In over my head

This too shall pass, and dont forget that.[/QUOTE]

that is a phrase that i have repeated to myself many times in both good and bad times - i think its a thought we should all dwell on a little more
 
Thanks. We had looked at that option, but rent is high, higher than our mortgage in the area friends and family live.

Have you spoken to your local CWO in social welfare - would you be eligible for rent allowance if you did manage to sell your house - with no income from either of you maybe thats something to think about?

Also - can you get any help from social welfare in the current situation, without selling the house? I know a family where both parents lost their jobs and went onto welfare and there is some assistance they have received on the mortgage as well.
 
We have been advised to apply for mortgage supplement from CWO. Have the forms, signed by the bank and I am terrified of going down, incase he says no (I know that is stupid, but it will be the end of the road regarding our roof if that is the case). As far as I know you cannot have your house up for sale if you want to apply/receive this allowance.
 

Go down. See what he says. At the moment its in stasis - some action is better than the fear of any action.

If you get the mortgage supplement you will mentally feel a lot better that SOMETHING has been addressed and changed.

Would you make any money if you sold the house? How much is it worth Vs how much is left on the mortgage?
 
We borrowed 215,000, it is worth around 180,000 (possibly less now).

What do you mean by statis? Income only from SW.
 
I just meant that any action is better than no action, both practically and mentally. I know its hard to face up to the various difficult tasks and decisions, but its actually better to do so because hiding from them makes them seem much worse and much harder to do in the long run. But I completely understand why you feel the way you do!!

So its not worth selling in terms of using the money to pay off anything else. Well, for now, see what the CWO says, as mentioned already things wont be like this forever, but you need a break.
 
If you are both only in receipt of social welfare and have no other means then you will get the mortgage interest supplement from the CWO. If you are working with MABS the CWO may also help out with an exceptional needs payment in some instances. Once they see you are trying to help yourself they will try their best to help. All you can do is ask if they say no you will not be any worse off. I have my own money problems at present but they pale in comparison. I wish you well.
 
the samaratins are always at the end of the phone too penny-less..
i found this free phone number in case you need to chat to someone..
1850 609090

 
Thanks again. I am heading down to the CWO now, dreading it completely, but sure if I don't ask, I won't get.
 
You are not alone

Hi Penny Less

You are not alone in this, neither am I or the thousands of good honest people who put their faith in the people we voted for. People whom are paid vasts amounts of money to run the country and guide and advise the people of Ireland in the best course of action they should take in various situations ie: buying their homes etc. We made decisions at the time to the best of our abilities which were largly based on the message our experts were giving out.

If we knew then what we know now about the reckless decisions etc made by both government and banks, a lot of us would not have thrown away our good hard earned money on extremely over priced houses, even the very modest small homes like my own, we certainly wouldn't have paid good money to buy into businesses that unknowns to us were about to lose it's market because of the recession that was about to hit like a hurricane, even though my research at the time told me the business had been very successful for many years.

I, like yourself have overdraft debts, small business loans and credit card debt which I am not ignoring but have not managed to neg repayments due to our bank waiting for us to get our walfare payments sorted etc. We have finally managed to get €86/week in mortgage supplement so we now need to go back to our creditors and arrange some sort of repayment plan. The repayment will be extremely small even though the two credit card companies I wrote to won't accept my minimum payment.

Penny Less, I have absolutely no idea how we are going to pay even a small sum each month and the interest they are all refusing to freeze is climbing every day. When this happened first, I suffered the most severe anxiety ever, I drank very awful cheap vodca from tescos to get away from the crippling fear i had each day but which only esclated my fears etc. I have since stopped this distructive behaviour, eat healthly, work each day on my gratatude, continually turn negitive thoughts into positive ones, do small amounts of exercise, put aside each week small sums to cover esb, tele etc, put small sums in credit union to cover up coming car tax/ins tv licence etc.

I joined library, keep two inspirational books by my bed and dip into them both morning and night. I have gotton rid of 80% of the stress but my circumstance remain similar. I also live hours away from family whom i cannot see very often as can't afford the petrol but thats life for now. I will cope with what ever the future holds I know that now as long as I keep a healthy mind. Yes of course the banks/credit card companies are going to shout for their money and take me to court if I am not paying enough. But Its only court - I am an intellegent woman and I can deal with it. If the judge asks me to pay over a sum (which needs to be affordable to the person being judged) I will make sure I pay up. If the judge happens to be a big bad unfair wolf and decides to send me to jail - I am a happy person and I will deal with that too.

Penny wise, if you understand and believe that no matter what happens, you will deal with it - well then you have no fear, no stress. yes thats easier said than done but if you work towards that state of mind each hour/day/week and focus on what you can do to improve your state of mind you will eventually develope the good habits as easily as we have developed the bad habits of negativity in the past. Smile and be happy. Keep talking.
 
Mental health - all of the above is minor compared to looking after your mental health - please talk to people if you are feeling suicidal - its not an answer, its something that would have a terrible effect on many people around you.

Yes, I agree with you. Not wanting to sound too cliché but suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
 
Just to update this for those that gave me the support when I needed it. I am doing fantastically well. I am no longer in that dark place and I am working with MABS now, a huge relief.

My only worry now is heating my house for the winter, however this is a very small worry compared to what used to be in my head.
 
Good stuff. Best of luck with everything and I'm sure everything will work out for you. As someone else mentioned above, it's only money.