# Just about breaking even!



## Dove101 (18 May 2008)

Age: 36
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 45

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 11533 Unemployment benefit
Annual gross income of spouse:11533 Unemployment benefit

Type of employment: e.g. unemployed

In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? Yes

Rough estimate of value of home 450K
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 115K
*What interest rate are you paying? 5.75 i think will have to double check*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc €500 on car left

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? No
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? €900

Savings and investments: All childrens allowance money goes into investments and savings for their education

Actual savings about €3000 and declining rapidly

Do you have a pension scheme? No

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: 1 and 4

Life insurance: €200K dual cover and serious illness cover of €35k as well costs us €100 per month


*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *

_DH and I have been unemployed since January this year and we've both been actively looking for employment but to know avail. If I go back 3 days a week the most I can hope to earn is about €330 and childcare will cost me €180 even if DH gets a job he doesn't have any qualifications and the most he can earn is a week is €450-500 a week which really leaves us struggling no matter what way we look at it._

_I've cancelled our NTL, we never go out, we do have VIVAS but I'm reluctant to give it up as we've been glad of it twice in the past year when DD was ill._ our Esb is paid monthly, and we also pay for our oil on a monthly basis by standing order. I do all our shopping in Lidl or Aldi.

_We get mortgage allowance of sW of 37.40 a week_

_At the moment everything that comes in goes straight back out - we're often in the red._

_We pay for DD to go to playschool twice a week and i'm reluctant to give this up._

_I had heard of a scheme if you had a gp or medical card you could get some subsidy towards childcare but it had to be a community one -we don't have a community creche/playschool in our town._

_Any advice etc would be great sorry if i'm not more specific its just I don't know where to start_


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## aircobra19 (18 May 2008)

I think you'd need to look at what type of jobs you can get that will give you higher income. Qualifications aren't everything, lots of people do very well not having any. So I think this is more a job seeking question than an Money makeover. You need to research the local job market and see whats out there. If you haven't any success in getting a job so far, then I'd suggest you need to change your approach and keep changing it till you find one that works. Theres a book called "What Color is Your Parachute" I found useful. You'll get it in your library. Its more for people changing careers, but there was lots of good job hunting ideas in it.


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## brodiebabe (18 May 2008)

Dove101 said:


> _We pay for DD to go to playschool twice a week and i'm reluctant to give this up._


 
For the moment as a cost cutting measure maybe it would be wiser to take the child out of playschool.  With good weather you could take her to the playground where she will get to interact with other children and it won't cost you anything.  The local library is another good place to bring her which is also free!


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## coolhandluke (18 May 2008)

"Savings and investments: All childrens allowance money goes into investments and savings for their education"

Forget about this for a start if you can't even make ends meet,pay off the credit card/car loans first then use it for day to day spending.Forget the playschool as brodiebabe said.
If you work 3 days a week, why would you be paying childcare if your husband is unemployed too ?


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## sam h (18 May 2008)

Playschool will only go on for another month so it's not a huge issue & I can understand why you don;t want to take your child out.  Are they going to school next year?
Can you get a break on your mortgage for a few months so you could try & get the most expensive debt out of they way?
You should stop saving the childrens allowance - this is the sort of thing you do if you can keep you head above water, but needs must & you need the money.  They will be plenty of time to save for education in the future.  

Hopefully you will get sorted soon - best of luck iwith the job hunting!


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## Dove101 (18 May 2008)

I suppose the ideal situation is that my husband will get a job too and I will have to look at paying for childcare for 3 days a week no matter what we do!  

In terms of the job hunting I have a degree in HR but the jobs are not there when we lived in Dublin this wasn't an issue - In terms of looking for a job the only way I can get an interview is to take my degree of my cv but thats a whole other issue to deal with.

I do agree with you Aircobra19 and I have taken a different approach recently.  In terms of the local job market when nearly all jobs for unskilled workers are not paying more that the minimum wage it becomes an issue.  But will definitely have a look at the book.

Will take DD out of playschool that will free up some cash for the next 2 months and review in September.

Will probably reduce the investments payment again to free up the money.


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## coolhandluke (18 May 2008)

Dove101 said:


> Will probably reduce the investments payment again to free up the money.


 
Not being smart,but i don't think you're getting serious enough here. You've both been unemployed for 5 months,your savings cushion is rapidly diminishing.The worst thing you can do is use up the savings and be back here in 3 months in exactly the same position with no cushion,maybe you'll get jobs and indeed i hope you do but just in case get the CC/Loans paid off asap,then go from there.


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## z104 (19 May 2008)

If I was in the same position I'd take a job stacking shelves in dunnes.

There is no excuse for any able bodied person with a normal brain to be out of work.
Ok, you might not be able to get a job in your chosen field straight away but you could work as said in a dunnes stores or Tescos or some other similiar job until you did get a job in your chosen field.


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## Dove101 (21 May 2008)

Interesting remark regarding that "There is no excuse for any able bodied person with a normal brain to be out of work."  

We both have been actively looking for work since January in every possible position out there I am not expecting to find a job in my chosen field and have looked for alternatives - My DH has sent his cv to every hotel and bar in the town looking for work as a bar person to no avail and has followed up with phone calls and also to the local supermarkets - What should he do camp outside til they give him a job.  Its a small town and here unfortunately for a lot of positions its who you know not what you know.  Only last week DH's CV was in for a job where my father worked and was the only person going for the job - did he get it NO because someone higher up got his brother in law in at the last minute!

I find your remark not helpful!


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## z104 (21 May 2008)

Ok point taken, Thought you were in a large town or city where there is always loads of jobs available. 

I think we sometimes forget that Internet is available in rural areas too.


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## michaelm (22 May 2008)

Dove101 said:


> Its a small town and here unfortunately for a lot of positions its who you know not what you know.


If I were in your situation, sitting on a 450K house, I'd probably think of moving to a less expensive house and becoming debt-free.  Somewhere like Portlaoise which is on the train line to Dublin, 30 mins drive to Naas and less than a hour to Maynooth.  As your kids haven't started school yet and you're both unemployed there wouldn't be huge disruption.  If debt-free you wouldn't be under huge pressure to secure jobs straight away and, again if it were me, I'd be thing one should get work and the other should look after the kids, forget childcare - work to live rather than live to work.


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## Dove101 (22 May 2008)

I have to say moving house to another area is just not an option we would consider at all - but I have to say I think one of us staying at home to mind the kids whilst the other goes out to work would eventually be our ideal situation and it is something DH and I have discussed and because I have the bigger earning potential he's quite happy to do it.  Now for that illusive job!  I know our situation is not going to be a long term one (i hope) and it will eventually change for the better.  Fingers crossed.


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## so-crates (23 May 2008)

Unless you have some very cogent reasons for not considering it, it is certainly short-sighted to dismiss the whole idea out of hand. It wouldn't be a simple or easy solution and may not even be workable for you but maybe would be the best way for you to leverage value from the pretty considerable equity you have built up in your house. At the very least give it some consideration and look at the pros and cons of such a move before deciding emphatically.


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## Bronte (23 May 2008)

You have a lot of equity in the house, would you consider selling and moving to Dublin where you would have a much better chance of getting work.  You could rent in Dublin and you'd have quite a bit of money in the bank then for education etc.  Once you have secure employment you could look at buying a house in Dublin.  Staying on the dole long term is probably not healthy.  Maybe your partner could consider getting better qualified so that he would be eligible for more than minimum wage jobs.


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## sadie (23 May 2008)

Seeing as you are at home anyway, would childminding be an option? Although it's a long term commitment and you need a certain temperment (i.e. patience of several saints I'd imagine). Could you set up an after-school club or some such like. Not sure if it's an option if you live in a small town. You are allowed earn quite a bit tax free.


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## Fauve (24 May 2008)

Far be it from me to offer any financial advice but I'll have a go.
Would it be worth your while shopping around for a lower interest mortgage? Would you not get a lower rate with value so high and outstanding mtg less than half?

Re playschool, enquire if they have discounted rate for gp cardholders etc, I think all playschools have to offer band rates etc with the grant thing coming in now? I am not sure about this but check it out.
Have you a gp card? Apply for one if not and you will probably get one.
Form can be downloaded online.

Also would agree with taking a break from saving childrens allowance and ec payments _for the moment_. It is not forever, and right now the money is definitely needed elsewhere.
Get rid of the loans as soon as you can, it will free you in many ways.
Good luck with the job hunt, something will turn up, anything at all just to get one of you out there and hearing what else might be available.
I know what you mean re small town etc, it is very difficult and frustrating.
I hope everything works out for you.

Also meant to say, with Vivas have you any add on (ie day to day policy) that you could take off for a few months just to reduce payments until things get better?


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## BK2 (27 May 2008)

I know that you don't want to move but would you even consider it. It seems that if there are no jobs in the small village/town then you will have to move to a bigger area. There are a lot of people who would love to live in the Country but can't simply because there are not enough jobs there.  You have to go whereever there are jobs, you have been unemployed for almost 6 months which could be down to bad luck but if you are still unemployed in 6 months time I don't see how you would have any other option but to move.


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## MrMan (27 May 2008)

I wouldn't look at selling the house because you have a small mortgage and it is a roof over your heads in a place that I presume you have chosen because you like the area. If you were to release equity the risk would be to start using that money as well and find yourself with a bigger problem. The real issue here is getting a job for at least one of you. If you are in a small town how far away is the nearest big town? You have a car so look into half hour 45 min commute and see where that will take you.


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## Dove101 (2 Jun 2008)

I have to say we still wouldn't move house or area, we got land from my family to build and have a house we would never in our wildest dreams be able to afford anywhere else in the country and as our mortgage is small it is managable and we are not prepared to give that up for something that I hope is a short term problem.  we're located within an hours drive of a major town but that commute will shorten soon with the opening of a new road.  We moved out of Dublin to have a better lifestyle and quality of life especially for our two smallies, had we stayed in Dublin our mortgage would be twice what we have now and we would still both have had to work.

Need to check out the playschool thing but I thought the playschool had to be a community one in order to receive a discount going to check it out with local county childcare committee tomorrow.  We do not have a community facility in our town.

We are eligible for full medical card and have it and have gotten rid of the VIVAS add on's.

Regarding the childminding thing went down that road once and it didn't work out - but looking into doing some weekend professional nanny work in Dublin from Friday night to Sunday evening the pay is about €350 have registered with all the nanny agencies in Dublin - did it in my past life.


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## idkwatmi (6 Jun 2008)

Dove101 said:


> we're located within an hours drive of a major town but that commute will shorten soon with the opening of a new road.  We moved out of Dublin to have a better lifestyle and quality of life especially for our two smallies, had we stayed in Dublin our mortgage would be twice what we have now and we would still both have had to work.



Can you try the major town for work? an hours drive is a fairly normal commute these days and with your HR qualification you could surely have a much better chance there.


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## Dove101 (20 Jul 2008)

Hi I've just landed a 4 month contract paying 26k a year pro rata - excellent salary in relation to where we live and type of job - but the only one I've been able to land.


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