Receiving inheritance

enthusiasticsaver

Buying your house seems problematic if you are both either on minimum wage or in uncertain employment so I would hold fire on that.  I would also  assume the price would be way more than £100k depending on discount and where in the country you live but you could find this out just so you have all the information. If you  need a mortgage then yes I would think carefully before  taking that on. 

I would say the priority should be pay off existing debt (freeing up monthly money for living costs)  and maybe sort the car either by buying a new one or getting it repaired (depending on age and value of the car). 

I would hold fire too on improving the property until you have decided what to do about either buying it and staying put or buying shared ownership elsewhere. 

HampshireH

Your social housing tenancy is valuable. Don't give it up easily and certainly not if you are unsure.

Remember it's going nowhere unless you screw it up and all the time you live there  someone else is paying for the repairs.

100k isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. I definitely wouldn't be considering buying the house with it without a better income not reliant on supplementary benefits. Not when it's a choice

cockerWalker

Think there's loads of good advice here.
If you were to pay off your debts how much would the repayments stopping compensate for universal credit? 
I think my approach would be to initially pay off debt and put the rest into a saving account to give you some time.
Then divide it into buckets of money, something to make life better now, something for memories, something for the future. That could be an emergency cash fund, car, holiday, and pension (money in a pension could easily quadruple before your retirement age in appropriate funds). Do remember that your expenses and benefits may change in the next few years as your children age and become independent.

It sounds to me as if buying a house would add stress and costs. In your shoes I would not fancy making my life worse for years if the only benefit I'd see would be in the much longer term.

Criptine

BlueberryPlum said:

That all sounds very depressing, nothing positive I could do with my dad's money then

The really positive thing you can do is buy your freedom from worry. You've got some great advice above, and I absolutely agree that you ought to do nothing irrevocable in a hurry. Once you've paid off your debts, and put away an emergency fund, you can take some time to get used to your new situation. It can take a while for the stress of barely making ends meet every month to wear off, but when it does it feels great.

mhoc

Very interesting thread. 
There are plenty of positive life enhancing things you can do with your Dads money. 
Firstly I would pay off the sofa and car.
The sheer joy of waking up in a morning and knowing that you are not in debt any more is really something magical so relish this. We are 15 years clear now and I still wake up in awe that we dont owe anything to anyone. 
Your monthly budget will now look different - without the debt repayments but also without universal credit so when you know the figures work out a new budget. It may be that it is not that much different from the old one. 
Then take your time deciding what is next and dont try to juggle too many new things at once. 
Firstly sort out an ISA - possibly an easy access one so that can be your emergency fund. 
Eldest sons driving lessons - this is going to be a major outlay - lessons, tests, his 1st car and the insurance so work out the figures 1st before you go ahead as it will be a shock! 
Then think about your own car - how long more will it last before it needs major work. 
Then the holiday - maybe this needs more long term planning if you are thinking of doing a major family holiday before the youngest goes to high school and the eldest to college but in the meantime plan some nice weekends away or family days out.



 

BlueberryPlum

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, it's appreciated. I do  feel guilty that I'll have to use my dad's hard earned savings to live on. As I've said, universal credits will finish which I relied heavily on plus my older son has just turned 18, finished college and therefore child benefit will stop and so will child maintenance. I always felt that inheritance should be spent on something amazing in honour of the person that has left it to you. My debt repayments aren't huge, it's 136 a month and yes if course I will be paying that off. I will put in the maximum amount into an ISA 20,000. The past year has been difficult, emotionally draining and it's all been very complex. I just hope I can make my dad proud. Thank you again

BlueberryPlum

HampshireH said:

Your social housing tenancy is valuable. Don't give it up easily and certainly not if you are unsure.

Remember it's going nowhere unless you screw it up and all the time you live there  someone else is paying for the repairs.

100k isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. I definitely wouldn't be considering buying the house with it without a better income not reliant on supplementary benefits. Not when it's a choice

This was my thought that yes I'd own my house but then I'd still need to find mortgage repayments and repair costs. Would I feel any more comfortable I don't think so. I've always felt embarrassed and not amounted to much because I don't own my own house or have a nice car. I've always worked right from when I was 15.

themadvix

Re using the inheritance for something amazing to honour your dad: it might not be your thing, but could you consider buying a life membership of something that you could use? When my nan died and left me some money, I used a portion of it to buy life membership of the National Trust - she wasn’t a member, but I always have been, but now I think of her every time I visit somewhere - especially the gardens as she was a keen gardener. I was inspired by my friend who had bought English heritage, NT and youth hostel association life memberships with an inheritance- so there are other options out there (and more besides, I’m sure). It is not something I could have afforded to buy without the inheritance, but it wasn’t all the money I was left, so it was the ‘something nice’ spend (the rest went into my ISA, mortgage and pension).

chrismevans

Have you tried a savings Notice account? doesn't lock you money away for like 12 months or so, but you do get a better rate of interest usually. I saw on Moneyfacts one for 4.61% with 180 days notice from The Stafford building society - srbs.co.uk notice 180 savings. There's plenty of others though

Ch1ll1Phlakes

BlueberryPlum said:

HampshireH said:

Your social housing tenancy is valuable. Don't give it up easily and certainly not if you are unsure.

Remember it's going nowhere unless you screw it up and all the time you live there  someone else is paying for the repairs.

100k isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. I definitely wouldn't be considering buying the house with it without a better income not reliant on supplementary benefits. Not when it's a choice

This was my thought that yes I'd own my house but then I'd still need to find mortgage repayments and repair costs. Would I feel any more comfortable I don't think so. I've always felt embarrassed and not amounted to much because I don't own my own house or have a nice car. I've always worked right from when I was 15.

Don't be embarrassed. You're working with what your financial situation allows and that is admirable.
Many people are in a much worse financial situation (in terms of debt) because they felt they needed to buy a big house or expensive car. 

You're doing your dad proud by making sensible financial decisions (which is obvious as you've wanted the forum to discuss it) and that honours his legacy as he was financially astute enough to be able to leave you a nice sum. Again, I echo thoughts of a membership or charity connection in your dad's honour but I'm sure he would have been glad that you managed to pay off your debts.