Stuck in a rut.

_LSHe_

Hi, Longtime browser first time poster, ill tell you a little about myself then my problems.

Me and my girlfriend bought our first house together in December 09 after renting for a year, Everything was fine until after Xmas i got laid off.In the period of being out of work (Ive had bits and bats but cant seem to nail a full time job) we've managed to keep afloat but are £2000 into our overdraft and work has dried up again.

£2000 is our OD limit and with it rapidly running out (maybe £100) left we don't know what to do,Our outgoings a month are £800 (my other half pays the mortgage so that can be discounted) and we just don't know where to go from here, as this is our first house and being 21 we don't know tons about this type of stuff.

We don't really have any excessive outgoings (IE full sky shabang etc) but really need to look at trimming down the bills and getting some money in, i must apply for tons of jobs per week but haven't had any luck for the past 7 months.

The worst bit is my boss knew we were going to buy a house before Christmas, but if she had told me i was going to get laid off after Xmas i wouldn't have bothered, her reply when i asked her why was "so i could enjoy Christmas" (spend all my money on !!!! that could have been saved up for future) and "at least you've got a mortgage now" (which i cant afford to pay because you laid me off ).

We really are stuck in a rut and don't know what to do, i just want to work and pay the bills but cant seem to find a job anywhere.

Any help/suggestion etc are appreciated,

Many thanks.

Oh and here is my statement of affairs.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 485
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 280
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 35
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1355


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 700
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 100700


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 72000....(485)......0
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(280)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 82000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,355
Available for debt repayments........... -555
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -555

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 100,700
Total HP & Secured debt................. -82,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 18,700

dancingfairy

Hi - can you apply for jobseekers alloawance? even if you can't get the contribution based version do you qualify due to your household income? There maybe also other benefits you can apply for which would help a little.
I guess you can't take a mortgage holiday so soon ?
Good Luck
df

KingElvis

Do you get free car insurance?

_LSHe_

My car insurance all got payed off in one go.

Moglet

Hi there

You need to budget for EVERYTHING. A lot of people fall into the trap of only budgeting for the things they pay weekly or monthly forgetting to set aside some money for the quarterly, bi-annually or annually made payments/expenses.

Paying for insurance costs anually is the best way to do it as you save the interest costs slapped on top but unless money is no issue, you'll need to have saved for it or at the very least, budgeted it for it.

Good luck.

podperson

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 800
Benefits................................ 0 - check what benefits you are entitled to, guess you're too young for tax credits but check jsa and council tax for a start
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 485
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 280
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45 - can you cut this down or go on PAYE
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 is this a package with the phone and internet since you have zero for those? If not either get rid of or combine
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30 -seems high, can this be cut down or shop around for
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 35 also seems high, is this included with the mortgage?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1355


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 700
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 100700


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 72000....(485)......0
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(280)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 82000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,355
Available for debt repayments........... -555
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -555

If there anything you can do for a bit of extra money until you find work. Could you have a clear out and look at ebay or car booting, mystery shopping and surveys can also bring in a bit extra. Could you find anything part time, eg bar or shop work just to tide you over?

debtdesperado

Definitely go and check out the benefits you can get - I got JSA, and council tax paid, and also once I was out of work for 3 months got a benefit called support for mortgage interest - it basically pays the interest on your mortgage upto £200k (that is the mortgage, not the benefit), which as I hadn't long bought a house, made a massive difference. You might also get travel discounts depending on where you live, and once you have been out of work for a while, you can get your fares paid to interviews. So you MUST sign on if you haven't already as that opens up loads of doors. Ask also about hardship funds.

I was out of work for 7 months, and I have to say, the only way I survived (survived being keeping the mortgage and c'tax payments going so I didn't lose my house) was to cut things right back to the bone. So pet insurance, 'other travel' and sky need to go if you can cancel them.

Cut down on electric, petrol etc - don't drive if you can walk, switch lights on, leave anything on standby etc.

What can you sell? I took the view that if I lost my house, I would have to get rid of most stuff anyway, which made it easier to sell anything that I didn't really use.

Start doing online surveys - they are quite surprising how much they mount up, and you definitely have the time :-)

Use up everything in the freezer/cupboards - this is no time for stockpiling anything!

The other thing to do is to contact all of your creditors (except the mortgage) asking for a payment holiday. If they won't give you a payment holiday (it depends on the terms of your credit agreement) ask if you can make reduced payments for a bit, eg if you got your secured loan payment down to £100 a month (with the arrears to be added to the debt) you could probably live very frugally on your partner's salary. Have a discussion with them; the point to make is that they won't want to chuck you out of your house for non-payment because the house won't have gone up in value and it might have lost value, so the mortgage will take all the money. See what they say; they might be helpful, they might not be helpful.

The other thing to remember is that you will get a job at some point, and you will never forget the valuable lessons you are learning now, so have courage and it will work out.