A muddle

Longwayhome2024

Hello everyone, I could do with your advice.

Sadly, I just lost my job - only recently moved to it and it really didn’t work out at all and we agreed to part ways, I am disappointed, and they were quite decent people, but definitely the right thing to do - the role was incredibly stressful to say the least and was not anywhere like what was advertised - oh well, we live and learn - I think the actual requirements of the job were a surprise to them too and they were not really able to deal with the kind of internal work generated from this new role.

Of course, this leaves me in a pickle financially. I have about 1500 in an emergency fund and and will have a month’s notice, so that will help too. Not a lot in the pot, but enough to get through for a little while.

I have one personal loan with 6.5k outstanding, which I have been paying without problem for the last 39 months (it is a 60 month loan and was originally for £15k. I have no other debts.

Clearly, with the job loss, affordability will be a challenge as I still have to pay rent and essential bills (gas, elec etc.).

I am not based in the UK anymore and now live in Southern Ireland - the lender does have my address as I saw no need not to update this when I moved from the UK 3 years ago - my intention was always to pay this off.

So, and sorry for the long time getting to the point, what do I do now? My parents are both very elderly and quite unwell - my sister had planned to be their carer, but she is happy for me to do that instead, given the situation and the fact that I live with them and support them anyway. It would though take up to 3 months for this payment to be approved.

Should I just cancel the direct debit for the loan, ignore contact from the lender, wait for default and the sale of the debt and try and deal with the new owner of the debt down the line? My next loan payment is due on Wednesday, so if I am to cancel the DD I should probably do that today.

I know I could try and get a job too, that will take some time, but there will be limits with the carers allowance and my parents do need the care now, so I could start that now and put my application in for the carers allowance and try and get some part time work to get me through.

Any guidance would be really good - you know yourself, hard to see the wood for the trees when you’re in the thick of it.

I have previously suffered from some bad bouts of depression, so i am trying to remain positive and proactive and refrain from diving into some serious and gloomy rumination, which will get me nowhere good.

Thank you for reading and thank you for replying, if you do!

Have a good day.

Brie

Well done for acting quickly before things have actually turned too badly wrong.

I think a great way to help you is to get the full picture of your finances so it would be best to fill out the statement of accounts (SOA) on one of the top stickies and then add it to this post.  That way we can get a good idea of what you are dealing with.  There are bits in there about rent, gas, electric etc so best to pop a note on to say you live with your folks as that will (hopefully) stop us from questioning why you might put 0 in some crucial spots or have unusual amounts in others.  

Also you say your folks are elderly and need your help with care.  Are they getting attendance allowance?  I assume that there's some version of this for Ireland.  And I see you are applying for carer's allowance.  This will help a small bit to make things a bit easier for you.  There may also be jobseekers allowance of some sort but I don't know if you will qualify if you have left your job voluntarily.  But do a full benefit check just to be sure you are getting what is your due.   Likewise is your parents' incomes so low they would qualify for pension credit (again assuming that's a thing there).  They would have about a month to apply if they were in the UK and still be able to get other things for free that would help them and therefore help you.

I don't know what sort of work you were doing but if you need to be at home a lot then perhaps you could look at least for something nearby and short hours - working in a shop springs to mind or a delivery driver both of which might be easy to get given at least in the short term the holiday season coming.  Frankly I think that anything that gets you out of the house a couple of hours a day would be beneficial.  I've seen too many carers end up too tied to their houses more out of lack of momentum rather than the need to be there 24/7.

Hard to say at this point the best thing to do with the debt without knowing the full picture.  And I'm not sure if I understand whether the bank holding the loan actually knows where you are.  Do you have an online account with them somewhere?  Is it possible to contact them NOT by phone and tell them you have to miss a few payments?  Any creditor is normally much easier to deal with if they know there's an issue rather than being left in the dark.  

Keep your spirits up as much as possible - go for a walk even if it's a few laps of the garden or 3 doors down and back - it all helps.

Longwayhome2024

Thanks Brie.

yes, the bank know where I am - there has been no issues with payment to date. I could contact them online, if that is the best thing to do.

i have a visual disability so am having a difficulty finding and posting the SOA. But, here are the key figures: (all in euro)

cash in hand: 4000 (emergency fund plus last monthly salary)

Monthly outgoings:

bank loan: 385 (approx as 308 in sterling)
gas & electricity: 200
mobile phone: 15
pet insurance: 27.67
groceries: 260
haircut: 20
dog food: 30
vet bills (vaccinations etc): 25 (average monthly for yearly spend)
clothes: 25 (averaged monthly for yearly spend)
toiletries: 15
health cover: 179.50 ( a necessity in Ireland and ongoing issues)
dental: 20 (averaged over year)
internet & sky: 102 (in contract for another 9 months) - a lot no doubt, but the extra tv channels are a godsend for my parents who are stuck in the house for most of every day.
Travel: 100 (I don’t have a car but do use public transport, especially for parents and the occasional taxi for appointments for them although my sister does help with her car when she can)
entertainment: 100 (given the situation I am sure it should be 0, but trying to be realistic)
vaping: 35 (a good time to quit for sure!)
birthdays: 10 (average monthly amount for yearly spend - understanding that this will have to go while things are tight)
christmas: 40 (again averaging monthly for a yearly spend)
holidays: 50 (same as above, but realistically there’ll be no holidays for a while!)
emergency fund: 100 per month
i don’t have any subscriptions or any other debt or bill. I live at home with parents so there is no direct rent, although you could say all the money spent on upgrading is a good as rent - the impact is the same!

total monthly outgoings: 1739.17
income: right now - nothing, but carers allowance for two people would be approx 1600 per month, if I get it, my best hope for this is to get it in about 3 months time - it can take an age here to process these things.

my take home salary was 2545 per month.

i note too that there is some rounding up on these figures, but they are correct, in that it would be no more than that.

just to add, I have been using most of my previous spare salary to support my parents - the house was in a terrible state of disrepair and I had to put in a new disabled bathroom, new doors, electro upgrade, beds & mattresses, etc. - actually it seemed like a never ending spend in this regard, but I had to make the house safe, liveable and accessible. Over the last 3 years I put all my savings into the house and, of course, the loan went into it too. I am happy to have done this as my parents have had a better life as a result.

looking at the figures, I might just be able to keep everything afloat for the next 3 months, provided the carers allowance comes good in 3 months. Just very nervous, I guess and wondered if it was best to default on the loan  - tbh, I’m not sure what to do.

thank you very much for reading.

[Deleted User]

Well done on tackling a tricky situation and taking pre-emptive action. Do you parents not have any income? what about state pensions? 

Longwayhome2024

Thanks for your reply.

my parents have a state pension, unfortunately, in Ireland it doesn’t go very far - they never had much money and have no other income, so the house went into total disrepair - hence the need to make it better.

also, over here, health care is mainly for those with private cover - public health system is tough - my mother recently fell and broke her shoulder and needed physio over a 4 month period, that was almost a 1000 euro - if I left her to wait on the public system she would still be waiting. 

Longwayhome2024

I’m leaning towards cancelling the loan direct debit - I think my situation will take time to work out and I feel I should keep as much of the limited funds I have available. Is that a nuts approach? Hard to know what to do - I suppose it’s normal to be all over the place with this, I just don’t want to make anything worse which, at moments like this, is all too easy to do.

thanks

sourcrates

If you can`t afford to pay the loan, then don`t, it would also be futile to attempt to fund the loan payments from savings as you are just prolonging the inevitable default.

Ireland has no reciprocal agreement with the UK, so you may as well have moved to outer Mongolia as far any enforcement action is concerned, as there won`t be any.

If your situation changes and you get back into work, then you may want to make some kind of arrangement with the bank or debt collector going forward, until then all that will happen is a few letters, they may apply for a CCJ, but it won`t have any effect on you in Ireland. 

You really have nothing to worry about here.

Brie

Just managing expectations here - are you sure the carer's allowance will be e1600 a month?  In the UK it might be about £300ish a month.  

I do agree that stopping making the loan payments are a good idea if it's going to mean you and your parents will really be struggling so much.

Longwayhome2024

Sounds mad, but it’s accurate - caring for two people as a carer is 372e a week, over a year that works out at approx 1612 per calendar month.

i know it’s a very big difference to the uk, the only thing is it is so mind blowingly expensive here - you would be shocked at the price of things.

you also get a grant of 1850e (tax free) each year and can work a max of 18.5 hours a week and earn up to 450e a week after tax and not affect the carers allowance. 

Longwayhome2024

Sourcrates, thank you so much for your response - this seems like a sensible plan and one I was thinking was best.

i have followed this forum for years and I am very grateful to you for not only the reply you gave me today, but for all the posts you make - they do help and you help a lot of people in difficult circumstances - you should know that it is appreciated. Cheers & thanks.