How did I reach my credit card limit and brief SOA

lovetobeloaded

Thanks Snaggles - appreciate your support xx

Woah Bestthingsinlife - are you trying to send me in a downward spiral of depression!!!! - No seriously though, I take your point. I know we earn too little to sustain this lifestyle and too much to have to be worrying about debt. A nice balance of some little luxuries and some spending - aaahh wouldn't that be lovely?

My lightbulb is fully charged but hubby can't see any problem!

Yes, we could be in big trouble, very quickly if circumstances change for the worse.

However, I have landed quite a good job and expect my salary to increase fairly decently, even in the next few months.

House is worth min £170k. Bought it for £94k, took out any extra £25k with same lender for improvements and £20k secured with FirstPlus - damn you Carol Vorderman.

Ouch - that kick up the bum hurt!

lovetobeloaded

Hi ali007

Could probably give up lottery altogether although it is very compelling to think, if I don't do it this week, my numbers will come up. Play same numbers.

I also agree that Sky is not vital.

The golf one is tricky. If we didn't have the membership, we would probably still play at least 3 times a month each, hubby much more. At £17 a time we would spend a lot more to pay per play. For me it is a hobbie and would play less during pregnancy and with a little bubba, but for him it is his only activity. As we don't smoke, go out drinking, buy clothes etc I really would feel evil if I made him give it up.

Yes, I did love shopping but not in an every saturday I'll have a new outfit way. More of a every few months we'll have something really big kind of way.

You're right about being more stable and free before bringing a little one into the world, but can you ever afford to have a baby? I have recently stopped the contraception and hope(!) we will be better off before the big event. I know this is naive.

Will keep you posted of progress.

THANK YOU.

Snaggles

Oh, one other thing I thought of whilst doing the school run (!) was that sometimes lenders can be a bit jumpy about agreeing a new mortgage when you are on maternity leave, or about to go on maternity leave, so it would probably be wise to either have your mortgage in place before your mat leave starts, or wait until you have returned to work ( I know it sounds a bit strange, because once you have your mortgage with them, they don't care if you go on mat leave, change your job, or give up work altogether, but I suppose the point is that if they ever had to take you to court for the money, they may have to prove that at the time the mortgage was agreed, you could afford the repayments).

Snaggles

Oh god, I'm going to sound like a stalker here because I can't seem to stop posting but re the contact lenses - I'm going on maternity leave in 3 months, and what I've been doing is trying to make each pair last a bit longer than normal, by not wearing them at weekends, taking them out when I get home from work etc, and I've managed to save about 6 pairs. I'll need them even less while I'm not working so I think they will last me a year - so I'm going to cancel my contact lens contract and start a new one when I go back to work. Again, not much of a saving, but they all add up.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

lovetobeloaded wrote:

Thanks Snaggles - appreciate your support xx

Woah Bestthingsinlife - are you trying to send me in a downward spiral of depression!!!! - No seriously though, I take your point. I know we earn too little to sustain this lifestyle and too much to have to be worrying about debt. A nice balance of some little luxuries and some spending - aaahh wouldn't that be lovely?

My lightbulb is fully charged but hubby can't see any problem!

Yes, we could be in big trouble, very quickly if circumstances change for the worse.


House is worth min £170k. Bought it for £94k, took out any extra £25k with same lender for improvements and £20k secured with FirstPlus - damn you Carol Vorderman.

Ouch - that kick up the bum hurt!

Hi !

don't mean to scare you but if you sell your house, you might have about
50k equity, this might just clear your debts leaving you with NOTHING.

(and your hubby can't see a problem with this;)

You have been living a champagne life style on a coca cola budget. Carry on like this and you will lose the house.

I would get hubby to read this thread ASAP.

golf, sky, holidays, lottery,cars, all needs to go, once you have paid your debts, you can get the things you miss back.

Unfortunately you can not afford these things or if the golf etc is really important you could sell the house, pay of the debts and carry on playing golf;)

You need to cut all spending and incease income. NOW.

Time for a serious financial heart to heart with your OH.

I wish you well, keep posting.:T

Best

lovetobeloaded

Hi Snaggles

Every little bit helps.

I get my lenses from daysoft.co.uk and you just order when you need them, in either one month or three month batches. This means, if you have some leftover, you can wait before ordering the next lot.

I buy 3 monthly for me and hubby which works out at £12.99 each. Cheapest I have seen, plus no need for an annual contract or direct debit. You buy them when you can afford them.

Thanks for thinking about me. I will start the new mortgage hunt in May-ish as this leaves 3 months until untied date, plus if I do fall pregnant by then they won't need to know!

Cheers. xx

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Plus if you have baby, even if you wanted or had go back to work, you would probably need to pay nursery fees etc etc

Now is the time to take radical action.

Good luck!

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Could you rent a room out in the house ?

Could you down grade cars ?

Could you sell any CD's etc ?

Could either of you get a 2nd part time job ?

Best,

lovetobeloaded

Hi Bestthings

Have previously thought about temporary/emergency fostering, as we do have a spare room, but this is a big commitment and financial gain doesn't seem an appropriate reason for helping a child in need.

Could rent to a Professional but I don't know that there is much call for this in my area. Not a big commuting, business destination.

Plus, with thinking about a baby, we may not have the space for long and is it safe having strangers in the house.

We recently went from 2 cars to 1, and hubby now uses works van and petrol. Car isn't new and I do need something reliable as travel country roads to work 20 miles away.

I am going to have a big clear out and sell stuff on ebay.

Also doing Virgin Vie to try and bring in extra income. The commission is good and should make some decent extra funds, if - and it's a big if - I can get the parties booked and orders in.

I am not trying to defend or justify our spending and I know we need a serious plan to sort ourselves out, I just want to respond to some of the options you are very kindly suggesting.

Please keep up your support.

I will post again with a full rundown of debts, interest rates etc.

Thanks.

mjdh1957

I've heard some negative things about Virgin Vie so be careful. I think some other DFWs have had problems with them, and similar schemes.