Advice needed re organising loans and eliminating debt

S

sanparom

Guest
Age: 33
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 34

Annual gross income from employment or profession: €44,083 (I also give grinds during the academic year which work out at roughly €100-€140 a week for around 15 weeks). My net fortnightly pay is €1197.
Annual gross income of spouse: €48,000
His net monthly pay is €2800

Type of employment: Education

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn - Spending more
(b) saving?

Rough estimate of value of home - € 200,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: € 190,000
What interest rate are you paying? - Not sure, sorry. It's variable, but can't remember rate.

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc - €20,000 with credit union, 9,000 Friends First, 7,500 bank. These are the amounts which are left on each loan.

1 credit card - 2,700

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? No. I usually only pay minimum payment!

Spouse's loans are approximately 27,000.

Savings and investments: no

Do you have a pension scheme? Provided by employer - comes out of salary.

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: N/A

Life insurance - €30 per month. Was previously over 100, but I couldn't afford that. I am recently married and have yet to add spouse to policy.

General outgoings
Esb - works out at roughly €15 a week.
Gas - in winter months (haven't used it at all over last few months) works out about €35 a week.
Phones - 100 a month for the two of us.
Bin charges - €25 a month
Magnet Entertainment (landline, phone, broadband) - €90 a month (paid by spouse)
House insurance (covered in property management bill, which I haven't paid in a while, but will be about €50 a month as I intend on setting up a direct debit soon).
Car insurance- €48 a month. Husband drives motorbike. Will have to double check how much he pays with him.
Tax - €90 every 3 months
Petrol - approx €30 a week
Food - approx €90 a week

I'm really looking for as much advice as I can get. I will ring MABS also, but I found this website tonight and thought that it might be worthwhile to ask for some advice here.

I know to a lot of you, I appear to be completely stupid. I am. I am a fool. I took out too many loans in my past - one time to furnish my new house, another time to set up a business (which subsequently failed. Was lucky I had taken a career break from permanent job), another time for a car. Silly, silly carry-on. I am now in the awful position where I cannot make ends meet. I am frequently left with no money just after I have been paid (I am paid fortnightly). I am a teacher and worked the past two summers all summer, but I couldn't get the same job this year. I applied for exam supervision, but didn't get it as I was silly and didn't send in my application form on time. I fully intend on doing this immediately in September.

We live in a 2 bed duplex apartment. It is tiny. There isn't enough room to swing a cat and I really don't like living here, but don't have the option to move elsewhere. I have suggested renting out the second room to my husband, but he says he doesn't like the idea of a stranger living in our house so that's a no-go.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice re which avenue I should take? I am extremely stressed out that I am in this situation at this point in my life (we would love to start trying for a baby now because of my age, but I know that bringing a baby into this situation would be crazy). I am very depressed about the mess I have gotten myself into and would be grateful for any help at all. Thank you.
 
Sorry, I forgot to add my house contents insurance which is nearly €11 a month and my health insurance which is €75 a month. Thanks.
 
Hi there,
I hope you are well, and I hope some of my advise will help.
First things first, step back while you think things are bad you are working and have potential for a second income so things are ok.

The second thing in terms of where you live, it may be small and you may not be happy there but at the moment there is nothing you can do, so really there is no point in complaining (sorry if I sound harsh).

Thirdly, in respect to having a baby and your age, if you feel the time is right (and trust me no one ever does really) then you should start, as you could be like us and not be able to have one!

In terms of suggestions, I think if you stood back from the finances a bit and started planning how to get out of this:
1) Establish how much you owe.
2) How much can you afford to pay
3) Can you approach your lenders to change some of the loan terms - it is my estimation that between you you owe 66K, if you paid roughly 1K a month in loan repayments - you could be debt free in 5 years.
4) Do you need two cars? Can you sell one of them and use public transport/cycle to get to work. I know plenty of people who do this, myself included.
5) Keep a spening diary.

Day to day expenses, the usual apply, shop in LIDL and ALDI, bring your lunches to work etc.

There are one or two things, have you looked at NTL - my bill for phone, TV and BB is approx €70 a month.
Your phones are about €100 a month each, to me that is alot of money. Can you get a ready to go, I would spend approx €30 per month on mine at a push.
Have a read of other money make over pages as these can have great tips on reducing bills.

Is there a chance you can get a second job? Even in a shop, I had two jobs for years and there were two good things about it, 1) I earned extra money and 2) While I was working I couldn't spend money!!

P..
 
For a 2 bed and 2 ofyou out working ESB could be cut back - make sure to switch off everything, switch bulbs to energy savers.
Also Gas is very high for a small place in the winter months. Turn the thermostat down a few degrees and put an extra layer on.
Food could be cut back to 50/60 eating well - bring lunches to work etc.
Landline and broadband is very high. I got a deal this week for €36/month with vodafone (always on BB, includes anytime calls to landlines in Ire and UK) so shop around.
Sky basic package is 22.
Can you list what you are paying off each loan, how much is the mortgage per month? Could you go interest only for 12 months and use the difference to clear loans.
Can you try to move the cc to one where you get 0% on balance transfer and cut it up until you clear it.
You are free now for 2 months so try to pick up some work and put anything you earn from that off loans.
Is there much of a balance in the CU of savings - would they allow a release of some to perhaps clear CC.
Car Ins is high enough - have you had an accident? mine has been about half that.

Spending diary is a must. Start it today.
Snow ball your loans using extra money you can free up. Pay the extra off one at a time rather than spread it - thus getting rid of them one by one.
You are in secure employment with a good wage coming in so with a little sacrifice you should get on top of things before too long.
good luck.
 
Hi there, thanks so much for your brilliant replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out!

I am definitely going to start a spending diary today. I started doing this a couple of years ago, but I didn't stick to it. I will stick to it now as I might have been in a better position now if I had kept at it then.

I think I will go to the credit union and ask them if they can do anything to help me (they are the best people for loans, or am I wrong?). I am just so scared of actually talking to anyone in person about this and I am afraid I will burst out crying.

pinkyBear, we only have one car. It's mine. Its a '01 Golf that I bought in 2004. Do you still think the insurance is too high? I rang around in March when I was renewing my insurance and that was the best quote I got. I forgot to mention that that money actually comes out of my salary so it is gone before I get the €1197 as it's teacher's insurance through Cornmarket Brokers. I don't think I can change that a few months into a policy, or can I? I will probably have to wait until next March!

Sometimes I go to Lidl and Aldi, but Tesco is closer and more convenient. I have to do the weekly shop later on today though so I will go to Lidl and bring a list and stick to it like I saw someone mention on another thread here!! :)

Our phone bills work out at around €100 together, so €50 each as we only use our phones for texts. I might look into changing to O2 cause I think they do a better deal on texts, but I also think I'm tied into my silly contract for about another 6 months!

My mother and I have done a bit of catering over the last few weeks for 21sts. For 1 party, we made about €220 each so that's great, but it's not regular money. I think you're right about finding a job for the next couple of months. My husband is going to Australia in a few weeks for work and will be gone for a while so I'll have lots of spare time on my hands.

niceoneted - I know, our ESB is a problem, but there's something wrong with our immersion and we haven't been able to afford to get a plumber out to fix it and whatever is wrong (I don't understand these things sorry) is increasing our bills (oh, and my husband loves to play computer games and spends a lot of time on the PC - would this be increasing costs a lot?). I think I'll try to put a bit of money aside over the next few weeks to cover the cost of a plumber cause you're right - the bill is excessive.

Re the gas, yes, that's another thing I noticed recently - the thermostat is too high at around 25, so for the winter, I'm going to move it way down. I have no problem putting on a few extra jumpers or walking around with a hot water bottle!! Anything to get some more money to pay those bills.

I will ask my husband to look into the broadband deals etc - he's a bit better at those kind of things than I am so he can deal with that before he goes away.

Re our costs...
Mortgage is currently €886 a month. Luckily, we have no arrears.
Credit union loan is costing me €300 every two weeks (a lot!!!).
Bank loan costs just over €72 every two weeks (this was a lot more, but I recently negotiated a deal with them - I know I'll pay more interest, but I just couldn't manage the other repayments at all).
Friends First loan was €311 every month, but I missed a few of these payments and was in arrears so they have just restructured loan for me to include arrears and I will now be paying just under €290 a month. This loan will be paid off in full in January 2013.

I applied for a new credit card the other day to move my balance to 0% so I have done that. Hopefully I'll get it. I have no idea what my credit rating is like at the moment. Years ago it was great - it's more than likely disastrous now.

There is about €2000 savings in the Credit Union. There was a bit more, but they used this last year (when I was still on my career break) to pay off a couple of the payments that I had missed.

I have to go now and pay the tv licence!! Pain in the neck, but has to be done. It just seems like there are neverending bills. I can't remember the last time we had a night out or I bought something for myself. Ah well, if I can get through this time in my life and be debt-free, it'll be worth it.

You have no idea how much I appreciate all of this help. Thank you both so much.
 
Hi Sanparom,
Regarding your shopping I found I always ended up in Tesco as closer and has more of the foods I like, but I end up spending a fortune when I go there. What I do now is go to Lidl for basic stuff - cat food, toilet roll, tea bags, cleaning products etc. I buy in bulk to save me having to go back regularly and then just shop the rest of the time in Tescos.

You can still save a lot by buying a good bit of your monthly shopping in Lidl.
 
Hi Scotsgirl, thanks for that. I'm going out now so will head to Lidl. I'll definitely pick up all the basics there (my husband told me before not to buy the washing powder in Lidl anymore cause he didn't think it was as good. I think that's all in his head though!). I also have to meet a friend later on. I haven't seen her in a while, but I'm going to be good and just have a cup of tea and no food!

Thanks a mill and I'll let ye know how I get on with my spending diary.
 
From what you have listed as money going out your wages will cover it no problem

I have calculate it monthly
In 2394 you 2800 husband. total 5194

Out
Mortgage and loans 1631 (what is your husband paying for his loans)

Food, bills etc 923 ( I have put 300 down as monthly food which should be loads and I have not included car ins as it already comes out).

SO apart form what you husband might be paying on loans there is 2640 left at the end of the month. I suspect at least 1000 of this will be for husbands loans but you'll need to clarify.
Do you keep your finances separate? If so you need to set up a joint account to cover bills and common expenses I would think.
 
I used to think that the washing powder wasn't very good in Lidl either until I started trying some of them out and found one that was just as good as the more expensive brands. Also the fabric conditioner is great. 99c a large bottle I think it is. You have to smell a lot of them first as some of the fragrances are awful. They do have a couple that are fine and my clothes smell really nice.
 
I'm all for the Aldi washing tablets and fabric softener. And their fruit and veg and meat. I do Tesco only for things I can't get there, like Skimmed milk (why don't Aldi do it) or Lyons teabags.
Good luck with your spending diary. Also don't keep much cash on you, it's amazing how you spend less when you have less on you...... I bring lunch to work and this week I have the same fiver in my wallet since Monday morning!
 
You need to tell your husband that you need to rent the spare room for a while until finances improve. You've no choice. I did it before and it work out really well. It was also a lifesaver financially. You need to get a job during the summer. Any job. And continue to when you go back to school. It should be easier for you compared to other people considering your hours of work/holidays. Sell one car and get the bus or cycle. Have a clear out and sell on eBay. You'd be surprised the amount you'd make. Plug out all appliances and use the lights/heating very sparingly. You're in a very fortunate position that you could go back to a secure job after your business failing. Most people don't have that luxury so keep the chin up. You've plenty of years left to have a baby, by the way!! You're only 33.
 
Hi legallady, thanks for your advice.

I mentioned the spare room to him again, but he's having none of it. I can't force him into it so I guess I'm just going to have to let that one lie for the time being. I've often thought of the ebay thing, but I never got round to doing anything about it. Maybe I could focus on that over the next few days. I have LOADS of clothes I never wear so I could chance selling them. Thanks for that tip.

I went to the shops yesterday, but I only bought very little as (I completely forgot about this when I was posting yesterday - am a dope!) I'm going home to my parents' house for the weekend so I didn't need to have any extra food in the house. I only bought enough to cover us for yesterday and today so I was happy I didn't buy any bottles of wine or anything that we didn't need. Am definitely going to keep that up. I think it'll make a real difference to the food bill.

Will let you all know what happens with everything else and the credit union etc. Thanks again for all the help.
 
you mention that your husband has 27K of loans. Is that separate to the 20K (Credit Union),9k (bank) and 7.5K (Friends First) of loans that you have. If so how is he managing with them?
 
Hi Sanparom,

You husband does not want to rent out the room to a stranger and I can understand that as it is a permanent invasion of privacy really.

How would he feel about foreign students over to learn english for a few weeks? My mother has done this in the past and it worked out really well. Usually it was french or spanish students over for 3 weeks or so. You are paid for lodging them directly from their english college. Talk to him about this for the summer.
 
Hi goingforgold... Yes, his loans are separate to the ones I took out (we're both very foolish people!!). We will NEVER take another loan out again (even for a car). We learnt the hard way unfortunately. I know we have the advantage of still having our jobs though, which a lot of people aren't lucky enough to have nowadays. I'm very thankful for that.

dmos - I hadn't thought about the foreign students at all. I'll say this to him this evening. I wonder could I apply now or would it be too late? It might be an option especially seeing as he won't be here for a few weeks (away with work) so he couldn't really mind too much if it was just me looking after them on my own? I'll definitely check it out later. Thanks for the suggestion.

Well, I went home to my parents' house this weekend and only spent money on petrol so I'm really happy with that. Will try to make some progress with the Credit Union this week. Thanks again everyone.
 
There is also gumtree.ie, where by you can do short term lets (1-2 nights).. We used to do that and found it was very good....
 
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