Surviving the next 5 years

dimbo61

You can rent out a room in your house and earn up to £7,500 tax free from the rent a room scheme.
Easyroomate and spareroom are good websites to find a Lodger.
Lodgers have few rights so if your not happy or you sell the property then they can be evicted quickly.

Number75

Your savings will last 10 months assuming zero job income, so that's worst case.
Why not drop the price on your house if there is no interest?

Trentenders

Get a job in Tesco filling shelves as a temporary measure to see you through?

getmore4less

Self-employed zero hour contract, capped at £1000 per month. Work is dwindling, last month invoice only £250
Current outgoings ~£1500 per month

how long have you had the at least £6k PA shortfall?

Gin_and_Milk

I appreciate you want to find a job which covers all of your outgoings, which I have to say do seem very high for someone who is single and mortgage free, however what sort of work are you prepared to do?

If all you got last month from your zero hour contract was £250 then anything above that will make your savings last longer. Given your outgoings I'm guessing you have a car - could you sell that and buy a cheaper one? If you have a car I would seriously think about travelling further for work and I would also suggest that you consider pretty much anything that will make your savings stretch further if nothing else and if that means scrubbing toilets then so be it.
Go through your bank statements and be honest and ruthless, that way you should be able to reduce your outgoings by quite a bit.

minimike2

Trentenders wrote: »

Get a job in Tesco filling shelves as a temporary measure to see you through?

This.

There is always work to be had. If your skill set is not in demand then you need to re-evaluate your objective. Increasing your income is a much better option than increasing your debt, even if that means taking a low skilled job. There are always jobs like this available which will help your situation.

Hop over to the debt free wannabe forum and complete their budget planner. They will make suggestions on reducing your bills. Starting for example with your £200 a month groceries. We are a family of 4 and spend less than £250 a month. I suspect you have the opportunity to switch to a cheaper supermarket.

Your work is mainly online. Do you need such an expensive car? Sounds like this could be cut and swapped for a little cheap runabout.

Then there is the usual gas / electric swap. £100 a month for phone / internet / TV is way over the top. Ditch Sky or Virgin or whatever pay to watch TV you have and move onto a cheap package. If you dont need a land line phone then Vodafone and virgin offer broadband only options. If you need the land line there are still options way cheaper than £100 a month - You can at LEAST halve that.

If you adjust your outgoings and look to take on some form of work, you can probably even out your spending without issue, but you have to be willing to accept that you need to make those changes, at least until the point you are able to sell the house.

getmore4less

minimike2 wrote: »

This.

There is always work to be had. If your skill set is not in demand then you need to re-evaluate your objective. Increasing your income is a much better option than increasing your debt, even if that means taking a low skilled job. There are always jobs like this available which will help your situation.

Hop over to the debt free wannabe forum and complete their budget planner. They will make suggestions on reducing your bills. Starting for example with your £200 a month groceries. We are a family of 4 and spend less than £250 a month. I suspect you have the opportunity to switch to a cheaper supermarket.

Your work is mainly online. Do you need such an expensive car? Sounds like this could be cut and swapped for a little cheap runabout.

Then there is the usual gas / electric swap. £100 a month for phone / internet / TV is way over the top. Ditch Sky or Virgin or whatever pay to watch TV you have and move onto a cheap package. If you dont need a land line phone then Vodafone and virgin offer broadband only options. If you need the land line there are still options way cheaper than £100 a month - You can at LEAST halve that.

If you adjust your outgoings and look to take on some form of work, you can probably even out your spending without issue, but you have to be willing to accept that you need to make those changes, at least until the point you are able to sell the house.

Love it when someone wades into a thread without comprehending it.
(especially a mortgage professional on the mortgage board)

no where has the OP said what they spend on anything only a total.

silvercar

Single person council tax discount should be claimed.

Would a secured loan be an option?

Rich2808

My advice. Be grateful you aren't self employed on a zero hours contract and renting like millions are in the UK these days. Many families with kids rely on less than £1500 a month and they have to pay housing costs out of that.

My other suggestion - economise.

minimike2

getmore4less wrote: »

Love it when someone wades into a thread without comprehending it.
(especially a mortgage professional on the mortgage board)

no where has the OP said what they spend on anything only a total.

Or, it could be that I've looked at YOUR post breaking something down and not realised that it was something you just made up not realising it wasn't actually anything to do with the OP's figures. Take a look at your own posting usefulness maybe.


Regardless, the fact of the matter stands.