Should I Sell My House?

Hi, I'm a 37 year old married woman whose tired of dealing with credit card debt. 

I bought a multi family home before I was married for $135,000.  I've refinanced a few times and took money out to pay down debt.  I now owe $210,000 on it but thankfully it is still worth $550-$600 even in today's poor real estate market.  I am considering selling this house because my overall household expenses outweigh my income by $3000 a month.  This number is higher in the winter due to very big heat costs.

I also own a single family house worth approx $550 K with a mortgage of $400 K.  I have this mortgage currently set up as an interest only because I was unable to afford a regular mortgage.  I do have the option of paying more each month.  I don't want to sell this house, it is our home.

I have 20K in credit card debt.  I have kept up on mortage pmts and minimum credit card payments but have fallen 30-60 days behind on all other bills.

I just realized, I've been saying I all along without including my husband.  Perhaps that is because he is the biggest source of our credit card debt.  He has a drug addiction that surfaces from time to time.  When it does, he finds ways to spend money we simply don't have.  Most times he opens up credit cards and takes out cash advances and I don't find out about it until that card has skyrocketed and added over a $100 a month in fees.  Then, I put the debt in my name on a credit card with lower interest rates and work to pay it off.  4 years ago we owed $40K, I put us on a strict budget, got a second job and paid down the debt to $5K this past November.  And yet.. here we are again back up to $20K.

This is the first time I've ever posted something like this.  Any advice you could give me is greatly appreciated. 

At the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil, sell your husband and keep the real estate. I am gonna bet you already knew this but just wanted to hear it from somebody.

Separate all of your finances from your husband until he can prove he's over his addiction. Also, this seems to be a bad time to sell a house.

I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing here - but do you really want to sell the house and pay down this current debt only to find out next year that he's done it again, forcing you to sell the family home - then you find out he's done it again - and you've nothing left to sell...

I was married to an alcoholic for way too long. He promised he'd get over it/go to AA/fix his issues. I paid the bills/mortgage/payments/groceries. He sat at home and spent what I worked for. I often worked part-time as well as full-time to keep up.

I cut him off financially and asked him to help me out. He did. He left.

Now I still have that same real estate, most other debts are down away from scary levels and I only have to work one job to cover it all.

Oh - and I found a much nicer partner in the process who actually contributes. Things turn out for the best in the long run.

I'm inclined to agree with everyone's comments. Your debt problem isn't going to go away until the other problem is addressed. You already mentioned this is on going issue and I'm sorry but I can't see your situation improving for long even if you were to sell your home/s.

POST REMOVED: Advertising not allowed

um... debtfreeguy?? You say it's not something you're selling - and yet you include an affiliate link at the end, which shows you ARE after the commission on the product.

No fair.

The system is called an offset mortgage. On paper, they really do work well. You can get the same information free on the internet. Do a search on Google.

Amo-I first want to tell you that you are not alone.  I'm in a similar situation, although luckily my boyfriend does not have a drug problem---but he's a spender and for those of you who have had to live with a "spender" you understand.  I don't mean that he buys things, I mean he's a compulsive spender and whether he has the money or not he spends.  Unfortunately, I can't control him and his spending is the reason I don't want to get married, but I do feel "stuck" as we are so different financially.  I am always trying to improve, to save, to find a way out of the rat race but he pulls me back and I know I'm the only one who can do anything about that.  Anyway I just want you to know that I understand what it's like to pay all the bills (with some "help" from him when he hasn't blown his paycheck on whatever).  I read a book that helped me a lot called "Your Money or Your Life", if you're able to read that book it may help you.  It's not a financial planning book, it's more a philosophy of money, life, etc.  I bet you could even find it at your public library as it was a best seller when it came out.

I also wanted to say that the posting from "DebtFreeGuy" is on more than one blog here and I've seen this scam before.  I think that you have a lot of nerve to post a link to a ridiculous system--I've had a few people approach me with this ridiculousness.  Go find sales leads somewhere else.