rather long SOA

inthegreen

I have finally found the nerve to post my SOA. Since starting on these boards my husband and I have split up but I am managing much better even though I have more outgoings thanks to this site. I have tried to explain where possible the reasoning behind each entry.

My husband still lives in our house which has been for sale since December. He hasn't had his LBM and I am scared if I don't pay half the bills plus the mortgage I will get a bad credit rating (miraculously it's good at the mo!!)

My salary 2088.11 (April was the first paypacket at this salary and this is takehome after tax deductions for my company car, bupa and other benefits)

House I do not live in which is for sale all amounts are the amount I pay, my husband pays exactly the same

Mortgage - Interest only 538
TV - 5.69
Electricity 17.50 - checked uswitch lowest we can get
Life insurance 15.44 lowest i can get with h being a smoker
council tax 101 (husband will not sign the form to say he is lone occupant!!)
water 12.50
savings for oil and moving costs 60

total house 750.13

Room I rent

Rent incl council tax!! - 307.44
Gas - 10 (1/3 shared with 2 housemates not allowed to switch provider)
Electricity 10 ((1/3 shared with 2 housemates not allowed to switch provider)
water 7
tv licence 3.50 1/3 shared with 2 housemates

House 2 total 337.94

Horse - she is on long term loan so cannot sell or share but we have moved to the cheapest stables available - no I know u non horsey people wont agree but I am not getting rid of her, sorry

Stabling 65
hay 26 - only in winter in summer this amount paid off debts
shavings 21 only in winter in summer this amount paid off debts
food 5
feet trim 15
insurance 45 - no this is not the cheapest but E&L not paying up in the past has contributed to my debt by a couple of thousand

total horse 177

car - company car provided so tax, insurance servicing, breakdown all covered, tax deducted at source
petrol - I live a long way from my mum, and 2 best friends and an infirm relative (all live different places) - 165

total car 165

Other

food 90 - i am a walking allergy machine
savings for christmas birthdays and annual running club subs (cancelled gym) 25
mobile 40 - no house phone but could do better tried payg but was more expensive
hair 20
going out 50 - I know cut this out
washing 52 we have no washing machine in flat and live next to a launderette
misc 30 work away a lot so this is sitting in coffee shops with boss etc!!

total other 307

things you will ask me about

Internet - work pay - 0
home phone - none in either place
clothing - 0 at mo
charities 0 at mo

bank charges 125 - claiming back 4113 won't go over overdraft this month
interest on overdraft 12

total banking 137

debts

b/card 3500 limit 4.9 lob 3171.88 outstanding 73 minimum payment
mum 10484 (she only wants me to pay her 5061.06) 0% pay basic of 100 plus quidco, greenmetropolis and penny savings .

I have a guaranteed bonus of £5500 next January(takehome) plus should get at least £13k out of the house sale after fees

41.04 spare I know spending diary!!

off you go do your worst:D

Mozette

Just moving your post up, the experts will be along soon.
Sounds dead good value for a horse though, I think you've done well there.
Obviously if you can give up smoking at what must be a really stressful time for you...

findingmyownway

wow, well done for posting, it certainly seems to be a complicated situation.

I guess the first priority has to be selling your joint house. If it has been on the market since December do you know why its not selling? Is it priced too high? Need a lick of paint? Just need a good tidy up? As your husband is still living there is there anything he can do to speed up the process?

As you don't live there i don't think you have any obligation to be paying half of the gas / elctricity / council tax etc. Phone the companies and ask them to take your name off the bill. You can settle half the balance up to your moving out date if that seems fair to you - but after that your husband needs to be accountable for his own bills.


You know the rest - spending diary etc as you have already mentioned.

I assume there are no kids involved?

Oldernotwiser

Why are you paying half of the utilities at your old house? These could be put into your husband's name without his permission being required. I also don't know why you're paying half of the council tax if you don't live there; it's the occupant who pays this, not the owner. Your husband will quickly fill in the lone occupant forms when he's responsible for paying the whole thing. You really don't need to pay the upkeep of a property you don't live in; you're paying for all this stuff twice! Do you need life insurance now you're separated? (I'm assuming you have no children.)
Good luck!

angelavdavis

I think you should be careful about being removed from the bills, as it is likely to work against you should you get to the stage of agreeing a financial settlement with your OH (he could argue that you left the financial responsibility to him).

I think you will need to seek financial advice from CAB or similar with regard to the house sale - it sounds like your husband has not only not had his light bulb moment but is also lacking the reality that you are no longer living with him.

Sadly, you might need to get a solicitor involved in order to ensure the house is being sold as you had agreed as you have joint liability and your OH cannot be allowed to have this continued control over you.

In my opinion, it doesn't sound like your OH is actively pursuing getting the property sold. Get a friend to pretend to be a possible buyer and phone the agent to see if your property is put forward as a potential property. If it isn't, you know either the agent isn't actively marketing it (so phone them and query this) or your OH has taken it off the market.

Oldernotwiser

I agree with the second part of this (checking that the house is being marketed properly) but not the first part. Utilities and Council Tax are the responsibility of the person living in the property, not the owner. If it comes to discussing financial settlements, it seems to me that he's living rent free in your half of the house!

I hope that you've taken legal advice on the split.

angelavdavis

When I split with my ex-husband, I was advised by my solicitor to continue making payments for the bills to ensure that these costs were not taken into account when decided the financial settlement.

He was right, I was then asked to reveal any costs I had contributed after our split to the marital home as part of the settlement.

I advise you take legal advice in case the law has changed since, but this was only five years ago.

inthegreen

Firstly thank you for all your posts.

Mozette, I don't smoke so nothing to cut out there thank goodness!!

At the moment my husband is abroad working so it seems fair that we both pay half. We have dropped the price 3 times, done all the work suggested and the agency has commented how immaculately we present it.

The house is a bit odd, it's a converted barn and the kitchen, lunge and dining room are all open plan which the agent has fed back that some people don't like, it has a spiral staircase (not child friendly) and lastly is in a very small village (no pub) with an 18 mile round trip to a big supermarket or takeaway.

I work with my husbands best friend who is a sensible chap, he says he is desperate to sell too.

We don't have children

thanks for the advice:T

angelavdavis

Could you not consider renting it out to help with the bills?

inthegreen

we really want to sell it rather than renting it, also my husband is only on a short term contract so may need to return there until it sells and he can get another place

pania

how long is the house empty for? you maybe eligible for a discount to, or to pay no council tax for a while whilst it's not occupied! ditto for the leccy bill to. maybe knock this on the head while house is empty and restart once exoh is back.
Please please leave that life insurance going until all of this is finalised. should anything heaven forbid happen to xh prior to the sale adn divorce you'd be up the creek as it were.
I know what you mean re the horse, i have a pony that i have fought tooth and nail to keep over last three years, often going without to make sure he's ok. he's been the saving grace to my sanity, my running partner (yes you did read that right!) and general stress relief. Your little lady sounds exactly the same to you and i commend you for fighting so hard to keep her.
But.... is she stabled all year round? could you convert her to grass livery during the summer to save some money? (some yards are only about £40 pm for grasslivery)
Re the insurance give pet plan a go, i have found them really quite cheap, and they paid out a £2500 claim (on a pony worth £200!) almost instantly with no quibbles. go on line for a quote.
Definately worth speaking with the CAB as others have mentioned, may let you know things you're not aware of ie entitlements, beneifts etc.

Hope this helps and best of luck to you.
Kind regards