In a mess, need some perspective, SOA

ev8

I'm not great with the debt advice.

But I can see from your posts your husband and sons need a bit of talking to.

His excuse for his job is he doesn't spend money on hobbies, so in essence he's treating his job as if it's a hobby? He could be earning much more and helping you out of this hole, but you're taking a lot on your shoulders.
You don't even have an emergency fund if you need a new boiler and his car has problems at the same time, it'll be hard. If you can't afford that, he can't be having this attitude to work IMO.

You're also paying too much for your sons, who also have cars at your expense and phones.

Is there any reason DS2 cannot get a part time job? It'll help with his phone bills and all that travel money to school too.
DS1 could maybe pay his own phone with his universal credit. You are maybe giving them a little too much. If your son has moved back, he must have been independent before? Surely he can pay for his own phone at least?

You're taking on so much on your own, the others have to step up with you.

I think you are amazing sorting all of this so well, but I think you need a little bit more of a backbone with those men in your house now.

YORKSHIRELASS

OK first of all I got the Mortgage info slightly wrong (rushing). So, 5 years 3 months left, worse than I thought. Mortgage has two parts, we borrowed extra for home improvements.

We owe £16308 at 1.7% variable rate
And £4956 at 0.94 % variable rate

Been on same mortgage rate and repayments since we moved here in April 2002. We are under no obligation to pay anything off Mortgage Reserve but I dont know if that will trigger any concerns with Barclays.

I have £5713 available on Halifax Card to balance transfer. This could go to Barclaycard 1. Options are 12 months at 0%, or 3 years at 4.9%.

I have agreed to take on some extra work, probably £160 a month for 6-8 months. Not an attractive option in terms of the work required for the pay that I will receive - but I am thinking of using this to build up an emergency fund.

Talking to DH about ways to increase his income. I think it is sinking in.

Struggling to download a statement from Halifax for some reason, cant seem to see when 0% ends.

Sorry if this is all a bit random, tired tonight.

Thanks for kind words marcshell it means a lot x

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks EssexH and ev8 the boys do understand the situation. DS1 has never been independent, part of the problem. He has been earning £105 a week doing an apprenticeship and had to buy a car, buy kit for work etc. DS2 does have a small PT job, and buys his own clothes, pays for his entertaining etc. We agreed to pay his travel to college, but I just dont think we thought any of this through properly.

Any additional money has been frittered away to be honest, this has been a massive realisation for all of us and we are all cutting back.

I am not sure I can cut the food budget much more, we do cook from scratch and the boys eat huge amounts. I will give this some thought though.

And yes, buildings and contents insurance is combined.

Unicorn_cottage

Hi YorkshireLass

Hope all the advice is food for thought and helping a little?

Just 1 thing from me - do you have anything you can sell to bring a bit extra in to got straight to 1 of your debts? It's easy to sell on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace nowadays for free and anything more specialist can go on Ebay. Also a car boot is an option. I literally did all of the above to get myself out of my debt hole and every bit helps.

Keep your chin up

UC

getmore4less

Time for bed, you have come a long way in a short timeit can wait till tomorrow.

Good that a number crunch highlighted the mortgage dates, once under 10 years those months on terms start to make a difference at the detailed level.

I have some more thoughts for those mortgage numbers as the reserve is more of an issue than the main amount because of the shorter term, the rates on the main mortgage account are very good.

With CC what are the fees for those two offers and min payments.

getmore4less

OK first of all I got the Mortgage info slightly wrong (rushing). So, 5 years 3 months left, worse than I thought. Mortgage has two parts, we borrowed extra for home improvements.

We owe £16308 at 1.7% variable rate
And £4956 at 0.94 % variable rate

Been on same mortgage rate and repayments since we moved here in April 2002. We are under no obligation to pay anything off Mortgage Reserve but I dont know if that will trigger any concerns with Barclays.

Let's redo the numbers.
old

£21,261 1.37% £308pm interest £898 6 years
£21,261 1.37% £349pm interest £788 5y 4m

new for 5y3m

£16,308 1.7% £271pm interest £750
£4,956 0.7% £80pm interest £93

Total payment £351 close enough to your £349

now the reserve.
old.

£25,000 5.25% £110pm interest only
£25,000 5.25% £250pm interest £7,928 11 years.
£25,000 5.25% £405pm interest £4,190 6 years.
£25,000 5.25% £475pm interest £4,782 5 years.(delay 1y)
£25,000 5.25% £579pm interest £5,386 4 years.(delay 2y)

new
£25,000 5.25% £110pm interest only
£25,000 5.25% £250pm interest £7,928 11 years.
£25,000 5.25% £455pm interest £3,657 5y 3m .
£25,000 5.25% £475pm interest £3,800 5 years. (delay 0y 3m)
£25,000 5.25% £579pm interest £4,404 4 years. (delay 1y 3m)

It might be worth a look at 3y a delay by 2y3m but as you have found some lower rates for that BC1 it might not be needed as the reserve may become your highest rate.

We get regular letters from Barclays about our reserve reminding us we have to pay it off before the end of the mortgage in just over 3years.
as we are offset they can't offer a better rate and the money is there anyway.

I am not sure what options Barclays might offer you get your rate down on the reserve but this is something to have as back up option or get some certainty

eg. if they let you capitalize on the same term as the mortgage and remove the reserve facility they have rates around 2.05% for a 5y fix.
£25,000 2.05% £439 interest £1,324

One thing you have with the reserve is once its gets money thrown at it you have a relatively cheap line of credit for when any of the 0% run out.

More to update of the data.

The headline bit of information here is to clear your secured debt
in the 5 years 3 months is £800pm-£840pm(with £2k added to the reserve)
if you leave it for a year that goes up to £930pm-£975pm

YORKSHIRELASS

Wow that last bit is scary, but I guess we have been paying £600 and once we clear some of the other debt, and don't have to subside the boys, it can be done.

I suppose one advantage of the reserve is that you have some flexibility but I take your point about trying to secure a better rate. My gut feeling is that we leave this for now and see how we get on.

The Halifax offers are 0 fee for 3 years at 4.9, or 3 percent fee for 12 months interest free. The rest of the balance is interest free until 31 December.

It's all becoming clearer, thank you. Off to work now, will look at it again later.

warby68

Your stress and anxiety are coming through here loud and clear.

There appears to be one main problem - your husband's earnings. He is earning like a part timer or a new school leaver when anything like a reasonable full time wage would enable you to tackle your debt and cover the living expenses more reasonably.

How does he feel about your stress level, your taking extra hours and working possibly too hard, the debts etc. Has he seen it all in black and white? What are his suggestions for managing if he doesn't earn more?

Its all too easy for one person to bumble along in the little comfort zone they've made for themselves if the other is shouldering all the responsibility and effectively shielding them from the reality.

What is the problem with husband? Does he charge too little, is he inefficient or is he unwilling to work hard enough?

I'm banging on but I'm not keen on unfairness and this seems to be the strong feature here - one partner not fairly pulling their weight and putting too heavy a burden on the other and the debt suggests this has been going on for a while.

Some good advice on switching things around and being stricter with your sons has been given but husband's income seems to be the number one issue to overcome to make life a whole lot better.

Wishing you luck and a good sit down together to agree what you're going to do.

getmore4less

I have £5713 available on Halifax Card to balance transfer. This could go to Barclaycard 1. Options are 12 months at 0%, or 3 years at 4.9%.

Is this a different card to the Halifax one carrying the £3k?

https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/help-guidance/existing-customers/

looking at H web for BT and SBT they say typical fee for 0% rates are 3% and for low rates 0%

Have you done any requests for higher limits recently?

With a 3% on a 0% for only 12 months I think your best bet might be the 4.9%

They say min payment is 1% + charges so if we look at £5,500k over a year with a £80 min payment

£5,665 0.0% £70pm £4,705
£5,500 4.9% £80pm £4,794

About £90 to take the low rate but that comes with 2 further years at a low rate where as the 0% will need a new deal.

The key is what does that do to BC1

Barclaycard 1..................10556.....238.......20.7 (£182)
old numbers

This is the one eating up your cash.
£10,566 20.7% £238pm interest £9,602 7y 1m

if we move the other CC and throw the £71 at it.
£10,566 20.7% £309pm interest £5,523 4y 5m

With another £140 from reserve
£10,566 20.7% £449pm interest £3,100 2y 7m

With the full £250pm
£10,566 20.7% £559pm interest £2,327 2y 0m

do a BT
£5,xxx x% £80pm
that makes the BC1

£5,066 20.7% £158pm interest £2,374 4y 0m

if we move the other CC and throw the £71 at it.
£5,066 20.7% £229pm interest £1,370 2y 5m

With another £140 from reserve
£5,066 20.7% £369pm interest £766 1y 4m

With the full £250pm
£5,066 20.7% £579pm interest £576 1y 0m

That's looking quite good now

Before any extra earnings(or new transfer options) you can create a plan which will get rid of those 20% cards in under a year and save a few £1k in interest.

edit:
update for new info.

The Halifax offers are 0 fee for 3 years at 4.9, or 3 percent fee for 12 months interest free. The rest of the balance is interest free until 31 December.

can fill the gap
H. £3,173 £38pm 12/2019 £2,800 11 months
M. £9,277 £93pm 03/2020 £7,800 14 months
V. £8,421 £84pm 12/2020 £6,500 23 months

With these hard dates where 0% ends needs some through on what to do with the current BT offer on your halifax.

The other thing that is in the mix is the 2 BC1 and BC2
one can be cleared no and it is looking good for the other by the end of the year

I would do a bit of research on how long they take to throw out new offers once cleared and not used for a bit, then you can decide keep for a deal, keep for regular interest free use or just get rid.

getmore4less

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Wow that last bit is scary, but I guess we have been paying £600 and once we clear some of the other debt, and don't have to subside the boys, it can be done.

The shorter term make is a bit tighter but I think you have money to do it, £240 sons transport gets free up in May that covers the bulk of it.

I suppose one advantage of the reserve is that you have some flexibility but I take your point about trying to secure a better rate. My gut feeling is that we leave this for now and see how we get on.

Agree with that for now there is a lot going on with earnings and a few changes happening this year that need to settle in to see where things are in a few months.


The Halifax offers are 0 fee for 3 years at 4.9, or 3 percent fee for 12 months interest free. The rest of the balance is interest free until 31 December.

It's all becoming clearer, thank you. Off to work now, will look at it again later.

See if it scares hubby, keep some of the better numbers to yourself a bit longer.

Remember these numbers are based on the current payments and SOA just juggling stuff around to get those interest costs down.

This is before any new income or other savings.

Looks like the guesses on the Halifax fees were good so those numbers work for now.