Mother-in-Law Forgets Student Loan Payments: Advice for a Young Couple

The Student Loan Dilemma

• 🎯 A couple is facing issues with the husband's federal student loans, which his mother had agreed to pay.
• 💡 The mother-in-law took out the loans in the husband's name but has since stopped making payments, causing his credit score to drop.
• ⚠️ The mother-in-law claims to "forget" about the payments and has asked the couple to request a lower payment plan, despite her initial agreement.

Navigating Family Finances and Relationships

• 🤝 The couple wants to take over the payments to protect their credit and their goal of buying a house, but the mother-in-law insists on paying.
• 🧠 The hosts suggest the mother-in-law's behavior might be passive-aggressive, stemming from difficulty with her son getting married.
• 🚩 They advise the couple to be the adults, set a boundary, and take over the payments to protect their household finances, framing it as a necessity due to the current debt.

Assessing the Couple's Debt and Financial Plan

• 💰 The husband has approximately $17,000 in student loans, and the wife has $12,000 in student loans currently in forbearance with accruing interest.
• 🚗 Other debts include two car loans totaling over $14,000 and a credit card with $9,000, plus recent furniture purchases.
• 📊 The couple has a combined monthly income of $7,000 and about $4,400 in savings.
• 📈 They are currently using the debt snowball method and have cut up their credit card, showing progress despite the new debt complication.

Recommended Financial Steps

• 🛠️ The advice is to list all debts from smallest to largest, regardless of whose name they are in.
• 💰 Utilize the existing savings to create a starter emergency fund and then aggressively pay down the smallest debts first.
• 🏡 The immediate priority is to take over the student loan payments to prevent further damage to their credit and enable their home-buying goals.