What to do with £30,000

vinnyh73

Hi,

I was made redundant at the end of 2014 and with 24 years service and an enhanced redundancy package, I was fortunate to leave with £30,000 in my pocket.

Like most people we have loans and credit cards to pay off and the hope that this money would go some way to pay the majority of this debt off. Unfortunately I am yet to find a new job so day to day living is starting to eat into the redundancy.

My wife believes that half of the money should be used to pay either my loan which would save just over £400 a month, but i am hesitant as of course dont know how long I will be off work. Another option we have found is that my wife has a loan of just over £6000 which is due to end the start of next year, which if we paid off now would save £500, but again I'm hesitant as have already helped to pay the finance on her car and she seems to be getting debt free whilst I'm still up to my neck in it.

So, should we sit tight until I find a job or use some of it to pay some debts off?

Many thanks in advance.

Plum444

Personally I would pay off every last penny of debt and live at your most frugal until you find a job...

cavework

TBH.. clear all your debts if you can..
once you have done this you are left with the day to day living expenses and believe me.. you would not believe how much these can be reduced with the help of the people who post on MSE

sanfrancisco

I would do the same as above. Pay them all off and be done. Cut your living exepenses down to bare minimum. Take any job you can. I mean any and keep looking for a job more suitable for your qualifications. You are in a great position, don't squander it xxx

matttye

Get rid of all debt or as much as possible.

rising_from_the_ashes

If you've no income then surely you'll need to use the redundancy money to make the payments each month - therefore it doesn't make sense to keep the debts, keep incurring interest on them when you have the money to clear them

At the same time, if your wife currently pays her loans and is still working then I'm not sure that I'd be clearing hers as well - as she should surely still be able to pay hers (assuming you again will be using part of your redundancy money each month to pay your contribution to the rest of the household costs)

If you clear all the debts - will you have anything left?

If so - then it is probably worth clearing all of them (yours and hers)

Spuddy27

I agree with everyone else, pay off what you can, live off whatever money you'll have each month and get absolutely any job going to tide you over.

Good luck!

Penguin8410

I agree with all above, pay off as much of the debt as possible. If your wife is working and can afford her loan payment def clear yours before you look to clear gets off ESP as hers finishes in less than a year now. Good luck, have been in that situation myself and honestly was the best thing that happened to me! X

Sazzie23

I understand your thinking, i.e. how will i manage with no income? but you'll be in a much better position the more debt you can lose now.

However, if your £30k doesn't clear your debts that makes it a bit more complicated. Possibly need to post a joint SOA to identify where to make cuts, and the folk here are amazingly thrifty.

Agree with the get a job, any job, maybe try supermarkets for range of positions. Think of this as your new life, don't try to protect or recreate your old life.

KirstyO

I agree with others. Pay off everything if you can, if not get rid of highest interest debts. Take any job. After I qualified as a teacher I ended up working on the checkouts in a supermarket. Best thing that ever happened. I progressed through the supermarket to national level and gained the knowledge to get me the job I have now which is no longer in retail but wouldn't have been accessible before. You never know where these ground level jobs will get you.


K x

vinnyh73

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice and have kicked off by paying off my biggest credit card, which hae to say made me feel good and more positive.

Thank you!