SOA - another newbie

MFWannabe

justjustine wrote: »

Success! Hubby has agreed to the Airbnb idea and is painting the spare room this afternoon
Meanwhile, I'm busy photographing stuff to e-bay. Baby steps...

Well done for tackling all this head on and sounds like you're both on board making things happen
I hope something turns up soon for your husband x

justjustine

FREEZ wrote: »

Well done for tackling all this head on and sounds like you're both on board making things happen
I hope something turns up soon for your husband x

Thank you. It doesn't feel like much in the grand scheme of things, but it's a start...

justjustine

Following Queen Beruthiel's post, I've looked into transferring the credit card balances. Couldn't find a better deal at any of the other banks - they all seem to have horrendously high interest rates these days!

I did, however, receive an e-mail the other day from a finance company I have a store card with (large furniture store chain). I've had the card a few years, but only use it maybe once a year for a large purchase which we then pay off in 2 or 3 installments, so I have a good history with them. Haven't used it in over a year now and don't owe them anything.

Anyway, I went on the website and filled in a loan simulation to cover the balance on the 2 credit cards. It pre-approved my application (despite me stating my husband is unemployed) with lower monthly payments than we're currently making on the cards, and at an interest rate of 4.25%, which is a HUGE saving on the 16% we're currently paying, so they will be paid off much more quickly!

QueenBeruthiel

Excellent!

catwoman73

What is the 'other assets' that you have listed at 330 000? Can you sell it if your husband doesn't get a job when his unemployment insurance runs out?

How long does his benefit/insurance last? At some point he is going to have to take any job on a lower salary.

You don't seem to be paying out for your adult children unless I have missed this, which is good - they are adults and need to be independent.

However, do they all have part time jobs and can they pay a bit of board to help out with food and extra utilities when they are at home? Especially the one that has a car paid for?

bouncydog1

Is it possible to ask the Trustees for a discretionary payment?

justjustine

catwoman73 wrote: »

What is the 'other assets' that you have listed at 330 000? Can you sell it if your husband doesn't get a job when his unemployment insurance runs out?

How long does his benefit/insurance last? At some point he is going to have to take any job on a lower salary.

You don't seem to be paying out for your adult children unless I have missed this, which is good - they are adults and need to be independent.

However, do they all have part time jobs and can they pay a bit of board to help out with food and extra utilities when they are at home? Especially the one that has a car paid for?

Ugh! This is a flat my husband owns in a different city which was rented out until a year ago, when we decided to move my parents there! The tenant gave notice and my Dad's health meant he could no longer drive, so before advertising for a new tenant, we offered it to my parents, who jumped at the chance to move into the city (they were living very rurally, where a car was essential and my mum isn't a confident driver).

So this was all agreed and arranged months in advance and then a couple of weeks after they moved in, my husband lost his job!

It wouldn't be fair to them for us to sell the flat and I really can't ask my parents for rent, to cover the lost rental income, but they do help us a lot buying things for the kids, or paying for food when they visit us. They bought DC4 a computer a few months ago, which we could never have afforded, and they pay for most of DC5's dance stuff (pointes shoes, exam fees etc).

They will also lend/give us money in an emergency, but they only have smallish pensions to live on so I don't like to ask too often.

Of the older kids, DC1 is on a sandwich course where he alternates work and study periods and so he earns enough to live on. He lives with his girlfriend, who is doing a funded PhD, so they are totally self-sufficient right now.

DC2 lodges with a family member (helping out with DIY etc) and works full-time in all the holidays so has enough to live on (he only comes to us for a short time each holiday, as the job includes free accommodation). We pay for the car insurance as it's much cheaper for us to add the car and extra driver to our insurance than it would be for him to insure it himself. We could probably ask him to pay us back and keep the administrative arrangement. I'll mention this to DH.

DC3 lives in accommodation provided by the college, which is covered by government benefits. We're lucky to be in a country where education is free, so no tuition fees etc, and students living away from home can get housing benefit and income support! She also earns a bit extra by giving private tuition to high school students in the evenings.

My husband's unemployment insurance will pay out at the full rate until December 2016 if needed. After that it reduces gradually over several months. He's applied for many lower-paid jobs but doesn't even get interviews for those. Interestingly, he has been getting interviews for jobs he thought were out of reach (punching above his weight),

Actually, maybe that's the answer - if employers are chosing the younger, cheaper candidate each time, he needs to apply for more jobs he thinks are out of his league! Thank you :T

justjustine

bouncydog1 wrote: »

Is it possible to ask the Trustees for a discretionary payment?

Unfortunately, no. It's an inheritence from his grandparents, mainly consisting of industrial assets and property, but which will only be accessible once FIL is no longer here and as he's only 69, that's probably a way off. FIL is wealthy, but all his assets are tied up (and the market down), so he's said he can't really help us out at the moment. He lives a very simple life and no-one would ever guess what he's worth on paper!

MIL (they are divorced) lives on a tiny pension (although she does own her small flat outright) and barely makes ends meet. In the past we were helping her out, but this is no longer possible of course. Times are hard for everyone right now

justjustine

I've always done my shopping weekly on Sundays and budgeted for 4 weeks a month. Whenever there's a 5th Sunday in the month, we use up leftovers that week, and only buy fresh fruit and veg if there's any money left in the shopping purse from previous weeks (we draw out a fixed amount each week for groceries).

Anyway, this morning my husband was all set to go to the outdoor market and supermarket, as usual, but I pointed out that this is the 5th Sunday in January, so he couldn't withdraw any cash, only spend what was left in the purse.

And then I took it even further and said "February is a very short month, why don't we try just to shop for absolute essentials and eat up what we have in the cupboards and freezer for a month?" AND HE AGREED

So this morning we bought just washing powder, milk, flour and eggs. We have everything else we need for this week. I've put a load of beans and lentils to soak overnight in the slow cooker, to make a vegetable curry tomorrow.

Also, my DC5 dances for over 3 hours each day and usually comes out starving so we provide her with cereal bars in her dance bag each day. I've spent a couple of hours today baking: cookies and brownies for her to take to snack on instead of the expensive bars

And... DH is still hard at work in the spare room

justjustine

Oh and we had some leftover bolognese sauce in the fridge from the other day, which I decided to recycle. I added a bit more tomato sauce and made a tray of lasagne for dinner.

I also downloaded a free budget app onto my computer and both DH's and my phones (goodbudget.com). I used MS Money for many years, but it's now obsolete and the sunset version is not compatible with our computer's OS. It actually feels good to have it all written down again (despite the horrific overdraft). I feel more in control now I can see what's coming and going!