Terrified I’m going to lose my house

[Hangrysaurus]

ever since this shit show of a mini budget and the economy and mortgages spiralling into chaos, im so so worried about losing my home.

2 kids in childcare to work, will be switching providers to save but dh and I take home about 93k before tax and about 65 after (thanks student loan)

mortgage is due next late December. We have help to buy too, which comes to the end of the 5 year interest free end of next Dec too. We looked at switching when lloyds had their 3.7% rate but with the 4.5k erc it was an extra £700 per month, close to 1500, aka totally unaffordable, even the broker wasn’t sure it was a good bet.

if we pay off the htb (we have about 40k in savings for this) and depending on house value htb is about 75k, if we did this we’d need to add 30k to mortgage or borrow it from parents (although that’s the cash draw down from a pension that the government have also fucked). Then we’d have a 60% ltv provided the house price doesn’t tank too much as we lose our equity.

when we did our mortgage they stress tested to 4.5% as that was the highest rates mortgages had been in the previous 10 years. We were very comfortable in terms of affordability and we’ve done all the right things in terms of future proofing, aside from having kids. It shouldn’t be this way.

i know the banks last resort is to take the house but honestly I’m spiralling. We both recently got new jobs, a combined about 15k a year increase but it ‘only’ amounts to be 400 after tax. Will it all be ok?

(if this comes across as insensitive im really sorry don’t mean it to be)

Yes Would have to buy food from that and petrol

unfortunately 30 free hrs only slices off £78 per week

Really? here it almost halves the bill, from £250 a week (full time £55 a day, discounted for fulltimers) to £7.50 a day for 3 days and £55 for the other 2 - £132.50 a week during term time (full price applies during non term time)

We get the bill come through, and I transfer dh 50% and he pays it to the nursery through the gov account.

ive paid proportionately less since my wage dropped to smp, about 40% the gap taken from savings. Last 3 months, I’ve used my cost of living payment as a salary to pay bill and I’ve been using my bonus as a salary (which I put into savings) to contribute

Have you factored in the tax reductions that have helped fuck up the economy? And NI is reducing also.

You have a full year to make changes and plan to live frugally. Start shopping in charity shops, look for things like winter coats etc and you can grab them in bigger sizes for the children for a couple of pounds. Same with birthday/ Christmas presents, you can do a bulk of those second hand.

Think about using Olio and/ or too good to go for meals. Think about batch cooking things like chilli that are cheap.

We are worried too. Our mortage is up for renewal early next year. Currently our mortgage is relatively cheap at £400 pcm, money is already tight though. If it goes up by a few hundred quid it'll be game over here. We just don't have the extra money or anywhere to cut back. We have no disposable income as it is.

As long as you make regular payments on your mortgage, they’re not going to take your house away. They will add the amount you owe onto the end of your term. So many people will be in this position- they can’t foreclose on all of these houses. Communicate with your bank, pay regularly and stay calm. It will pass.

£700 a month disposable income seems a huge amount. A lot more than most people have. You also have a very large joint income. You will be fine..

Just a random suggestion that may not apply to you but would be worth considering if it does. A lot of employers offer Employee Assistance Programs as part of their benefits package. They usually include access to things like financial advice and even counselling. I've used mine a couple of times and been pleasantly surprised that they were actually a lot better than I was expecting. Might be worth seeing if you have access to something like that through your work.

It used to take my bill from £1500 to £1100 a month. It's really helpful but it doesn't halve the bill.

I feel like your husband should be contributing more, things cant be 50/50 when you're on mat leave and he already earns a lot more than you.

However I do think you are spiralling here and probably just need to go through your expenditure better however I do think you're being slightly ridiculous. You have amazing savings and I'm sure there are ways you can cut down on the food bill or buy some clothes from primark or matalan or somewhere.

I do understand your fears in a way because me and my husband would have very similar earnings and mortgages but you just get by. But you do have to give yourself a reality check mum raised me and my sister alone and paid a mortgage on minimum wage. And there are people who arent eating so their children can and there will be elderly people sitting in freezing cold houses all winter- you arent in this posiont, nowhere near it

Would it help if some others told you what their incomings are (less than yours) and outgoings (more than yours) and how much they have in savings (less than yours)?

Your post is tone deaf in the current climate tbh but I presume that’s the anxiety talking. It’s a nasty monster.

You and DH need to sit down together and work everything out. If you split bills and have your own money then does he have any savings of his own? I don’t understand H2B but your normal mortgage term can be increased surely to make the payment lesser?

Childcare isn’t going to be this high forever, you need to ride this out.

And carry on with the counselling. I think you need to prioritise that.

Yeah my nursery charge £17 I think per day for food and the 30 free hrs covers 2.5 days. So I’ve 2 days full price at £65, and afternoon sesh at £38 and then two days at £17 I think

I think you need to talk to your husband about changing how it all works - that everything is pooled going forward and money is carefully budgeted

You sound really confused on the maths. You need to sit down calmly and do a proper budget. All your (combined) income and outgoings. Divide outgoings into essential and non-essential (ie can be cut). Then stress test the mortgage payment to varying interest rates.

If it's looking tight look into the HTB rules as looks as if people are saying there are potentially some additional options there. And also check if the childcare is right.

You can also then look into whether any of the essential bills can be reduced. Or other cutbacks made.

These might help:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/help-with-debt/dealing-with-your-debts/reducing-your-regular-living-costs/

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/budgeting/budget-planner

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/budgeting/how-to-save-money-on-household-bills

No wonder you are panicking - currently you have a very low income you're still expected to pay 40% of costs AND you're using your bonus money (savings) to top it all up.

So your DH earns more than you and is subsidised by you paying 50-50 on everything (you lose money/pay proportionately more).

You also buy all the children's day to day clothes and other bits (you lose money, pay proportionately more). So far, so unequal.

Then you have another baby, go on mat leave. Your "share" of the bills reduces to 40%. You pay this out of maternity pay and your bonus ie savings. Cost to you: every pound of income and savings. Cost to your DH: 10% of income (the extra 10% he is paying to reduce your contribution by a miserable 10%); he keeps all his savings.

Can you not see how badly you are taking the hit here? Sort that out so it's properly balanced and I imagine you will no longer feel in danger of running out of money.

We earn very similar amounts to you OP. We have juat remortgaged and we were going to borrow enough to pay back HTB but with the interest rates as they are it just didn't make sense so we have fixed for 3 years and will pay the interdt in the H2B for the next 3 years and then look at it again. No need to stress

You could have a look at the Money Saving Expert forums, especially the Mortgage Free Wannabe board.

I'm not saying this to make you feel bad but my son and I have less than a thousand a month - for everything!

You could save £8000 in a year and/or put your savings into your mortgage. Have a look at the MSE mortgage calculator to see how much interest you would save each month.

Oh wow, this is probably it, every month I’m looking at my bank account with tiny amount in and I’m panicking. But I’m asking him, what’s he saving and he says barely anything, he does lots of ridiculous top up shops, buying biscuits and other crap and it’s always like £10 minimum per time, that can’t be helping

Your post is tone deaf in the current climate tbh but I presume that’s the anxiety talking. It’s a nasty monster

this. 93k household income? You’ll be fine o/p.

if your outgoings escalate your have options. Ask the bank for an interest only period while the kids are in childcare, or extend the term.

honestly 65k after tax is not a poverty line income. Some households are managing on less than half that.

Take a deep breath. You are likely to be fine.
Have you managed to save that 40k in the past 4 years? That is a great way to show that you have plenty of headroom to decrease your spends.

Write a budget of what you think you spend now. Then add all the stuff that you've forgotten about until your income of 65k matches your list of where the money goes.

Then look at each line, and see if you can reduce it. Sounds like savings could go down if it needed too. But are you onthe best deals for phones/subscriptions etc. Can you drop a brand level in terms of kids clothes - so if currently M&S can they have supermarket clothes.
How often are you going out/having takeaway? Put an extra week between sounds like this.

I'm struggling to comprehend on 5k a month, an £800 mortgage repayment and double nursery fees leaves you with no discretionary funds, so have written it as if the money is going places. Apologies if I've missed something that means this isn't the case.

Nursery fees get lower as the kids get older. How long until the 30 hrs kick in? How long til school? All this will help.

Please try to look at things as an opportunity to secure your finances over the next year rather than catastrophising. The chances of you loosing your home on the numbers given look low.

£600 per week on childcare??? There are much crab per options out there.

You aren’t going to be ‘struggling’ though… you’ll have £700 to do whatever you want with every month.

*cheaper!

I don’t want to hijack the thread but can you point me in the direction of this please?