Don't Know Where To Turn

Deepindebt_3

Hi thanks Biffa, I have a mortgage of £105,000, at £6.5%. Yes it is high, but on my husbands income we cannot apply for another mortgage to cover this. I have thought about going for an interest only mortgage for a bit which would take it down to £571 per month. We live in Cardiff and the house is worth £125,000, so enough equity in the house. Yes I have 2 kids and the retainer is £25 per week in case I get another job as the kids have been with her for a few years. By rights she should charge 50% which would be £50 per week.

As for questions ask away as you get the full picture and I am sure I have missed things out.

Deepindebt_3

Hi Prudent, the benefit I can claim for is Contribution Based Job Seekers Allowance for 6 months which is £57.45 per week, I have included this at the top. As far as I know I cannot get any more tax credits as my husband earns about £23500 a year and I have earned £4500 this year taking us up to £28000, but I will call them about this.

Biffa

What are the rental prices like in your area? Could you sell the house and go into rented for a while? If you can release the equity in the house (without taking out anymore loans), and find somewhere to rent which would be cheaper, you would possibly have enough to clear everything and have a bit left over for a deposit on a rented place and have more disposable income at the end of each month. Drastic I know, but we sold our house two years ago to clear debt, rented off a friend and still went bankrupt as we couldn;t clear the remaining £15k that we owed.

As a family of 4, our monthly shopping bill is around £100, some months less. Every 3 months or so we bulk buy meat from the local meat auction and freeze it, same with veggies off the market. We might do a BIG shop every 3 months to stock up and that comes to around £150, but then we only buy milk & bread for a few weeks and not much else.

Deepindebt_3

Great minds think alike Biffa, I have thought about selling and we have discussed it a couple of times. But a bit attached to it as we have been here 9 years and done quite a bit to it, also feel a bit afraid of uprooting the kids to a new home. The rent is about £550 a month in the area and I know what you mean about clearing the debt and being better off each month. Looks like we would be about £580 per month better off. Not to be dismissed lightly.

Biffa

Lol! My mind is anything but great! Seriously, depending on how old your kids are, moving really isn't that bad - unless you do what we did and move from a big 4 bed to a small 2 bed and then have to give away half your furniture because it physically won't fit into the house! We managed to keep the kids in the same school though, so they still had some stability. Our rent is £380 a month instead of nearly £700 mortgage, so it was definetly worth doing for us.

How about the car? Is it worth a lot? Could you sell it and get a cheap runaround instead? Or do you have a loft full of stuff that you don't use/need/want anymore that you could sell on ebay to raise a bit of cash?

Deepindebt_3

I could definitely start selling things on ebay. I am just reading through the challenge by Ehallet, can I make £1024 in 11 weeks and really like the sound of that. So that would give me the motivation to sell something and reduce the debt.

Deepindebt_3

Does anyone else have any good advice for me, can my outgoings be improved at all? I would really welcome any help at all.

Biffa

What is your profession? Can you register with some agencies to find work? It all depends on what your job is really. Could you take in work at home, like ironing maybe just to keep a bit of cash coming in?

Can't really think properly yet as only been awake for 20 minutes - need to increase my caffiene and nicotine intake before my brain works properly!

Deepindebt_3

I have worked in a purchasing department practically all my working life, was a buyer when I was full time, but hard to come by as a part time job. So my last job was as a purchasing administrator. I have an RSA stage 3 qualification in word processing and a HNC in business and finance, together with GCSEs and an a level. Had 2 interviews last week, so I am hoping it will not be long before a job comes along. I suppose I could go into temping for a bit, but would prefer a permanent place of work.

Thanks for the tip on the ironing, mind you have trouble getting the motivation to do my own, but would like to earn some extra money somehow.

dudleyboy

Hi there and welcome. Looking at your outgoings, there doesn't seem to be many places where you can cut back except for ditching SKY and getting Freeview (saving £18 pcm) and perhaps ditching Specsavers - £8 (are these contact lenses or savings for new glasses?). I don't see how much ur internet is, is that recorded under phone? do either of you have mobiles?

The mortgage is obviously the main drain on your income while you're not working. Until you are again, it looks as though selling items on ebay may be the best bet for generating extra income. As suggested above, temping work will at least bring in some extra money while you're looking. what sort of salary did u used to be on and hope to be on again?

Alternatively, have you considered doing child minding yourself. It would save you £108 in the short term and allow you to do other work from home, such as an ironing service.

it's a toughie. good luck.