Hi there,
Im hoping someone might be able to advise!
€41k in debt.
Owe:
€29k to BOI car loans (topped up last yr for deposit for house) 4 of 5 yrs left costs me about €670 per month
€8k - MBNA credit card costs me about €200 per month min repayment (now cut up and not used anymore)
€4.k - MBNA second credit card - costs about €120 per mth min repayment (now cut up and not used anymore)
Mortgage with EBS - €280k. House bought 1.5 yrs ago for €320K (deposit of €40k). Prob only worth about €290K now. Costs €1280 per month.
I earn €43k per annum. Take home monthly - €2830
Partner lost job about 6 mths after we bought house. He is a bricklayer so things dont look good. At the moment he has bits an bobs of work, temp working here and there and nixers etc and is managing to pay his half of mortgage and bills. Left with pretty much nothing for himself.
Im paying:
My half of mortgage: €640 per month
My half of Bills (gas, elec, bins, broadband, phone, aa, insurances, sky) etc €200 per month
Monthly travel expenses to and from work, petrol, toll fares car tax etc €320 per month
My loan - €670 per month
2 credit cards - €400 per month ( thats only paying off the interest on one of them and about €80 a month extra off the other)
Food (€65 euro per week in Lidl for 2 people) - €260 per month
This all leaves me with about €170 a month disposable - I dont drink thank God! But in case of emergency we have nothing! Also, I am making little or no headway with the credit cards. And we have NO savings whatsoever.
I have missed one mortgage repayment and one car loan repayment which I contacted both institutions immediately and am currently paying off the arrears bit by bit. This happened last year when my partner lost his job initially and we have missed nothing since. Im on top of all my other bills and have extra in my gas and elec accounts to help us get through the winter without any major bills. ( i managed to do this when I got a tax rebate earlier in the year and also got 4 new car tyres and car service while I could!!)
I missed a car loan payment about 6 years ago with BOI and I wrote to them explaining my situation at the time - I then sold that car and paid off the loan in full early.
Im thinking if I could start putting €100 a month of the €170 I have left into a credit union savings account. Do this for a few months and then see will they consolidate the car loan and two credit cards. Ive got used to living on nothing so it wouldnt bother me. Id rather be actively decreasing what I owe rather than largely just paying off interest and getting nowhere.
Ive looked at the credit union loan calculator and reckon If I borrowed €36k in about 8 months time to pay off the remainder of the car loan and the 2 credit cards, I would have an extra €400 a month disposable and would be then actually gradually paying off the borrowed capital.
Is this realistic do you think or has anyone any ideas of what I can do? Would MABS discuss with the credit union on my behalf?
We dont spend outside our means now as we physically cant! Noone would lend us anymore money even if we wanted it.
We only ended up in this situation as we stupidly went mad on the credit cards 1.5 years ago when we bought the house to pay for furniture and solicitors fees etc and both of us were working full time at the time and could afford it then but things have now changed.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Im hoping someone might be able to advise!
€41k in debt.
Owe:
€29k to BOI car loans (topped up last yr for deposit for house) 4 of 5 yrs left costs me about €670 per month
€8k - MBNA credit card costs me about €200 per month min repayment (now cut up and not used anymore)
€4.k - MBNA second credit card - costs about €120 per mth min repayment (now cut up and not used anymore)
Mortgage with EBS - €280k. House bought 1.5 yrs ago for €320K (deposit of €40k). Prob only worth about €290K now. Costs €1280 per month.
I earn €43k per annum. Take home monthly - €2830
Partner lost job about 6 mths after we bought house. He is a bricklayer so things dont look good. At the moment he has bits an bobs of work, temp working here and there and nixers etc and is managing to pay his half of mortgage and bills. Left with pretty much nothing for himself.
Im paying:
My half of mortgage: €640 per month
My half of Bills (gas, elec, bins, broadband, phone, aa, insurances, sky) etc €200 per month
Monthly travel expenses to and from work, petrol, toll fares car tax etc €320 per month
My loan - €670 per month
2 credit cards - €400 per month ( thats only paying off the interest on one of them and about €80 a month extra off the other)
Food (€65 euro per week in Lidl for 2 people) - €260 per month
This all leaves me with about €170 a month disposable - I dont drink thank God! But in case of emergency we have nothing! Also, I am making little or no headway with the credit cards. And we have NO savings whatsoever.
I have missed one mortgage repayment and one car loan repayment which I contacted both institutions immediately and am currently paying off the arrears bit by bit. This happened last year when my partner lost his job initially and we have missed nothing since. Im on top of all my other bills and have extra in my gas and elec accounts to help us get through the winter without any major bills. ( i managed to do this when I got a tax rebate earlier in the year and also got 4 new car tyres and car service while I could!!)
I missed a car loan payment about 6 years ago with BOI and I wrote to them explaining my situation at the time - I then sold that car and paid off the loan in full early.
Im thinking if I could start putting €100 a month of the €170 I have left into a credit union savings account. Do this for a few months and then see will they consolidate the car loan and two credit cards. Ive got used to living on nothing so it wouldnt bother me. Id rather be actively decreasing what I owe rather than largely just paying off interest and getting nowhere.
Ive looked at the credit union loan calculator and reckon If I borrowed €36k in about 8 months time to pay off the remainder of the car loan and the 2 credit cards, I would have an extra €400 a month disposable and would be then actually gradually paying off the borrowed capital.
Is this realistic do you think or has anyone any ideas of what I can do? Would MABS discuss with the credit union on my behalf?
We dont spend outside our means now as we physically cant! Noone would lend us anymore money even if we wanted it.
We only ended up in this situation as we stupidly went mad on the credit cards 1.5 years ago when we bought the house to pay for furniture and solicitors fees etc and both of us were working full time at the time and could afford it then but things have now changed.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!