feel like i cant get out of this hole im in

hungryanteater

hi all, first time poster here.

since i bought my house in 2004 (when i had dragged myself out of my last credit hole) it seems to have got worse and worse. old debts caught up with me (due to buying a house and being registered - my own fault i know).

was stung by bailiffs for council tax in 04 that i had to out on a credit card id just transferred. also missold a loan by lloyds tsb (got it refinanced without insurance but no complaint was upheld) and various other stuff.

in oct 2006, i went to payplan who are managing almost all of my debt bar council tax and utilities. that element is fine. have my mortgage with northern rock and have been paying interest only for about 18 months. losing my job and having no job luck in 04/05 has really crippled me.

tried to move my mortgage to natwest who declined me on credit scoring. i know it is bad - but am awaiting a report to see how bad.

so, im stuck with a high interst only mortgage i cant move from, and am struggling to keep up to date with all my payments month on month - robbing peter to pay paul.

tried asking for a payrise at work, but my company is very tight and pushing the issue will leave me the wrong side of the dole queue. dont drive so am very limited to local work.

not sure if anyone will have any advice for me - and very aware this is rambly but im all ears to anyone who has any thoughts/ideas etc before i go totally insane.

thanks all

newmoneysaver_2

Hi hungryanteater.

I can;t offer any advise on the mortgage front, but I am sending you hugs.:grouphug:

Have a look at the sticky for first time posters - here. Pop up a statement of affairs (All your income, outgoings, debt aprs etc...) and the lovely people here will offer their pearls of wisdom - hopefully they will help you free up some spare money to make things a little easier.

nimbo

hi,
i'm not so good at the technical stuff, but there are people on here who are.
they'll ask you to post a statemnt of affairs so they can try to see of they can save you money.
it's just a list of how much you earn, and how much you have going out.
the idea is that people will help steer you in the right direction of how/where to save money.

your in the right place, and everyone here will do all they can to help.

ticklepenny_2

Charcol Mortgages can be very hekpful for people with credit problems 0800 085 7523 - Hope this helps

Karmacat

Hello HAE

Welcome to mse. You're right to post! The reason people are referring to a Statement of Affairs, is that very often we get so caught up in our own stuff, we can't see the obvious ways to save. If you get the information together, and post it up in one place, others will have a chance to say, hang on, you're spending that there, did you know you can do the same thing at half price, that sort of thing. So give it a go, its a lot to take on, but it really can make your life a lot better, gradually.

Take care of yourself - and keep posting.

immoral_angeluk

If I were in your situation I would seriously consider selling the house and downsizing. Do you have any equity? If so you could use it to pay off your debt and rent, or you could could get a smaller place and cut down your outgoings, using the equity as deposit.
It would be worth speaking to an independant financial adviser on the mortgage front as the high street lenders will just reject you, especially with a bad rating at the credit crunch at the moment.

hungryanteater

thanks newmoneysaver......situation is as follows:

mortgage - £566.00 per month INTEREST ONLY (var rate at mo due to Northern Rock advising me to look elsewhere for deals - looks like im gonna have to go back to them)

Gas/Elec - paying back old bills at £100 per month - should be up to date by Xmas

payplan - £100 per month (incl. all old cred card/student loan debt)

council tax - £70 per month PLUS £100 old debt p/mth between now and October

mobile phone - £30 per month just signed new deal for this. cant go anywhere else due to bad credit and provider wont quote me any lower.

water - £11.19 per month starting April

Bank Account Charge - £12 per month not looked into cancelling this as i have overdraft with bank at moment, not sure if they can do it. know i should but not done as yet

home phone + basic cable package - £10 per month owe £38 in back debt to be repaid instantly

broadband - £25 per month owe £50 in back debt to be paid ASAP

food shopping - £80-100 per month

food at work - £15 per month generally come home for lunch to save money but cant get away all the time

smokes - £35 per month dont smoke as much as i used to, but cant quit just yet....too stressed

prescriptions - £7 per month

drinks - £20 per month a bottle of wine a week

tv licence - £12 per month (ish)

Salary takehome is £1220 per calendar month

been reviewing my statements and i am quite rubbish with my money but always seem to have something crop up on a monthly basis, dentist, additional prescriptions, travel through work that any surplus is eaten up and then some.

help would be hugely appreciated thanks!!

hungryanteater

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

If I were in your situation I would seriously consider selling the house and downsizing. Do you have any equity? If so you could use it to pay off your debt and rent, or you could could get a smaller place and cut down your outgoings, using the equity as deposit.
It would be worth speaking to an independant financial adviser on the mortgage front as the high street lenders will just reject you, especially with a bad rating at the credit crunch at the moment.

my house is the smallest thing you have ever seen - 2 bed, front room, kitchen and bathroom. thats it, i have contemplated selling up but as i owe £90k on my mortgage (incl. early redemption) and i only think i'd get £95-100 in the current climate, it seems like a last ditch move. also, want my girlfriend to move in later this year (she in council house at mo) so really want something for us for the future. did contemplate moving in with her and renting this out but i wouldnt get the amount for the mortgage so would still be paying out. thanks for the advice however, its deffo somethign to take on board...

hungryanteater

one more thought, and dont know if anyone knows the answer to this, but i moved banks from lloydstsb about 18 months ago and while i still pay to them (o/d, loan and c/c) through payplan woudl it be worth trying to get bank charges back from them as it would be a VERY substantial amount.
thanks in advacne

dancingfairy

Have you looked at the pre-payment prescription thing? It says if you get more than 3 prescriptions in a month it will work out cheaper. Definitely worth considering. Link here:
http://www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/ppc_intro.htm

Council tax - is that £170 a month? or £70 a month and £100 that has to be paid back overall?

Bank account charge? What is this for? you really should look at cancelling this. Generally they provide insurance etc which you could get cheaper if you bought them seperately.

Food at work? you really need to be taking sandwiches in and a pack of crisps/piece of fruit. Make sandwiches night before if necessary or take in bread and filling and keep at work in fridge?

Do you need a pay monthly mobile? if you have home phone can you just use mobile on PAYG? and keep it really low?

How much on phone calls on landline - add this in please.

Food shopping - have a look at old style and see if you can reduce this at all.

Good luck. I reckon it is doable to get yourself out of this situation. It will be tough but I reckon you will get there if you knuckle down.

MissEyre

Certainly sounds like it's worth a shot-there is a board for reclaiming bank charges, so I think they should be able to give you some advice about it

I know you say your house is small, but if you have two bedrooms, why not look at letting the second bedroom out to a lodger? The money would be tax free and could make a huge difference, even if it's only for six months or so. When your girlfriend moves in, will she be able to make a contribution to the household expenses?