Any ideas

lynzpower

Listen tesh

There are some very valid points here. Im gonna go through this and see what else I can add.



Current debt

M&S Money £3450 0% apr for next 5 months
LLoyds £5500 0% apr till Aug
Barclaycard £1170 0% till Aug
Citi £3294 0% running out. Paying off this month with egg money.
Capital 1 £3919 0% till Aug
Virgin £0.11 (paying off with difficulty!) (11p? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?)
Nationwide £566.39 (not really a debt because i pay this off each month.
DHs petrol card. High amount due to purchase of
router for my laptop) (IS THIS ANOTHER CREDIT CARD THEN?)

TOTAL OF CREDIT CARDS IS Total £178995

Also have £9400 out with Egg Card but that is resting in my A&L savings account gathering interest (more about this in a moment) anniversary offer ( SO HAVE YOU DRAWN THE CASH OFF A CARD AND PUT INTO A HIGH INTEREST ACCOUNT THEN, PERSONALLY I WOULDNT BOTHER, SEEMS LIKE EXTRA MESS!)

Monthly Outgoings

Son
School fees £1115 pm (finishing June - 2 payments to go)
Bus fares £40 ( FOR BUS FARES?! SEEMS A LOT...)
Allowance £50 ( TOO HIGH, HE CAN GET A JOB)
Rock concerts £10 (approx) ( DITCH )
£10
Total £1225

Daughter
University rent £300 ( WHY ARE YOUI PAYING THIS?)
Uni fees £90 approx ( AGAIN, WHY ARE YOU PAYING IT?
contact lenses £19.99 ( NO WAY, SHE NEEDS TO PAY FOR HERSELF!!)
mobile £25 (present of new 02 contract at Christmas) ( SHE DOENST NEED IT. GET HER A PAYG SIM NO MORE THAN A TENNER IN ANY CASE THIS IS VERY HIGH FOR A M/P CONTRACT )
Isa account £20 ( DUMP THIS, SILLY TO SAVE ANYTHING FOR ANYONE WHEN YOUR IN THIS MUCH DEBT)
(dont want to cut down on this, dont want her to start off life in debt)
Total £454.99 . She is doing Chemistry and cant cope with a job most of the time cos of intensive studies but last summer she had 3 jobs and paid her own way through 1st term. ( PANTS TO THIS, EVERYONE AT UNI CAN GET WORK, ASK HOW MANY HOURS PER WEEK HER TAUGHT COURSE IS, I'LL BET NO MORE THAN 30PW)
Mortgage £668
Council Tax £100
Food £400 (including beer & wine) am working on this but shopping on line at tescos and getting vouchers will go long way towards serious money off new MFI kitchen for new house (NO, YOU DONT SHOP TO GET FREEBIES, CUT IT RIGHT DOWN, YOU CAN DO IT FOR A THIRDS OF THIS)
Van loan £169.10
Electricity £45 no point changing deal till we move ( WHYEVER NOT?)
Gas £43 (am owed £500+ to be refunded when we move) ( GET THAT 500 NOW, PAY OFF DEBT WITH IT)
Water rate £40
TV licence dd £11
Telewest package, landline phone, broadband and tv £50 - £60 ( SURELY YOU CANT AFFORD THIS? jUST GET A bb PACKAGE, AND PRIMUS 2)
Petrol approx £260 (thats for the 2 of us) ( CUT THIS DOWN, SURELY?)
cc payments £500-£600
Total £2396.10

Sorry for the caps hun ,but im at work and had to whip through it quickly xx

livilou

wish I had parents like you when I was at school - allowance, bus fares, 1k school fees....
Does your son have a saturday job? If not I'd suggest if he wants 40.00 a month allowance and money for rock concerts that he goes and earns it. I started work at 15 on a saturday to earn my own money and never again asked my parents to buy me clothes or pay for me to go out and I think that is the best thing that I did because it taught me to be independent and responsible for myself and my actions.

I'd also say to your daughter that you can't afford all you are paying so she should get some work, like one of the other posts said - even 8 or so hours a week is enough to contribute and take some pressure of you. I know she is studying but there are many students out there who have to juggle study and work.

I think the best lessons we can teach our kids is to stand on their own two feet.

Maybe cut out the 20.00 isa payment for now, I know you don;t want your children to be in debt but it is just contributing to your debts.

With regards to moving, I can understand you wanting to move and your reasons but if it sends you into more debt is it worth it? If you do decide to move I think the idea of a 30k extension because that is what the neighbours have done is probably not a good idea to begin with. We have lots of work that needs doing on our home but for now I am grateful to have a home and no one is going to remember me for having ncie curtains and a new bathroom, it all becomes irrelevant really. I know I will be able to afford the things I want eventually but for now am grateful to have a family who are happy.

Once you have finished paying your sons school fees (I hope he passes his exams!!) perhaps you should concentrate on reducing your outgoings and paying off some debts.

sorry if it sounds harsh.


good luck
xx

tesuhoha

Why we are moving is on Page 4 of this forum, What Caused your debt in the first place, page 9 of the thread. We had a full survey of house, no subsidence, dry rot or woodworm. Feel rather humbled by your replies. I feel very much the same way about paying off debt first but it is my husband who wants the house more than me. He feels that paying all the school fees over the years has made us lose out on what we could have had in the way of property. It is interesting to consider that we might be on our way to financial disaster and i do know it but the alternative is selling this house, paying off all our debt and ending up renting. Its probably difficult to understand but after all our years of working hard and doing our best we want to have something at the end of it. At least living in this house, working on it and paying things off we will have an asset which i think will make us money as we have been told by the estate agent that houses in this area for the size of them, fetch more money than anywhere else in town.

MrsTinks

Just found your other thread... Reading that makes me even MORE ademant in saying PLEASE think about moving into rented for a while and sort yourselves out and give your husband some time off if possible. You're going to burn yourselves out the way you are going and in turn surely it must affect not only your health but your marriage too?
Sell the house you're in, RENT and get your finances sorted and stop paying left right and centre for your childrens luxuries It might even be worth considering moving out of London into a cheaper area (and trust me out here in the country plumbers are a rarity!!! and they demand money accordingly!) Look into somewhere like Milton Keynes, lots of building work and resonable priced housing.

lynzpower

No, the assets are your children and thier education as this is what you have spent money on. You say you want to see what you have worked for, well you have, you have a daughter at uni doing a chemistry degree.

As far as I can see tes, and I dont want you to take this the wrong way, you've got a hubby whose working 24-7, a son in education that you said elsewhere hes not keen on and you worried sick. I dont know why extra spending is going to make any of it better, I really dont.

Tondella

Hi tesuhoha, just wanted to say hello and offer some general support. It's tough when you and OH have different financial priorities, and i think this shows in you SOA, seems like money is being pulled in so many different directions.

I would say, try and sit down (preferably with OH, if not then at least on your own) and work out your priorities at the moment. Are you going for the new house because of its investment potential or because you and OH feel that at this time of life you need to be further on up the ladder (both valid reasons). If it's the first then the decision is a simple matter of sums, how much outlay do you expect for the return you anticipate (presumably you'll sell within a few months of completing the work). If it's more that the new house is to be a family home well then you will need to deprioritise other spending to make that happen.

I think it's wonderful that you are supporting your children through education, my mum helped support me through uni and partly through my PhD. However, you can still make some cutbacks from your expenditure on your children without pulling the rug from under them. I'd agree that pocket money for the son is too high, he needs to find a part-time job now. I wouldn't be paying your daughter's mobile phone bill either, it's an important lesson for her to learn that the more she chats on it the more it will cost her. I would also leave the ISA contributions at present and use them towards repaying debt, look at it this way, the sooner you are back on your feet the more likely you will be able to help her out in the future, say with a deposit on a house. Other have posted here in more detail about other ways to cut back

Basically,
1) decide your financial priorities
2) tailor a budget that cuts out uneccesary expenditure and put that money towards your priority
3) keep posting

best of luck

Bestthingsinlifearefree

HI Tesuhua,

You only need to rent temporarily (then buy from a debt free position) or stay where you are pay of your debts then move.

Either way you will end up in a nice property with less debt.

Listen to what everyone here is saying DONT DO IT ie the take on more debt / extention option.

Now why is everyone telling you that ???????????????????

I have a feeling though you are going to ignore the advice, take what the estate agent says with a pinch of salt.They just want you to buy the house.

Think about it. Its not to late to change your mind and save your self from a lot of new debt and stress.

Good luck.

tesuhoha

I've taken this all on board guys and realise what a total mess our life is. I think im going to take a lot of your advice. Thanks Lynz im definitely going to do most of what you suggest on your detailed breakdown. the difficulty paying off the last 11p was a joke by the way. And yes Nationwide is a credit card but i do pay it off each month cos its not 0%. Think perhaps though we are still going to buy the house but live in it till debts all paid off. Will suggest that to OH tonight. Will still only take about a year, 18 months, then can start work on house gradually. Have already committed ourselves financially with survey etc. Can you think of major financial reason why renting would be better than doing this. At least in buying house we will be rent free as paying off mortgage. Bit of a lightbulb moment here. Feeling a bit startled.

markrmagee

Just a little bit of info...
My course (Computer Science) was 32 taught hours a week.
I had to pay everything (including my top-up fees). I did this by working Friday nights (1800-0600) and sunday days (1000-2200).
I came out with a 2:1, it was hard work and it annoyed me all the people getting supported by their parents, all they say is how hard up they are.. but then they drink/smoke/go out....

tesuhoha

We dont know yet if we want it as an investment or a home but its certainly a good buy. Other people made higher offers on it but we got it cos we had sold our house.