<prompt> Human: Hello rpf,My girlfriend and I are starting to get serious, and discussing the merits of weddings, houses, and the whole legality of getting married. Im 25, shes 26. We both have full time jobs- I make just over 70k, while hers is about 28. We currently live separately, where I pay 500mo in rent, and she pays 700.Weve been discussing finances together as a couple a lot in the past year, trying to get everything in place. She has a bit of credit card debt 500, has student loans between 30k 40k, 5 years in but no real dent made as shes playing minimums, and will eventually be purchasing her car from her parents theyre currently paying on it and in their name. She has no savings.I have a little bit of student debt left less than 10k, and I have enough savings to pay that off immediately if I desired, but my car is paid off and no other debt to speak of.Now heres the deal- she had some medical emergencies and racked up some more debt unknown total yet, still going through insurance late last year, and will be having a surgery this year 2800.Shes been working to pay off the credit card it was about 1500 6 months ago, but most of her spare cash has been going towards that. Its been a slow, but so far positive process. Im anxious about the hospital bill and the surgery though- honestly, I dont know how shell be able to afford it.Now, of course, I make enough money and have savings- I can technically afford to pay these small bills for her, and would be able to pay off her student loans within a couple of years. But were not married yet, and getting more into rrelationshipadvice, I dont think its necessarily healthy for our relationship for her to rely intentionally or not on me for financial help.Now, before Iwe buy a house, or get married, is there anything she can do to put herself in a better place financially? Would bankrupcy 713? help her her main assets at this point are clothes, really- almost everything else is she owns is super cheap? Is it even possible on student loans? I think most student loans are for 5 years- she hasnt made any dent in these- will I be forced to pay them off in expedited fashion if we get married?Help rpersonalfinance, youre my only hope!EDIT: Thanks everyone for the help. Really appreciate the advice!Assistant: Unless the medical debt ends up being high I dont think bankruptcy makes sense. Student loans often times cant be discharged in bankruptcy, and that is most of the debt.500 in CC debt is minimal.It sounds like she has insurance, so hopefully her medical debt wont be more then a few k. All of this sounds managable.The first thing I would do is simply get her on a good solid budget.Get the CC paid off first, then any medical debt.Dont expect her student loans to be paid off before marriage unless her income increases. Once you are married create a joint budget and pay down all of your remaining debt yours and hers as a couple instead of individually.Human: Shes been working on a budget, and actually doing great with it. She was very scared of fiances when we first started dating, but has come a long way and even uses Mint now to track her spending and habits.The 500 is minimal, but still likely wont get paid off until March- she doesnt have a lot of free cash. A lot of her income goes towards rent. She takes home slightly less than 1500 a month, and 700 of that is rent, currently. :Assistant: Yeah, 700 a month towards rent on 1500 is real tough. On a side note, do you have plans to live together before getting married, or is that something that is waiting for marriage?On the bright side, it doesnt look like she has debt due to bad habits, like major spending issues. Her CC debt is small and her education debt isnt massive. There is nothing here that would cause alarm bells to go off when looking for a partner. If her housing cost was less or she made more per month she could start making a large dent in these debts.These debts are things that can be addressed within the first two years of marriage as long as you are both on the same financial page.Human: On a side note, do you have plans to live together before getting married, or is that something that is waiting for marriage?Very Catholic families who would frown at best and disown more likely than Id like to think if we moved in before. She spends the night frequently, but not likely to be officially moved in before were married.On the bright side, it doesnt look like she has debt due to bad habits, like major spending issues. Her CC debt is small and her education debt isnt massive. There is nothing here that would cause alarm bells to go off when looking for a partner. If her housing cost was less or she made more per month she could start making a large dent in these debts.Youre right. Shes got a solid head on her shoulders, and its not an unmanageable amount.  <response>: She spends the night frequently, but not likely to be officially moved in before were married.What is her living situation? If she does not have roommates or only has one, could she look into a place she shares with 3-4 people? I could never live with that many people, but if I was spending almost every night at my SOs house, Id just move in with more than one person and use the bedroom as a glorified storage unit that I occasionally might sleep in. 