now has a job but it pays about 25,000 less (should go up significantly in the next year or so!) We tried so hard to stay in the house, but got farther and farther into debt! After lots of soul-searching...we decided to sell our dream house! We had a full price offer with no contingencies in 2 weeks! 
To me, that was Gods way of letting us know we made the right decision! After paying off all our debt, we have about 15,000 left (keep in mind we sold it for 50,000 more than we paid for it 5 years ago! 
). So, we moved out and are living with my mom and dad so we can save some more money and take our time finding our next (smaller and less expensive) home. The bright side...we took some money that my DH and I were going to use for a 10 year anniv. trip and booked our family's first trip to WDW! 
If it means we get into our next house a couple of months later, it will be worth it! I think it is hardest, most humbling thing in the world to admit to making financial mistakes but admiting them means you are changing them! So many people that I would have never expected have told me they are in the same boat but are in denial! Theres more people out there in your boat than you realize! Congratulations on getting your life back! God bless! 
To me, that was Gods way of letting us know we made the right decision! After paying off all our debt, we have about 15,000 left (keep in mind we sold it for 50,000 more than we paid for it 5 years ago! ). So, we moved out and are living with my mom and dad so we can save some more money and take our time finding our next (smaller and less expensive) home. The bright side...we took some money that my DH and I were going to use for a 10 year anniv. trip and booked our family's first trip to WDW! If it means we get into our next house a couple of months later, it will be worth it! I think it is hardest, most humbling thing in the world to admit to making financial mistakes but admiting them means you are changing them! So many people that I would have never expected have told me they are in the same boat but are in denial! Theres more people out there in your boat than you realize! Congratulations on getting your life back! God bless! MAGICX2 said:Hello all!Just a quick update. WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!
I knew as soon as we had decided to stick it out in this house we would sell it. Our neighbor and good friend across the street from us is a realtor. He had a couple about the same age as us that are relocating to our town and starting up a new church. They have two children same age as ours. They looked at our house 3 times within four days, took a week to think about it,and then submitted an offer. I didn't realize how nerve wracking selling a home is!
We had to counter three times and them four, but we finally came to an agreement. We will come away with the deal with about $150. Yeah! Remeber, we have already remortgaged once, so essentially I made alot more on the house, but I have to consider it money already spent. Also, they want to close by 12/30, but they are not moving here until Aug. 1,2006. So, they are leasing the house to us until then!
We have plenty of time to find something to rent that is right for us and not have to rush into it. We will then be able to pay our debt down in 24 months or less and then make a decision on what to do. Also, part of the deal is that they are putting a 600 square foot addition onto the back of the house that should be completed in early March. We will also be allowed to use this living space. I was scared at first, but DH and I feel we made the best decision for our family. God is good. Prayers do get answered. Maybe not right when we want, but when the time is right, they are answered. Thanks to my fellow DIS'ers for the support.
Thanks for the update! 
We had more expenses involved in the closing then we anticipated. We have never sold a home before and we built this house ourselves so we didn't have a traditional closing then either. We knew we were going to be paying the buyers $1500 closing costs. What we didn't know is that we were going to be paying about $2000 for real estate taxes in the rears. All in all our cost was about $4300. I am proud to say that we did not use the credit cards for anything, but it definitely wiped us out. 
Then on Jan. 18 I wrecked my car(again) 
on some very icy roads. The children were with me and they are fine. I on the other hand will most likely need surgery on my cervical spine to adjust the fusion plate that is currently there and add another plate at a different level. This will put me off work about three months. We are down to $0 and it is becoming very evident how tight it is around here. The first payment on the Sallie Mae loan we took out (as mentioned in previous posts) is coming due on 2/25. We started making $200 payments every Fri. by automatic deduction from our bank account last week and that has made it even more cinched. We are getting by but just barely. I know we have put ourselves in this situation and we are still working very hard every day to get out of it. It might not be so tight if we had a longer term on some of the things we have arranged in the last few months, but our plan was out of debt in three years or less and we are determined to stay on track. It has been really hard lately. I have found myself going back to that old way of thinking every once in a while. I say to myself, we are already so much in the hole why not just go shopping. Then reallity kicks in and I say because I don't want to be paying for a paIR of jeans for the next 30 years. It is hard. A lot of people might not think so given our circumstance, but it is. There is a little bit of relief coming. Our tax return is due back before the end of the month. We also should be receiving our escrow balance check soon. These things will help get us back on track. We will be in this house paying $1400 a month in a lease until July. Then we plan on renting at hopfully half or less of that. The other half will go directly to debt. I just wanted to give everyone an update. And I guess I am looking for a little bit of support too. It is really hard not to get down right now. Thanks family.
We have been doing great. It has been even more tight recently because we have had to buy some necessities for our new home. We had to purchase a new refridgerator and a new microwave. But I comparison shopped on the fridge and I bought the smallest microwave I could at WalMart. We also had to do some work to the house. It all added up quick. 
It will probably take a month or so to really get rolling, but by Sept. we should be good to go. 
