Is there any hope of becoming a Fool from the bottom of a pit like this?


We're glad you found TMF. I hope you have taken the time to read through the Fool school, www.fool.com/school, and educate yourself. Please don't get discouraged about starting late. In this case, better late than never works well. Recognizing you have a problem and determining to solve it helps you alot.

TMF recommends you to get rid of your debt before you make added investments, except in the case of a 401k where you have matching employer funds. In your case, decide the maximum you can afford to pay consistently on a monthly basis towards your CC debt and pay this. This will help you budget your monthly expenses.

Regarding your house purchase, you didn't indicate whether you have a 15 or 30 year mortgage. Remember that Social Security won't provide more than 30-40% of your base salary, so you need to make sure can pay that mortgage if you still have it when you retire.

Of course, you can always do the drastic thing and move into a cheaper house.

Zev