27/29yrs in serious debt

You should apply for Fis (family income supplement). You need to have payslips for 4 weeks showing you are working 19 hours per week. If you have 2 kids you will get 60% of the diff between what ye take home (exc childrens allowance) and 590 per week. This is paid into your bank account. By the sounds of things your weekly income is about 490 so you could get 60 or so every week paid into your bank account. Best of luck with it.

Firstly, I am very sorry to hear of your husband's illness. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery.

I would advise that you:
1. Pay off the credit cards. You may not get enough of a limit on a new card to transfer the balance especially as your income is now lower.
2. Sell the investment property if you can
3. Do NOT sell your PPR. Go instead to the Community Welfare Officer and ask the HSE to pay the interest on your ppr mortgage.
4. MAintain your mortgage protection policy and do not miss a payment
5. Go to MABS and discuss your finances
6. Apply for FIS as previous poster said.

Best of luck and good wishes to you and your husband,

Slim

Hi Rotate

I totally agree with Bronte re handing back the property to the banks they are basically selling houses for anything they can get at the moment and are selling them at seriously knock down prices just to get rid so you will be liable for the difference.

I can understand you are trying to keep you're savings as you may need so just a little tip on the credit card issue. I recently contact my bank and advised them that I was going to transfer my card to another back and they knocked the interest rate down from 15% to 5% there and then for 6 months so at least you payments will start to have some effect on the outstanding balance. I read somewhere that if you just pay off the min balance each month it takes approx 15 years to clear it off. The other alternative if you don't mind filling out forms etc is to transfer your balance to another card company and get 0% finance for 6 months.

Hope that helps a little bit.

Thanks for that. We have spoke with bank and they have been very helpful and understanding, so we'll see if we can try and settle everything out. Interest rates going up a bit has really made a big jump in mortgage payments. We have cleared one credit card and will do as you suggest and move the other to a new card or get them to lower the rate. Credit cards...never again