Help!!!

silvercar

What will happen when the baby is born? Does your partner work? Will you be eligible for working tax credits? How will you afford childcare?

In your situation some people would walk away from your debts, the property and negative equity by going bankrupt. If you handed the keys back to the lender and then both of you went bankrupt, all your debts (except student loans) and the negative equity would be written off leaving you with only your current living costs but a blotted credit record. The bankruptcy would last for a year but appear on your credit record for 6 years.

I'm not saying it is right for you, but it would be worth taking professional advice and considering.

poppy10_2

What happened to the £10k you MEWed last year?

charliee_3

hiya, first off congrats on the baby! it sounds like you are in a tricky position, but PLEASE dont get too hung up on the size of your house, that is really only a trivial problem in the grand scheme of things. the important thing is you have a house and you are keeping up with your repayments on it. As the other posters have said, babies are small and for the first few months they really dont need much at all (although you will be lead to believe they need everything- they dont) and you can choose wisely, buy second hand off ebay, etc where you can, but do your research and go and look at things in shops so yu know what brands you want, find a small cot, find a buggy that folds down to the smallest space, DONT buy a baby bath and you dont need a changing station- total waste of space. Try and always buy things that fold down, etc
if you other half isnt already a member i would suggest she joins i-village or netmums so she can ask other mums opinion on products etc, if they are good, or even nessesary and other people may have good experience of living with a baby in a small place and be able to give tips.

have a clearout of your stuff too to make more space, we all have more things than we need and in your case space will be more important than stuff.

stay put please.. you dont want to be needlessly throwing money away and risking the home you do own if you cant get it rented. concentrate on making your home as spacious as possible by decluttering, work on reducing your debts so once we are out of this financial doldrum you will be in a better position to buy a bigger house without overstretching yourself. You have time to sort things out and its amazing how an impending new arrival focuses yur attention. when i fell pregnant in 2007 i had only just started a new job, i hadnt been with my partner long, i was living in 1 room in a shared house... we got it sorted in time..

take heart that people have managed in small houses with more kids for years.. you just have to be smart about it (and tidy!). stability and securty is waaaaay more important than having a well appointed nursery.. babies dont notice as long as they are warm, loved and fed.

best wishes for a healthy pregnancy and for your lovely new family

x

SingleSue

We were in a similar position, one bedroom rabbit hutch type place...and that bedroom was 10x8. Our son slept in his (specially cut down version) cot in our room, it meant we had to push the bed right up against the window and chuck out the bedside tables but we did it for over a year.

We had our wardrobes in the upstairs hallway which ok, may have been a bit of a fire hazard as you had to squeeze past to get to the bedroom but we survived.

I know it is not what most parents want for their children...I have never had the decorating a nursery experience but it does them no harm. My eldest son at 15, is the most grounded teenager you could think of and he certainly bears no feeling of rejection at not having his own room when he was younger (and still doesn't have his own room!)

We lost the house in the end, not from the size of it ( it did play a small part but it was the smallest of our worries at the time) but because of negative equity and illness/job loss...this was in the last recession when the value of our home had almost halved, so I do know where you are coming from and the feelings you are going through.

pinkshoes

I'm another who thinks the banks refusal is a blessing in disguise.

Look at it this way - it could be a lot worse! Did anyone see The Secret Millionaire which showed all those families living in one room?? A 1 bedroom flat should be adequate for another year or two.

I think you need to address the fact that you are living a life of borrowing, and buying things on credit, and spend the next 2 years paying off debts, and paying off the mortgage. Perhaps use the DFW board and budget tightly, working out how much money you can live off as well as making a good effort to pay all debts. Can you not get a cheaper car?