DURING tough times, a positive outlook and some common sense will help you more than anything says our financial expert Dave Ramsey.

My husband was laid off a month ago from an executive job, where it made USD 80,000 (Rs 3,157,600) a year. We've got no debt, except for our house. We owe USD 82,000 (Rs 3,236,540) on it, but it's worth about USD 300,000 (Rs 11,841,000).

We've also got a USD 30,000 (Rs 1,184,100) emergency fund in place.
I work part-time making USD 2,000 (Rs 78,940) a month. It's difficult to find positions in his field, and it doesn't help that he's over 50.

He's even tried getting lower level jobs, but no one wants to hire him for those because they know he'll take a better job if one comes along.

Do you think we should we sell our house? We've also got a boat worth about USD 18,000 (Rs 710,460), which we could sell.

- Sheila

Dave says: I'd get rid of a boat long before I sold my house. Boats are luxury items, and selling them isn't nearly as traumatic as having to give up your home.

You've got a nice, fat emergency fund sitting there, but I'd rather see your husband go out and find some kind of work, in the meantime. It may not be the position or money he's used to, but there are responsibilities to be considered here. I know delivering pizza isn't a USD 80,000 (Rs 3,157,600) a year glamourous job. But the cash will help out a lot.

You can dip into your emergency fund a little bit, and you may have to before it's all over. But I'd love to see him doing this and you guys living on a really tight budget! Understand, too, Sheila, that he's going through an emotional and psychological crisis after losing a big job like that. Encourage and support him all you can.

As long as he's being diligent seeking a new job and you're doing the right things like budgeting and watching what you spend, then you should keep the house. Take a deep breath, and hug each other a lot. Chances are, everything will work out just fine!

A little about Dave:
At 26, he had a net worth of a little over a million dollars. Life couldn't be more perfect. And then he lost it all, thanks to debt. That's when Dave went on a quest to find out how money really works, how he could get control of it, and how he could have confidence in handling it. On our pages, Dave will guide readers on all things related to money!

For more financial advice plus a special offer for our readers, visit www.davesays.org . This column is part of a series of columns by Dave, exclusively for you, dear readers!

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