Desperate and Scared

lynzpower

viv1969 wrote:

We don't have a spare room....our mortgage is a little higher than it may have been if my husband hadn't been self employed for less than 2 years when we were taking it out.

given your hubby isnt the main earner is there any way you could look at getting the mortgage in your name with your salary as the main one?

thus coming off the self-certed expensive product?

Emmysmum_2

As well as making sure your energy supplier is the cheapest, look at how you use it. Take all your electronic goods off of standby. It eats a lot of power. This includes PCs (but not if going to use it within 3 hours, but you can set yourselves PC on times and just leave it off otherwise), microwaves, DVD players, music systems etc.

Using the microwave for the clock? Switch off the plug and use a battery wall clock. Rechargeable batteriesand a solar battery charger will help save cash too. Energy saving lightbulbs and mind leaving lights on during bright daylight hours and try to use lights with only one bulb.Do your clothes actually need a wash? Did you get it solied or smelly? ALso look at the temp your boiler iss et to heat your water at. odds are you can turn it down. When do you actually use your hot water? Think on getting a timer for it.

heat....what is your thermostat set to? Try reducing it at least 1 degree.....that will save a fair bit. Not on a thermostat? Look at setting a timner programme for when youa ctually need it on and consider getting thermostats for the rads. look at your tog rating for your beds too, we leave our heat off all night and are perfectly warm.

Credit cards....DO NOT get a consolidated loan...it is the road to hell. One late payment and they will take your house rather than your money!Contactt eh CCCS instead...they will set up a repayment plan for you that will freeze the interest. MUCH safer and without incurring more debt through further interest.

Look at all your clothes, shoes, movies, cds, old mobiles, games etc.....flog on Ebay anything unworn/untouched/unplayed etc for 3 months or do a Boot sale. Do not be tempted to put that on your CCs.....put it on your power bills so you can get a bit of credit towards your bills while you repay those cards and your hubby is beefing up his new business.

I also second going to a mortgage advisor and seeing if you can get a cheaper mortgagewith you as the chief wage earner.

It can be done...we became debt free in under 2 years

Vickicb

Viv - could your hubby do some kind of promotion with a local college?

Perhaps a free lesson voucher on 17th birthday to each student provided they have met 90% attendance or some other target. In my experience many of them will re-book after the 1st lesson, and if the vouchers go out by birthday then they are spread across the year, and so no big influx of free lessons being demanded all at once...

I_was_a_fool

Welcome Viv!

Dont worry, we were in a much worse state that you three months ago & we are on our way to being back on our feet again (on a budget of course).

A word of warning. Do you owe your mortgage provider any other money? If yes I advise moving mortgage or other debt elsewhere BEFORE you enter a debt management plan or default on any payment to them.

Our bank put the debt & mortgage together & demanded the lot although we kept up the mortgage payments. Im sure they will not repossess, but I hate them being able to hold it over our head!

On a brighter note, all our other (many) creditors have accepted the reduced payments and frozen the interest.

Look at the CCCS website, lots of advice & info there too.

Hugs, good luck

Sharon

Dumyat

sorry to hear about your loss.
try not to panic. there is always an answer. the folks round here are part of the been there, done that ...got the Tshirt.
sounds like you have hit the bottom and you know how the song goes...the only way is up!

earner

A quick solution, for the right house in the right area, is to look at moving out of it and renting it out, while you rent something dirt cheap round the corner.

If this can be achieved (I know everybody's location is different) then you'd instantly be dumping the running costs of the house and be getting the mortgage paid (and a few bob over maybe?? again, location dependent).

Then, if there's just the two of you, rent a small 1-bed flat. Look at doing this for, say, 2 years.

However, if you've just bought the house and I spotted the furniture debt there, then maybe you have House Beautiful and daren't rent it out.

To look into this being a possibility, you'd need to contact your lender and you'd need to get some estate agents round. Beyond that you'd need gas/electric certificates (not until you've got somebody moving in) and to change the house insurance.

As I said, everybody's situation/location/fears are different, but I thought I'd throw this into the pot.

Good luck with the coming months!!

Lara44

Hi Viv

Welcome to the board, it horrible to be in this situation where you feel you don't have enough control. There are always ways to change things, but it's never easy, is it.

Looking at your SOA, I really feel that your DH HAS to be getting a job that brings in some more cash. It is great to invest time in the getting the business up and running, but isn't it better to do this over a longer term and have enough money to survive rather than not? You mentioned early jobs - could your DH look for work with the post office? Then he would have spare time in the day for lessons. Also he should look at what days are less successful at the moment and find work on these days, concentrating his custom on three days a week or something. Then perhaps he could also work some weekend days?

Regarding your journey to work, you say your car is bought outright - is it worth a lot of money? Could you switch to a moped to get to work and sell the car to free up some equity?

Good luck with cccs etc, and don't worry it will all work out in the end

Lara

earwig

what about selling your house and paying the debts of and buy a cheeper one or rent then when oh money improves you can look at buying a more suitable home for you

Yorkielass

Had an idea whilst driving home last night - do you live near a University? I have lots of friends who didn't start to learn to drive until they got to University/started learning at home and then got a new instructor when they started. It might be worth asking the students union there if they could take some leaflets/have a magazine/newspaper he could advertise in etc.

Then hopefully once he's got some students he'll get more through word of mouth.

Good luck

viv1969

You've made me think about that one Yorkielass.....we live not too far from the University of Greenwich in Chatham, and OH has even had a couple of pupils from there. The Student Union is a great idea.