My name is Becky. My wife and I are homeowners in the Chicagoland area that have been hit hard by rising costs of living, as well as by emergency car and home repairs, and extensive medical bills for my wife's multiple surgeries in 2025, and vet bills for a pet that didn't make it in January.

We've barely been staying afloat and recently completed a mortgage assistance program and modification that has helped keep us in our home.

I recently financed new tires for my car after running them bald and getting a flat, and I have no available credit left.

I went downstairs yesterday and noticed our water heater was leaking from the bottom, where rust has formed. It's a 19-year-old unit and has been on its last legs for some time. It has needed a replacement, but we haven't had the money to get it off our list. Now with it leaking, we're desperate. We have a few problems:

We need a new unit that power vents out the side of the house because the current one vents directly next to our boiler furnace that heats our home. The two shouldn't be vented so close because of the potential to push carbon monoxide back into the home. Also, our chimney likely needs a new liner, and the chimney is about 50-60 feet tall from the basement to above the roofline.

There are no water shut-off valves at our water heater—the joys of having bought a 1906 home with a lot of "do it yourself" charm from the previous owner. This means we can't even turn off our current one without turning water off to the entire house.

We need to get a full replacement, and fast. Our credit is not an option—combined through Affirm we have around $2000 at most, which isn't enough for the full replacement, and that adds more monthly payments we're already struggling to afford. Our bank account feels like it's negative more often than it's positive.

Here is our current water heater as it stands next to the chimney:

Please help. We're desperate at this point.