America's Money: Debt crush

Trust coordinator, 25, Seattle, Wash.

My husband and I have been married for four years. After two years of marriage and finding entry level positions after college graduation, we moved to Seattle under the presumption that we could make California wages without paying California housing prices.

We bought a 900 square-foot condo for $317,000. We love the place and it's in a great neighborhood, but we have to be honest with ourselves that we may have made a mistake.

Buying the condo required us have to take out a student loan for my husband's graduate school. He works in education and with a $42,000 salary, it infuriates us that his graduate schooling nearly costs us what he makes in a year.

Although we carry no credit card debt and continue to drive our very old cars, it worries me that when it comes time to pay back student loans that we are going to still be very tight and only be paying near the minimum.

My husband desires to work in administration, which pays triple what a teacher makes. But it could take several years for that to happen, and we will need to sit tight until then.

I am grateful that we have, for the most part, lived within our means and have made an effort to save a small amount of money. But if either of us loses our job we could be in the same boat a lot of people are in. I hope this economy turns around so I can stop losing some sleep about it!

NEXT: Angela Sarno: Debt control