I am in foreclosure. How do I make my loan current?

Sometimes, people who are in foreclosure just don't have to be. If you can make your loan current, you can keep your home. Some people have the money they need to make their payments. They just don't know they have the money because they are spending it in other places.

If you have the money readily available, by all means, make the payments to your lender so that your mortgage is current. That should stop the foreclosure. If you do not feel that you have money readily available to bring your loan current, you need to get creative and figure out what you can do to keep your home.

First you need to create a budget. If you don't know what you are spending every month, you can't get on track. Look back over the last few months and look for places where you can cut costs. You may think that you just can't, but do you really need to eat out with your co-workers everyday? Most people could save on average a few hundred dollars in a month if they just stopped eating out on every occasion. You may find that difficult, but it would be worth it to save your home.

Try looking at a percentage budget (budgets that give you an idea of how much you should be spending on any given thing based on your income) and see where your spending is off. Maybe you can cut corners by making your own coffee in the morning instead of going through the drive-through on the way to work, or take a carpool instead of having to buy gas every week. Cut coupons and shop the circulars for deals on groceries. The little things can really add up. That is why you must look at what you have been spending and see how the numbers add up. Start cutting back, if only for long enough to catch up on mortgage payments and get on track.

Put your budget in writing and analyze how well you did at the end of every week or every month. If you are not in foreclosure, monthly may be often enough, but when you have little time to make it work, you need to look at it weekly. You may start to notice patterns where can make adjustments. And putting it in writing is the really important thing here. If you can see what is actually happening, it may open your eyes to things you never realized you were spending so much money on.

If you are so far behind that budgeting isn't quite going to do the trick, look at what other options you have, but don't forget the budget either. You need it whether or not you are in financial trouble. If you got a tax refund last year, you may be able to adjust your withholdings to keep a little more of your paycheck every month.

Also, being in foreclosure, you may be able to qualify for what is considered financial hardship to take money out of a retirement account. While this is not recommended, it may be better than losing your home or ruining your credit. Look in all the places you may have money that you wouldn't normally think of using such as savings accounts, retirement plans and other investments. See what will work best for your situation and then take action. Then commit to beginning an emergency fund so that you will never have to dip into retirement funds again. Planning can keep you out of a hard spot in the future.