My Situation

tesuhoha

Ive just read on another thread something that really helped me as Ive been sitting here tearing my hair out about my predicament. The person said never to put debt worry before your life.

Well my daughter comes home in 6 months

She has not got a proper bedroom. Just the box room with a mattress, no room for a wardrobe or chest of drawers or hanging rail. All her stuff has been stored in the damp garage and damp loft since we moved. She is very depressed about living here.

We currently owe £5,700

We have been told to expect a tax bill of £6000 in January

My husband wants to do a loft extension to give her a bedroom. With him doing the loft himself without dormer windows it will cost £7,000 which we would have to borrow.

After she has finished uni in June we will have £1500 per month to throw at debts.

Work would be very awkward after June as it would affect the box room.

Have got all debt on 0%. Have opportunity to put future debt on 0%.

Her face lit up when OH told her about loft extension yesterday.

Should I think of family and increase our debt? Or struggle to pay it all off.

My thoughts are coming up.

tesuhoha

We are going to be in debt by £11,000 anyway by the beginning of February and I am feeling very discouraged and negative as I have struggled to get this debt down from £26,000 a few years ago. I feel as if we might as well take the money and make her happy, put all the debt on 0% and just pay £1,000 per month off, keeping £500 pm for a rainy day to save if I cant get 0% anymore. Do you think this is a rubbish idea. I cant see any other thing to do as her living conditions are unbearable in that room, she has no money and nowhere else to go when she leaves uni and there's nothing we can do to improve the box room so she can be reasonably comfortable. I am religious about paying off the debt and can pay £1,000 from February onwards once we have recovered from OH being off work 2 weeks over Christmas.

tesuhoha

We could get the loft extension finished in 6 months before she comes home but if I tried my best from today I could not pay off our debt until next November even without the loft extension. I dont know what to do for the best. I cant stop agonising over it. I know what i want to do but it seems almost like inviting trouble. However, the alternative to not doing the loft is a miserable life for all of us.

tesuhoha

This is awful isnt it? Most people are asking how they can pay their debts off and Im asking should I increase mine.

tesuhoha

She is coming home so she can get a job hopefully in London.

tesuhoha

The loft extension will increase the value of the house by £20,000 approx.

ZTD

How long will the debt last at 0%?

MissEyre

Hiya,

I'm not clear on whether you actually have the money to pay the tax bill when it comes in?

mrcow

What about buying her something decent for her current bedroom and doing it up really nicely for a fraction of the cost. You canget bedroom solutions with wardrobes etc under a raised bed for a few hundred. Then, once you've paid off your tax bill etc you could look at other options.

You could make it really nice for a lot less than £1k and anyway, a loft extention without a dorma isn't going to be that roomy anyway.

I just think that the £7k would be better of either paying off your own debts or putting them towards her own......I'm assuming if she's a student then she is also going to have debt.

I'd feel very uncomfortable borrowing so much if I already owed thousands due to tax bills etc.

Keeping_Motivated

If it will increase the value of your home, won't take your over the edge repayment wise, if you borrow the money at the lowest interest rate possible and it means having your daughter home with you and happy and also will she be getting a job then and paying board, then I would go ahead as you seem to be swaying in this direction anyway.

Don't know if you have had posted it before but how about posting your SOA and getting some clarity form that?

tesuhoha

No we dont have the money for the tax bill but I have decreased our debt by 0% tarting and that is what I have planned, aprt from the BT fee I dont pay anything else. I plan to get the lot on 0% or if not Ive got the opportunity to write a cc cheque for 2.9% until September for £13,000. £5,700 is already on 0% and I will pay all of this off before the introductory term is up. I pay £1,000 per month off debt every month. After June I can pay £1,500 off the debt per month as at present I pay my daughter's uni expenses. So the debt would increase to approx £17,000 but in theory I would pay £14,000 of this off by the end of the year.