<prompt> Human: So as the title says, I am recently engaged. Since becoming engaged, I have really started to look at my fiancees and I finances. I have never budgeted before, never really worried about debts. Always paying min due. Well now that there will be 2 of us with debt, and we would like to buy a house I have really been trying to get our finances in line. We have not joined finances yet, but I can give a little background info. Any advice or help would be appreciated.I have just begun to work on a budget. I am looking at statements, to see how much I pay out, and the dates vs. how much I make. We are both working professionals. My income is around 64K. I have over 200K in student loan debt price of private education and advanced degree. I am current in a Pay as you earn repayment system. I also have some other smaller CC debt that I am paying off. My fiancee is about to quit working and start her PhD. She will be a grad assistant, so school will be free and she will get an 18K stipend. She has around 30K of student loan debt. Like I said, I have just begun working on trying to get a hold of our finances. I have been browsing this sub for the last week, and just bought a couple books that were recommended on here.  <response>: Always paying min due.Please do not do this on credit cards. Therein lies madness. Anything 6, try to pay over the minimum if you can. Anything 10, try to pay off as fast as you possibly can, ideally in full immediately.You didnt really share any specifics about your situation, so the general idea would be to minimize your expenses, since your income will be pretty constrained while she is studying, and you have some very large loans.You may want to look into some strategic ways to deal with that student loan debt. That will take decades on PAYE at that salary level. Maybe look into PSLF? 