A mortgage refinance exposed a financial secret that stunned a Chicago husband: his pregnant wife had quietly accumulated $50,000 in credit card debt.
The 38-year-old man, identified as CJ, shared the situation on “The Ramsey Show,” saying he was “terrified” after learning about the balance while the couple was already working to pay down other debts.
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CJ said he and his wife take home about $120,000 a year and had spent roughly six months reducing $57,000 in existing balances. Six months into her pregnancy, he believed their plan was on track until a lender reviewing their credit report for a refinance cited totals far higher than expected.
“That’s a deep breach of trust,” personal finance host Dave Ramsey told him.
CJ said the situation came to light during a call with a lender reviewing their credit report for a possible refinance, when the lender cited balances far higher than expected and CJ told him the figure had to be wrong.
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The lender then read the accounts back individually, which CJ said prompted him to confront his wife. “That’s when I confront her and she came clean,” he said.
CJ said the debt had been accumulating for longer than six months and increased during the pregnancy, adding that the charges were tied to baby supplies, groceries, and everyday household expenses rather than large purchases.
When confronted, CJ said his wife admitted she had been hiding the debt and began crying, acknowledging she was wrong. He added that overtime is available through his job and that he was willing to work additional hours to help pay off the balance, though he did not know what to do next.
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“Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money,” co-host Jade Warshaw said, questioning how such a large balance could accumulate without CJ noticing items coming into the home.
CJ said the spending blended into everyday life and was used to cover expenses outside the budget they had agreed on, which made it difficult to detect.
