newbie on here starting to tackle massive debt

pittel

kissjenn wrote: »

We've rental properties too and the market here (Scotland) is tough at the moment.



I lied (thought of something else). Do you manage the property yourself or factor. We self factor because we couldn't afford to hand out 10-15% of gross income every month. If the flats are local to you, that's a potential way to save a good bit.

Such a liar (editing to add more) what type of mortgages do you have on rental properties and if repayment why? Again tax laws may be very different (assuming here that Ireland is Eire not NI) but here you don't get tax relief on repayment element of mortage and will pay Capital Gains when you sell so unless you "want" the property in the future - say to retire to - then why pay any extra, ever, to those mortgages.

Hope something in there helps. If you know all this please say and I'll be quiet, if it's new and helps let me know.

Thanks very much..very helpful post..

We manage the properties ourselves..
just got the 2nd one let by lowering the rent..even with rock bottom
rent its difficult here in Eire..

My second son is in Rgu Aberdeen studying Arch..I love your country
and your people whom I find much more polite than the Irish..

anyway you set me thinking aboot repayment/interest only option..

we owe 174k on the 2 houses..I plan to retire in 8 years time ..we planned to pass on the houses or sell them and gives the money to our sons..but with the market
now there wont be much left..

we cant afford to pay 1500/month repayments at present and are interst only of 695 until november..

pittel

jackieb wrote: »

Cutting your grocery bill by a third still means you'll be spending £300 a week on them. Do you really need to spend that much?

Thanks..

Yes..5 adults In Eire..

I am looking to see how low I can go..

EssexHebridean

Welcome to DFW Pittel - see comments below in traditional red!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 5 I honestly think you need to look at at least some form of contribution from the "children" who are working - those at college/university presumably qualify for loans etc - Student loans (if the same in Rep of Ire.) are usually about the lowest debt possible - whilst the loans you have are horrifically expensive. I appreciate you want to do the best for your kids, but will ending up bancrupt help them (or you) in the long term?
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3414
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 1620
Total monthly income.................... 5034
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1200
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 695
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 100 Comment applies to all three fuel elements - this is a huge amount to be paying for fuels. Oil I appreciate you can do precious little about, but presumably this is for heating and won't apply at this time of year? I assume you now have your heating off for the summer? Gas & Electric - why so high? Are there arrears? Shop around via cashback sites to nsee if you're getting the best deal.
Gas..................................... 100 see above
Oil..................................... 60 see above
Water rates............................. 0 Really? Zero?
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 80 Seems very high - can you get a combined package with your landline?
Groceries etc. ......................... 1800 Horrendous. Absolutely. I appreciate your food costs are higher than ours, but I can't believe they are 500% higher! You need to address this - and quickly. You should be able to literally halve this - and probably more than that, with practise. See below for further comment on the subject.
Clothing................................ 0 You never buy clothes,shoes, undies?
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 63 Again - sounds high - can you downsize cars to save on this?
Car Insurance........................... 93 When are your renewals due? Shop around via cashback sites to cut costs on renewal. again, downsizing one or both cars would cut costs here.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Nope - you must be paying something, surely?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 162
Contents insurance...................... 31
Life assurance ......................... 66
Other insurance......................... 370 Can you break this down as it seems very high, again
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 5033


I think you do have room for manoevre there - especially with the grocery costs. Does that include toiletries etc for the kids? If so they need to start paying their own way on stuff like that. Similarly, crisps, biscuits, treat-type things - if they want them, the time may have come to say "Sorry - but you've got to pay for them" - you simply don't have the lee-way to do otherwise now. I feed two adults on £150 per month - that includes cleaning materials (not that we eat those, but you know what I mean!), but not toiletries (those come out of our personal budgets) and we eat good quality too. I have an organic veg box once a fortnight, our meat comes from Farmers Markets, eggs are free range etc. As a guideline to help with the price difference - I pay £1.73 for 4pints of Organic milk. Approx £1.89 for a bag of about 8 apples, 86p for a 20g pack of organic mushrooms. A tin of baked beans (Tesco Value) is 29p, and a tin of chopped toms (Tesco Value again) 38p. How does that compare with your prices? The Old Style board will prove helpful to you on this subject - there are a no. of Rep of Ireland posters over there too so they will understand re the food prices etc.

Good luck with things - it appears that you have the slack to turn things round but it looks like you need to act fast - more credit if not necessarly the answer - although if you could get some transferred onto low Life Of Balance rate credit cards that might be a good idea. Your 10k loan rate is awful - if you can find any surplus you need to look at clearing this one as fast as possible.

*edit* Are you close enough to the NI border that you could do a monthly run up there to buy up your dry goods (Pasta, rice, tins etc) at a lower price and still make a saving once you've paid for the petrol / diesel?

lunar

Why dont you keep a spending diary for a while. post your daily spends on the diary, then we will have a better idea of costs where you live. Also you could keep a list of things you throw away in the week.

Is your other insurance for health care? Am I right in thinking you have to pay for medical care?

What about your partner finding a job? even if it is part time.

EssexHebridean

lunar wrote: »

Also you could keep a list of things you throw away in the week. This is an excellent idea - there is a "using up leftovers / Don't throw food away challenge" over on OS which might prove useful.

Is your other insurance for health care? Am I right in thinking you have to pay for medical care? Good point - I suspect you might be right.

See comments in red.

kissjenn

If you want to post or PM me more info about the property side of things I may be able to give you some ideas to consider. We have 13 plus our own house and have managed so far to balance them all ... fingers, toes and anything else that will cross now crossed.

The other people here are whizzes at SOAs and budgets...I'm on a steep learning curve there, but feeling better for the journey already.

pittel

Thank you all for your help..I will reply as I get time later today

GeorgeUK

I would suggest looking at some price comparison sites if you can. I found this one, but there are bound to be others.
http://www.compareireland.ie/

I would look at the cost of utilities as well as the insurance products.

As well as shopping cheaper, you might get some ideas from the old style board on meal plans and bulk cooking that may bring the cost down too.

pittel

lunar wrote: »

Why dont you keep a spending diary for a while. post your daily spends on the diary, then we will have a better idea of costs where you live. Also you could keep a list of things you throw away in the week.

Is your other insurance for health care? Am I right in thinking you have to pay for medical care?

What about your partner finding a job? even if it is part time.

Health Insurance costs 258 euros a month in total..it is essential as we have a two tier health system in Ireland..its 3100 euros a year..I got it down from 3600 by switching

THe rest is 68 +42 =110 mort protection...

pittel

how can I access the old style board?