[DogLoverRuthie]

We have been considering adoption for several years. We have explored many options, but keep coming back to Guatemala as the best fit for us, but it also seems to be the most expensive.

Therefore, our biggest obsticle seems to be finances. We have a decent income, but had some real financial difficulties several years ago that have prevented us from having any real savings. We have only been in our home for 2 years, so we don't have any equity. We have a couple of personal loans out right now, so I am sure we couldn't qualify for a big personal loan. We make too much money to qualify for some of the adoption helps that are available. We don't have family that we can borrow from, and we just can't imagine doing fundraising. We don't have enough in 401K and I am not sure that we should borrow from there if we did. I would really like to go down to one income, so someone could be home with the baby.

Are we totally screwed? Do we have any other options?

[DogLoverRuthie]

Have since done much more research. Pretty excited about new information. We plan to start our homestudy soon.

[sillygirl82501]

What have you learned about finacing? I am new to this and I am trying to absorb everthing so I will know where to start!
Thanks!

[DogLoverRuthie]

I am certainly no expert! But I can share with you what we have recently been encouraged by...

Personal issues
- We contacted the agency that we are planning to use and found out that the costs were less than what we thought they would be.
- We also got our 401K statements and realized that we had more vested than we thought.

General issues:
- I am sure you probably already know about the $10,000 federal income tax credit (for qualified expenses). We found some banks that do loans especially for adoption, basically it is an advance of the $10,000.
- If you borrow from 401K, the interest that you pay goes back into your account. We borrowed a small amount for the down payment on our house 2 years ago, and because of how bad the market was, we ended up making a better return on the money that we borrowed.
- Some states also offer income tax credit for qualified expenses on top of federal. Our state offers up to $1200.
- Some employers offer reimbursement of qualified expenses. Mine is considering implementing a $5000 plan in the new year

Considering that totals $16,200, it made the expenses much less daunting.

Hope this helps, but maybe someone who has already been through the process could give you better advice.

[DianeS]

If you're hoping to be able to go down to one income after the baby is home, now would be a good time to practice. See if you can take all of your (your his) income and put it straight into a savings account. If you can alter your lifestyle enough to do that, that savings account can be where you get some of your money for the adoption.

Good luck!

[todd11]

my wife and I went through the same thing. We made drastic changes in out life. We stoped going out to dinner and began bringing lunch to work and cut out all the starbucks and extras. we then figured out how much of that was and decided to make an automatic deposite from my pay check into a savings account. you would be amaized how quickly it adds up. We did cash in our 401 K not the best but an option we decided to do. We were able to net 10,000 and with the tax cr at the end of the year we were covered from the tax liabality. Then as bad as it sounds we put the balance on a cr card. We took the card that we had the most history with and spoke to the highest ranking person we could get to. Explained or situation and got a 1.9% finance charge on a cash advance. It was very hard for two years to make ends meat because we to went down to one income. But we did it and was the absoulute best thing in the world. Our daughter makes it all worth it. We also sold everything in our house that we did not use for a year (bikes, scuba gear even xmass ordiments) Every little bit helps. I hope this helps Good Luck