Work might cost me my home - can't stop worrying

tinkerbell28

I would look at the positives actually.

If £90 is going to cause so much stress and financially cripple you, I agree with ILW that you're out of your depth and over stretched.

Gas/electric/fuel/food rising. Plus if £90 is such an issue when interest rates rise and I believe it is a case of when, you;d be stuffed.

So now is the time to get on top of your incomings and outgoings and really work it out.

If nothing at all can be cut, then going into bankruptcy is it that bad really? In comparison to your health? We have a welfare state in this country, your family won't be without food or a roof.

hazyjo

sassyblue wrote: »

Any chance of getting your mortgage extended which also reduces payments?

I know it's not ideal because it'll cost you more long term BUT to help get over the next few years until you're better off...? Then you can overpay with that extra £400 you are expecting. The mortage company will charge you for this but you could add it to the balance.

I think it's possible you could cut down by £25 per week somewhere though to avoid that. xx

Meant to suggest the same thing in previous post.

If things are really that dire, you might be able to go onto interest only - that really should be a last resort and you should have some sort of payment plan for paying it off eventually! But it might help you through a year.

As above, I would consider extending if possible.

Jx

carefullycautious

Have you thought about looking into secure homes whereby the total cost of your outgoings is spread out over the year via weekly payments. All your bills will be paid and anything left over will be for yourselves. A bank can also help with this.

If you have a lot of debt maybe a debt plan would work for you

Try not to panic and the quicker you get some help with looking into you incoming and outgoings the quicker you can solve this issue.

BlondeHeadOn

Can I suggest another possible course of action:

Drop in or phone your local Citizen's Advice Bureau and tell them what is going on, and ask what you can do. CAB are brilliant at seeing the big picture, and will go through our finances with you in detail if you want them to. They can be really helpful, and also will give you a chance to offload everything onto an objective person who is there to try and help.

Maybe both you and your OH could go, as you are in this together.

unholyangel

What does your contract of employment state? Does it include the £90?

You may want to try and get a free consultation with an employment law specialist. If you can't find one, try ACAS or check your insurance if you have legal cover on it.

I'm hesitant to go into detail as employment law has changed in the last few years but I do know around 2004 employer tried to change our contracts so we were working worse hours but earning less money relying on a "needs of the business" clause. I challenged it and their legal team agreed, they couldn't enforce the change as it would amount to a breach of contract.

barbiedoll

My husband was made redundant a few years ago, just before Christmas. Luckily, he found another job almost immediately but after two years there, his hours were cut in half. We lost £200 each week and it was only the DFW board that saved us.

We have a mortgage and we had a large loan and credit card debts. I contacted Stepchange (formerly CCCS) and with their help and the wealth of information on here, we entered into a debt management plan. We didn't lose our house and although we don't have holidays, we have an extremely old car and we don't buy new clothes unless our old ones are falling to bits, we are managing just fine.

We have learned to cut all unnecessary expenditure and it's been an eye-opener to say the least. I can't believe that I used to spend twice as much as I do now on food shopping, much of which ended up in the bin. I'm evangelical about switching off lights, using cashback sites and not buying stuff that we don't need.

It's been tough but it CAN be done! £20 odd a week isn't really very much, if you go through your expenses with a fine-toothed comb you WILL be able to make savings somewhere. It will only be for a couple of years and remember, you aren't alone. Lots of us are scrimping and scraping but I can remember the first Christmas where I managed to pay for the presents outright rather than sticking them on the credit card, I was so proud of myself!

Try to keep calm and remember, there is always a way out of debt problems. There is a load of help on here, lots of us have been through something similar. Good luck and keep us posted!

sassyblue

Is there also the chance to train up at work so you also got the £90?

FatVonD

You're currently panicking, you need to take back some control. It may seem like an enormous task at the moment so just look at it as nibbling at the edges and don't think about solving everything at once.

Everyone has a limit to how much stress they can handle and you've currently reached yours so you need to reduce yours in whatever way you can and everything else will seem more manageable.

For starters, stop fretting about the lack of contact from work. I once had an employee signed off with stress and we were specifically told we were NOT allowed to contact her in case it looked like we were pressurising her. I think it's a pretty standard HR code of conduct.

Allow yourself a set amount of time to fall apart a bit and wail if you must and then tell yourself that once that time is up you will do one constructive thing to ease the situation for yourselves. Ring up just one supplier (TV? Mobiles?) and cancel your contract (if you are able) and then feel pleased with yourself for making the first inroad into that £90.

Taking control will then spur you on to further action. Check whether you can find a cheaper supplier for gas pr electricity. Ring the council and change to paying council tax in 12 installments instead of 10 (if you aren't already.) Just little baby steps nibbling at the edges and before you know it there won't be much left in the middle to tackle

Svenena

I haven't read the whole thread, so someone's probably already suggested this, but could you get a second job? I work full-time (and volunteer one evening a week), and then I babysit 2 evenings and a weekend morning every week. This brings in around £50 a week, which is plenty more than you need, and would help you get some savings behind you. You can advertise to be a babysitter online, or you could look into something like being a waiter/ess. And your partner as well.

I agree about cutting back as well. Your mortgage should be a priority debt, so keep paying that and let less important things (eg credit cards, mobile phone contracts, etc) slide, if you really have to. Definitely visit the debt-free wannabee board (even if you don't have debt), and they will be able to help you cut your budget right down, and can also advise if you do have to miss any payments anywhere about how to go about it and the likely consequences. There are people on there with absolutely masses of debt, and NO job, but they don't all lose their homes, so you need to be realistic and take some deep breaths, and then some positive action.

Alchemilla

Two things. One union sounds crap.
Two work probably not contacting your partner so they cant be accused of harassing him.