tips on getting financially right before TTC

Does anybody have any tips on becoming financial stable before TTC conceive? Both my husband and I have amazing credit. Last time I checked i had a 723 and my husband was higher than me. We do have some debt. For instance we have a car loan that is still a little bit more than $5,000. We were thinking about paying that off with our tax money (does anybody think thats a good idea) We also have some minor credit cards. 4 cards are paid off but we have a couple others that arent paid off. I am a college student, so for the passed 3 years I have about 10,000 in student loan - but its my understanding that when trying to buy a home it is considered good debt. I plan on staying in school until I get my doctrate degree, but I plan to sub teach in septemeber and hopefully teach high school by next year. Does anybody have any tips for me. I dont have my own place and I know since I already have two gorgeous daughters I will have to get a new car with a min of a 6 seater.

I know nobody is ever ready for a child or the financial burdenn that comes along with having a child, but growing up I had a horrible life and I just want to make sure my children had better than I ever did

PS sorry for typos i am currently multitasking with my 18 month old.

If you don't have your own place, where do you live?

I'd pay off credit cards before a car as the interest is usually low on a car vs. high on a cc.

Your car loan will help boost your credit, I would just set the money aside to pay for it monthly  

I would pay off your student loans and some credit cards before the car.

Id get a plan to pay off the debts, and get your own place.

Making payments that are a little higher than minimum and on time every month looks better on your credit then paying them off in one blow with something like taxes. That won't hurt your credit but it won't help as much as staying on time and a little ahead.
And I don't know if it's changed in the 16 months since we bought our house but DH and I have about 35k in student loans and it did not count against us when applying for our mortgage. Neither did our medical bills (which are paid off now).

Quoting andthesenights:" If you don't have your own place, where do you live? I'd pay off credit cards before a car as the interest is usually low on a car vs. high on a cc."

currently we are living at one of his parents homes for free.. i know we could stay here for free if we want and have a kid but it doesnt feel like MY HOME you know

You sound pretty stable as far as credit goes. Just aim for the house. Shouldn't be too hard to get approved with your credit!

I'd pay off the car. Then buckle down and get the CC's paid off. Also I would start thinking about buying a permenant home. We just bought our first home 3 months ago! I wish we would of done it a lot sooner as renting did not help our credit score. It also took us longer to buy because we did need a big house for our crew LOL (it's 6 bedroom and 4600 sq ft). We also had to put 20% down so I would start saving for that if I was in your position.

<blockquote><b>Quoting diiamondchula:</b>" currently we are living at one of his parents homes for free.. i know we could stay here for free if we want and have a kid but it doesnt feel like MY HOME you know"</blockquote>




I would definitely wait until you have your own place  

Pay off all your credit cards, then your car. Take the money you were using for this monthly payments and start applying it along with your minimum payment to your student loans. I'm going to assume you have a good savings since you pay no rent?

Quoting ILOVEWINE:" Pay off all your credit cards, then your car. Take the money you were using for this monthly payments ... [snip!] ... it along with your minimum payment to your student loans. I'm going to assume you have a good savings since you pay no rent?"

just within this passed 2 months or so I have saved over $4000

<blockquote><b>Quoting diiamondchula:</b>" just within this passed 2 months or so I have saved over $4000"</blockquote>




Then keep doing that. Save until you have about 20k or 25, then get approved for a loan. I think that when you pay off your debt or most of it I would start TTC. But I would make sure you are contuinally saving!

Interest rates are so low right now, I honestly would go for the house first.