Am I doing the right thing?

jmhgibson123

the only thing with selling your house is that renting isnt going to give you much more left each month in the long run, i have been in the same position and thought many times of selling but i have fought hard to keep my home, as for the debts i would pay £1 a month token payments to keep your head above water obviously writing to creditors to let them know why this has happened they are normally very understanding, then you have breathing space contact national debtline and have a discussion with them they may be able to help and its free, good luck with your choice

theoretica

I don't have answers for you, but more questions - how easy would it be to find somewhere to rent with the cats? Would it cost less than your mortgage? What is the £1000 loan secured on? Would your mortgage company let you go interest only for a while? How would you feel if you get a higher paying job just after you sell the house? Are you getting interviews? Could you take on another part time job? Why is your grocery bill so high?

virgo84

Thanks for all your useful and informative responses. I really don't want to go down any debt management plans. I don't want any mark on my credit rating hence why i've been paying everything each month fully and just having a bit of help from family with food.

To go interest only on the mortgage I'd need a repayment vehicle otherwise I'd have to be in financial difficulty which puts a mark on the credit rating.

I rented previously before I bought with cats and didn't have a problem. You just have to look a little harder that's all.

My grocery bills is high because I have 2 cats and also have 2 feral cats that live in my back garden which I feed also. I know to non animal lovers this seems insane but I will not see any animal go hungry even if it means not eating myself. If it was just me the food bill would be lower but for me a pet is for life and I will under no circumstances give them up.

If I get a higher paying job after I sell it means i'll have more money to save to hopefully buy again. I've been looking at rentals and where I live (yorkshire) there are lots of properties within the same price range as my mortgage payment but I won't have all the debt outgoings as well.

After reading my own posts and the responses it's reinforced that i'm making the right decision selling. To close the chapter on this part of my life and as I turn 30 starting a brand new one

StrawberryJam132

You're more than welcome Virgo84

Quick question, what term is your mortgage? You said it's £88,000. £515pm seems a little high? When do you re-mortgage?

Can you hold off until you can get a better deal over a longer period? Say 35 years? If you got a 2-year-fixed (or longer if necessary), you could get your repayments right down, probably between £200-£300pm. This would give you room to tackle those debts head on. (Whilst looking for a promotion, or better paying job?)

Again, this may not be the most practical way of doing things. But if you're in love with that house, then you need to fight like hell to keep it!

I know everything seems impossible right now. But trust me, it may be a couple of years off yet, but there IS light at the end of tunnel. There is so much support on here. Frugal living isn't glamorous. But you start to really love the challenge, and the 'YES!' feeling you get when you start paying off chunks and meeting your personal targets is amazing. The NSD challenge (No spend days) is really addictive! A lot of people on here do it. You should try it! There's ways of still having a life, even in a tight spot like you're in.

Hope this gives you some hope?

SJ X

P.S. Just saw your last post. If you're 100% on selling, then so be it. But you can do this without getting marks on your credit rating. You just need to be determined. Good luck x

too_much_debt

Hi


Can you find a second job? When I was single I had a shared ownership house. I used to allow myself £50 a week - £20 for food, £20 for petrol and £10 for anything else I needed during the week.


I worked a full time job during the day and worked three evenings a week doing Data Entry for a pet insurance company. I really enjoyed the evening job but gave it up when I met OH.


Now I am with OH and we have three children I am trying to find some work, it either needs to be term time, evenings or weekends to fit in with OH's job and fit in around the school drop off and pick up so proving a bit hard at the moment.


Could you find a part time cleaning job or work in a pub or take on ironing or something like that, anything to get a bit extra money.


I would have a good long think about selling the house, you would never get on the property ladder again. Have you looked at how much rent would be in your area to see if it would be any cheaper than the costs you are paying now for mortgage and bills.


I know what it is like to be short every month and am having to withdraw about £100 a month from a credit card to pay bills but soon will only be £50 short and I am trying to sell some of the stuff we don't need anymore and the clothes that don't fit the kids but you say you sold everything.


It is hard and I sympathise with you.


TMD

When_the_going_gets_tough

Op selling your house miht be the right decision but it is quite final - why not take some advice from a debt charity or CAB before you make a final decsion? I think it would be good if you could discuss your options before you took any final steps. Good luck x

StrawberryJam132

too_much_debt wrote: »

I would have a good long think about selling the house, you would never get on the property ladder again. Have you looked at how much rent would be in your area to see if it would be any cheaper than the costs you are paying now for mortgage and bills.

I totally agree with this :money:

SJ X

Imbroglio

Hello,

My husband and I have recently taken in a lodger, we really didn't want to but it just made so much sense financially we thought we'd give it a try. We chose someone who is very quiet and works very long hours and it has worked out really well. We hardly ever see him (literally 5 mins hello, quick chat about how our days were) and the extra financial help is really taking a lot of the worry and stress away and giving us just a little bit of extra breathing room. Even if you try if for a month and don't get on with it you've still made yourself a couple of hundred pounds.

Pick carefully and it might not be as bad as you think?

loveka

Have you considered a debt management plan? If the interest was frozen and you paid what you can afford, even if a few pounds a month, would that help?

You have an asset, and house prices are going up at the moment. If you can keep it somehow the if I were you I would. Your debts are unsecured, so you are effectively making them secured by selling!

sourcrates

virgo84 wrote: »

Thanks for all your useful and informative responses. I really don't want to go down any debt management plans. I don't want any mark on my credit rating hence why i've been paying everything each month fully and just having a bit of help from family with food.

To go interest only on the mortgage I'd need a repayment vehicle otherwise I'd have to be in financial difficulty which puts a mark on the credit rating.

Hi,


You say you don't want a debt management plan, and you want to keep your good credit rating, unfortunately, in your position, its going to be extremely hard to avoid either, selling your house may seem like a good way out of your situation, but, and its a big but, the sale may clear your debts, but whats to say you wont start running them up again when things get tight ? you will pay almost as much in rent as your mortgage is now, you may never be able to afford to get on the housing ladder again, and, as is likely, you run up a few more thousand on the credit cards, you'll soon be back where you started, but with no house !!! You have quite a small amount of debt, excluding your mortgage, you could just pay your creditors £1 a month, and KEEP YOUR HOUSE !!!!!!! your credit rating means nothing when you have no roof over your head, you can get out of this, quite easily, and avoid selling your house, you just need to realise credit ratings are just numbers on a screen. By paying a £1 a month to your unsecured creditors you could release £187.00 per month !!!!