"Simply not solvent!

chevalier

so maybe NOW is the time to start shopping ONLINE.........!

Seaxwyn

Update: the course leader has told OH that he will have some teaching work next academic year, but not as much as this year.

hypno06

I would def have a weekend of brainstorming - work through all the calculations for the various options on the snowball calculator, options for work, tax credits, belt tightening etc.

You can and you will get through this - it has been done before, and sadly will probably happen again - I know that it is not what you want to hear, and that you just want a simple life with things running smoothly, but we both know that the road to our debt free lives does not run that way. Obstacles are placed in the way and it is up to us to get over them, however tired we may be.

You have options, so that is an excellent start. What about summer school workshops etc - could this be something that OH could put together?

xx

Seaxwyn

Well just sat down with OH and went through the options. He definitely appreciates the gravity of the situation. It was dispiriting to realise how little he actually knows about our situation - what we currently owe on credit cards, how many current accounts we have etc etc. Even though I go on and on about all this all the time and encourage him to look at the spreadsheets.

I will mull over it all over the weekend and decide on Tuesday how to pay off the loan. I am loathe to take on any more debt than I have to so will probably use as much as I can spare from my current account.

It would be great to have a stroke of good luck and receive some unexpected money from somewhere. Are you listening, universe?

I know we'll get through this, and we have lots to be grateful for, I actually feel quite upbeat. But I think we're in danger of fiddling while Rome burns. Our debt has actually increased quite a lot this year rather than decreasing.

hypno06

So, the key is to be sensible - keep a "sensible" reserve for extras that you haven't budgeted for, etc etc - no point in trying to pare things to the bone, pay as much as you can off the loan, then leave yourself so short that you panic or get stressed about not having enough to see you through.

Use the same time to reassess what you "really" need - as a family - new budgets, realistic earnings, realistic ability to get new work etc etc

(I think I should take some of my own advice from time to time!!!)

Don't rush - you have plenty of time to make sure you reach the right decisions.

When the "new" figures are done - type them up or put them in the snowball calculator so you can see your new starting point - then when you are feeling as though the light at the end of the tunnel is no nearer in six months time, you can look at the printed info and see just how far you have come - I have just printed off my snowball as at the beginning of my new job - so when I am moaning about long days and crappy days in the market, I can look at my sheet and see (hopefully!) that it is all worth it!

Seaxwyn

Thanks for your wise words, hypno, I always appreciate your advice.
I hope you are already finding things easier for the new job.

You are right it's good to have a long weekend to think over things from different angles.

One good thing to have come out of the latest crisis - OH has actually printed off the letters for reclaiming bank charges - getting on for two years after I started suggesting this!

mizmir

Think hypno hits the nail on the head with allowing for what you need. Sometimes in our enthusiasm to be debt free as quickly as possible we try to live on fresh air - and it can't be done. Sensible budgeting is the way. I know I fell off the wagon last time because I went OTT and couldn't sustain it. Keep something back - especially if your circumstances are unpredictable at the moment - work out what you might need and pay the rest off. Don't over do it. Hang in there - you will get there - we all will!

hypno06

Sometimes it takes the "big" things to get the ball rolling - hopefully OH will make some reasonable steps forward with you. I know from my own experiences that it can be "lonely" (not the right word, really I am sure, but it is the best I can come up with) doing these things almost exclusively by yourself while someone else is not participating in the same way (even if they are sort of aware of the seriousness of the situation).

My OH would have no idea how much our mortgage is for, or when the council tax is paid, what band it is etc. Oh he knows we have no money - so the nearest he gets to facing it and dealing with it is to ring me from the filling station asking "which card to I pay for Petrol with".....:rolleyes: I have tried sitting down with the statements and figures etc but it just seems to go straight through him. He even claimed he had no idea how much the ski trip had cost for the kids this season and was horrified when I told him at the end of it all!!!!!

I feel your pain!! And yes, I am very very happy to be back earning properly - all the benefits of being self employed were being matched by other stresses so cancelled each other out - Pania has said that I am much happier with much more energy than before, so it has to be true!! I got paid today - so very happy for the mo!!

Seaxwyn

I am very glad for you Hypno - you deserve to be happy and it's great that you tried self-employment so know all the pros and cons of the choice you have made.

Your OH sounds so like mine... it is hard, but thank goodness at least one person is a proper DFW, I shudder to think how things could be if I hadn't found this site and absorbed the basic principles of DFWdom.

I'm now wondering whether to just use the 1700 in my ISA towards the darned loan. I do seem to be lucky in always getting good cheap credit offers, so perhaps I don't need to save for tax quite as much as I need to reduce the debts.

Something to think over at the weekend. I look forward to the day when I don't think about money all the time!

hypno06

Race ya to £30,000

:rotfl: