Dealing with debts/arrears (was a query about TV/broadband!)

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

I agree. I do however open mail so i see my TFA Certs every year. I have to ask for my P60's also, but i did get them.
I have asked him to give me payslips, but he said he can do one up on word and its as simple as that. But im not sure thats sufficient. Its not going to show up my cummilative gross or tax etc.
I earn 18,500 a year. I get paid weekly so I get 355.77 gross, and 339.81 net. But not sure if im due to pay PRSI

These are the type of problems i am having, like before going on holidays he wasnt going to pay me my holiday pay before i leave etc, he said to me 2 days before the holiday you have a nice surprise in the bank. When i checked he decided after all to give me my holiday pay, but as far as im concerned its not really a surprise because i was due them all along.
This morning i asked him about my wages today, he said he will look into it, 3 hours later i asked him has he looked into it, he said no, and to remind him later. Now he is gone out and may not be back for another 2 hours etc.
He is not consistent or on top of things when it comes to holidays, days off, wages etc. I dont even get paid time and a half, or the rates you work when working bank holidays, we work around europe so i cant take our public holidays off, i get whatever country we are working in public holidays, but sometimes i lose out that way and public holidays are not balancing out etc. I just have to get out.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

scully said:

I have to ask for my P60's also, but i did get them.

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I presume you meant "did not"?

I have asked him to give me payslips, but he said he can do one up on word and its as simple as that. But im not sure thats sufficient. Its not going to show up my cummilative gross or tax etc.

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Even an ad-hoc payslip would do but it should show gross, deductions (tax, PRSI etc.) and net. Anything else is insufficient and in breach of the employer's obligations. Note that, apart from the fact that they are a statutory entitlement to the employee and obligation on the employer to provide, if/when you come to applying for a mortgage payslips and P60s will be extremely important.

I earn 18,500 a year. I get paid weekly so I get 355.77 gross, and 339.81 net. But not sure if im due to pay PRSI

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Assuming you are single Karl Grabe's tax calculator estimates that your net weekly pay should be €330.27 with tax of €16.35 and PRSI of €9.15. It's possible that the PRSI figure is wrong if you are not actually on Class A1 PRSI (since this is the only one that the calculator deals with/assumes - I suspect that you might actually be on Class AX) which would suggest that your net may be more or less correct.

These are the type of problems i am having, like before going on holidays he wasnt going to pay me my holiday pay before i leave etc, he said to me 2 days before the holiday you have a nice surprise in the bank. When i checked he decided after all to give me my holiday pay, but as far as im concerned its not really a surprise because i was due them all along.
This morning i asked him about my wages today, he said he will look into it, 3 hours later i asked him has he looked into it, he said no, and to remind him later. Now he is gone out and may not be back for another 2 hours etc.
He is not consistent or on top of things when it comes to holidays, days off, wages etc. I dont even get paid time and a half, or the rates you work when working bank holidays, we work around europe so i cant take our public holidays off, i get whatever country we are working in public holidays, but sometimes i lose out that way and public holidays are not balancing out etc. I just have to get out.

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Sounds to me like you do need to find a new job alright.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

If he sorted out properly running the business and his only employee then things could be alot better, and i could enjoy it a bit more.

Combining my other threads i have decided to continue paying off the loan as normal for the time been. Pay some bills that are overdue and have a little spending money for Christmas.
Once the new year kicks in, im seriously considering saving. However I cant see myself saving for the next 3 years without getting anything in return for it. ie I would love to save until the summer time and buy a nice small cheap car, and go on a nice holiday. Like a short term saving period. Then continue saving again etc for the big one which is the wedding & mortgage etc, this would be a 2 or 3 year period. However my prioritises could change during the summer. I could decide with the money i would spend on car and holiday to pay off the loan. And apply for 100% mortgage. Once i have the house then i could save for the car and holiday and wedding then etc.

Its either one or the other for me, but i cant decide what i will choose.
If you were in my position which would you pick.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

I would probably priortise saving for the house if I did not already own one. Don't forget that even with a 100% mortgage you will still need money when buying (e.g. legal fees, fitting the house out etc.). If I was on a budget then I would also make sure to keep the wedding small/manageable instead of letting it explode out of all control (in financial terms) as many people seem to allow happen. I would only look at saving for a car if it was essential (e.g. for work etc.) and then would look for a reasonable second hand one rather than anything fancy or new. Obviously we all need a break so I would certainly make sure to get some sort of holiday but only within the budget that is set by all the other priorities and demands. All of this assumes that any serious/high cost debts have been dealt with and brought under control first as this should be the number one priority. (I'm not familiar with your other threads/posts but I take it that you have outstanding debts than need attention). Hope this helps.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

thanks for the help.
the debt i have at the moment is
4800 loan
1000 bank overdraft (but would you call this a debt, if you keep to the limit?)
380 eircom
140 esb
160 chorus

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

scully said:

thanks for the help.
the debt i have at the moment is
4800 loan

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What rate (APR), type (fixed/variable), term, outstanding balance, lender, monthly repayments, purpose etc.?

1000 bank overdraft (but would you call this a debt, if you keep to the limit?)

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Of course it's a debt. Again - what rate is being charged, authorised or unauthorised overdraft, is this amount always outstanding?

380 eircom
140 esb
160 chorus

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Do you mean arrears or monthly/bi-monthly bills?

Have you followed the advice posted in the key topics here and maintained a spending diary for a while, drawn up a budget (and stuck to it), implemented a plan for dealing with your debts etc.?

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

ClubMan said:

What rate (APR), type (fixed/variable), term, outstanding balance, lender, monthly repayments, purpose etc.?

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Not sure of the rate, it is a variable loan, with outstanding balance of approx 4800 over 4 years. It was with GE Capital for holiday.

Of course it's a debt. Again - what rate is being charged, authorised or unauthorised overdraft, is this amount always outstanding?

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Again not sure on BOI rate. For the past month this amount has been outstanding. When i put my wages in there, all of it needs to come back out. Giving me no time to build it back up.

Do you mean arrears or monthly/bi-monthly bills?

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Arrears

Have you followed the advice posted in the key topics here and maintained a spending diary for a while, drawn up a budget (and stuck to it), implemented a plan for dealing with your debts etc.?

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I have tried to stick with a budget, i find it quite hard. As there is so much to pay back and im not sure what i can do first.
I was going to start with the bills, then move onto clearing the overdraft (and maybe cancelling it), the loan will have a regular outgoing of 40 a week.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

Do you need Eircom and Chorus? How mant months arrears do the above amounts represent?

€4800 paid back over 4 years seems like a poor choice of financing for a holdiay (i.e. the benefit is long gone, but you are still paying back the loan). If this is a variable rate loan, you should be able to repay early without penalty. This will allow you to qualify for a higher mortgage (loan repayments are taken away from your net income when calculating ability to pay).

The overdraft is probably costing 10/11% APR.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

One slightly similiar scheme to the SSIA is the Forest Investmen Plan (http://www.irish-forestry.ie) with a projected 8.5% interest per annum over 10 years. Its obviously nowhere near as generous as the SSIA especially as the 8.5% isn't guaranteed while the 25% government contribution in the SSIA is.
Still it is tax free and you don't necessarily have to wait 10 years as you can sell the shares to any interested parties before the 10 years are up if you wish.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

You should check the details and rates of each debt and see if rationalising/consolidating onto a cheaper form of credit might be a prudent option. If you are still paying off the last holiday then I would think twice about taking another holiday until the debts are cleared. Even if you find it difficult you simply need to set a reasonable budget and stick to it to live within (and, at least until the debts are repaid, below) your means. You needs to look critically/objectively at your debts and spending and cut out anything that is not absolutely necessary if you want to regain control of your finances. Have a read of the resources that I mentioned above as they contain a wealth of useful information and advice.

Before you start lumping money into the forestry funds you should check out the existing threads on this issue and weigh up the pros and cons and suitability to your situation. Right now it seems to me that you need to forget about saving/investing at least until you have sorted out your debts/arrears and have them under control.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

CCOVICH said:

Do you need Eircom and Chorus? How mant months arrears do the above amounts represent?

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We had chorus digital that was 60 per month. We owe 3 months with them. We are also cancelling the digital and going back to the normal 29.99 per month.

We owe eircom 2 bills. We are looking at cheaper broadband options, and cheaper calls.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

Joe Nonety said:

One slightly similiar scheme to the SSIA is the Forest Investmen Plan (http://www.irish-forestry.ie) with a projected 8.5% interest per annum over 10 years. Its obviously nowhere near as generous as the SSIA especially as the 8.5% isn't guaranteed while the 25% government contribution in the SSIA is.
Still it is tax free and you don't necessarily have to wait 10 years as you can sell the shares to any interested parties before the 10 years are up if you wish.

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Joe

Thanks for the link, but to be honest i think i will give this a miss.
I am not educated enough about the investment side of things.

Maybe when my finances are back on track and i have a few bob to put aside, i will reconsider investing.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

scully said:

We had chorus digital that was 60 per month. We owe 3 months with them. We are also cancelling the digital and going back to the normal 29.99 per month.

We owe eircom 2 bills. We are looking at cheaper broadband options, and cheaper calls.

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Do you really need multi-channel cable and broadband at all at least while you are dealing with your debts? Remember that many of these packages lock you in for at least a year so if you are having problems with finances this lack of flexibility can be problematic.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

scully said:

We had chorus digital that was 60 per month. We owe 3 months with them. We are also cancelling the digital and going back to the normal 29.99 per month.

We owe eircom 2 bills. We are looking at cheaper broadband options, and cheaper calls.

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Check out [broken link removed], who offer an all in one phone, broadband and tv package for around €80 a month. I presume this works out cheaper than Chorus + Eircom? I think their calls might be free off peak.

Hate to say it, but I would consider ditching broadband altogether for a while, as it ain't exactly essential.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

CCOVICH said:

]


Check out [broken link removed], who offer an all in one phone, broadband and tv package for around €80 a month. I presume this works out cheaper than Chorus + Eircom? I think their calls might be free off peak.

Hate to say it, but I would consider ditching broadband altogether for a while, as it ain't exactly essential.

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Were in Limerick, I did call Magnet but there all in one package is not available here. Maybe within the next 6 months they said.


I couldnt do without broadband, so were trying to find a cheaper option instead. We are even thinking of ditching the phone line and phone calls, and try wireless.
We would need to use of mobiles instead. However, we would use calling cards instead of credit, as it may be much more cheaper.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

scully said:

I couldnt do without broadband

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When you're dealing with debt you may have to do without things that are ultimately not essential.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

ClubMan said:

When you're dealing with debt you may have to do without things that are ultimately not essential.

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I agree. I must speak with my partner about this and see if we can come to an agreement.

Oh yes, I am owed a weeks wage. He decided to think about me after all. This would be a great help, as i can at least get the eircom bill paid in full, i have been cut off.

next week chorus paid in full.

week after esb paid in full.

Then i should be back on track to put weekly amounts away, and just have the overdraft to sort out. At least until christmas i will keep the loan at 152 per month, but if im cancelling the payment protection it will be 129.94 per month.

in Jan if i decide to try pay the loan off in 6 months then i will be completely debt free. So i would have paid a 5000 loan over the course of 4 years paid in full inc interest in under 1 year.

Would you think this would look good on record when applying for mortgage etc.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

scully said:

Would you think this would look good on record when applying for mortgage etc.

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Worse than not ever having had debts or missed credit repayments (if applicable) but better than having outstanding debts and ongoing missed credit repayments. On the other hand on a salary of €18,500 you're going to be hard pushed to get a mortgage that covers any property on sale these days although you haven't said what your partner earns.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

ClubMan said:

Worse than not ever having had debts or missed credit repayments (if applicable) but better than having outstanding debts and ongoing missed credit repayments. On the other hand on a salary of €18,500 you're going to be hard pushed to get a mortgage that covers any property on sale these days although you haven't said what your partner earns.

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my partner earns 200 a week. Disability and blind supplement allowance.

With our combined income we could afford a 100% mortgage of 180,000

I did have previous missed credit payments before with a BOI loan. 4000 was in arrears for several months, anytime a weekly payment went though, it seemed that nothing was bringing it down as the interest brought it back up again. I did have reminders and it was going to be forward to the legal department, but instead we agreed i would pay 100 back every week. But i decided to pay 200 a week back instead. I cleared the loan before the due date on the loan agreement. I was told though that from the date the loan was paid i would be on a bad list for 5 years. That was a year ago. But so far the loan i have now is been paid fine, and with my plan of paying it full in 6 months time will still go ahead.

hmmm re-thinking it now im not sure if i will be approved for a mortgage.
oh partner has no loans, but have an overdraft facility of 500. Has not gone over this.

Re: Is there Any other SSIA type products coming?

Any missed payments on your may go against you when applying for a mortgage. Obviously most mortgage lenders ideally like to see customers with clean credit and healthy income and savings histories/track records.