YOUR MONEY: MAKEOVER REDUX

Then: In August, Baker was struggling to keep up with payments on $104,000 in debt on her annual income of $111,000. Although it was largely in low-interest student loans, the special education teacher’s debt load included $5,500 owed for federal taxes and $2,400 for a loan at a 99.25% interest rate.

Her debts kept her from saving for retirement, buying the home she rents from her mother and returning to college for a doctorate in education.

Baker also was paying nearly $15,000 a year to send her older son to college out of state and $6,420 to send her younger son to private Catholic school.

The planner urged her to limit college support, getting her older son to work and take out loans, and to send her younger son to public school. The planner also urged Baker to prioritize debt repayments, work to bring up her very low 550 credit score, hold off her college plans and wait to buy her mother’s home until she proved she could make a budget and stick to it every month.

Now: Baker, 39, has put some needed changes into place. She paid off the high-interest loan, reduced her IRS debt to $4,900 and cut her total debt to $99,000. She also contacted creditors to bring her credit score up to 615.

She shared her financial situation with her sons. Although she still sends her younger son to private school, she has dropped the amount she pays for her older son, who has moved home and goes to a community college. He now works part time and pays the rest of his expenses himself.

Baker has saved $2,000 toward her goal of $15,000, which the planner said she needed before buying her mother’s home.

New habits: Baker, who used to pay little attention to her finances, now sticks to a budget. She and her sons recently held a garage sale to pay for college books. The family takes bottles and cans to the recycling center, and once used the money they received to celebrate the younger boy’s positive school progress reports with dinner at a restaurant. Baker no longer uses her credit cards.

“I’m a much more disciplined person,” Baker said. “I basically budget so there is no money that is not accounted for.”

-- Ann Marsh