Feeling Stupid and very low :(

KH23

Hi everyone

I'm new on here, although been visiting the site for a while now and getting lots of money saving tips.

Me & my husband currently have unsecured debt of £30952 from cards & loans. All cards were cut up a few months back which felt great. We've spoken to CCCS and have had an appointment and are in process of paying all unsecured creditors a £1 each per month until we have had our 2nd appointment with CCCS to review our budget.

Myself and hubby both work (he works full time Mon-Sat and works from 6am and finishes anytime between 4.30pm and 7.30pm, he's a delivery driver). I'm working part-time in the evenings and a friend from work looks after our toddler if need be with the overlap from me starting work and hubby finishing work. I'm on minimum wage but hubby earns £18,500 pa however this doesn't include overtime (mind you they keep messing up his wages and haven't paid him for any overtime he's done so far :mad: ).

Dealing with the CCCS we have cut down loads and were even told we weren't allocating enough for food so were told to up it slightly. Toddler is out of nappies during day and we buy shop own brand nappies for nights which is cheaper.

The thing I feel stupid about is this..... We have a mortgage (moved over 400 miles at beginning of year because partner left forces) but we also have a secured loan (eeeeeek - what idiots we were doing that but guess we can't turn the clock back so have to deal with it). Problem we have is our earnings due to the move and toddler have reduced our joint annual income by £23000!! We stuggle to make ends meet but always make payments so don't have arrears. Hubby has considered selling house so we have no mortgage and to move into council accommodation back towards south england as salaries are better than where we are. This did seem like the solution but then we realised we can't as we have the secured loan!!! Can you sell a house with a secured loan which then wouldn't be secured????

Anyone know the answer with regards to selling the house even if a secured loan is on it or is it just not an option?????

And to top it all I've just found out I'm pregnant (anything from 5 weeks to 11 weeks gone) so more pennies to try to save.....save what's that?!

moozie_2

Hello KH23 and welcome

Please don't feel stupid, most of us have not been the most intelligent about money over here.

I am afradi I don't know the answer to your question but I am sure someone on here will do - and CCCS too. Always worth running any ideas past them.

Congrats on your pregnancy, hope all goes well.

Keep posting, we are all here to support each other :grouphug:

CLAPTON

if you sell the house you have to repay the mortgage and the secured loan.
....is there enough equity to pay both off?
before considering this option I would suggest you check the availablity of council housing in the area you want to move too...

why not post a full statement of affairs here...maybe people can offer some suggestions for helping.

looby75

Sorry I can't help you on the sale of the house part but I just wanted to say Congrats on your pregnancy, and I really really suggest you post a SOA. There are lots of posters here who can find you ways to cut your budget down to size so maybe you won't even need to sell the house.

Good luck. Oh and you are NOT stupid btw

robnye

i beleive if you have a secured loan, you need to notify them that you are selling the property, any money left after repaying the mortgage will have tobe paid to the secured loan people

KH23

Monthly Income:
Joint Wages £1685.00
Tax Credit &
Child Benefit £124.40

Outgoings:
Mortgage & PPI £562.96
C/Tax & W/Rates £128.00
Car Finance £90.99
2 x Mobile Phone £75.00 (1 contract expires Dec so going pay as you go)
Broadband &
House Phone £45.00 (£14.99 broadband, £11 BT line rental, plus calls)
Electric £41.00 (DD with powergen. Not had gas bill since here)
Childcare £40.00 (playgroup for toddler)
Sky digital £18.00 (reduced - have arrears of £85 from 2 mths full pack)
Setanta Sport £15.00 (can't get out of contract)
TV License £26.30 (DD although it goes down to £13 something Jan 07)
Insurances £81.26 (Life ins, 2 x car ins, house ins, pet ins)
Food allowance £200.00 (£50 a week for 3 of us)
Petrol & Tax £155.00 (£30 a week petrol & £25 a month towards tax)
Child Trust Fund £10.00
Secured Loan £303.41
Token payments £10.00 (£1 token payments x 10 creditors)

We're looking at cutting down tel bills - tied into contract until next month with pipex (broadband & house tel calls), tied into contract with o2 for 1 mobile (ends december so moving to pay as you go then) and the other 02 contract doesn't end until july 07. I have set up to view my bills online recently so can now keep on top of call charges which will help keep bills down.

We haven't yet started saving the £25 for car tax a month yet as last month we got car tax for one car (6mths) and this month we've got to get car tax for the other car (6mths) but we're starting to save it from next month hopefully if not January.

We've had this house since June last year and moved in January this year however we've never received a gas bill (new build house) and by the sound of it neither has half this estate. Nobody seems to know who the supplier is and we've tried calling loads of suppliers but nobody is saying it's their meter - dreaded the day a bill turns up!!

KH23

Also, we've borrowed £1750 from my parents - basically to help out here and there and also to buy a cheap 2nd hand car for hubby to go to and from work (cost us £900 and is a low runner, low tax etc..) and we got rid of his petrol guzzling MG ZS last month as it was expensive to run, tax, and we had to pay finance on it. I'm meant to pay my parents back £50 a month but so far haven't paid any. I feel really bad but they said start paying it in new year once a bit more settled financially. They don't know the extent of our problems and there's no way I could tell them as they are always going on about how stupid some people are with their money (and we're one of those couples!).

Don't know how we'll manage once we've got another sprog in the world?!!

KH23

Reading your posts - there's no way we could sell the house and pay off the mortgage and secured loan with it. The house was £95,000 when we got it and mortgage £96,000 (including fees and stuff) the secured loan is £30,000 and the house is only worth £118,000 now so it's not an option after all I guess.

Thinking of contacting the SSAFA too (charity association for helping current & ex-Armed Forces personnel) as their website mentions financial support but I'm not sure what any of it means or would do.

chivers1977

IS it a Northern Rock together mortgage. If you did redeem the main loan I believe that they will change the rate on the unsecured part to about 14% APR but over the remaining term of the mortgage! Would you qualify for a £10k personal loan on a better rate as you will have approx that once you sold the property with fees etc.

jeetster

Congrats on the pregancy.

It looks like you are trying to cut down and shave bit's off here and there. can really only suggest small savings , but every bit helps.

Your home phone, broadband and distital tv package is costing you quite a bit £73/month, I'm sure you can half that. How long are you tied into Sky digital for. Also do you have homechoice in your area, it runs off a BT line. We have it and pay £18/month for broadband + digital tv + £7 for free anytime landline calls. (£18 + £7 + BT (£11) = £36.

Have you examined if you really need two cars? (Although I guess being pregnant, and with the toddler it might be difficult without one.).

TallGirl

Sorry to hear about your situaiton and congratulation on the pregnancy. I think you should contact SSAFA they might help you in particular with things for the baby. They are very friendly and nice but you are only likely to get help from them once so consider caryfully what you need the most.

How about considering bankruptcy if there is little or no equity in the house? It seems like you cannot afford to live there however I would not rely on council housing best to check it out before you consider moving as many places all you would get it a room in a B&B.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but with another one on the way stressing about money is the last thing you need so consider your option carefully.

Take care and good luck