Total Mess - can anyone out there advise pls ?

What do you plan to do with the savings on the mortgage? What other progress have you made in cutting your expenditure?

Have you notified your Life Assurance company that you are a non smoker?

We got a reduction of about 10% when my OH quit smoking last year !!! The bank suggested considering increasing the level of cover instead of reducing the premium.

Do you know if you have mortgage term life insurance or whole of life cover ? It is cheaper if you have cover that goes down as you repay your mortgage.

Hi Flojo,

Your situation is serious. Have you looked at what's coming down the tracks in terms of budget tax increases and welfare cuts? Your partner's jobseekers will only last for 12 months because you are working - check if this is the case? - hopefully not.

Also is your mortgage costs fixed for the forseeable future or are you on tracker? If not you will be looking at increased mortgage costs down the road.

Stating the obvious the best way out is for your partner to get work - he needs to use every contact he has got and broaden the scope as much as possible. I presume he is aware of the strain your finances are under. If not possible for him to work proceed as follows - drastic situation calls for drastic measures:

Because of these extra costs coming down the tracks I would suggest you cannot afford to pay these credit cards and you should stop paying them because of this. It may mean all sorts of threatening letters and phone calls (ignore these, easier said than done) but you may be able to cut a deal down the line eventually where they might write off most of this debt. Hopefully then you can build a little cash pile (under the mattress) to pay off some of the other debts and as a little buffer.

Quit Sky, AA and Health insurance immediately. You just cannot afford them full stop. Try to get out of the phone contracts.

Its most important for the two of you to sit down and a budget for the next 12 months with some of the stress tests mentioned above included to see where you really stand and what your objectives are in all of this.

It could come to a point where the mortgage comes under threat. Don't mean to be pessimistic but better to be pragmatic and have a Plan B. It could mean looking at selling the house or reducing your mortgage payments significantly. Look at all the options. At the minute you have wiggle room. If you leave it too late you will be like this country and someone else will be calling the shots very fast. Best of luck

Hi all,

Thank-you so much for all your comments and help. Have not been on in a while seeing as Ive been spending so much time in bank/mortgage company, form filling etc while also trying to get in and out of work in the snow !!

Ive taken on board a lot of what you have all said.

• Firstly the mortgage company have agreed to allow us to go interest only to be reviewed in six months time
• Secondly, the bank have allowed me to restructure my loan (just waiting for them to call me to go in and sign) - repayments will now be 370 per month
• Got rid of the health insurance for now
• Serious shopping budget has been introduced in this house and Sundays are now being spent preparing more economical meals for the week !
• My partner has just got 2 weeks work before Christmas (and before I get eaten alive - he has signed off the dole for this period
• I plan to ring around about the life insurance next week and try get a better deal seeing as Im a non smoker now.
• Ive made a payment plan with MBNA to pay 500euro a month off the main credit card
• My partners credit card is being covered by the insurance company that MBNA use as he had paid protection on it. This means we can park this for a year and hopefully have something sorted by then.
• All of the above means I will have about 150 euro a month (taking into account the effects of the new budget) for unforseen things that crop up - that gives me some peace of mind.
• My partner has been contacted about work in the mines in Canada. Its not a definite yet, its not long term (about 6 months work) but it is excellent money and would provide a much needed cash injection to clear the two credit cards. he would have very little living expenses there as you live on camp and meals are provided. Nothing may come of this but its a possibility.

I know none of the above is really ideal. Im prolonging the agony really by putting off the debt and Im fully aware Im going to have to pay back a lot more in the future. But the above means I can survive, I can not feel guilty every month for not being able to meet the commitments I have made to the various institutions, I wont have horrible letters coming in my door and I dont have to worry as much about things going wrong and having to be serviced/fixed/replaced. It also gives us a little wiggle room in terms of deciding what area my partner needs to retrain in so that we can pay off these debts in the longer term. Like, Im determined that in a year or two we will both be earning and in a position to seriously attack this debt.

We have been thinking of options for my partner, Canada being a last resort. I was wondering if anyone knows what is happening with the announcememnt of the water charges coming in in the near future, what the story is with water meter installation ? Ive found a training course that my partner could do. It costs 1k (our parents have said they will help with the cost of this). Surely this would be a good investment given that every home in this country is going to have to have a metre installed in the coming years. Does anyone know anything about this ?

Again, Id just like to thanks you all for your comments and advice, my only regret is that I didnt do it sooner !!

floJo

I have scanned through the thread and one thing I don't seem to have seen suggest is asking MBNA to freeze balances (apologies if I missed it in a thread).
Point out to them that the card has not been used since 2008 ( I think I read that correctly?), point out you are making consistent payments and assure them you will continue this and ask for the balance freeze - this is the type of thing that Mabs would do so that is why it is suggested to you.

I commend you for tackling your problems but you have to be tough. I think you have had your reality check!
One thing you said early on (and you have grown since then - well done) is that you didn't want to go to mabs as you didn't want to involve a third party. Well you are involving a third party being on here even if anonymous - but stay here as some like me who have been here before want to help by using our experience.
Good luck to you and chin up and keep up the great efforts.

Hi Niconeted,

Thanks for your comments. Freezing the credit card balance - thats something I never thought of asking MBNA. You are right - cards have not been used in years. I'll put that on the 'to-do' list for this week. Thanks for the suggestion !

Im delighted with all the help and suggestions Ive got on here. I certainley got the shock that I needed from some of the frank posts on here !! For now, I feel like Im a bit more in control of the situation. Luckily, I found the banks/lenders veryhelpful to deal with. I was just very honest and upfront with them. I want to pay my debt off. I dont want to run away from it. I borrowed it, spent it, enjoyed it, so why shouldnt I have to pay it back. Im just happy that I have been met with flexibility in doing so !

I may need MABs down the line - hoepfully not though!!

Thanks again

FloJo

Thanks for posting back, sometimes I feel like you have to be cautious as to what to say as you don't know how thin peoples skin has gotten and you don't want to push them over the edge but at the same time you know they (you in this case - I needed it myself a good few yrs back when around your age) need a kick in the right direction.

Being honest and upfront with the banks etc is the way to go just as you describe in your last post. They obviously see the honesty and the genuineness in you and that is why they are being flexible with you.

I sincerely wish you all the best and come back for further assistance if needed.

Oh one other thing I don't think I saw mentioned which is great is a spending diary. You basically write down everything you spend be it .50c or €50 (keep all receipts if necessary to help) and evaluate every week/few weeks/month to help see where money is wasted or can be cut back.


Oh one other thing on top of the other - I know it is easy to say you can put off MABS but you have to be thinking ahead - wage cuts, SW cuts ( as in latest budget), higher prices for some things etc. You have a good opportunity for the nest 6 months while on interest only to clear a decent bit of CC - don't waste it on xmas etc.
Well done also on the cigs I did that to and saved a bundle.