any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

TDMum

Hi!

hubby and I were both made BR in March 2010.

The last 2-3 weeks have been an utter nightmare and have cleared us out of any money we had put away. Due to the severe weather(nightmare up here in Scotland) we've had to fork out £400+ for oil to heat the house (more than we had budgeted for), boiler repairs, and fixing our heap of a car. We had been doing so well before hand and managing well on the budget we had been given but due to the weather our piece of excrement car has completely given up the ghost. It would cost more than it's worth to have it fixed and obvioulsy we cannot get credit to get a new one, nor do we have enough money put away. My folks said that they would have got a loan out and let us pay them back (I know it's not allowed but we NEED a car. We live on a farm in the middle of nowhere with no access to public transport) but they are retired OAP's so that is not an option.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can go about getting a new car? We've had a look around and found suitable ones for £1000-£1500 (we need a 6 or 7 seater as we have 2 kids, 1 on the way very soon and hubby has a child from a previous relationship who stays once or twice a week). I have been crying all day as I cannot find a solution to this mess. Our car is just not safe to drive yet we have no other option as hubby needs to get to work, my eldest daughter needs to get to nursery, and I'm classed as having a high risk pregnancy so need to get to appts and to the hospital if God forbid anything were to happen. Also it is costing a fortune in petrol as there is clearly something wrong with it. We filled it up on Tuesday with £60 and today (Friday) the empty light is already on!!! We have not been driving it much due to the issues so clearly something is not right.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as we really just don't know what to do

Falze

Sorry i cant help, but i didn't want to read and not reply.

Fingers crossed one of the geniouses on here has a thought.

Best of Luck

tigerfeet2006

There is nothing in BR to say you can't take a loan. You can take as many loans as you want as long as you inform the lender that you are BR if you want to borrow over £500. The lender is willing to lend to you. You are aware if you default then the loan is not included in your BR.

So as long as your parents are willing to lend to you and you can afford to repay them then you will have no problems.

Look on Ebay for cars or find out where your nearest car auction site is sited. You can get some good cars like that.

Also google Credit Union and your county/town and find your nearest one. Set up a DD to save regularly and when you have this sort of problem again you can get a loan from them. They will look at what you can afford to repay and you have a percentage going to repay the loan and a percentage to your savings. The APR is only about 12% ish and there is no penalty for early repayment.

TDMum

thanks tigerfeet, I didn't think we were able to get a loan at all. Due to the unexpected things cropping up our little cushion we managed to scrape together has been obliterated. For things like credit union do you have to be a member for a set amount of time before being able to borrow money? I don't really know anything about them.

I really would prefer not to borrow money again ever but I don't see any other way. I know that over Xmas through family giving us money instead of gifts and then Feb/March where we don't pay council tax we should manage to scrape together £700 ish so could pay a fair chunk back within 3 months. I just don't want to jeopardise anything that we've done already to get ourselves out of the horrible mess we were in as we are happier than we have been in a long time!

TDMum

ahh well, bit of a mute point as my area doesn't have a credit union. They're in talks as to wether or not the area would benefit from one ...

FavDaughter1

Hi, i think the rules for loans with a credit union have changed,give them a try.

our son's 1st car was off ebay,it was in the next town so he went to see it before bidding and got it on a buy it now price. it wasn't the most fantastic looking car but it was so reliable.
hope things get better for you x

TDMum

thanks for the suggestions guys. A lovely member of my family has offered to help us out. I am very grateful!!

Thanks again!

dancingfairy

Gosh - it sounds like you haven't had the best start to your new life post bankrutcy but well done on getting a small stash together in the first place (otherwise you would have been in even more of a pickle) - I'm also glad that a family member can help you out - it's great that you are already trying to build up a little safety net again - I've no doubt that you will come through this stronger.
Good Luck
df

alastairq

really pleased you have something sorted.....the weather...and time of year..really do conspire to take us down.

suggestions for the future? [or..next week?]

well...boilers going titzup really cannot be bargained for...regular servicing helps...find a cheap local body who can do the job.. preferably during the summer?

I had oil-fired central heating for many years, in a previous life.

I actually found it quite a handy system, cost-wise.

whilst not perhaps the cheapest of fuels...it had the distinct advantage of allowing us to actually shop around come re-fill time.


something you don't get when on gas or otherwise?

Also....seeing as effectively you pay 'in advance' for the fuel.....why buy £400 's worth?

Half that quantity may have 'seen you through' until the other issues are sorted?

Also...consider what the most important things are to a comfortable life?

Roof, food, heat etc?

These above all else need watching and planning for.....

as an example, when ever there are offers for staple foods....tea, sugar, etc...I'm in there big style....although I admit storage can be an issue...

same with oil.....top up when money is good.....I well remember planning ahead [used to watch Countryfile and Farming today for the long range weather forecasts...and I'm not a farmer!] to get my oil before demand placed availability...and prices...sky-high....Used to aim for 1000 litres per delivery....recall being well pleased on discovering...by a bit of forward planning, I'd saved myself nearly £100 one winter....regretted not having a second tank though.


However..how much oil did you get for £400?


As for the car?

well....

2-3 kids, one on the way.....I take it you're looking at people carriers?

Do you really need 6 seats or more?

How often does the whole family actually get in the car at the same time?

In fact, would a small estate-type car be equally usable?

Why not look in the circa-£500 price bracket..?

newer doesn't necessarily mean more reliable or cheaper to run.


I'd be looking for basic cars rather than 'all-singing-all-dancing'...types...


usually cheaper on things like tyres,fuel...and more easily repairable when things go wrong..as they will...
[I daily listen to tales of woe from colleagues who've bought new Citroens, for example....new gearbox Sir? Not what I'd expect after forking out a small king's ransom for a car!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Not knocking ebay, but these days it isn't quite such a source of bargains as one might imagine.

Don't be too dismissive of anything that is affordable....with thought, you could even squeeze your passenger demands into an old Fiesta....they still seat 5...so the handbook said....

Also consider costs of road tax, insurance, etc...

Our car is just not safe to drive yet we have no other option as hubby needs to get to work, my eldest daughter needs to get to nursery, and I'm classed as having a high risk pregnancy so need to get to appts and to the hospital if God forbid anything were to happen.

now..given what you said above, I could be a real troll and note, why are you driving it at all? Remember your legal obligations?..Is continued usage worth the risk of fines, penalty points ..or even ...loss of licence?

On the other hand...I could also be the anti-troll [like anti-matter, but uglier]....and ask are you really just allowing the depressing nature of your finances to colour your opinion of the car's faults..and maybe, with a bit of thought and application, it could be a fixer-upper, in the words of that immortal, Homer Simpson?

One of the ways of compensating for the lack of a financial safety net [which credit says it offers]....is to actually find out how to 'do things oneself?'

Car repairs, servicing, maintenance isn't rocket science....neither are car fitters rocket scientists.

However, you'd think from the levels of labour costs, they were building a Saturn V rocket!

Some cheap tools, a couple of good books....maybe a night school course, and suddenly, a failure of one's car to do what it's supposed to do becomes nothing but a mild inconvenience....

same with washing machines?


so...maybe a bit less oil, to avoid shelling out quite so much...if the family car really is past it, then just buy the cheapest [basic] runabout you can find for now......or...would it not be just as cheap to have the existing car fixed?


better to tide oneself over for now, than to use credit for which one will be paying out for a lot longer to come?

mandrake75

Good advice that regarding cars. I now service my own.
Correct oil from Asda, filters and spark plugs from Halfords, and tips from the internet - voila!
Videojug is a great 'how-to' website too - its on video so it shows you as well as tells you how to do lots of things, including lots about car repairs and care

Good luck!