# Looking for advice



## FMS (27 Mar 2009)

Monthly take home pay: 2761
Partner: 2319

Mortgage: 1300 p/m
Credit Union Loan: 25000.  8000 in shares. Pay 120 p/w off loan
Partner credit union loan: 7000.  3000 in shares.  Pay 150 p/w
Credit Card: 2000 owed

ESB: Approx 65 p/m
Food: Approx 65 p/w
Heating: 40 p/w
Petrol: 60 p/w for both cars
Insurance: 120 p/m for both cars
TV: 21 p/m

I work in the public sector and so my salary this month will be approx 300 lower due to the pension levy.  My partner works in the private sector and his position is far from safe.  We would not be surprised if he lost his job in the near future.  We are worried that the changes that will be made in the Apr budget will mean that we won't be able to cover our monthly expenses.  Is there anything we can do to make our situation more favourable?  We have another 5000 that we can draw down on our mortgage which will add an extra 22 p/m onto our repayments.  We were planning on using this on the house but should we use it to pay off partners credit union loan instead?


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## pc7 (27 Mar 2009)

From your figures it looks like you currently have 5080 which will drop to 4780 a month.  Your outgoings per month are totalling (if we make everything monthly rather than weekly) Outgoings of 3327 from the new total of 4780 leaves 1453 a month unaccounted for. Where is this money going? Start a spending diary to figure this out.  I don't think you should add to your mortgage, I would be worried at the high incomes you have had and the fact the CU loans are there, 2 grand on your credit card and no savings mentioned, you pay things like insurance monthly which is usually more expensive.  If you can identify the 1453 you can start whacking that off the CU loans and use shares then to clear them when you get close to parity.  Heating seems a little high at 175 a month? Do you need two cars?  If your partner loses their job you will be in trouble if you don't address those outgoings/loans. 
Can you rent a room in your house? Can you sell one of the cars? Can you find parttime work?


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## gillarosa (27 Mar 2009)

My main recommendation would be to pay off the €2K Credit Card bills as quickly as possible while your partner is still Employed, you do have some cash flow at your discretion now, but if worse come to worse you don't want that additional re-payment over your heads.
How are your CU's with re-negociating repayment amounts/terms? both repayments you are making are a huge drain on your cash flow, or would be in the event your partner were to be even temporarily unemployed.
Crunching the numbers of your outgoings against your income including the anticipated decrease due to the levy and your Partner being on UB you will just about keep your heads above water. Would you consider renting a room in your home to tide you over for a period? not ideal but it could be a valueable source of income.
Personally I wouldn't take out a top-up loan on your Mortgage at this time.


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## coppers (27 Mar 2009)

Your net pay will be down about €140 after tax relief.


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## michaelm (1 Apr 2009)

If I were in your situation and worried about my OH's employment outlook then I'd probably grab the 5k and clear the credit card and the smaller CU loan (magic-ing up another 1k to do this).  Then I'd review and curtail all my outgoings, including the necessity for two cars, with a view to paying off the other CU loan in as short a period as possible (maybe <18 months @ 1k+/month).


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