Any ideas

tesuhoha

I apologise for my misuse of the word 'enterprising'. I am just someone who yes, i admit it, has made mistakes with my kids' education, but i am also someone who has worked hard all my life and paid off all my bills. These large debts have only been with us for a year or two and I have reduced them already by £9,000 in one year. I'm sorry but I cannot see what is morally wrong about buying a house that is going to be worth £290,000. With a total debt of £130,000 we could sell it if we had to and still have £150,000. Other people have much higher mortgages. As I aim to pay the credit cards off before the 9 years of the mortgage term, I will be paying less money to the banks. There is no way that we are going to become bankrupt, even if the housing market goes down. We have never relied on the state to help us and never will. On the contrary we have been the ones to pay the high taxes and we are the ones who are keeping all the unemployed people going by helping to pay their benefits through our taxes. Our aim is to be mortgage & debt free by 2015.

tesuhoha

Incidentally our total debt is not £130,000, that is just the estimated figure if we build the extension to the house but that is not going to happen anyway before we pay off our present debt, so it will never reach the £130,000 mark, therefore our equity will be more than what i just quoted. Yes, I admit it I am a bit slow to comprehend but I dont consider myself any more selfish than the person who posted earlier who is gleefully waiting for house prices to fall so that he can make money on property. What about all the ftbs then? The ones who he professes to care about, the ones who have just scrimped and saved to buy their first property only to find that its value has fallen dramatically?

bizzy_lizzie

You are doing well Tesuhoha to have realised it would be better not going on like this & looking for ways to turn things around. Everyone (well almost everyone) intentions are to help but someone times they sound a bit tense when they are passing on their wisdom.

I'd buy the house but take on board a few of the saving strategies etc that people have come up with. Check out 'old style' for feeding everyone (Black Saturn can teech you how to feed a family of 4 on next to nothing). I think it is time for the kids to fend for themselves a bit more, as it probably doesnt do them much good in the long run to keep them so protected. However mine are 14 & 16 & I am having the same problem learning to say 'no, you need to make an effort too'. I am sure the latin for child would be 'drain on my resources!' Still at least no-one has suggested you send them up chimneys to earn more cash yet !

Best Wishes & good luck.

BL :T

lynzpower

Tesuhohua,
you certainly cannot be held personally responsible for the vagaries of the housing market in its entirety. You are just an everyday person, trying to do the best for your family, and im glad you felt you havent risen to the bait again on here.

If you juggle your finances and are mortage free in 9 years that is a wonderful achievement, not just for you, for all your family. We just need to get to the situation where thats doable, and there are plenty of other people on here paying that off, if not more, and you can do it. Weve identified lots of ways you can cut back, and once we have another look when things are more striaghtened out ( and less emotive ) then things will be more manageable, adn you will see the path emerge

Lots of love, and hang tight
Lynz
xxxx

MrsTinks

Just hang in there hun and don't let it get you down I like the "we'll sort the boy out in June" hehehe poor lad does he realise what is about to hit him? Wat that time comes come on here and ask people for advice again, and for support in being stern with him even when it seems like it's too hard and too cruel. As his resit is obviously costing a lot of money then maybe him not working until he has finished is a good idea, but MAKE SURE he does his school work You don't want to have wasted all that money after all

I think you should read but not take to heart all the rude comments on here, it might help you to have a goal of coming back in 6 months to this thread and going "HA! You thought I couldn't do it and that we were squandering money etc etc etc, well we have turned it round, we have paid off loads of debt and can afford holidays again!"

Just remember the gang here are pretty good generally and we'll usually do our best to offer advice (a few exceptions sadly who prefer to tell you that it's your own fault that you squandered the money... like 95% if not more of all people who are in debt then...) and we'll offer moral support and the occational kick up the bum when you need it

T

tesuhoha

Well it is our fault and we know it dont we but we dont need our faces rubbed in it cos we're beating ourselves up about it all the time. There are many many more kind people on here than unkind and I think youre all lovely. Love you all. Have already received so much advice and kind words that its made a difference and I am already putting some of the ideas into action. The advice and warnings has also made me think whoah, i'll pull back and pay off the debt before I think about doing up the house and I wasnt thinking that way yesterday morning. Still going to buy it though so am making a compromise.

tesuhoha

Yes I will definitely need all your advice about being hard cos im no good at it.

Lewby

Hi Tes,

Have just read this thread from start to finish .... OMG I'm amazed if you got any sleep last night with it all going on in your head!

I'm afraid that I can't offer much in term sof the housing market because I am one of those people who is 'wasting their money' on renting. We are in a difficult position because my OH has an ex-wife and 3 kids who live in the house they bought and he still shares the mortgage. We hope to buy somewhere as soon as we have cleared out debts and have saved a decent deposit ... which will be in 2010. In the meantime our rent is only £430 per month for a lovely 3 bed cottage with a great garden and outlook. It's handy for work and the kids but private enough to be a retreat.

I just want to say that as I first looked at your original post I was impressed with how much of your debt you have got on 0%. If you can keep juggling it (and you obviously have a good credit rating) then you should be able to pay this off pretty quickly once the school fees are finished.

I think that the advice on here given by those who genuinely want to help is the best you can get. It's not biased, there is nothing in it for the poster and we only know what you have told us. It's priceless!


Good luck, and I hope the house lives up to you expectations (and you don't find too many 'surprises' as you renovate it). When it is done don't forget to invite us to the house warming party so we can all say 'you did it!'.

Lewby xx

tesuhoha

Yes I aim to keep juggling the debt around on 0% as much as poss but may have to go for a life of balance if i cant keep it up. Have great hopes of paying off asap. Good luck, I hope you manage to save your deposit for your house and find something really good. You are lucky you are based in the North as hopefully you will be able to get better value for your money with property there. My head was spinning yesterday, felt as if i was going crazy.

tesuhoha

Just phoned SWALEC about the gas money they owe me. They are going to refund £480 into my bank account and have reduced my payment to £29. Am very pleased but was offset by feeling sad when I read the thread Devastated. However no advice comes to mind better than that already given.