husband just told me we owe £40,000.....

RAS

whatamessbooboo wrote: »

My husbands income is low due to all the time off work. This has risen substantially in the last month or two. My income will definitely increase, to around 45k if I'm full time and my overtime pays £50 per hour.
We are managing the c.c repayments (about £800 and our mortgage) but I calculated that remortgaging would bring our
Payments down substantially ( all be it we would be paying over 12 years).
I genuinely thought given our mortgage is so low, this was a realistic option?

The trouble is that if you do that, the credit card debt will creep up again on top of the debt added to the mortgage.

if you income is going to increase that much, then you should be able to shiuft the bulk of the debt quite quickly.

When you do the SOA, put the interest rate and the maximum limit for all the cards.

NeverAgain_2

As others have said, the problem with remortgaging for most people is they find the temptation to use the now zero-balance credit cards too great.

Twelve years is a long time for extra payments to which you are more firmly committed than if the debt remains unsecured on the cards.

You need to be certain you are not just simply living beyond your means.

If you are not, and you are certain of the predicted rises in your income, then remortgaging may work for you - provided you have lots of will power.

Another option would be to compromise, remortgage half the credit card debt and attack the rest with what remains of your income.

If your joint income rises to £50K or £60K+, you ought to be able to clear the credit cards in fewer than 12 years without having to remortgage.

DS4215

As someone who has come at this from the other side (I was the OH admitting to the debt), it helps a lot that you are working together to resolve it. You problems were not your fault, and with some hard work and budgeting you can do it. (Mine was reduced pay after redundancy and years of overspending).

Like the others have said, work out your SOA listing all your incomings and outgoings and hopefully you can find the best way to proceed.

dancingfairy

smartiedriver wrote: »

RE the quote,

1) yes, rates will hvae to rise at some point, but a cheap fix now might allow the OP to make some inroads in clearing the debt and reducing the amount owed, so when rates do start to rise the total indebtedness will be substantiallly less.
2) Very true - but perhaps worth asking once (as opposed to asking every lender and ruining creit file)
3) ABSOLUTELY TRUE. But still can be a useful way of consolidating debt and avoiding bankruptcy/IVA.

Good luck with this... and get that SOA posted.

I actually agree with you - generally though the percentage of people who have the discipline to make this work must be less than 1% - it MAY be a possibility for the OP and they should consider all the implications carefully. IF this debt really has been built up because of the sick child etc and one can be pretty confident of making the mortgage repayments in future then yes it could be a solution. My worry is that with the partner being self-employed that it would be a lot harder to get decent insurance cover and that things could take a turn for the worse in the economy or for small businesses. Sadly also there are many on here that have consolidated, run up more debt, consolidated, etc etc and it's a vicious circle
As I said before - the options should be weighed up carefully. There are of course pros and cons for every option and it would be naive to think otherwise.
df

shop-to-drop

Would it be possible for your OH to be fulltime carer for your child and for you to work full time? It can't be worth working for £5k a year especially if he needs to spend a lot on materials etc before any money comes in.

dancingfairy

Is the business financially viable? that is the question - it is of course incredibly difficult to tell given that the OP has said that her husband has had to take a lot of time of to be with the sick son (understandably). Also what damage has been done to the business in terms of how the market has moved during the time, have customers stayed loyal or have they found alternative suppliers etc, these are the unknown factors.
I hope of course that your husband is able to pick the business up again but it may of course take time to build it back up again?
df

smartiedriver_2

pure_dead_dopey wrote: »

it is never useful to consolidate unsecured debt into secured debt and put your home at risk.

This is a terribly sweeping statement and is WRONG!!! For some people it genuinely is the best option they have. Not everybody, of course, but for some.

whatamessbooboo

He is a plumber and seems to have a pretty loyal set of customers who all know about our sick baby.
We have thought about me working full time and him giving up but then it would be pretty hard to pick up the business again in the future. I think we are going to give it till Xmas with him working flat out and me doing overtime and then reassess the working situation.
We still need to deal with the ridiculous interest rates on the c.c in the meantime.
On to that SOA now...
Feel better already from your support, thanks.

jellybean39

whatamessbooboo wrote: »

He is a plumber and seems to have a pretty loyal set of customers who all know about our sick baby.
We have thought about me working full time and him giving up but then it would be pretty hard to pick up the business again in the future. I think we are going to give it till Xmas with him working flat out and me doing overtime and then reassess the working situation.
We still need to deal with the ridiculous interest rates on the c.c in the meantime.
On to that SOA now...
Feel better already from your support, thanks.

Hi there whatamessbooboo

Just reading through your thread and you are in a similar situation to us apart from are mortgage you can add and xtra 0. Have a look at wahtsthecost.com it will help your priotise the payments on your credit cards. if you can afford to pay them without putting them on your mortgage over 12 years which is exactly what we were going to do but now by snowballing we will be paid off in just over two years. There are lots of ideas on here how to make extra money i have done carboots never in a month of sundays would i have before!!! and sold on ebay nice 1200 in the last six weeks. Hubby had a 5k year 3 years ago thats where alot of our debt sprialled from and at the time didnt take charge but had wake up call now so at least you are taking charge of situation and you will get there lots of help avalable here hun xxxx good luckxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Also just checked 37k over 12 years at 4% will cost you 10k in interest!!! Dont forget cut up the card you have just moved the 10k from x

whatamessbooboo

Jellybean,
Thats really good to know it can be done.
I must admit the amount of interest we would pay putting it on the mortgage scares me at Im not sure how easy it would be to be keep moving it all until its paid off - I reckon at least 3 years? Also most cards are charging 5% to transfer which is a lot if I need to keep transferring.
I guess I was looking at a quick solution with the mortgage idea.