<prompt> Human: Hi. In my marriage my husband has always handled the money and Ive always been fine with that. He works and I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom. Im not here to complain about him or this arrangement in general. But he dropped the bomb on me this week by saying there were some negative things he wasnt telling me. Like that our credit card debt is now up to 12,000. Its basically everything weve put on a card in the 7 years weve been married - instead of paying it off, its been balance-transferred over and over and he just keeps paying minimum payments. Also, earlier this year he earned a couple hundred extra dollars by switching banks and opening a new checking account. He didnt open a new savings account - so he just stopped saving for Christmas, which we usually do monthly. Instead, the old savings got moved to checking and it just got spent. I had no idea he did that. It really surprises me and is not like him actually.We also have a car loan and my student loans which we make payments on, and of course our living expenses. Obviously we need to work on communication in our marriage --- but what do we do about our money right now?? Somebody give me the plan so we can start hacking away at the debt and still have Christmas this year. Its Sept 1 on Friday Edited to add specifics as suggested Well, part of the problem is living in a very expensive city and unfortunately, we havent been able to move yet, though we are trying to. Most of the things that have gone on credit cards have been large expenses we didnt have the money to pay another way - car repair on our old cars, which we finally ditched and traded for a single newer car last year; my medical bills I have an autoimmune disease. But yes there is some overspending as well. And we just need more income. This is actually the best our income has been since we got married, it used to be worse, hence - part of the debt problem. Net income 54,500 per year. He is an IT systems analyst.Monthly income 4542Current debtsCredit cards - I will have to take some more time to figure out the exact number. According to Mint it is 10,871 and according to my husband it is 12,000. Only 2 of the accounts, less than 1000 are in my name so I will talk to him report back on this.21,594 car loan - 408 monthly payment43,000 consolidated student loans - 226 monthly paymentOther monthly expenses - I only pay the rent and groceries regularly, he handles the other bill paying. Despite the current situation he is good at paying on time 1200 rent315 utilities gas and electric - peak of summer - more like 150 to 200 a month in cooler months73 utilities water and sewer400 groceries63 car insurance80 Internet husband works on call one day a month, gets reimbursed 39.95 toward Internet130 cell phones husband gets reimbursed 30 towards44 water service10 digital file storage20 gym nutrition 225 gasoline 3124 taking out reimbursements and if I did the math correctly1418 left over. We were previously saving 50 a month for Christmas. That was our only savings other than 401k at this time bc things have been tight. Our other expenses are not the same every month but include gifts, clothing, car maintenance, insurance copays, parking, entertainment, emergencies, incidentals, eating out. I will also add more as I continue analyzing as otherwise suggested, thank you for everyones help.  <response>: First, sorry this line really caught me off guard.. I had no idea he did that. It really surprises me and is not like him actually.If you believe this was done over multiple years and he was in charge the whole time.. then this is exactly like him! As for moving forward, my suggestion would be to sit together to do the books so you are on the same page. Start tracking expenses if you havent been already so that you can see where you can cut.It may be a good idea to cut back on things you dont need for a bit, 12k isnt earth shattering, but it is a lot and probably no need for it. Maybe you can pick up a from home job or your husband can switch to a better paying one? Maybe you can work nights for a bit somewhere? 