Over the years, I’ve found that people end up in financial trouble not just because they don’t have enough money — it’s because of poor decision-making. These questions were submitted during an online chat by people who needed to be pointed in the right financial direction:

Question: I am separated, with two sons, and my husband lost his job. I am supporting myself and my children and finding it difficult to cover all of our expenses. I think I have to cut back my Thrift Savings Plan contribution to 5 percent or possibly less. I currently contribute 10 percent. Because there really isn’t anything else I can do to cut expenses, do you agree about reducing my retirement contribution?

Answer:Although I’m a huge advocate of saving for retirement, I would cut the contributions completely for now. Even when there is a match, I would say to cut back on investing for retirement until you can figure out how to make your income match your expenses. For example, can you move to cut housing costs? Can you get a roommate?

Also, have you really explored everything to keep your marriage together? Even without a job, having your husband help at this point could allow one or both of you to get a part-time job. And he wouldn’t be paying for the cost of his separate living expenses.

Q: We’re in a position to refinance at a lower interest rate, and we need a new roof. You usually advise against treating your equity like an ATM, but what about needed repairs? It’s unlikely we can set aside $7,000 to $10,000 in cash without wiping out our emergency funds. Our jobs are on the line these days with the awful economy. Any suggestions?

A:Find out how much it costs to fix the roof and whether not fixing it will create major damage. Is this something that can wait, or can you get a cheaper fix for now? If you are unsure about your job situation, I agree you shouldn’t deplete the savings. So in this case, if you absolutely need to get the roof done, pulling that money — and that money alone — out of the house equity is acceptable.

Q: I have a friend who really wants to buy a house in a better school district. She makes at least $45,000 to $50,000 a year. She has credit scores between 500 and 700. She does not have a down payment. She has some credit-card and student-loan debt. I have suggested that she rent in the desired school district until she is ready to buy. What advice would you give her?

A:Your friend is not ready to buy a home and probably would have trouble doing so with the tougher lending standards. Let’s look at her profile:

Her credit score range is huge. In the case of a mortgage, the lender will take your middle score. Still, having a score in the 500 range is not good.

She has credit-card debt. Not good.

She has student-loan debt. Not good.

Her income is decent, but it could be hard finding a home in a decent neighborhood with that income.

So you are right. She should rent and build up her emergency savings, pay off the credit-card and student-loan debt and get her low credit scores up.