Advice needed regarding 'Sell and Rent Back'

beanielou

Jan
Hope you are ok?
Pop back & say hi!
Take care

janakajan

Sorry it has taken me so long to post my SOA but here it is.

MONEY COMING IN (per four weeks)

WAGES - £800.00
FAMILY TAX CREDITS - £265.00
CHILD BENEFIT - £72.40

OUTGOINGS

MORTGAGE - £577.02 (just had a letter to say it's going up to £589.50 from July 1st)
COUNCIL TAX - £63.00 (this is including single person discount)
WATER - £36.37
PHONE AND BB - £70.00 (average)
TV LICENCE - £12.00 (roughly, I pay quarterly)
RENTAL (washing machine) - £9.94
BUILDING INSURANCE - £11.65
IVA - £99.00
JOEL'S SCHOOL DINNERS - £31.00
BUS FARES - £10.00
WORKS LOTTERY - £8.00
SMALL DEBT - £5.00
ELECTRIC METER - £28.00 (as of 21st June)
MOBILE - £10.00
BIN CLEANERS - £8.00
(Not including electric usage - unknown at present)

Thank you again, all of you, for your suggestions and support. I'll be posting again later to respond to these as I have to get Joel ready for school just now.

lindens

Just a few ideas from quickly looking at that SOA.
How much is the mortgage for? I'm not clever but if you could indicate the amount you still owe and the interest rate another cleverer person can tell you if it's good value or not.
Also your phone and BB seem very high indeed. Also your water bill -i'm sure you'd be chepaer on a meter with just 2 of you.
Some more people will be on in a minute with more ideas i'm sure.

janakajan

Thanks Lindens. I know my phone and BB is very high. The reason for this is that I had put my NTL phone bill onto my IVA programme, and had to find another provider quickly (the phone and Internet are my only means of communication with my family) and, to cut a long story short, I was conned into taking this particular package (due to being stressed out at the time and also imagining that everyone knew I had money problems and would not risk me as a customer). The phone bills are quite high because most of my family have given up their landlines and only use mobiles. I have been looking at Martin's tips on cutting down the cost of mobile calls, but haven't actually got around to doing anything about it yet because of all the other things I am trying to sort out. I am on a contract with BT, which ends in October. So I am going to find a cheaper provider as soon as this is up.

I will certainly look into your suggestion about the water meter. I didn't know my water rates were high, I have never compared them with anyone else's. Thank you for the tip.

Harpiegirl, Hi. Your idea was very practical but unfortunately my Mum lives in a council bungalow (with only one bedroom). I have suggested several times over the years that she move in with us just for the sake of her not being completely alone during the night and at weekends when I'm working, but she has been on her own since my father died over twenty years ago, and is used to (and enjoys) her independence and privacy (and I thoroughly understand this). I really don't think it would help me out financially though, even if she did agree to it. My Mum doesn't pay rent or council tax, and so only has a basic pension, and I would lose my own council tax discount if I had another adult living with me.

I tried the 'entitledto' website, but it gives me the same figures. No entitlement to help towards the mortgage repayments. The only surprise I had was that it said I was entitled to claim free school meals for Joel. When Joel first started school, I did enquire about free meals and help towards school uniforms, but was told I was not entitled to either because I was claiming tax credits. To be honest, I felt rather greedy and ashamed that I had even asked.

About the fostering payments. I'll have to tell you that Joel is not fostered. He is actually my grandson, (but he considers me his Mum) I don't want to go through a very long and tragic story here, that doesn't really belong in this forum, so, in a nutshell, I have taken over Joel's welfare practically since birth, and was awarded a residential order for him when he was 18 months old.

EE. Thank you. The company who are dealing with my debts are called Hamilton Locke. I didn't realise there was a difference between IVA and Debt Management. I was in a panic at the time, having just had my last hope crushed, and so being offered help to deal with my debts at the eleventh hour was such a great relief.

Thank you again, all of you, for your suggestions, and I'm sorry if I sound so negative about some of them. I'm not trying to be awkward, it's just that I've already tried or thought through them.

I know you are all in a similar position as me, and I'm sure there are many worse off than I am and you haven't given up yet. But your support is moral-raising, and I don't feel so isolated and ashamed in my misery knowing that this nightmare is not just happening to me.

wyebird

Hello!
Good luck with everything!
Just wondered if you had thought about looking on Freecycle for a washing machine? That would save quite a bit over the course of a year.

Tashja

Just a couple of small things.

Do you really need to do the works lottery ??
What are bin cleaners ??
When is the small £5.00 debt due to end and how much is it for, etc. ??

i would really look in to the free school meals. Stuff what the school think if you are entitled to them claim them !!

Also look on Freecycle for a free washing machine and get rid of the rental one !!

HTH

T xx

Verbatim

Hi again,

Sorry for mentioning this again, (and if you've already discounted the idea, I apologize in advance) But have you got a spsre room you could rent to a lodger?

joeblack066

MONEY COMING IN (per four weeks)

WAGES - £800.00
FAMILY TAX CREDITS - £265.00
CHILD BENEFIT - £72.40

OUTGOINGS

MORTGAGE - £577.02 (just had a letter to say it's going up to £589.50 from July 1st)
COUNCIL TAX - £63.00 (this is including single person discount)
WATER - £36.37 (can save about £14 per month here I would estimate)
PHONE AND BB - £70.00 (average) (get this down to about £30)
TV LICENCE - £12.00 (roughly, I pay quarterly)
RENTAL (washing machine) - £9.94 (Get rid of this as suggested)
BUILDING INSURANCE - £11.65
IVA - £99.00
JOEL'S SCHOOL DINNERS - £31.00(Go on to packed lunch)
BUS FARES - £10.00
WORKS LOTTERY - £8.00 (get rid of this)
SMALL DEBT - £5.00
ELECTRIC METER - £28.00 (as of 21st June)
MOBILE - £10.00
BIN CLEANERS - £8.00 (get rid of this)
(Not including electric usage - unknown at present)

When all these savings are in place, you will have another £100 per month to put towards your mortgage. Once you have done that, if there is no other way to decrease your outgoings, is there anything you can do to increase your income? Look at what your skills are, what time you have available taking into account the fact that you have Joel to consider, then formulate a plan as to how you can earn extra cash. Suggestions are;
-Bar job 1 night a week (get your Mum to have Joel) 4 hrs would give you £20 per week or £80 a month, could make all the difference, and you may enjoy it too!
-Domestics (cleaning/ dogwalking/ babysitting)
-Car boots and ebaying
-AQA/ 82ASK
-medical testing (skin creams etc they aren't too dangerous!)

Let us know how you get on.

davey69_2

janakajan, looking at the amount you are paying to that company, I would say it is definately a debt management plan you are in, rather than an IVA and is therefore not legally binding. If you do not have faith in the company that is handling it then you are well within your rights to change to another company. If that company are sticking to usual guidelines, then approximately £15 per month of what you are paying them is being kept by them and the rest being distributed to your creditors, if they are a less reputible company then it may be they are keeping more than that. As someone has already suggested, I would consider contacting payplan or cccs to take this over from this company as they are debt charities and your full monthly payment will be handed over to the creditors. Also a debt management plan is set up to allow you to pay what you can actually afford by way of an income and expenditure sheet. So if your mortgage has gone up and you have made the changes that some have suggested re: household bills, then the amount you can afford to pay the creditors may well have changed, so bear in mind that the £99 you are paying at the moment may be too high for you and need to be adjusted.

mightymouse

Hi

you might contact the council and ask if they want to buy it back, the exact detail escapes me re it being offered back if wanting to sell within 5 years from when purchased. (housing trust now?)