Before I start I am not hinting for foodparcels, loans or any charity as I am a proud woman but I think my family is about to go under. I can't take much more and have been crying with stress for an hour now.

[twinsetandpearls]

As you know we have just moved and coud not sel our house.

We made plans to move before the credit crunch and we were desperate to move.

We agreed to rent the house to my sister and her friend for just under the mortgage, as they agreed to move out if we got a sale and we knew the house would stay nice for any viewings.

a fortnight after siging agreements the other tenant buggered off owing us lots of money ( and my family) My sister could not afford the full rent ( which was subsidised by us so we agreed that she could pay her third ( her house mate had a son so they used two rooms and she used one) This meant we were subisidising her by almost £500 a month. She knew we coud not sustain this and oromised to look for a flatmate, she has not and four months later we are £500 a month down. Our savings have gone on a deposit for our rental house down here and moving costs. We are now sinking.

We should take this girl to court for the money she owes us but we don;t have the momney to pay for a solicitor.

Then to top it all I have had some money taken from my bank and the bank are investigating but seem to be dragging their feet. I have given them a crime number which will speed it up, hopefully.

To top it all our car died and we needed to replace it as once a month my dp has to go back up to Lancashire. So spent his money just before my bank was drained.

Dp gets paid on Friday and until then we have no money. We just about have food. A friend drives me into work and I owe her petrol money, she is now skint so we may not even be able to get into work from Wednesday. We are now one month behind with the council tax as well. My anti depressants ran out last week and I can't afford my new prescription which is probably making things feel much worse than they are.

We are going to have to completely cancel Christmas this year, we were going to visit family and now dd is heartbroken as she can't see her dad, extended family or the friends she left behind over Christmas.

I have phoned the estate agents who are selling the house and they will rent it out but they have said because the rental market is saturated the rent will not cover the mortgage. But we will be subsidising at £100 rather than £500 a month. I know this is going to cause a huge family row when I have to ask my sister to leave the house and I am dreading it.

I know everyone is going to pile in and say you shouldn;t have moved but when we made plans the credit crunch was not big news so we thought, and so did the estate agent ( although they would say that that we would sell). When it became clear that we could not sell I even tried staying in my old job but as my school wa bankrupt they would not give me my job back once my notice had gone in.

I don't even know why I am posting this, I guess I just need to offload.

custardo would you like to buy my house and rent it out?

PMSL@ballbreaker and Jesus!

Very sorry for all these troubles you are having.

Can you moonlight as a private tutor or are you just too knackered with all this?

Also could your children do modelling? £300+ a day plus £75 chaperone fee for you.

I don;t get much call for tutoring in my subject, teach RE and philosophy but I agree that I need to look into ways of earning more money (Xenia would be so proud)

DD is a real little charactar and would love child modelling but I would feel a little uneasy using her to make money.

Just sending you lots and lots of big hugs, twinset xxx

Re child modelling - why don't you list the benefits and the drawbacks before making your decision? If it could help you out of a hole and help her to see her dad & friends...

Just some words of encouragement. At the start of 2008 we were in the same position as you.

Had moved 400 miles away for dh's job and renting at a phenomenal cost. Tenants in our flat moved out without giving notice (after setting fire to the kitchen without telling us) so were left paying mortgage as well. Bills were mounting and I was in tears every night with the stress.

Coming to the end of the year, flat has just sold and dh's business is now making ends meet (just about!).

Definately speak to your bank, even if they will not agree to a payment holiday they may reduce your payments for a while.

Make sure you get your AD's, you probably need them atm.

Hope everything turns out okay for you.

Thanks sb, that is good to here, I sorted my ADs tonight.

Part of the stress is that feeling of loosing control and not knowing what to do. We are willing to reduce the house again and to keep reducing until we sell so and I know that as soon as we use a letting agency we will have to take the house of the market. I am not sure if that is the right things to do.

My dd did some modelling a while back and enjoyed it a lot. Not particularly stressful, spent the money on her.

Also I wondered if you would consider writing essays for an essay mill such as Oxbridge essays (if it's not too morally dodgy in your view). £150-£300 a pop.

I suppose the modelling money could go towards her horseriding and she does want to restart her dance lessons and do some drama and I had to say no.

I do feel uneasy about it though, also as someone who works full time (during term time I could not ne dragging her up and down the country).

What is an essay mill, is that where people get essays from to hand in. Am not sure if that is ethical.

They are supposed to use them as exemplars. But some hand them in. Bit dodgy I admit.

www.oxbridgeessays.com/more_info.asp?current_id=183

www.elisabethsmith.co.uk/

Top modelling agency for children. Less morally grey area!!

TSAP im so sorry you have been put in this situation and by you sister of all people

just a question, how old is your DD?? i know you said no charity etc and i hope you dont take it as such but i have had a big sort out of DDs toys she got last christmas and came across a few unused unopened toys that she is not interested in that you are entirely welcome to if they would be of use to save money on xmas gifts there are also alot of stuffed toys with tags (and nice and clean) that i am sneaking away under DDs radar as she would gladly hoard all stuffed animals and block herself in her room for all eternity if she was allowed

i was in a bad situation money wise a few months ago but it does get better and i hope you get someone to rent your house soon
xx ei xx

dd is 7

If you can find long term renters taking the house off the market may be an option until the market sorts itself out and you can sell more easily. Especially if you like where you're currently living and don't need to move again.

As with the bank, if you have bills mounting, credit cards, utilities, etc, speak to the providers who may offer a payment plan.

We do love where we are living although would like to buy here before prices rise again as we are selling in a relatively low property price area and buying in a more expensive market. But of course that is all irrelevent if we can;t sell.

Working for an 'essay mill' is more than 'a bit dodgy', and it is not 'a morally grey area'. It is just NOT ethical. Not even slightly. Boffinmum, you do realise that people can get slung out of university for using that kind of service? Please ignore that suggestion tsap. I am so sorry that you find yourself in such a hideously stressful situation.

Yes, you're right really, Zazette. Shouldn't have suggested it. I have actually been responsible for doing some of the slinging out, so I should have known better. I just felt absolutely desperate for Twinset and was scrabbling around for any way at all to help. Sorry Twinset.

Boffin meant well. She is right though and I do need to find a second income just not one that involves my daughter or plagarism.

Twinset, you're great, this is terrible. What about freelance copy editing. Has someone said this? It's early and I haven't been able to read thread.

If you use a regular chemist they may allow you some AD's off your next prescription if it is a repeat one.

About the rest, no helpful advice but tons of sympathy, and CAB are pretty helpful

Sorry again, I still feel a bit guilty and silly for suggesting that, specially to an RE teacher, but glad I am forgiven.

Had a better idea - teaching on crammer revision courses run by local independent schools?

Also lecturing at Open University Residential Schools, or becoming an Open University Course Tutor. I did this once or twice and really enjoyed it. Reasonable money.

www3.open.ac.uk/employment/tutors/courses/Faculty_of_Arts.shtm

Thanks boffin I will look into that

How are you doing today?

Is there still a short plumpish drama teacher (the main one) at school as she used to teach evening classes, she also marked exam papers which is also a possibiity, so maybe have a chat with her, most OU courses are eveing or weekend tutorials and they only have them once a month once they ahve done their first year and one essay a month to mark.