Help...I think im sinking!!??

poolclan

I feel as if im sinking, my beautiful wife is having our child next month and i'm desperate to sort out finances

My SOA per month

Mortgage £102000 £ 900 (with n rock std rate)
C tax £200
Car insurances £58.95
Home Insurance £39.10
Cat Insurance £5.99+£7.99
Virgin phone B/B £47.84
Sky digital £22.5
Car loan £135.52
Electricity £20
Gas £43
TV £11.61
Petfood £12.95
Shopping £280
Secured loan £250
eggloan (£3717) £95.6
barclaycard(£1317) £50
vanq card (230) £11
capital one card (180)£9
all od (£295) £25
tsb loan(2600) £118.25
home learn college £50
petrol £110
mfone £10
We both bring in earnings totalling £2443.41 per month

My credit rating isnt great at the moment so cant shift debts about, Is there any way out of this mess. Our lives are going to have major changes in the next few months especially with maternity leave for my wife, do mortgage companies give mortgage holidays for maternity for a month or two?


A worried pool clan!

pania

Firstly hello and welcome to the boards, you're in the right place for the help that you need and i am sure you will get lots of help and see you're way out of this.

I've made some comments below in red to help you see where and if you can cut back anyplace.

poolclan wrote: »

I feel as if im sinking, my beautiful wife is having our child next month and i'm desperate to sort out finances

My SOA per month

Mortgage £102000 £ 900 (with n rock std rate) N rocks variable rate is currently 7.69% ouch! Even with a slightly dodgy credit rating i would speak to an Independant advisor who can advise you on a remortgage for JUST the current outstanding mortgage amount. Even on a slight adverse product you should find a cheaper rate than this. If you're last default or problems was over a year ago there is a high street lender that may accept you. Have a look at martins guide and see what you can do. this may free up some money to put towards your debts but please please please DO NOT consolidate your debts to the mortgage.
C tax £200 This seems very high. Are you currently clearing arrears, If not again have a look at martins guide on assessing if you're property is in the right band. If youy are due your 2 months free on this then that will help you.
Car insurances £58.95
Home Insurance £39.10 looking a tad expensive this one. Look for comparissons on quidco (www.quidco.co.uk) to see if you can find it cheaper and get the benefit of cashback to.
Cat Insurance £5.99+£7.99
Virgin phone B/B £47.84|
Sky digital £22.5 | Can these 2 be combined for a cheaper deal? can you switch to freeview? are you in a contract with either? If not, be cheeky! call and threaten to leave if they don't offer you something cheaper, usually gets a result...:D
Car loan £135.52 Whats the APR on this hon? amount outstanding? how long left?
Electricity £20
Gas £43
TV £11.61
Petfood £12.95
Shopping £280 How many people does this feed? i have a feelin this can easily be cut down. have a look at the old style board for ideas and do an itinerary of your cupboards and freezer, i'm pretty sure you would be surprised how much you have, Try to avoid buying fruit and veg in supermarkets, v expensive, look at local farm shops etc to see how the cost compares.
Secured loan £250 Please forgive me for saying this, usually when people take a secured loan it is as things were getting tight. Have you run the debt up again since this time? I have a feeling the imminent birth of your child has made you think that you can't carry on running up the debt and good for you if so...
eggloan (£3717) £95.6 Can you tell us the apr's, outstanding amounts, time running and current available limits on the credit cards for all of these debts listed? you may be able to balance transfer onto the lower of the apr cards to cut down on the interest you are paying and free up some money.
barclaycard(£1317) £50
vanq card (230) £11
capital one card (180)£9
all od (£295) £25
tsb loan(2600) £118.25
home learn college £50
petrol £110
mfone £10
We both bring in earnings totalling £2443.41 per month
Outgoings of £2514.30
Defecit of £70.89

Ok, so we need to do something about this quickly, This is without provision for christmas birthdays clothing haircuts etc etc.
Do you have anything currently that you can ebay or amazon?
Would you consider disposing of the car and getting a cheaper run around at all?
I think looking at the remortgage is a definate possibility to try to get a cheaper (and whats more, a stable) interest rate so you can free some money each month to hammer that debt down.

My credit rating isnt great at the moment so cant shift debts about, Is there any way out of this mess. Our lives are going to have major changes in the next few months especially with maternity leave for my wife, do mortgage companies give mortgage holidays for maternity for a month or two?
You'd need to have a look at the terms of your original mortgage offer for this. Northern rock do usually allow payment holidays, occasionally on the proviso that you have previously overpaid the mortgage. Look at your copy of the offer, it should tell you on there, usually towards the end somewhere.


A worried pool clan!

I hope some of these ideas have helped slightly, also take a read of some of the diaries on here, Hypni's in particular is full of money making ideas and inspiration!!!

Good luck, always here if you need us. xx

bathgatebuyer

In agreement with the above post - my credit record was damaged after having mortgage arrears a few years back when I was out of work. I had to move from my previous lender, RBoS, and went to GMAC. Although sub-prime, I pay 6.45% at the moment which is fixed for another year at which point I want to try and move back to the 'prime' market (if any of them will have me ha ha!)

Merlot

poolclan wrote: »

I feel as if im sinking, my beautiful wife is having our child next month and i'm desperate to sort out finances

My SOA per month

Mortgage £102000 £ 900 (with n rock std rate)
C tax £200 This is high, can you spread over 12 months instead of 10
Car insurances £58.95
Home Insurance £39.10 - again this is high, look at comparison sites for cheaper rates
Cat Insurance £5.99+£7.99
Virgin phone B/B £47.84
Sky digital £22.5 - get rid, you won't have time once the baby arrives
Car loan £135.52
Electricity £20
Gas £43
TV £11.61
Petfood £12.95
Shopping £280 - This is too high for 2 adults and even the newborn when it arrives
Secured loan £250
eggloan (£3717) £95.6
barclaycard(£1317) £50
vanq card (230) £11
capital one card (180)£9
all od (£295) £25
tsb loan(2600) £118.25
home learn college £50
petrol £110
mfone £10
We both bring in earnings totalling £2443.41 per month

My credit rating isnt great at the moment so cant shift debts about, Is there any way out of this mess. Our lives are going to have major changes in the next few months especially with maternity leave for my wife, do mortgage companies give mortgage holidays for maternity for a month or two?


A worried pool clan!

Hello Poolclan,

I am pleased to see you have posted your SOA.

I have put a few comments in the above, if you credit rating isn't great I suggest you have a look at Martins advice regarding Mortgages, I'll get the link in a mo.

As regards to Northern Rock mortgage, i thought with NR you had to overpay in order to take a payment holiday, but phone and check, it could be worth your while.

Is the salary quoted, taking into account your wife's salary or SMP?

Can I also suggest that you look at the CCCS website, it has lots of useful info on there and maybe call them, its free and they may be able to offer you some advice. http://www.cccs.co.uk/

Merlot.x.

Heres a wee bit from an article Martin has written, I copied and pasted it, I can fully recommend L & C, they maybe able to help, its a phone call. Charcoal may even be able to help.


There are many great local, small, fees-free, whole-of-market brokers in the UK. Find one in the phone book, give them a call, ask the questions and then go face to face, that way. Obviously, it's impossible for me to review every one of them, so I've concentrated on the four predominant UK-wide mortgage brokers; Charcol, Savills, Chase de Vere Mortgages and London & Country. All are true ‘whole of market' operators, the difference is in their charges.
Of these London & Country</U> is fees free for all its operations and Charcol is fees-free via its special Charcol Direct phone service; though not for in person advice. Do beware though, Charcol's online service, while also being free, uses a panel of lenders rather than being truly whole-of-market; so you’re better off going to it on the phone.
Special Note for those with Credit Problems

If you’ve had credit problems whether mild or severe (see Your Credit Rating article) and are trying to sort a mortgage; be very wary of going to the ‘specialist poor credit’ brokers who advertise everywhere. These are often very expensive and charge high fees as their customers tend to think that’s all they can get. There’s absolutely no need to go to a specialist though; most normal brokers also deal with what’s called the ‘sub-prime’ market too and at the same fee rates as they normally charge. So simply follow the guidance above to pick a broker.