SOA and request for advice

rising_from_the_ashes

MrOrchard wrote: »

1. You spend too much on electricity and gas.

In a 2 bed house - that's not too bad actually.....

OP, if you can rent the room, it would certainly help - as you say, you have more coming in than going out - so if you could rent the room to help with the tax problem, that's something.

Apologies for my ignorance as I'm not a tax expert but do you not pay your tax as you go along?

I have a few friends who freelance and they're always putting money aside for it to pay when it's due.


Can you not cash in the shares & bonds to pay the tax bill? I know it's an investment but it would seem to solve the big problem of paying this.

RAS

Hi

I assume that you were using the ISA to shield the money you were putting aside to pay the HMRC in the future, so do not feel bad about paying your bill using that money.

You can trim a bit of the housekeeping, although it is harder to do for one person than four (the loo still need cleaning however many use it).

Given the parlous state of your finances, I think you really do need to bite the bullet and try and get a lodger, even if only weekday or short-term. You can take £370 per month tax-free. Be very clear what you would consider reasonable behaviour and have a good chat about it before you commit. But also remember that by law, you only need to give them resonable notice and in some circumstance one day is very reasonable.

Can you try and get any part-time work to supplement your income, at all? Even ask at the bar at the gym?

You may well need to move to medium term, but it looks like in the short-term you need to stabilise the finances.

And check out if you can sell the shares and keep the money in a cash ISA? Depends on the terms of your ISA.

recessionhater

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Can you not cash in the shares & bonds to pay the tax bill? I know it's an investment but it would seem to solve the big problem of paying this.

I can, yes, but that would force me to sell at the very bottom of the market, and eliminate any future for me. Which is why I want to try to spin out these bills for a few months at least, if I can.

I am trying to sell my house at a large loss in order to move elsewhere, but without success so far. If I rented it out, I would need to spend quite a few thousand on things like a new boiler first, so the situation is quite bad in nearly all respects.

Does anyone know if there are any rules on paying into your SIPP when a tax bill is outstanding?

recessionhater

Can you invite a lodger into your home if the boiler needs replacing and is potentially unsafe? You see, it is a grand mess. I will probably lose everything.

I am not resisting people's advice. It may be that "sell shares / repay debt / start again" is really my only option, but as that leads to me having zero savings and starting from scratch, there would be no difference anyway in my spinning my debts out for a few months, and possibly still ending up with liquidatio of all savings and starting from zero - it just seems it is worth my trying to spin out the debts in case the shares rebound - like it's my one shot, and if it doesn't work out, I would still be left, as I am now, with the "option" of spending all my savings on tax bills and other bills and starting from zero.

recessionhater

thanks for all your advice - I know you're all telling me the only thing possible. I seem to be out of choices.

MrOrchard

Maybe starting again will work for you.

I did it in 2005 and it was the single best thing I have ever done.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1186523

RAS

recessionhater wrote: »

Can you invite a lodger into your home if the boiler needs replacing and is potentially unsafe? You see, it is a grand mess. I will probably lose everything.

I am not resisting people's advice. It may be that "sell shares / repay debt / start again" is really my only option, but as that leads to me having zero savings and starting from scratch, there would be no difference anyway in my spinning my debts out for a few months, and possibly still ending up with liquidatio of all savings and starting from zero - it just seems it is worth my trying to spin out the debts in case the shares rebound - like it's my one shot, and if it doesn't work out, I would still be left, as I am now, with the "option" of spending all my savings on tax bills and other bills and starting from zero.

Personally I would NOT be selling the shares given the state of the market, although I would not be buying into individual companies either.

Can you set up a selling situation where you sell if the price hits £xx? That would allow you to make as much as possible and take the minimum hit.

Have you checked whether you can claim Working Tax credit if your income drops even further? www.turn2us.org.uk.

And yes you can take a lodger with a dodgy boiler but please get a Co monitor as a precaution, for your own sake.

What seems to be happening is that you are getting into a spiral of despair that is impeding your ability to find ways outside the box.

Get out tonight or tomorrow and get a really good gym session in and then come back.

recessionhater

RAS wrote: »

Get out tonight or tomorrow and get a really good gym session in and then come back.

Thank you! That is actually good advice! I'm going now!

rising_from_the_ashes

I agree with both RAS and MrOrchard - even though they're total opposites!

Selling shares etc at this point in time clearly isn't the best if there are other options .... but at the same time, being able to clear everything and start again can also be attractive and alleviates a lot of stress.


Go to the gym, enjoy yourself and forget about it for a wee while .... pop back when you're ready and recharged:).

miggy

Do you have enough fitness skills to do coaching /personal training / lifeguard / trampoline coach etc? Or can you coach for exams?

Could you rent your house and get a bedsit? (Perhaps a step too far, depends what you can get).

As your work seems to have seasonal trends, try Argos, Post Office and so on for seasonal work (you may well already have tried this). If you are in a lull that's likely to last a while, could you consider a full time post somewhere? You might be able to reduce hours or give it up once these few months has passed.

I know there are places with very few jobs, but some sectors employ casual and relief workers and you may be able to get yourself on the books somewhere - you could always look into things like cleaning, stacking shelves, and so on.

There may be some cuts to be made in groceries though I noticed you are buying 'value' products. There is usually someone pouncing on new SOAs and suggesting a visit to the 'Old Style' board in case you feel inclined to make something delicious out of string and fresh air, so I'll get in there first and just mention it They do have some brilliant recipes. Oh, and take a calculator to the shops: the things promoted as bargains aren't always the real ones.

Hope you've enjoyed the gym.