Time to get my head out of the sand (with SOA)

zedonk

Thanks! I spoke to Whistletree today and I can knock £100 off my monthly mortgage payment by fixing. Haven't committed to anything yet and am looking into brokers now.

ManekiNeko

Hey,

Just wanted to stop by and say hello as I'm also disabled (mental health), also have a mortgage with a service charge, also hope to work for myself one day again when I'm well enough.

Thank you for posting your SOA, I almost never reply in DFW because so many threads don't have one. Since you've put one up, here are my thoughts:

I used to be self-employed, briefly, before a head injury meant I had to take a regular job. I would suggest you consider temp jobs alongside your self-employment. You can sign up with an agency and take a few days or weeks of work, which will top up your income when you have less clients. This works best if you have some office-based experience or skill, as you can take better temp gigs, but even if not, you can take the most boring, basic roles and work up to better things. This will affect your UC though, particularly as your income will vary, BUT if you have LCWRA element, you can earn more than someone without a disability before your UC is affected.

You are correct that UC don't help with your mortgage, but if you weren't earning for nine months (the waiting period), they would cover your service charge. I'm not recommending stopping work, but more letting you know about this little-known help in case for any reason your health worsens in the future. If you ever claim this help, if/when you earn money again, even just 1p, the nine month waiting period will restart e.g. they won't pay again until if/when you've not earned any money for nine months.

I'm currently going through my PIP review forms. They are pretty rough to deal with. I'm getting help from my support worker, I got access to one because of mental health needs plus my homelessness risk. I think you might qualify for a support worker too, because if your sums don't add up, your housing is or will be at risk (I'm not saying that to worry you, I'm saying that so you know how to tell CAB about it, does that make sense?). They are very, very useful in helping with benefits. I highly recommend you to keep an electronic copy on your computer before you send them off this time around, because then next time you have a review, you can edit/update what you said last time, rather than starting from scratch. This is a huge help when time and energy is limited. There is a disability and benefits forum, which you might like to check out for further advice on PIP and DLA. If/when you are awarded PIP again, search online for "PIP passporting / PIP passported" or words like that. You'll see that you can get things like:

-Disabled Persons Railcard (a third off train travel for you and a friend). You have to pay for these, but can use Tesco Clubcard points to get a free one

-Bus pass via your Council (free local bus travel for you and a supportive person if you require one - official people call this person a "carer", don't be put off by this)

-Blue Badge via your Council (often free or discounted parking that's closer to your destination, worth getting even if you don't have a car as anyone driving to help you with your disability can use it)

-etc

Maybe these can help reduce your travel costs. Also look for things like a Carers Card for places like the cinema, as you may be able to go free when you take your disabled child to the cinema. Also look at things like whether your local swimming pool has a discount card for people on benefits. Basically, ask everywhere you go if they have a discount for disabled persons.

Check for grants related to you and your disabled child. There are tools to help you search for them online - "disabled grant search tool" or similar. PM me if you want a starting place.

I assume you've maximised your benefits, but check anyway. CAB can do this. Ask them if you're eligible for any grants while you're there. If your disability was caused by work (not self-employment, sadly), check if you can get IIDB benefit. There is a big list of conditions that are covered.

Your mortgage is painfully high. Yes, check with a broker. Also, pop by the Housing / Mortgage Free Wannabe board for more advice if you want to.

Why is your Council Tax £9? This is an unusual number. It depends where you live, but some people can get zero rated (free) Council Tax due to disability/low income.

Electricity and gas. These are round numbers. Are they realistic? Do they increase in the winter? Consider applying for energy efficiency grants to reduce your running costs.

Phone/WiFi. Look up Universal Credit WiFi deals. I pay £20 a month to BT for 67 Mb WiFi with landline included. They have cheaper options.

Mobile phone. I pay £6 a month to Giffgaff with unlimited minutes.

TV licence - do you watch/need to watch live TV?

Groceries - try the Old Style board for tips and tricks to get this down.

Clothing - try Vinted, and sell your/the kids unwanted clothes on here too.

Child expenses and childcare - these seem low for a month, what are they?

Healthcare - you can get free or low-cost counselling via a charity (search "your town/county + charity counselling + main reason for counselling") or the NHS (see GP for referral). Look for a support group too, often free. If you're in England, look into NHS 'season tickets' - check Martin's article. If you have regular medication, you can save a lot. If you buy over the counter medication like for hayfever, again check Martin's article, you can save big by buying online from a reputable place. For glasses, consider using online companies like Glasses Direct. For dentist, if your disability makes it hard to access high street dentists, look into the Community Dental Service (free, cheap but good enough work - but not as nice as high street dentists, usually for people with additional needs like mental health, homelessness, etc).

Contents and life ins - both seem cheap, are you definitely sufficiently insured? Do you pay annually? If not, try to do that, you'll save interest. Have you got a Will set up?

Boiler - where do you live e.g. England, Scotland, Wales? Some places have a grant where you can get your boiler replaced for free if you're on benefits. Do you get a yearly gas safety check / boiler service?

Presents - can reduce, especially if for adults. Check old style for thrifty / crafty gift ideas. Check online for local craft clubs to make new friends and get more ideas.

Haircuts - look for local college that offers courses in this, then see if they offer a student haircut option. It'll take all afternoon but they're closely supervised, and it's really cheap. Toiletries - if you're struggling to balance your books, it's time to ask in your local food bank (CAB or GP can refer). They often have toiletries.

Entertainment - it's summer, so try outside things with the kids. Beach, walks, Pokémon Go, geocaching. Set fun challenges - today, let's learn to make a radio, or build a fort, or something. Let's try to find three pine cones and identify three trees. Hey it's time to colour and paint, let's all draw our dream pet / ourselves with our secret superpower. Obviously, depends on the nature of your and your child's disabilities, feel free to ignore / adapt this idea.

Holiday - ok, I'll be controversial, but I don't think you should not plan anything. I think a cheap, budgeted for holiday keeps you sane. Don't do it if it'll put you into debt, but don't write this off forever either.

Cat - yes, get the op, and if it works take out good, comprehensive insurance immediately so you don't get into this money trouble again if they get sick with something else in future. Do something nice for your parents to say thank you - not expensive, but thoughtful. Maybe bake a cake, give a framed photo of happy recovered cat, that kind of thing. Definitely keep your parents regularly updated on how their gift has changed things for you - e.g. after three months, tell them you've been able to save/pay £x off debt. Then keep telling them that sort of thing until you're debt free. People give these gifts wanting to help you - the best thing you can do to say thanks is to tell them in a heartfelt way how much they've changed things in your life.

What is Monzo Plus?

Look at the Debt Snowball tool to help you prioritise what to pay down.

Support for Mortgage Interest - I'd take a lodger before considering this, it's not a great option imo - more the nuclear option to take if you're at risk of losing your home. But you may not feel able to do this, especially with a disability, especially with kids at home.

That was probably more ideas than you wanted, but you did ask. 😉 Don't try to do them all on one day or you'll get overwhelmed; I have done most of these things myself, but only one at a time, over a long time. Perhaps look at one thing a day/week? I like to drink tea/coffee or I get too stressed out. ☕

I will try to check back in here later or in a few days in case you have questions. If I don't manage it (mental health and memory vs. everything I'd ideally want to do), feel free to PM me to remind me and I'll pop back in.

You seem to be proactive and I'm relieved you're looking at tackling your debt now, before things can spiral. Good luck - you got this. 🍀💪

ManekiNeko

Oh - and get supporting letters for your PIP application from everyone involved with your healthcare. This could be your GP, counsellor, etc. Best to get the private counsellor to write you one before you leave, as the new one will probably need to get to know you first, before writing one. Letters from professionals matter the most, in my cynical and subjective experience of the DWP.

If you receive help because of your disability from anyone else in your life, like a friend or family member, you can ask them to write a supporting letter as your carer. For example, this might be a friend who accompanies you to do your food shopping, or a family member who helps you budget.

Ask them to give you the letters once they're done, so you can see if they're accurate and helpful before sending them in with your forms.

zedonk

Thanks ManekiNeko, it's good to hear from someone in a similar position!

My big question is how did you get your support worker/where are they based? I used to have one at my GP surgery who helped me with my initial PIP application, but she's been replaced by someone I don't find very helpful, so I'm wondering what other options are - it sounds like yours is through the CAB?

That's also a great idea to sign up for temp jobs. Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of that as I've done it before (but 20 years ago and before I became self-employed). And I'm used to my UC fluctuating with my income although it is frustrating that I only get to keep about 1/3 of any extra I make (accounting for tax and NI too).

To answer your other questions:

I'm definitely well enough to work, so I don't get the LCRWA element, and thankfully not earning anything for 9 months is not on the cards (the service charge is on my UC claim, though, so it would be paid if I were to not work for that long).

PIP: I'm waiting for the form to arrive at the moment, and I will seek help with filling it in, get whatever supporting evidence I can, and make sure I claim whatever I'm entitled to if I get it (railcard would be especially useful).

Bus pass: I've just looked up my council's criteria, and PIP makes no difference, but I could get one if it's confirmed I'm medically unfit to drive. Might be worth looking into - I've never driven, so I've never sought an opinion on this, but I have conditions that would affect my ability to drive.

Disabled child: I know my local carers' centre offers grants, and they can signpost me to whatever else is available, so I will get in touch with them soon.

Mortgage is what I'm working on right now. I can definitely bring it down.

Council tax: I get council tax reduction because of my UC and they charge me £9/month. Not sure how that's worked out!

Gas/electricity: This is the DD that I pay every month (£150 for dual duel) and it's spread out across the whole year, so I don't pay more in winter. I've already done quite a lot to get my usage down, but can look into grants. I've just today switched to a cheaper fixed-rate tariff - this won't reduce my DD by much as apparently I was paying too little before, but it will mean my DD doesn't need to go up unless my usage does.

Phone/broadband: Yes, I only found out about the social tariffs recently. I think I'm tied into a contract but will check this and switch when I can.

Mobile: I've now reduced this to £7.

TV licence: Yes, we use iPlayer a lot which now requires a TV licence.

Childcare: This is what I pay after claiming back 85% from UC (and the benefits figure I entered doesn't include the childcare element of UC).

Child expenses: I've included school uniform, school trips and things like craft supplies here. But the clothing, entertainment, haircuts and travel categories cover my kids as well as me.

Cat: is booked in to be cured (hopefully) next week, and yes, I'll be sure to let my parents know how much I appreciate it.

Monzo Plus is a bank account fee. The true cost is less than £5 as it means I earn interest, and it also comes with budgeting features that I find helpful, so I probably won't cancel it, but I can if necessary.

SMI: I'm keeping this one on the back burner if I'm really stuck. Lodger is not an option as we don't have a spare room.

Thanks again for all your input, you've given me lots to think about!

Zedonk

ManekiNeko

Hi Zedonk,

Sure thing. I've always found MSE a great resource, so I try to pay it forward when I can.

Support worker. My local CAB referred me to my local Council, who carried out an assessment and then referred me to my support worker (she works for a housing association charity, but apparently the Council can refer to several organisations based on who is appropriate/has the shortest waiting lists at the time). It took about two months from the original CAB referral to actually meeting up with my support worker and getting help, and I can receive the help for about two years (but they won't just boot me out at the end, it's slightly more flexible than that). You can google things like "tenancy support worker [your county]."  Note that you're looking for a homelessness risk or homelessness support service, probably offered by your Council but potentially offered via a charity. My support worker's job title is Tenancy Support Worker. I know this sounds like you won't be eligible for it - I was confused too, as I'd just bought a home and was managing my mortgage payments just fine, plus I wasn't even a tenant, so how could Tenancy Support or a homelessness risk service possibly cover me? However, it was explained to me that I was in fact eligible. So, I'm suggesting going via CAB because it might simplify the research process for you, and they often have great knowledge about local services. When you see them, tell them things like "I'm not yet at risk of homelessness, but I could be in future so I'm trying to get help now. I'm worried about not affording my mortgage payments in future if my debt snowballs, I'm getting more into debt every month at the moment" and also "I wasn't well enough to cope with my PIP appeal, so I've lost out on that money and now my debts are spiralling. I need a support worker because I can't cope with applying / I'm not well enough to apply by myself." Does that make sense? You can be clear with them about your risk of becoming homeless without having a present threat of homelessness. When they do the referral form, there are lots of Yes/No questions about your life (things like Mental Health, Homelessness, Domestic Abuse, Eating Disorder, Disability). Don't hold back, if you've ever suffered any of them be upfront, you don't have to get into details, just a "Yes - currently" or "Yes - in the past" will suffice.

LCWRA. Okay cool, I'm glad you're well enough to work. ☺️ That's good you know about the service charge and UC have it on file. A bit like SMI, it's nice to have fallback options, even if you never need them.

PIP. Great news the form is on its way. Do you have a copy of your initial PIP application? If not, you may be able to request a copy from your GP surgery, as the woman you saw was based there. Maybe this will give you a starting point for filling it out again. I'd ask them for a soft copy ideally, so it's easy to edit. If not, you can request a hard copy from PIP themselves if you call up. It'll take a week or three to come out to you by post.

Bus pass. Interesting that PIP makes no difference - it may be worth calling them to double check this? My general impression has been that if you have difficulties communicating, or with planning and following journeys, or with moving around, you ought to be eligible. I've only ever applied in one Council area, but in the area I lived before, it was very strict but the Council could make "exceptions" if you were disabled by some other conditon than the ones listed - so you had to write in with evidence and they'd consider it, basically. I'm wondering if yours is similar. Medically unfit to drive is an interesting one - be very sure before you get that certified. Maybe you don't have any interest in driving, but I used to know someone who was unfit to drive, and it took them many years of waiting time to get re-certified as fit to drive. So just be aware that it could be a barrier if you ever want to drive. With that said, ofc you may never want to drive, and/or never feel like you're fit to anyway, and if that's the case then it may be of benefit for you. It depends a lot on what conditions you have - some you always need to tell the DVLA about, but others are more of a "only tell us if it affects your driving, otherwise don't bother."

Mortgage. Good good, I am certain you can bring it down. 💪 If you make a MFW thread, do let me know and I'll follow along.

Council tax. Hmm, intriguing. I have no idea either, but fair enough!

Utilities. Have you contacted them all to say you're on a low income? You might be eligible for a discounted tariff - some companies do this (for example, my water company does, but not my gas or leccy). Obviously, if your income goes up, you then need to contact them to let them know, but it can be a real help in the meantime. Also, consider asking them to put you on the Priority Services Register if you're not on it already. You can ask this for water, gas, eletricity and even your WiFi, provided you rely on the WiFi for something healthcare related. For example, I have virtual healthcare pretty regularly, so I need it because of this.

Gas/leccy. Ahh, that makes sense. Good that you've found a cheaper fix and your rate won't increase - it might not feel like a big win now, but will prevent you getting into debt with them so it's a success for sure (obviously, still do meter reads every so often). To be fair, there's only so far you can reduce usage, especially with kids at home - but here are a few tips I've found helpful in terms of the cheaper end of energy efficiency - I focused there simply because I had no money last year, was brassic after buying my home. I haven't even done all these tips yet myself, but it's where I'm aiming and gradually working towards - I want to do as much as I can before next winter. I'd try things like curtains instead of blinds (look into thermal curtains), shutting the curtains the second it starts to get dusky, heat reflectors behind radiators (but research first, there's only certain radiators it's good to do it on), heat reflective window film, electric blankets and/or hot water bottles on beds, nice cosy blanket over you all while cuddled up with a movie of an evening, draught excluders (making a little sausage dog or similar can be a fun craft project for the kids), switch to LED lights, consider solar movement-sensor lights, get carpets or rugs down instead of woodblock flooring. Get a Thermos and boil the kettle once in the morning, then make your teas/coffees from the flask. Charge everything you can while out and about (on trains, in cafes, at the library); you can even charge up a battery pack and use it later to charge up your phone overnight, say. I love to use the free electricity from the car charger when my partner drives me someplace, you can get excellent chargers these days that support fast charging and they're not a million bucks. You don't need to worry your kids about money, but maybe get them on board by telling them it's good for the planet and make it a fun game - whoever does the most planet-saving things each week/month gets a little treat? You can get some little stickers and get them to stick them on a reward chart every time they turn off a light no one was using / shut a curtain after dusk / etc. (Sorry can't remember how old your kids are, obviously this can be adjusted in an age-appropriate way.) In terms of clothing, especially if you work from home while kids are out at school, things like a heated gilet (heats the body), a woolly hat, thermal base layers, and hand or wrist warmers all help, but don't turn the heating down too far - you'll only get sick (learned that one the hard way). I can recommend clothing brands/items if it's helpful (I'm a lifelong hiker and camper so have warm clothing pretty down lol). Water wise, not sure if you're metered, but if you are then there are various saver devices for toilet flush, showers, etc. Consider whether you can pop out places during the day to save money, e.g. work from your local library (assuming you're not doing anything too confidential at the time) to benefit from their heating, or go to local events. For example, most churches or community support services offer free coffee mornings, and these places are often a gateway to further support e.g. most know who to refer to for extra help with money/benefits/mental health/etc. Some places are specific about who's eligible to come along, but most are open to all, no matter whether you're working or not. I have a place near me that does a free lunch twice a week for anyone. I don't go at the moment, but it's nice to be aware of, and to be honest in the winter I might go just to hang out for a few hours to save on my heating, you know? I'd take my laptop or a book personally, so if I make a new friend great, but if not I can still have a nice enough time.

Phone/broadband. Sounds good.

Mobile. Brilliant news, nice one. ☺️

TV licence. Got you, fair enough.

Childcare. Ahh, that makes so much more sense now. I was thinking you must just use a couple of hours of babysitting from a neighbour's kid once a month as it was so cheap.

Child expenses. That makes sense now, cheers.

Cat. I have my fingesr crossed for your cat, hopefully s/he feels much better soon. ☘️ Insurance is an extra expense, but it keeps these costs from becoming crippling. I'm no expert here, hopefully some cat owners will come along and say who's the best company to use. I do know it's important to find one that covers pre-existing conditions.

Monzo Plus. Okay, so this depends on your credit score a little, but if it's decent enough to get a new bank account, I would personally be tempted to cancel this (wait until after your new bank application is successful though). Let me run you through my banking so you can see an example of what's possible:

My mortgage is with Barclays, so I signed up for Barclays Blue Rewards. For me, that means I have a current account that charges me £5 a month, but gives me back £5 a month (e.g. cost neutral) provided I have a certain amount paid in and.. two? DDs coming out (I make certain I always do). I get an additonal £3 a month for having a mortgage with them, but I'd still take out Blue Rewards otherwise, simply because it gives access to a Rainy Day Saver account that pays 5.12 per cent interest on up to £5k (no or rubbish interest, I forget which, on amounts above that). I keep my current account empty because the interest is pants, but keep the max. £5k in the Rainy Day Saver whenever I have it, and it usually gives me £20 a month in interest (because I've generally got a decent amount of savings these days), which I save up to overpay onto my mortgage every so often, when it makes sense to do so (e.g. whenever I'm likely to breach the lower savings threshold for benefits - it makes zero sense to be dinged for having 'extra' savings when I have a big debt to repay). Of course, the benefits of interest are lower when you have less in savings, but it's not a bad option in any case, and at least they don't charge me anything (in effect) simply to have the privilege of receiving interest.

I then use my Chase account to get 1 per cent cashback on (almost) everything I buy. I don't keep money in Chase routinely, as their interest is just 1 per cent, but I will chuck money in to amply cover whatever I anticipate buying, and transfer it right back after I've come home from shopping. I take my cashback out as soon as it's cleared, and put it straight into my Rainy Day Saver account, into my mortgage overpayments "pot", ready to overpay onto my mortgage.

Recently, I found I was over the £5k "good interest" limit for my Barclays account for the first time in a long time, so I've also taken out a Chip account which pays me, umm... 4.52 per cent? Or something like that. Any funds over £5k get chucked in here, so it's like my "overflow" account.

That's basically my money in a nutshell, but there are lots of good options out there. Please do check Martin's guides for details on all the accounts to see if they're right for you - all these accounts are on them. I basically just check "best bank accounts" and "best savings accounts" regularly, and if it seems like there's a better deal I'll apply for one. I try to space out my applications though, so I don't hurt my credit by applying for too much (plus I only apply when it's a decent benefit, not just for an extra .01 per cent). Also, you'll notice you can get money for "switching" bank account. I often use an old account I'm no longer using to "switch" away from, but in the past I've opened a basic bank account simply to "switch" away from it. If you're organised, switching will get you reward money which you can use to pay down your debt/mortgage.

As to budgeting features of Monzo ... that's between you and your finances, although I couldn't justify that cost myself. I'd put it into MSE's mortgage overpayment calculator and see how much overpaying £5 a month onto your mortgage instead would save you over the long run, or how much interest it would save you on your credit cards if they went back up to full interest and you couldn't find another 0 per cent fix. I personally used Excel to budget for many years, but recently started using a budgeting app which I find does what I need (it was needed as my mental health was too poor for Excel, as I often wasn't well enough to go onto my computer in the first place). It had a one-off fee of.. £3?, so I was ok with that, having used the free trial to confirm it was a solid choice for me. There are one zillion ways to budget though, and all that matters is you find a way that's right for you. Making sure your bills are paid on time and you know what you've got in savings (I like using "pots" myself, to keep organised) is key to building anything financially.

Do let us all know how you get on, it's always lovely to hear how things are going.

All the best,

Neko

zedonk

Just coming back with a bit of an update: good, bad and potentially exciting.

The good:
- I had my PIP assessment last week, and feel it went well - I won't really know until I get the letter, of course, but at least this time the assessor seemed sympathetic and wasn't obviously trying to trip me up.
- I switched my mortgage to a fixed rate, saving myself almost £100 a month. (It wasn't possible to remortgage with a different lender, due to my low and insecure income, but I'd been expecting that.)
- My cat had his treatment and it worked, so I'm paying a lot less in vet bills for him now.
- Managed to make some other savings in my SOA, e.g. renewed my home insurance for around half the price - same cover, same underwriter but through a different bank. 
- EXCEPT for the specific items below, I haven't needed to put anything on a credit card, and now have around £400 saved in an instant-access emergency fund plus £500 in my Help to Save account.

The bad:
- Found out at the start of term that my kids' school now requires me to pay for each term of wraparound childcare upfront, instead of in monthly instalments. I used to pay for e.g. Sept on 1 Sept and get some back from UC on 16 Sept and the rest (of the 85%) on 16 Oct - now I'm paying for Sept-Dec in one go and getting it back slowly between Sept and Jan. So that was a few hundred pounds that had to go on the credit card, but I'm putting the money aside for next term's bill, as well as building up my emergency savings (at that point, I only had H2S, which I didn't want to dip into and lose the bonus).
- My other cat got seriously ill and ran up a £3K vet bill in hospital. She's home and much better now but will need ongoing treatment and possibly more tests. I honestly considered asking them to put her to sleep because money is so tight but I couldn't bring myself to do it. My cats are my family.
- My business is still really struggling. I'm a freelancer, so I don't have many overheads, but the market is very tough right now and I just can't get the work in. It's reached the point where I'm struggling to motivate myself to do any marketing because it all feels hopeless - the final straw was that I had a big project booked to last me most of October, and then the client pulled out after a week, right before my cat got ill.
- As a result of the above, my CC debt is now just under £8K.

Sooooo, all that gave me the push I needed to start looking at jobs. What I do currently is almost always a freelance thing, there are few in-house jobs out there, especially without relocating (not an option with the kids). BUT I've been excited to see two positions locally where I could retrain in a different career and be paid more than I'm getting right now (plus obviously a lot more on qualifying/with experience). Both roles I think I could do and be good at. So that's something for me to explore more, but in the mean time, as the deadlines were last week, I applied for them anyway for the practice.

Thank you all for your great advice on my SOA, there's still a lot I need to look into/action, but I really appreciate it. Just trying to pace myself and not get (more) overwhelmed.

Zedonk