ANY help would be gratefully received. Desperate times

dopester

jue3107 wrote: »

The house is probably worth about £190k and the total mortgage now is £152k. I could sell, get £35k after fees and pay off some of what I owe and then try to get somewhere smaller, but I'm desperately trying to avoid that at the moment as there aren't any properties in the area we live that are in that price bracket and if we move my son would have to move school and lose touch with all his friends. After going through the trauma of his parents divorcing, I really don't want to isolate him at this important time of his life.

I feel for you.... but were it me I'd be selling the house. However I realise it might be quite painful and shocking to have to sell your home - leaving you will little left over (after debts) and having to sort out somewhere new to live.

Yet seems to me if you continue without drastic action being taken, the decision might be taken out of your hands. You don't have to buy a new property - you could always rent.

Also you might want to consider that it is entirely feasible that house prices could drop significantly this year and 2009... putting you in an even worse position. Haven't we just had 4 months of reported property price falls... on average loss of £38 per day in February.

I can't really see many other options (unless your ex-husband is willing to settle things in your favour - your parents take you in - you win lottery). Sometimes we have to take difficult decisions which meet the reality of the situation.

Merlot

I wouldn't know about the plug, I don't pull mine out, I have never thought about it to be honest.

One thing you could possibly look into, regarding your endowment polices, is the mis-selling of them, take a look at Martins advice regarding this, and if you think you have been missold them, claim. Thousands of people have including me and I got over £6000 back.

I'll find the link and post it here once I find it. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/endowments-miss-sold

Merlot.x.

jue3107

Thanks Dopester - I think that is probably the option that I'm going to have to follow. Essentially start again from scratch. My ex isn't in a position to be able to help me. My Dad lives in a tiny bungalow with only just enough room for him and I don't do the lottery LOL perhaps I should!!

Thanks Merlot - I have wondered about the mis-selling of endowments but they have all been surrendered now so I don't suppose that I would be able to do anything now. And most of those are from the early 1990s when we bought our first 2 houses so they are probably out of the equation now.

Merlot

Jue, I claimed on my endowments 3 years after I sold them. I had Standard Life polices.

One letter I wrote, 4 lines long and within 2 weeks, the money was in my account...try, it won't cost you anything.

Merlot.x.

Merlot

One thing to bear in mind, if you are success, will you have to give half to your Ex?

Merlot.x.

jue3107

Mine were all Standard Life policies too - one or two of them sold through the Halifax when we took out our mortgage.

I'll definitely look into it - I thought it was a lot more complicated than that.

If I am successfull I would have to give my ex half but it would still make a big dent in my credit card bills.

Jue x

jue3107

I haven't even mentioned that the mortgage is with Northern Rock have I? Great!!

bikerangel

For your mobile check out some "SIM only" deals so you're not getting charged for a new phone which you probably don't need. I have just more than halved my monthly bill changing to a SIM only with the same provider. Tarrifs I have seen with O2 and Orange are less than your current cost.
Have you got any old mobiles hanging around that you can make some money from by recycling?
Good Luck.

jue3107

Thanks - I didn't know about sim only deals. The phone I've got is more than good enough for what I need so I definitely don't need a new one. The contract is up on it at the beginning of May so I'll start looking around. My current one is with Orange.

Unfortunately, I haven't got any old ones that are worth anything as they are usually battered by the time I've finished with them - clumsy!!

firesidemaid

you can ask to go interest only whilst you are on a fixed deal - all it means is that the bank still get their interest, whilst you do not pay anything off the capital for the time being. they have no reason not to agree in theory (i once thought about it when my circumstances changed and the bank had no probs)

we have a large house and i think we pay a lot of gas/elec at £80 a month.

get payg for a phone - therefore really to receive calls only. or see martins' mobile article re. threatening to leave and therefore getting a £10/month deal, although still too much if you don't really use it to make calls.

freeview for tv, £10 for bt landline. there will be a b/band article on here too. i have followed the phones article on here and get free evening/weekend calls to landlines with primus and then use 18185 for daytime lline calls (no more than 5p total) and 3p/6p min to mobiles.

you can earn up to £4000 or so a year tax free from renting a room out - could you let your bigger room to gain the money.

do you have anything you can ebay to raise cash?

good luck for now x