New Here - drowning in debts and desperate for advice!

SuzySu

Not many around today Married Mum.....must be the glimpse of sun after all the rain we have been having. It does get a lot busier during the week and you will get some great advice so hang in there.

Horace

MM2 would it not be better to stop paying rent on a place in Hammersmith? An hour's colmmute isn't too bad, I once lived in London and used to commute to my job in Birmingham which is considerably more than an hour's drive. It would certainly be cheaper for you if you did that and Oyster cards in London are not that expensive as you can at least top them up and they can be used on the trains and buses.

Something has to give and it seems pointless to pay rent that you can't afford. Knowing the financial situation perhaps your OH should compromise and perhaps make an effort to then be home earlier or at least spend weekends with his family, he is the boss.

Have you thought of contacting one of the debt-advice charities? They should be able to give you some advice on how to control your debt and pay off creditors. I think that there is one that is quoted frequently called CCCs - no doubt someone will be along soon to tell you more.

There are ways to make free money and that is to sign up for surveys as well as mystery shops - you only need to buy a small chocolate bar and you will be rewarded with £10. Try and join in with the make £10 a day challenge - everyone is supportive and know plenty of ways of making money. Have you clothes to sell if so, sell them on ebay or at a carboot (I appreciate that in Hammersmith or South London this is not so easy). Certainly, the moneysaving old style forum on MSE is a valuable resource for clever shopping and cooking. Try looking at some of the comparison sites for insurance and then go through Quidco and get some money back. Sign up for freebies too - sometimes there are some good ones to be had.

HTH.

PasturesNew

Even in Hammersmith, there are a LOT cheaper places than what you're paying:

Cheapest 2-bed house £1333/month http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17983531.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=rent

Even this 3-bed whole house all to yourself is "only" £1720 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-20986439.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=rent

There are a lot of different issues here. Drawing down £3000 as a Director's Loan every month is something to be done under the direction of an accountant as it could easily be fraught with future danger.

Can the business sub-let any of its space?

Can staff hours/duties be rearranged to free your husband up, say, 2-3 days a week to get home earlier? If you can ditch the London rent then somebody at the business could be paid a good extra sum to take on more responsibility perhaps. Save £2500 rent by paying somebody an extra £100/week.

Dithering_Dad

Just followed you over from your other thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=963665

I have to say that this is a problem of your own making and I really can't feel much sympathy for you now that I've seen your SOA. You simply would not have any debts (or negative equity) if your husband either rented a room in london (around £500 pm) or did the 1hr commute. This alone would free up £1883 per month to throw at your debts.

Your husband seem to want his cake and eat it - with a huge income but no sacrifices to get it.

I earn about the same as your hubby. I get up at 5:15am every monday and travel down to London where my current client is based. I live in my tiny bedsit during the week and travel home on Friday, getting in at about 8pm. It's a sacrifice for both myself and my wife (and the kids), but we do it because we're building a business that will secure our family finances for life.

A few years of doing the same and you'll have paid off your debts, paid down your mortgage to the point that you won't be in neg. equ. when you sell it and you'll be able to move your family to Hammersmith close to your husband.

I'm sorry but compared to some of the tough decisions a lot of people have to make on the DFW forum, yours really doesn't seem to be that hard. In fact, I wonder if this is a wind up?

beingjdc

Erm. How did you get a total of £600k in mortgages on an actual salaried income of £6000 a year? I make that a 100x salary multiple.

That, I think, may be the source of the problem. Anyway, I've posted in your original thread. Short of moving back into the original house but keeping a lodger, I'm not sure what can be done.

Merlot

I going to be harsh here, this situation can be easily sorted if you moved out of your rented home and moved back into the mortgage property, my OH commutes 4 hours a day for much less than your OH, we have two children who he doesn't see much off, its just the way it has to be, you cannot have your cake and eat it, I'm sorry, usually I would be offering hugs etc, but I cannot in this case, this could be very easily sorted out, you need to get back to reality and start thinking about the fact you are about to lose your mortgaged home, wouldn't it be better for Daddy to commute than to lose your home

beingjdc

Merlot I don't see how that 'easily solves' it. I agree that this is a bad time for someone with hardly any income to be in buy-to-let, but moving back would, in cashflow terms, save them £200 a month.

£200 a month is quickly eaten up in commuting costs (that's probably the price of a railcard from 1 hour away from London to London) and even removal costs to shift their stuff back there.

EXPAT_2

£6397 per month income?

How the heck does someone get into debt on those earnings!

:mad:

Merlot

I know its not ideal, but if the OH has his own business could he not bed down there for the night, not for the long term but just to get them out of the immediate pickle they are in, and if they moved back to the 4 bedroom house, maybe they could let a room out to bring extra in or take in a foreign exchange student, they have options available to them, if they get repro they are going to be in a worst state financially with the negative equity etc.

beingjdc

EXPAT wrote: »

£6397 per month income?

How the heck does someone get into debt on those earnings!

:mad:

Well, £5535 housing costs, so net disposable income £860 a month.

Which is less than the £1300 after tax and housing that I have as a single man with no family, though more than twice what I actually live on.

The worrying thing is the revelation that £3000 a month is a loan, so the base cashflow here is negative £2140 before bills and living costs.

Essentially the business either turns around or it doesn't, I think, the actual measures to be taken are about staving off the otherwise inevitable for long enough to make that happen.