Long Saddled With an Empty House, Now Facing a Short Sale

The Holmes Family

Age: Amber, 38. Trenton, 39.

Background: Amber is a paralegal specialist for the federal government and a part-time makeup artist. Trenton is an Air Force aircraft mechanic and tech sergeant. He's served 18 years in the military and reports to Andrews Air Force Base. They earn about $135,000 a year.

Goal: Pay off consumer debt. Cut expenses and adhere to a budget.

Progress:"We are still paying off bills but not as fast as we'd like," Amber said.

Since June, the Holmeses have paid off $2,800 in credit card debt. They've made great progress, though they still have about $6,000 in credit debt. Amber says much of that will be paid over the next month.

Amber has about $55,000 in deferred student-loan debt, and the couple has a home-equity loan balance of about $27,000.

They've also boosted their emergency funds tremendously.

New developments: Trenton needed to replace two tires on his vehicle. If they hadn't taken part in the challenge, they would have had to charge the $800 for the tires. Instead they had the cash.

"Thank God we've been doing what we've been doing," Amber said.

Still, a persistent drain on their income has been the mortgage on a second home. They have renters in the house but still have to chip in about $1,000 every month. An additional expense on the second home is the annual property tax.