Debt Free Wannabe 2020

downshifted

chirpychick wrote: »

He plans to withdraw from his private pension to give us the extra we need. Ordinarily not something we would do but we've taken advice on it. Plus a new job potentially would increase his earnings also (not counting our chickens so to speak)

He can only do this if he is over 55, beware there are lots of scams around

kangoora

'Withdrawing from a private pension' - I hope by this you mean stop paying into a pension, which, BTW, is not a great idea.

Please tell me you don't mean withdrawing cash from an existing pension pot - which would be illegal below the age off 55.

Plumjam

Looking at your figure for disability benefits, I think it equates to child benefit plus DLA and mobility at the higher rate. If this is the case and you don't work so that you can care for your son, then you should be claiming Carer's allowance.

Another thought re the cars is that if you receive higher rate mobility, then you could get a car from Motorbility. It would be a new car which they insure, service and pay for new tyres when needed. You use the mobility component to pay for it but it may be cheaper and more reliable than running an old 'big' car.

monetxchange

I’d definitely do an eligibility checker for your benefits too, as it does seem low for you essentially being a full time carer. The therapy you pay for - is that for your son? Anyway you can look into seeing if this should be funded/reduced?

I have a family member who has a mobility car just because she sometimes has a stiff back due to long term problems. Surely you’d be a higher priority need. Stick to your guns too - keep appealing until they cave if they say no. I know many people who have had to appeal but have been successful. No expert though.

chirpychick

kangoora wrote: »

'Withdrawing from a private pension' - I hope by this you mean stop paying into a pension, which, BTW, is not a great idea.

Please tell me you don't mean withdrawing cash from an existing pension pot - which would be illegal below the age off 55.

My husband will be 55 in October. So not illegal. However, it was just something we talked and sought advice over whether it would be possible and how much, in order to move house. It's not something we have absolutely decided on. In fact reading the responses here it's very unlikely we would do this now.

chirpychick

Plumjam wrote: »

Looking at your figure for disability benefits, I think it equates to child benefit plus DLA and mobility at the higher rate. If this is the case and you don't work so that you can care for your son, then you should be claiming Carer's allowance.

Another thought re the cars is that if you receive higher rate mobility, then you could get a car from Motorbility. It would be a new car which they insure, service and pay for new tyres when needed. You use the mobility component to pay for it but it may be cheaper and more reliable than running an old 'big' car.

This is for carers allowance, child benefit, low rate mobility and middle rate care - we don't qualify for anything like boiler replacement, motability car etc, plus we rely on the money so I don't know that we could justify using that money for a car.

monetxchange wrote: »

I’d definitely do an eligibility checker for your benefits too, as it does seem low for you essentially being a full time carer. The therapy you pay for - is that for your son? Anyway you can look into seeing if this should be funded/reduced?

The therapies are for my son as most wait times are 2 years for NHS funding or they are things we have been told would benefit him that the NHS don't provide

I have a family member who has a mobility car just because she sometimes has a stiff back due to long term problems. Surely you’d be a higher priority need. Stick to your guns too - keep appealing until they cave if they say no. I know many people who have had to appeal but have been successful. No expert though.

We just don't qualify and the money would be more useful than losing the £260? a month for a car

blues

How much are your pets costing? We have one dog which is expensive. Can’t imagine having three dogs plus other pets on top.

chirpychick

blues wrote: »

How much are your pets costing? We have one dog which is expensive. Can’t imagine having three dogs plus other pets on top.

Our dogs are small - Food costs approx £50 a month for all the animals (incl chickens) and we are currently looking into changing their food but I don't want to compromise on quality as one of them has ear and skin problems and that could be counter productive in medication and vet bills if we switch to a food lower quality or with grains.

I pay just shy of £30 insurance for the 3 of them per month and all 3 get groomed which isn't accounted for in my SOA as I tend to make money selling stuff to pay for this.

I realise I haven't accounted for annual boosters etc but usually I do my finances month to month and would just allocate that at the time. Thank you for reminding me to include it.

ianlfc1

Hello everyone,
i am new this this and i would really appreciate some knowledgeable advice, due to recent events regarding my Business i have found myself in a tricky situation, i took a £19,000.00 loan out for my company which i personally signed guarantor for. since then my company has not been paid a £40,000.00 invoice which means i have had to close down my company but the £19,000.00 loan i have now got to pay back personally on top of my current payments to previous creditors such as 4 credit cards total amount owed on all 4 is £4200 and a Barclays personal loan £8000 and a Barclays £4000 overdraft which is all in my personal name even though i used this money to bankroll my company to cover the wage bill in the hope that things would get better. which clearly didn't happen. So would it be better for my credit score if i tried to deal with each lender individual and set up separate payment plans individually or would i just be better off to enter into a DMP and have them deal with my debts repayments? which option has the least impact on my credit score?
Any assistance and advice on the matters raised above would be very much appreciated.
Ian.