Rock Bottom - £65,000 of personal loan debt. Time for action

TheLostSheep

First post for some time after being in a similar situation 8 years ago. I unfortunately have reached the point where I feel compelled to post on here seeking urgent advice from those on the forum. I haven’t learned from previous situations.

Effectively at a rock bottom moment I would say where there is the stark realisation that I am absolutely drowning in debt, mainly from personal loans and hugely need support from others on here.

I would estimate that my current personal debt stands at a whopping £75,043* (*Note this could be reduced to £65,415 as I have included PCP finance on my car which has equity and is near to end of agreement). I am based in Scotland.

Some background, the debts have been racked up through on my part through irresponsible borrowing. Some have been spent on home improvements, some on holidays, daily life, child costs and other expenses. I will admit that after 8 years clean I had a huge lapse with gambling post the death of family member. I lost £10,000s after self-excluding from gambling years back but site let me re-register. This brought back many unhappy memories having lost my own parents to cancer x2 many years back where “escapism” led me down this unfortunate path. No excuses and am seeking help for this.

I am effectively down to my last £100 and don’t get paid until mid February, another few weeks. I am the only earner in my household. My net monthly income is £2,830 as part of a gross annual income of £48,000. To compound the situation, my partner was recently made redundant from work and is looking after our toddler currently as well as an elderly relative. This will likely continue as it’s balancing the costs of childcare also are obstructive.

Let’s start with the negatives as I can’t see a way out this. That said there’s some positives later.

Negatives
There are many here. I have net debts that I calculate as between £65,000 and to just over £75,000. (pending the car agreement which has equity and has a sale value above the current outstanding balance)

I make it that £2,830 comes into my account and £3,697 goes out monthly. There’s a £867 shortfall currently. SOA to follow
I am paying huge amounts to personal loans and car PCP, the majority of which have years to run.

In summary, I pay:
£188 to Honeyc*mb (balance £4,165 at 8.8% to Dec 2020),
£486 to Z*pa (balance £14,590 at 10.1% to Nov 2021),
£541 to L*ndingw*rks (£24,500 at 11.4% to June 2023),
£278 to VW PCP (£9,628 with some equity at 8.9% to Dec 2019)
£437 to Cre*ti*n (Balance £20,189 at 11.9% to Dec 2023)

This isn’t sustainable short term. Lower amounts over a longer period may help but I suspect none of the above are likely to allow me to have a £60/70k personal loan say over 10 years at circa £500 a month. Currently these loan obligations alone are in excess of £1,900!

There’s then £600 of a mortgage and almost £1,200 to cover things like council tax, electricity, fuel, food, tv, life insurance and so on. Again, there may be potential to identify savings in here of the £50-£100 range monthly.

The key point here is that monthly I’ve a £867 deficit based on monthly expenses. There’s an absolute mountain of debt to clear. 2 of the larger loans have 4 years to run. Others 2 years. I just struggle to see how I can clear £65-£70,000+ of debt.

Positives
My mortgage obligations are always met. There is a £91,800 balance outstanding. Payments are £600 per month. A significant deposit was put down when the house was bought. The estimated house value is £140,000 after purchase . I am guessing there is somewhere in the region of £45,000 in equity. I do not want to secure debts against the house as a secured loan.
I have some equity in my car I am sure, having put £2,500 in as a deposit. I am reluctant to get rid but could sell or go for something of a lower monthly cost to save £100. Alternatively, I walk away from the agreement as soon as I can saving me £278 a month. I need access to a vehicle for work due to mileage covered.

I pay into a private pension. It is losing money from what I checked recently. The value is just over £25,000. As I understand it there is absolutely no way I can cash this in until I am 55. Almost 20 years away. Real risks of massive tax deductions from what I read.

I have a credit score of 480. I have no available loan offers though to consolidate. I have exhausted searching for a large amount as my personal borrowing is so high. Shorter term loans with higher rates I explored but have turned down. I realise this is the route to the poor house as I have been having to do compares with the dregs of the loan industry, those effectively at 50%, 1 step above the payday segment.

Work wise, my role is stable. £2,830 is my current monthly take home. This should increase to £2,930 from Feb-19 after adjusting pension contributions. The annual pay review may see this increase again. I am in the bonus scheme which would pay approximately £3,500 post tax as a lump sum later in March if it pays out. I am also exploring other roles with a view to increasing my salary. I have a couple in the pipeline but nothing concrete. At the moment, I have a gross salary of £48,000.

There are possibly some avenues above that can be explored. I have letters written to all my creditors requesting a temporary or token payment plan of £1 to give me some breathing space. The alternative is I ask them to lower the interest rate, increase the term or increase the term to allow me to pay off. As I say, I am effectively down to last £100 and at £-1,900 of OD of which is -£2k. I presume doing this is the best action? My situation can improve. I’d estimate I can raise up to £1,000 via sales of various items too

In summary
Any advice is welcomed as to next steps. I am in Scotland. I thought about going straight to a Trust Deed. I am aware of DMPs, IVAs, PayPlan and so on and would take advise but I do think I can tackle this. I am also aware that my credit file is effectively going to be screwed after this. That’s not particularly an issue as I don’t want to be able to take out loans again. There’s some positives in the above perhaps, but I urgently need to do something and contact all my creditors to make them aware of the issue.

Key question. Given the above, would suggesting £1 payments be advisable as my next step? I don’t have enough cash at hand to pay £800 of payments scheduled before my pay date but am determined to get on top off this and clear the debts best I can. I’ll post up a full SOA shortly

TheLostSheep

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2830
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2830

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 600
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 278
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 150
Electricity............................. 140
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 18
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 2
Car Insurance........................... 44
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Lunches/drinks.......................... 70
Total monthly expenses.................. 2042


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 140000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 500
Total Assets............................ 141500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 91864....(600)......4.9<
VW PCP (end Dec 2019)..........9628.....(278)......8.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 101492....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Honeyc*mb .....................4165......188.......8.8
Z*pa ..........................14590.....486.......10.1
L*ndingw*rks ..................24500.....541.......11.4
Cre*ti*n ......................20189.....437.......11.9
Total unsecured debts..........63444.....1652......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,830
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,042
Available for debt repayments........... 788
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,652
Amount short for making debt repayments. -864

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 141,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -101,492
Total Unsecured debt.................... -63,444
Net Assets.............................. -23,436

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

BabyStepper

There are 2 ways to go about dealing with this. Old school 'increase your income and reduce your outgoings' to try and bring the debt down quickly, and also a payment plan like a dmp that you were referring to when you mentioned token £1 payments.

Of the first, a couple of things. You will be claiming child allowance, £80 ish per month, needs added to your soa. Also can your OH claim carers allowance for the elderly relative? Do they live with you/contribute with their pension in any way? You need to stop your own pension payments, you can't afford them, and getting rid of your car is a great idea. Could you hang on til March and buy another one outright with your bonus? Other than that your budget looks tight, £10 for gifts including Christmas probably won't cover it. I don't know if these suggestions will cover the shortfall but it's worth a look.

Re. a DMP, I don't know much about this and hopefully others who do will be along in a minute. The first step I think is to open a basic bank account with a bank unrelated to your debts and get your wage paid in there. That way it's protected.

You have a good wage and I can understand you might want to deal with it without a DMP. The interest rates are crippling though and without any options for balance transfers. I agree that you need to protect your house, using equity is not an option. Prioritise your household bill payments. Also, does your OH know about the difficulties? You both need to be onboard to manage it.

Good luck. Come back and let us know how you are getting on with it all.

misspuddleduck

As you live in Scotland it would definitely be worth looking at a DAS DPP. I had £82,500 of debt when I had my lightbulb moment and went to CAB for advice, they advised a DAS and it was a lifeline. You are protected from your creditors and your house is safe. The DAS Administrators are very helpful if you have any worries or problems.

Phillb87

I would defiantly sell some unused items to raise enough to buy a cheap car that runs with mot £800ish and get rid of the £278 a month and clear your overdraught as with interest, charges and unarranged overdraught fees it's will probably be higher interest than your loans approx 12% and it's a small amount in comparison and a quick win. Then the £50 You save from that plus the £278 gives you £328 to put towards your debts. Use a shopping list and only buy the essentials even if you save £30 a month thats £350 towards bills £380 if you get rid of cable/satellite and take the advice above. If you don't go out for drinks/lunches and take a lunch box to work and save the £70 I know it's rubbish and feels bad when you can't have little enjoyment but there's no greater misery that not seing a way out of the hole and I would defiantly go to citizens advice and go from there taking out a 50% loan to pay off a 11% loan will not help you. And some debt consolidating companies will want the little bit you have left good luck

TheLostSheep

Thanks very much to everyone who had taken the time to reply. Bit overwhelmed b all the good suggestions.

Already today I’ve lowered my pension contributions to zero. I am estimating I’ll have around £150 extra per month from that minimum.

Emails sent to all creditors explaining situation and asking for token £1 payment for 3 months. Following up with calls. I expect VW and Z*pa may be easiest. Creation will be terrible.

Wages I can get transferred into another account not associated with these loans.

Already listed items on line at over £100.

Much more to read and respond to above. CAS or DAS looks very likely unless creditors can massively lower my payments and interest going forward.

With regards my car, my hope is could get onto a massively reduced monthly term to take me to near end of agreement, then hand back in Dec. I’ve just spent over £1000 on timing belts, servicing and many new parts. Due to average 20k mileage I do have slight reluctance to buy a £3k motor as feel as a total cost of motoring, running this may be better. Need to see what VW will do.

EssexHebridean

Usual - comments in red

cg81 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2 Do you definitely need 2 cars? (And I do mean need, not want!

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2830
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 Can this be boosted? Work that can be done from home, even online surveys etc will help to add to the pot
Benefits................................ 0 Have you checked you shouldn't be getting anything here? Surely there should be Child Benefit at least?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2830

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 600
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 278
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 150 is this over 10 months? If so switch to 12 from the start of the new tax year. If currently over 10 then remember you have 2 months coming up where none is payable - throw that straight at the debt.
Electricity............................. 140 This is high for a family of three. Shop around to make sure you're on the best deal, and above all start using less. I see you have no gas so are you using Storage Heaters for heating? If so make sure you understand them fully and remember the daily review of the weather forecast - turn them up & down as needed not just leave them on a standard setting!
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 Included in Council tax, yes?
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 30 Trim this to SIM only at contract end
TV Licence.............................. 18 why so much?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 Sorry but this has to go - bluntly, you can't afford it.
Internet Services....................... 10 If you're getting data on your phone contracts can you ditch this and rely on mobile data?
Groceries etc. ......................... 240 You can trim this down a bit.
Clothing................................ 40 This needs to go to essentials only for now. Kids clothing from charity shops or eBay.
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 Read martin's guide to driving economically and use the cars ONLY when you have to. Combine journeys where possible.
Road tax................................ 2
Car Insurance........................... 44
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25 Is this enough? Doesn't sound like much for Servicing, tyres, wiper blades, screenwash and contingencies etc for two cars? Is one covered on the purchase agreement for servicing as well?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50 What is this? is it negotiable or anything you can save on?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 0 I hope you do actually have this and this is just an omission?
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10 Is this realistic? Last year you spend £120 total on Christmas & all the birthdays you buy for?
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You need something here. Aim to put whatever you save on the grocery budget aside to her until you reach £1000
Lunches/drinks.......................... 70 That'll be £70 saved right there then - it's packed lunches all the way from here on and no more "quick coffees" either!
Total monthly expenses.................. 2042


Assets
Cash.................................... 0 This should include the money saved for all the things you pay monthly for. make sure you actually ARE saving your budgeted figures for things like car maintenance otherwise you have a false picture of how things sit.
House value (Gross)..................... 140000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 500 What's this? Can it be sold?
Total Assets............................ 141500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 91864....(600)......4.9< when is this up for review? Any chance of a better rate any time soon?
VW PCP (end Dec 2019)..........9628.....(278)......8.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 101492....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Honeyc*mb .....................4165......188.......8.8
Z*pa ..........................14590.....486.......10.1
L*ndingw*rks ..................24500.....541.......11.4
Cre*ti*n ......................20189.....437.......11.9
Total unsecured debts..........63444.....1652......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,830
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,042
Available for debt repayments........... 788
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,652
Amount short for making debt repayments. -864 Yes, that's a problem.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 141,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -101,492
Total Unsecured debt.................... -63,444
Net Assets.............................. -23,436

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

OK - I'll reply to your first post in the same way as there was some stuff in there also worthy of comment.

You need to start by making savings everywhere you can - to put into perspective, if you leave your head in the sand on this until the end the year you'll be in £9000 more debt - looking at that overspend.

Explore the possibilities for losing one of the car - preferably the one costing you £278 if that's possible. manage on one car if possible, otherwise it may have to be a dirt cheap "one more year in it" runaround.

Good advice already given about getting a new bank account opened.

Also - the overdraft - THE most dangerous kind of debt to have IMO as the bank can call it in in a heartbeat.

EssexHebridean

More comments in red

cg81 wrote: »

First post for some time after being in a similar situation 8 years ago. I unfortunately have reached the point where I feel compelled to post on here seeking urgent advice from those on the forum. I haven’t learned from previous situations. well done for admitting this - but remember how you're feeling right now. Rubbish, isn't it? So if you're tempted there again, think back to this moment...

Effectively at a rock bottom moment I would say where there is the stark realisation that I am absolutely drowning in debt, mainly from personal loans and hugely need support from others on here. And as you've already found, you'll get that in spades.

I would estimate that my current personal debt stands at a whopping £75,043* (*Note this could be reduced to £65,415 as I have included PCP finance on my car which has equity and is near to end of agreement). I am based in Scotland.

Some background, the debts have been racked up through on my part through irresponsible borrowing. Some have been spent on home improvements, some on holidays You don't need me to wag my finger and roll my eyes at this, do you? From here on holidays are things you save for, NOT use someone elses money for. , daily life This is bad budgeting - the good thing is you will come out of this process like a budgeting ninja!, child costs Yes, generally pays to treat them as a cost centre the same as a car etc - and work out whether you can afford them before you start... and other expenses. I will admit that after 8 years clean I had a huge lapse with gambling post the death of father in law. I lost £10,000s after self-excluding from gambling years back but site let me re-register. This brought back many unhappy memories having lost my own parents to cancer and brain tumour many years back where “escapism” led me down this unfortunate path. No excuses and am seeking help for this. Well confessed and good luck staying clean of it.

I am effectively down to my last £100 and don’t get paid until mid February, another few weeks. I am the only earner in my household. That is one thing that needs to change, sharpish. My net monthly income is £2,830 as part of a gross annual income of £48,000. Ahh so just over the child benefit limit, yes? To compound the situation, my partner was recently made redundant from work and is looking after our 2 year old currently as well as an elderly parent. This will likely continue as it’s balancing the costs of childcare also are obstructive. See what she can do form home - there are some on here earning £35 - £50 a week just doing online surveys for example.

Let’s start with the negatives as I can’t see a way out this. That said there’s some positives later.

Negatives
There are many here. I have net debts that I calculate as between £65,000 and to just over £75,000. (pending the car agreement which has equity and has a sale value above the current outstanding balance)

I make it that £2,830 comes into my account and £3,697 goes out monthly. There’s a £867 shortfall currently. SOA to follow
I am paying huge amounts to personal loans and car PCP, the majority of which have years to run.

In summary, I pay:
£188 to Honeyc*mb (balance £4,165 at 8.8% to Dec 2020),
£486 to Z*pa (balance £14,590 at 10.1% to Nov 2021),
£541 to L*ndingw*rks (£24,500 at 11.4% to June 2023),
£278 to VW PCP (£9,628 with some equity at 8.9% to Dec 2019)
£437 to Cre*ti*n (Balance £20,189 at 11.9% to Dec 2023) Your choice of positions for the asterisks here made me chuckle, I confess!)

This isn’t sustainable short term. Lower amounts over a longer period may help but I suspect none of the above are likely to allow me to have a £60/70k personal loan say over 10 years at circa £500 a month. That's good - if that route was open to you you'd probably take it, and the whole cycle would repeat again - we'd be saying "see you in another 5 years then". Currently these loan obligations alone are in excess of £1,900!

There’s then £600 of a mortgage and almost £1,200 to cover things like council tax, electricity, fuel, food, tv, life insurance and so on. Again, there may be potential to identify savings in here of the £50-£100 range monthly. And some - keep looking.

The key point here is that monthly I’ve a £867 deficit based on monthly expenses. There’s an absolute mountain of debt to clear. 2 of the larger loans have 4 years to run. Others 2 years. I just struggle to see how I can clear £65-£70,000+ of debt. One day at a time, and with a big FAMILY effort. You need to pull together on this one.

Positives
My mortgage obligations are always met. There is a £91,800 balance outstanding. Payments are £600 per month. A significant deposit was put down when the house was bought. The estimated house value is £140,000 after purchase 7 years ago. I am guessing there is somewhere in the region of £45,000 in equity. I do not want to secure debts against the house as a secured loan. Categorically correct - NEVER turn unsecured debt into secured if it can in any way be avoided.
I have some equity in my car I am sure, having put £2,500 in as a deposit. I am reluctant to get rid but could sell or go for something of a lower monthly cost to save £100. Alternatively, I walk away from the agreement as soon as I can saving me £278 a month. I need access to a vehicle for work due to mileage covered. In which case can the other half manage without a car? Can be tricky I know with a small person as well but others manage?

I pay into a private pension. It is losing money from what I checked recently. The value is just over £25,000. As I understand it there is absolutely no way I can cash this in until I am 55. Almost 20 years away. Real risks of massive tax deductions from what I read.

I have a credit score of 480. I have no available loan offers though to consolidate. This is definitely a positive point... I have exhausted searching for a large amount as my personal borrowing is so high. You could have saved yourself the trouble - consolidation is not the answer. It way well just be the root cause of further - and bigger - problems. Shorter term loans with higher rates I explored but have turned down. I realise this is the route to the poor house as I have been having to do compares with the dregs of the loan industry, those effectively at 50%, 1 step above the payday segment. Yes - realistically that would be a short cut route to bankruptcy for you, I suspect.

Work wise, my role is stable. £2,830 is my current monthly take home. This should increase to £2,930 from Feb-19 after adjusting pension contributions. The annual pay review may see this increase again. I am in the bonus scheme which would pay approximately £3,500 post tax as a lump sum later in March if it pays out. I am also exploring other roles with a view to increasing my salary. I have a couple in the pipeline but nothing concrete. At the moment, I have a gross salary of £48,000.

There are possibly some avenues above that can be explored. I have letters written to all my creditors requesting a temporary or token payment plan of £1 to give me some breathing space. The alternative is I ask them to lower the interest rate, increase the term or increase the term to allow me to pay off. As I say, I am effectively down to last £100 and at £-1,900 of OD of which is -£2k. I presume doing this is the best action? My situation can improve. I’d estimate I can raise up to £1,000 via sales of various items too

In summary
Any advice is welcomed as to next steps. I am in Scotland. I thought about going straight to a Trust Deed. I am aware of DMPs, IVAs, PayPlan and so on and would take advise but I do think I can tackle this. I am also aware that my credit file is effectively going to be screwed after this. That’s not particularly an issue as I don’t want to be able to take out loans again. This is a good way of looking at things BUT it would be helpful to have some access to 0% Balance transfers at some stage.There’s some positives in the above perhaps, but I urgently need to do something and contact all my creditors to make them aware of the issue.

Key question. Given the above, would suggesting £1 payments be advisable as my next step? I don’t have enough cash at hand to pay £800 of payments scheduled before my pay date but am determined to get on top off this and clear the debts best I can. I’ll post up a full SOA shortly

The biggest positive here is that you've seen the light and now want to tackle the problem. That'll take you a long way. As a family you need to work together to tackle the problem - it HAS to be both of you - you've both spent the money, it's not "just you" is it. The first thing will be to cut absolutely everything back to the bare bones - and for some people that can be really, really tough. Any extra income needs to go straight to the debt. Anything you can save needs to go to the debt once an emergency Fund is built.

TheLostSheep

Thanks for all the replies and advice. Carefully reviewing all points made and will reply.

Short update. All creditors contacted. VW have cancelled the planned DD as have Cre*t*on. VW state £8900 pays off the vehicle. My estimates are private sales are in the £10,500 to £11,000 range so my thought on equity was correct. They are willing to negotiate a short 1/2 month deferment or plan then either need to terminate, trade to lower cost or sell. Selling seems better. I’ve worries over reliability of a £2k vehicle covering the mileage I do but it’s one to seriously consider.

The Cre*ti*n loan I spoke to their collections team and explained situation. Stated £1 payments. They offer 3/6month plan if I provide my SOA and payslips which I will.

I found both surprisingly helpful. The people I spoke to seemed to want to help me fix this and offered suggestions. Stepchange was suggested which need to read about.

Z*pa want me to complete their SOA template.

Feel a bit of breathing space but lots to do still. Bit worried about state of my credit file having thought about it. VW state default shows whereas others stated Payment Plan with notes. Perhaps evidence car is going to have to go...

EssexHebridean

Definitely sell the car - that gives you a clean slate. As for your concerns about cars at the cheaper end of the market - MrEH's current and previous cars have both been the price you mentioned - 2k - The first was an 03 plate bought with 115k miles on the clock - we got rid on 185k - from memory 4 years later when although she passed her MoT test there was a long as your arm list of advisories. The current one is three years newer and I can't recall the start mileage but she's now approaching 150k miles and has just sailed through her test with only minor advisories and no work needed. We do approximately 15,000 miles a year a lot of which is either motorway or stop-start in traffic, so they get a reasonable battering! (Citroen C3 diesels - 1.4 engine). Keep your maintenance budgeted for, have servicing done on time, and be pre-emptive on stuff that is flagged up and there's no reason why an order car will cause you too many problems. Oh, and buy from a trader NOT privately!

tlc678910

Hi,
Do you work days Mon- Fri? If so could your partner look for something evenings and weekends to help? If they are under the tax threshold because they work part time you (as a family) will get to keep the vast majority of what they earn without much in the way of deductions and without childcare costs.

If you want to sell your vehicle privately you might have to seek advice on the process as I don't think you can sell it while there are outstanding monies secured against it. (Not sure if the buyer would need to settle the finance?)

Fingers crossed you get your bonus and can use it to buy a car.
Tlc