# Single earner- trying to make ends meet



## farran (30 Jul 2009)

Hi all,
I"ve posted here before & gotten some good advice,so here goes. I seperated from my husband in January & things are getting very hard now. His hours have been cut in work & he is taking a big pay cut. I can"t depend on his maintenance for much longer. I"m just looking for advice before I get myself into real financial trouble..

*Earnings--1700pm*
*maintenance--1000pm*

*mortgage--800pm Approx value 370,000*
*Car --620pm loan amt 29,000*
*Credit union-280pmloan amt 15,000*
*Insurance(Car & life & hse) 200pm*
*credit card 200pm                  5,000*
The car which he is drving is in my name only & finance company is refusing to change that. Its a real worry as its the 1st to go & I don"t want my credit rating ruined. I"ve tried re-mortgaging but no good news .
Have one more bank to see tomorrow but I"m not holding out any hope.
House is for sale six months now & no viewings as yet . Any advice please.


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## Ghodadaba (30 Jul 2009)

Hi there. Correct me if I am wrong, but the car is yours although he is driving it? If so, why not take it back off him and sell it. You own it, you can do what you like with it, surely... There is no point in him paying you 1000 per month if you are spending 620 of that on a car which you can't even drive.


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## spursman (31 Jul 2009)

*Insurance(Car & life & hse) 200pm*

*that is crazy ammount. house insurance should be circa 250 a year, car for 400 and life for 200. total should be around 850, not 2400*


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## Paulone (31 Jul 2009)

Echo the thing about the car - that is an anomalous situation that needs to be sorted. The finance company will not be concerned about your relationship status and you are right to be concerned about a reposession being recorded against your name if it gets to that.

Do you have a car too? Is that why you're paying car insurance? Does the €29k and €620 a month equate to payments on one or two vehicles?

If its one car, then I'd suggest that a car worth that amount of money and with monthly repayments more than three quarters your mortgage amount a month has to go. I'd guess you may sell it at less than its book price, but it would seem that the income isn't there to support such an expensive item and if a car is needed, it should help the monthly balance sheet if it were a (much) less expensive one that you don't need to make payments on.


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## dereko1969 (31 Jul 2009)

Is the maintenance 'maintenance' or his contribution to the outstanding loans?


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## farran (1 Aug 2009)

Just to clarify a few things.
The "maintenance" pays the bills.
He wants the car + 35,000 as a settlement (I have the house)
He is refusing to sell the car at a loss (Lexus220d its 06)
The car payment one car is 620 monthly
Our life cover is 134monthly
Car insurance is 40monthly
Mortgage protection 40monthly

I called car finance company & explained it to them but they won"t transfer it to his name as he has no credit history all our married life everything has been in my name & boy am i sorry now
Life cover is very high as he has an ongoing (not serious illness)


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## vandriver (1 Aug 2009)

Its not up to your ex whether he wants to sell the car or not.It is not his car.If he wants to buy it off you then so be it.As it is , you have about 500 quid a month to pay for food utilities and anything else that crops up.You simply don't have the luxury of keeping your ex in the style he seems to be accostomed to.If or when your ex is made redundant do you expect him to keep the car in those circumstances?It might be time to take ownership of your own destiny.


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## Guest110 (1 Aug 2009)

The 1 thousand maintenance that he pays - works out for example as a rough guess

3 kids * 50 each week = 600 @month
 1000
- 600
--------
 400 left

if you are paying 
620 for the car (his car)
 40 for car insurance (his car) 
 70 life insurance (half the full amount - this is his portion)
----
730


 400
-730
------
-330

You are covering him by 330 euro a month whilst the house is not sold.

Does that seem fair ???

Also to note, he is looking for 60k from you as a get away 

How much of a loss will your house make and then only give him half the loss rather that him telling you what he wants.


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## Paulone (4 Aug 2009)

vandriver said:


> Its not up to your ex whether he wants to sell the car or not.It is not his car.If he wants to buy it off you then so be it.As it is , you have about 500 quid a month to pay for food utilities and anything else that crops up.You simply don't have the luxury of keeping your ex in the style he seems to be accostomed to.If or when your ex is made redundant do you expect him to keep the car in those circumstances?It might be time to take ownership of your own destiny.


 
+1. I think that on the surface of it, the deal may sound like it's fair, but you don't get the house - you get the proceeds of the sale of the house (which you have to arrange) in order to pay him off, so its all about cash and his ability to drive around in a flash car.

In the meantime, the legalities/tangled nature of your joint affairs is bringing you to your knees because its all your problem sort out and fulfil the deal.

IMO, I think its time to separate your affairs so that you pay for what's your's and he pays for what's his. I can appreciate that this might not happen very quickly so as an immediate measure and because the house isn't selling, a larger payment is now needed to take some of the strain on the mammoth car payment.

Mentioning that things are getting so bad that you're thinking of involving solictors (and the sheer cost of this) might help him decide that this is the best way forward. Solicitors are the very last resort tho. 

You might also talk to your mortgage lender and explain that the house is for sale with the definite intention of selling and you would like to suspend payments or go interest-only until it does sell on the basis that the mortgage is putting you into debt.


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## farran (4 Aug 2009)

Thanks for all the replies. Have contacted mortgage provider & they not at all helpful all they said was ..if I can afford such an expensive car I can pay my mortgage..I explained the whole story to them & it made no difference at all. That car is the root of all my problems.
Have since contacted EBS & they are accepting my mortgage application (warts & all) so fingers crossed . Ideally if I could re-mortgage & buy him out I"d be a lot better off financially & emotionally .I like where I live & so do my children & I"m not prepared to take less than the house is worth, maybe the property market will improve in the next couple of years & then I"ll sell if I have to.
My brother has agreeded to be my guarantor & the girl I spoke to was very hopeful I"d be approved.


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## Guest110 (4 Aug 2009)

If you re-mortgage does that mean that you will get enough money to pay off the
car and also will your mortgage be reduced ?

Do you actually have equity on your house ?


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## farran (4 Aug 2009)

Have had the house valued at 370,000 & there is 140,000 outstanding on the mortgage so the equity is definately there..
I intended to pay the car & other bills & to buy ex out ,the re-payments would be 800pm approx so I"D be a lot better off .
I know in the current market I"d not get the asking price but if I got mortgage I "d be in no hurry to sell .
.


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## saintstephen (6 Aug 2009)

farran said:


> the re-payments would be 800pm approx so I"D be a lot better off .
> 
> .


 Sorry for your troubles, I know its obvious but the 800pm repayments will rise, interest rates are at an all time low.


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