The Debt

Current Debt:

• $ 20,000 = Credit Card Debt
• $ 33,000 = Home Equity Loan
• $  1,500 = Line of Credit
• $142,000 = Mortgage

I made the decision at the end of the school year last year to stop teaching preschool in order to do everything I could to get back into teaching full-time in the elementary classroom.  Unfortunately, the governor of Pennsylvania decided at the same time to cut virtually all funding to all school districts which resulted in teaching jobs being slashed all across the state.

I knew getting a teaching job, even in the school district in which I had tenure before I stopped teaching in order to raise my children, would be extremely challenging, so I decided to go back to substituting with the hopes of getting my foot in the door somewhere.  Unfortunately, I misunderstood the state's requirements for keeping teaching certifications active and I found out that I needed to complete 120 continuing education hours in order to reactivate my teaching certificate.

I discovered free, online, self-paced courses that would ultimately fulfill my continuing education hours.  Unfortunately, our financial needs have become so dire that I have been finding it almost impossible to simply focus on these online courses.  Much of my time has been spent in applying for food stamps and medical assistance, things I never thought I would need to do, so we can continue to pay our bills and eat on a regular basis.

I desparately want to get out of debt, but I'm trying to balance that with making sure all our current bills are paid on a regular basis.