Need some advice on my situation.....

Toomuchdebt

Sorry but I think sending a child to nursery and having a cleaner in this situation is just ridiculous.I have 4 children,am a single mother and work 17 hours a week.My youngest goes to playschool in the mornings(free sessions) and I would LOVE to send her for a whole day and have a cleaner but there is no way I could justify the cost.Surely with your wife only working one day a week,and only having one child,she has enough time to do the cleaning herself?Could your wife not prepare for her school work one evening a week instead of taking half a day that you pay for?How many days nursery do you actually use a week?One day a week(when your wife is at work) would not cost £360 a month.

joeblack066

I have been in both situations in my life; the one day a week at paid nursery for sanity, and the sigle mum with 4 kids and no money, so I can empathise with both of these. When I was in the latter situation I set up the Curtain Ring sitting solution. I found the other Mums via a Mums and Tots group, then we would sit for each other, or have each others kids for a coupla hours, and pay with curtain rings. This made sure that no-one had more free time than they gave back, and meant that all the parents could choose fairly who to send their child to. Rate of 1 curtain ring per hour per child! It worked like a dream! Also, as a self eployed musician, couldn't you arrange your work schedule so that YOU can give your partner her Sanity time? Good luck, Debs!

tyllwyd

treadingwater wrote:

Mortgage £135,000 on repayment @ £846 PCM (5.296% currently based on Tracker @ base rate + 0.29%)
House worth £285,000

Northern Rock Unsecured Loan £ 12,458 @ £272 PCM
( from £10,000 at 6.9%, £4000 @ 5.6%)

Credit Cards ( currently all at 0% for 9 months) £ 12,003 @ £360 minimum payment.

Overdraft £ 5000 approx at current First Direct rate of 10.9%.

...


I'm considering doing a IVA so that I can regain control of the situation, without disrupting my family home through bankrupcy. My prospects are good in so much as I have been earning good money, but as it's in its infancy my company still has quiet periods while I build momentum in orders, and I don't think I can support this level of debt.

You specifically wanted advice on IVAs - I'm afraid I don't have any experience of IVAs but it is quite a drastic step. It looks as if you have about £25,000 unsecured debt and about £150,000 equity in your house. My understanding is that towards the end of an IVA the creditors would expect you to release some of the equity in your house.


Have you tried talking to one of the debt councelling charities, PayPlan or CCCS? They would be able to go through all the figures with you and give you realistic advice on what an IVA might involve and whether your creditors are likely to accept it.

Is this the right time to start looking at insolvency? In a few months time, your nursery costs will go right down, your wife can start to work a bit more and financially things should start getting easier. You might start the process off and then by the time it happens, you might find that by budgeting hard and keeping a close eye on your finances, you don't need to do it any more.

mrs_deadline

I think the same as tyllwyd. Maternity leave and childcare are invariably belt-tightening situations (and that said, with one adult home most of the week, a cleaner is definitely a luxury). But with so much equity in your property you appear to have more leeway than most. There's no reason why you shouldn't make it if you rein in the non-essentials. You're clearly earning a respectable self-employed income and keeping the Inland Revenue at bay, although with the wild fluctuation between 30k and 50k that is a challenge in itself. Hats off to you, you must be brilliant at what you're doing!

Focusing on the business, have you taken any advice recently (e.g. free help from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk). Maybe there are ways you could generate more income? (lessons, masterclasses, promotions in music shops?) If not, is there any way you could scale down to a home studio for a while? (I do understand it might not be feasible but it's a big overhead at the moment on top of the other regular outgoings).

Also, have you run your figures through the Snowball calculator to see how fast you could clear the credit cards if you make cutbacks, and once your wife is earning more: http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx