How do people do it? Can’t afford mortgage

[MonsterTrunk]

Hello,

We are a family of three - DH, myself and our 3 year old.

So our current income is just under £50k with DH working full time and me part time. Our current mortgage Rate runs out this year and it was £900 a month and current rates are around £1300 a month. With energy rates and petrol and food and savings as we need a new roof we’re okay at the moment but that loss of £400 is going to make things very tight. Very very. As I I don’t know if we will be able to afford it.
The answer would be me working full time but then we have to pay for childcare - we have no family to help so I’d have to pay for before/after school club and holiday care, so the extra money would possibly be gone.

What do people do? The mortgage rates are a killer. We’re going to go through everything and tighten where we can and will hopefully be okay, but this situation is just awful. I didn’t realise the jump would be so high. We’ve been very lucky with our last mortgage and I realise that now.

If your job is so outing it implies there are very, very few people doing it, so maybe you can demand higher wages.

It sounds like you have a short to mid term cash flow problem rather than a longer term affordability problem. If I understand correctly you will have more employment options when your DS is older, and more money when you are not saving for repairs.

How much equity do you have? Could you remortgage to increase the term, and add the repairs to the mortgage? Then in 3-5 years time remortgage again to bring the term back down.

Don't put yourself down so much. You WILL have skills and abilities that an employer will value! Even if you don't think you do. Even being reliable and turning up for your work, and doing it properly, IS a valuable ability that an employer will value when so many employers bitterly complain about unreliable staff not turning up. That alone should make you worth more than NMW! But beyond such basics, you'll have transferrable skills and experiences - you just need to start valuing yourself more, improving your self confidence, and starting to apply for jobs slightly above your perception of your abilities. Employers will always advertise for more in the hope of getting the best person available, but in reality, with the labour shortages we're seeing these days, they'll end up taking on people who are "good enough" rather than perfect! Value yourself more and put yourself out there!

Has your OH tried to get a better/higher paid job? The way you post, you seem to be shouldering all the responsibility for bridging the gap for your cash deficit. What about him? Can he work towards a promotion with his current employer, or move to another firm with better prospects, or do training courses to move into a different job/career? Not sure why it should be you who has to solve the problem!

This seems the most sensible option in the short term.

Retraining is sensible if your maximum earnings are 20k but that doesn't solve the problem you have right now.

Put a claim in for child benefit today. Make an appointment at the citizens advice or equivalent to check you are getting all that you are entitled to. There are lots of organisations who can help for free- you don't need to work all this out yourself or be expected to magically know it.

I wasn't sure whether English was your first language - if not you may be able to access free classes to boost your skills.

You've had some good advice on here OP. I just wanted to say, try not to be so down on yourself. None of us know everything, even if people seem knowledgable. Why not post some more threads on here asking the things you don't know? People like to be helpful in general. Try to see yourself as a learner - with room to grow.

This would be my suggestion too. Extend the term. Overpay when you can, and reduce the term when you earn more etc. and the payment becomes affordable again.

You should be able to stretch them over the year.

@MonsterTrunk You can combine 20% tax free childcare with the 30 free hours. I get you say you’re not educated on this sort of stuff but you really need to do this now (both you and DH!), you could have missed out on hundreds of not thousands of pounds by the sounds of it with your lack of knowledge around what you are entitled to.

I work F/T and with the nursery fees and mortgage increase my monthly salary is £90 after mortgage, all bills and expenses are paid. Not great, but such is life until 30hrs free childcare or school. Many of us work for almost ‘free’ to afford monthly outgoings. Right now there are no holidays, dinners out, takeaways, new clothes for adults, not even a coffee on a trip to the park - got to make my own. We also live in a very small house, but this is the price I pay to keep it until things are better financially. You’re right, we were spoilt before with the interest rate but what can we do.

Try and re mortgage?

I assume your child is not yet in school, so you are paying nursery fees.

Until your child starts school, could you consider temporarily switching your mortgage to interest only and/or stretching the term, to make things more affordable in the short term? You can always then move things back in a few years.

Someone else suggested compressed hrs - might that be an option for one of you?

Some childcare providers let you stretch it out over the year

^^This.
Can you get a benefits check to make sure you’re not missing out on anything else other than child benefit?

Call the citizens advice line and make an appointment. It sounds like you have no idea what you’re entitled to and how to make best use of your money. They’ll be able to set you in the right path. But I think at the very least you’re diddling yourself out of child benefit.

m so uneducated about all of this stuff.

I mean, with all due respect - no one has educated many people on things like tax free childcare, and 30 hours and child benefit charge, they're things you google and look into when you randomly hear about them surely?

if your earnings are so low do you qualify for any kind of UC?
I know you said your partners job is very specific to one single area of the country, but surely if his earnings are under £40k (which I assume they are if you're on NMW for 20 odd hours a week) then he could earn similar in other roles anywhere else? plus, with the £1 an hour increase in nmw come April that's at least £20 a week more than you get now without having to change anything.

even moving from 25 to 35 hours a week gives you an extra 120 a week in the pot (at the new min wage) Would the childcare for those extra hours come in to £120 a week?

You mentioned you haven't been claiming your 30 free hours. What about your tax free childcare? £2 for every £10. Your income is about the same as ours, you should be eligible for both.

No don’t qualify for UC. I don’t know, I have heard about stuff and I’ve looked at it but clearly I’ve not understood. I get people find that’s frustrating, it is frustrating, but I just seem to get it wrong. I’m trying to get my head around it all.

I have been using my free hours but not the full 30

You only don’t get child benefit if one of you is earning over £50k, not both of you combined. You could both be earning £49k each and be eligible but if one of you earned £51k and the other earned £10k you wouldn’t be.

Also isn’t that only if you’re paying? We’re currently not paying but when we do then I can claim it.

I’m not hugely well educated and I don’t have many skills or experience to my name, so I don’t think I’m a good prospect for many businesses. I’m going to try though, there must be a career for me out there
Honestly Op, your eloquence on this thread show you are perfectly good choice for many business roles. Good luck.

I would try and shop around for another fixed deal- the rates are set to come down again so there are some fixed deals around. Have a look with your current bank first as that will be the easiest.

OP there are some options to make extra money online. Look at the Money Matters MN section and find the latest Earn £10 a day thread. I've literally been paying my mortgage for years from advice I got from there. You might hopefully find some things you can do with a few hours spare, from home.
It sucks that you should have to though. A small family with one person in ft employment should not be finding things this tight just to afford a small, leaky home. Work is not paying.