My SOA - Gulp! Lightbulb moment!!

St0lli

Hi Angelflower... what a great suggestion! I would never have thought of that. - something else for me to investigate!

angelflower_2

just another thought about the bedroom situation. Would you be willing to move from your bedroom to the spare one and rent this out? Might help increase the rent you could get and as you have other spaces you could use, you wouldnt feel the pressure so much as a lodger who's only space would be their small room? (although getting out of the house i think is still the best option)

St0lli

Pasutresnew - sounds like a good suggestion. The only thing I would be worried about is if my son is in the house on his own with the lodger. I sometimes have to work quite late and althouh I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing it would be a concern for me.

Supreme - I've just had a look at the website you mentioned and it would appear I'm getting everything I'm entitled to. Thanks for the suggestion tho! I've got the number for MBNA loyalty dept and I'm goint to give them a call to see if they can reduce the rate for me. Due to my current debt I don't think I've got any option but to leave the balances where they are as I wouldn't be approved for a new card. The Halifax rate is correct as some of it is on a low LOB rate and the rest is on the higher rate but my CC statement only states one rate.

Thanks one and all!

Fire_Fox

Get references for any lodger you look at, work ones on headed paper. If you happened across, say, a teacher or anyone working in the NHS they will have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check already done. We had foreign students living with us throughout my childhood and it was great - one became virtually a member of the family.

I also have mobile internet as we can't get Virgin and BT is too expensive. I get 15GB for £15 from Three network, as Mr. Fire Fox has a contract mobile with them. We paid nothing for the dongle but you probably would if you were PAYG.

You could try negotiating with your Ex? If he pays the fees now, you will pay more once your son is at Uni and you have sold the house? Depends upon your relationship. You could fib and say you have had to reduce your hours at work rather than you are in debt.

makeup

Hi StOlli

If you used your CC's for 'things' (clothes, handbags, gadgets, music or DVDs, that sort of thing) would you be able to sell them?

I forget who it was, but someone on here had a very large debt and was able to raise quite a bit through selling her extensive collection of designer clothes, handbags, shoes etc.

Even if you don't have a lot of 'luxury' items you can still make a reasonable amount of money selling things that you don't need on ebay or similar, just bits and bobs you don't need. There is a thread somewhere about odd things sold on ebay (empty perfume bottles, that kind of thing) There is the £10 a day challenge - which if you achieve - would bring in £300.

Also you stated your car was worth £8k - is this a sum you would actually be able to get for it? Maybe you could consider selling it and getting something cheaper. For example if you got a car for £2k you would have £6k freed up (I have to say though, I don't know much about cars so this might not be practical).

Good luck though, I'm sure you'll get excellent advice from the debt management charities and I wish you all the best in your journey.

St0lli

Firefox that is a fab idea! I mean about the renegotiation with ex... Hadn't thought of that and it may be something he would go for. Also I've got a contract for my mobile with orange which I'm tied in to until 2010 so they may provide it free... something else for me to investigate! I just hope I haven't got too much in my diary when I get into work tomorrow as I've got lots of money saving ideas to look into.

I've also decided that I really should tell my mum about my situation... I now just have to pick my moment as we live a few miles apart and its something I want to do face to face rather than over the phone.

RedBern

Fire_Fox wrote: »

We had foreign students living with us throughout my childhood and it was great - one became virtually a member of the family.

Depending on where you live - I've seen ads in the local newspaper for accommodation for students during Spring/Summer for a couple of weeks when they come over on school exchanges and there aren't enough parents to accommodate them? Usually pay £100+ a week

UncleBuck

St0lli wrote: »

Hi Unclebuck

I do have a very small spare bedroom - just room for a bed and thats it. My son is only just 15 so his friends are either 14 or 15 so not yet ready to move from their own homes.

I don't have enough balance on my cards to transfer balances to them and I think its highly unlikely that I would be considered for a new card given my current debt.

I know I should tell my mum about my debts (I'm an only child) but I know that she will make herself ill with worrying (she's 75) and she has only recently finished chemotherapy for colon cancer.

Son is unable to get a job until he is 16 but he's already said that he is going to start enquiring a few months before his b'day to make sure he's got something in place by the time he's 16....

Hi St0lli

Sorry I was thinking about a few months time when his friends would have been older. As Supreme has said, long term it may be better for you to down shift. Again because you know your area, could you rent our your house and move out and rent until the house market picks up, its still a financial gamble but at the moment you may feel bruised if you have to sell your home now. At the end of the day, and its FAR easier for me to say this, but you have to be VERY clinical about any decision now. My fear is that you may put off decisions whilst you still have a choice and may regret it later, I'm sorry for being so blunt:(.

PasturesNew

St0lli wrote: »

Pasutresnew - sounds like a good suggestion. The only thing I would be worried about is if my son is in the house on his own with the lodger. I sometimes have to work quite late and althouh I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing it would be a concern for me.

Your son is a couple of months short of being old enough to join the army, travel to foreign lands and shoot people dead. I think he can manage to be alone in his own house with a lodger for the occasional couple of hours and survive.

Generally speaking, people looking for Mon-Fri lodgings are likely to work late themselves, or go out for a drink in the local area. They're more likely to keep themselves to themselves and probably more interested in looking through paperwork they brought home from the office than leaping out and shouting "BOO!" at your boy.

For taking strangers in, if you choose to accommodate professionals in their 30-50s only, you're most likely to have the easiest life ever.

They're "people like you and I". Quiet, hard-working professionals; they have to work away from where they live and just want to get their head down.

mbs1

IMO the best option to go for would be to downgrade cars,

Could free up 6k and then think about downsizing home...

1k+ on a mortgage with 70k debt seems mega high IMO.

Maybe even rent for a while, until that debt gets lower

even then your outgoings would leave you with 1k spare, but still over 1k on debt repayments.

So a DMP would be even better, maybe even an IVA?