Large family finances

skinterint

Hi all,

I'm the sole breadwinner in a large family with 5 kids, pulling in approximately £35k + small bonus every year, but with no travel or other work-related expenses ... on the whole I believe I'm earning well ... certainly more secure than I was being self-employed for three years, which is when all our problems started.

Trouble is, we have a mortgage that's approx £180k (at 6.14% - at the moment we're just paying the interest) and approx £10k in unsecured borrowing. And our house *desperately* needs work doing on it.

Fortunately, I expect to inherit some money soon which will pay off our unsecured borrowing and give us a little to spend on the house.

But my issue is not getting back into the same situation again. Is there anywhere I can go to for some detailed budgeting advice? For instance, I'd like to know if I'm out of my depth with my mortgage and what my options are with a poor credit history and prior arrears. I'd really like someone else successfully managing the finances of a large family to share their income/expenditure patterns to see if I'm digging myself a hole!

Thanks in advance,

Skinterint

jonesMUFCforever

Go to the Debt free wannabee board.
Lots of useful help there from people who have been through it.

My quick advice to you would be ASAP to set up a savings account - save as much as you can for 6 months then transfer half to your mortgage account as a repayment of capital.
Do this every 6 months - keeping half the money as an emergency fund.
In three years you will make quite a dent in the capital which in turn should reduce the amount of interest you are paying on it.