The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

Hard_Up_Hester

I had a phone call last night to tell me my equity release application has been accepted, this will drop our mortgage payment from £785 pcm to £236 pcm.
This was supposed to enable me to retire, it won't do that now, but at least it means we can manage on my salary of £800 a month when my L&M is no longer earning.
It means I will have less to leave my kids but TBH, they have more money than me and 3 out of the 4 are financially stable and the 4th is getting there.

mardatha

Brilliant news Hester!
Thanks softstuff xx
Woke up to a wet and windy morning here, but to reach 15c today. Garden looks a wreck but it'll just have to carry on that way.
Daughter says shops are starting to get xmas stuff in...
I'm looking for ideas on how to cook cauli that dont involved boiling it to death and making the whole house smell for a week. Bleugh.

Floss

Hester great news - will that allow your L&M to retire now?

milasavesmoney

Oh Hester that is fabulous! What a relief that must be to you both! Excellent, just excellent.

Softstuff

Great news Hester, a bit of pressure off at least.

Mardatha, you can roast cauliflower, no smell then. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_cauliflower/
Salt and oil will do if you don't fancy added frills. I make cauliflower "rice", whizz it until crumbed in a food processor, toss in a frypan until warm, use like rice

We have Xmas stuffin the shops here. And trees in the shopping centre.

mardatha

I will try the roasted version today, ty SS.

ivyleaf

That's great news Hester Does it mean you will stay where you are for now? Sorry you can't retire as well though x

Well, I've been to the hospital this morning and got rid of an irritating salivary gland, and gained two stitches inside my lip....a bit sore, but a minor thing and it will soon heal. The dentist told me to try not to poke the stitches with my tongue....I don't think he need worry!

nursemaggie

ivyleaf it will be harder than you think but you probably know that by now.

Glad things are easing Hester. If you really go all out to cut your expenses you would be surprised just how little you can live on. DS and I manage to live on less than £8000 a year.

That does not include the rent because I get housing benefit. While he is unemployed It does mean I have his share of the rent and council tax to pay irrespective of if he has an income or not. It takes about 3 or 4 months to get back on to Universal Credit. They don't allow it to be backdated now, so there will be no back-pay when he eventually gets it.
He has not even had an interview yet.

Thankfully he did manage to build up some savings during his 4 months of paid work and so did I as I was not keeping him. The main thing is he is not smoking my savings.

Hard_Up_Hester

Things will be easier but we will still have to move as we will have just under £9000 to live on, we are eligible for a WTC but won't claim as there are too many problems with it also we live in an expensive area.
The lower mortgage and council tax come to £4608
Utilities gas, elec, water come to £2076
That only leaves us with £45 a week to cover food and everything else, but if we can downsize it may mean lower council tax and lower utility bills.

monnagran

Hester, that is tough. It may be doable in the short term but doesn't leave anything as a back-up if anything goes wrong.

I guess yu don't want to move too far away because of being near your DDs. Will you still be able to run a car?

I'm still doing the lottery (occasionally) but I don't think you had better rely on that, the only thing I have ever won in my life is a box of licquorice allsorts.

x