Husband out of work from next week :-(

[loopyloou]

Although sort of expected, still shocked that this has now happened. Dh works in IT, for past 13 years has had nothing but bad luck with jobs. The "permanent" jobs he's managed to find have been with small companies that have then folded, within a year of him starting approx. Only other jobs going have been contract work, some of which have been extended for a year or so. Now the current contract has come to an end.

He is applying for everything he can find, mostly underpaid contracts. Based on past experience it could be months before he's earning again.

I work for an estate agent, only contracted to do very part time work. Obviously I now need to start looking for full time work, which is a pity as I've not been there long and enjoy my job. I'm also a self employed typist but never earn very much - if you charge a lot you don't get the work at all, it seems, so I work for a pittance.

We have no savings due to past periods out of work and no credit cards or any chance of getting one. I can cancel all insurance, music lessons, cut down on food etc but really don't know how I'm going to pay or the mortgage, council tax, utilities etc. We have no insurance to cover the mortgage in case of redundancy as dh was not entitled as a contractor. We have taken our three months mortgage holiday last time he was out of work so that's not an option either

Does anyone know what happens if we can't pay our mortgage this month? Do we go into arrears and they charge us a late payment fee or will they take us to court? We are with the Halifax.

Sorry for rambling on. Feel really anxious and have only just recovered from depression and anxiety, got myself back out and working, really scared this will drag me down again - not scared so much for my sake, but the family need me to be strong. Dh is hopeless with money and needs support to keep him going!

Sorry, should add dh is not very motivated and needs a subtle push and encouragement all the time.

So sorry.
Tell the Halifax anyway, right now, because even if you've already had the 3-month respite period they need to know and if you default without them knowing it will be worse.

Go to Citizens' Advice Bureau.
Submit claims for everything and anything, Tax Credits, benefits etc.

You & your DH should sign up with agencies too. They earn their money from contractors so it's in their interests to get you both working pdq.

Brush up your CVs and make them really positive.

Tell everyone. Most jobs I've ever got have come from personal contacts. There is absolutely no need to be ashamed - it's happening to everyone.

DONT do anything stupid like take out loans

Be brave, be strong - things will come round in the end.
And give DH a kick up the arse too. It's not OK to be 'not very motivated' and in need of support.

Does he pay himself through a ltd company? Has he got any profit left in there that he can pay himself?

DH is an IT contractor and it can be stressful, he was out of contract for 6 weeks over Christmas.

What does he do and what sectors does he work in? The market is in a better state than it was a year ago, for sure. Is he applying for new things? Has he updated his CV and sent it to agencies who have placed him in the past?
Don't be disheartened, the last two contracts DH has done it has been less than two weeks from him applying for the job to walking onsite. Things can move very quickly.

I know this doesn't help you now, but we pay ourselves on the basis that DH will only work for 9 months of the year and then we save 20 percent of what we pay ourselves. Means we are always covered in this situation.

To add to the above - ask your work about more hours, and start applying for jobs now! You have recent experience, you are in a better position than many.

Twitter queen thanks for the advice. He is registered with all the agencies. Our cvs are up to date. I will get in touch with some agencies and see what I can find (so worried, half a year ago I couldn't imagine ever working again due to anxiety and depression, now I'm coping but can't imagine going full time! I struggle with IBS too).

Tax credits don't seem to come into effect until the following year, due to what he has been earning so far this year I think. He will get job seekers allowance, for what it's worth.

Alibaba, he is a network support technician, specialises in Novell and there just aren't many jobs out there. He's been paid through an umbrella company, we literally will only have a month's salary plus £500 in our savings account.

Hokey ghost, thanks. There aren't more hours at work. The office is struggling due to poor sales, they just let a full time member go and replaced her with myself as Saturday staff so won't be able to up my hours, I already get extra hours as I'm still in "training"! So I'm working 12 hours a week plus holiday cover at present. I don't even get all of that as I'm still being taxed even though I am under my allowance (have queried, still waiting to hear back).

Sorry, that should say "holeyghost", stupid phone!

Oh Loopyloou, I could have written this with just a change of occupation for DH - including the lack of motivation. The stress is unbearable & I feel for you. The only thing that resolved our situation was DH getting a permanent contract outside of his chosen career. So I would definitely recommend that he applies for anything & everything.
We took a mortgage holiday too but were also able to make reduced payments at other times aswell - worth asking the Halifax.
You should be able to pay a reduced amount of Council Tax too - phone your local office tomorrow.
Tax credits should increase so get straight on to them.
Can't think of any other practical advice at the moment but will have a think.
I hope that your DH finds permanent work very soon & you can get away from the stress & financial nightmare of contract work.

Thanks Eddie. I've been praying or a permanent job to come along for so long, I don't think it'll happen.

The problem is he's so stubborn, says things like we need such and such an income, can't apply for that or that, its too low. The way I see it is a permanent but low income would be preferable to none! We have high outgoings (had to move to larger house as children were too old to share). The costs are really too high. Now the older two children have moved out but houses aren't selling and the ones that do are much lower than when we bought, i.e we would lose at least £15000 of what we paid as we bought just before the market collapsed. Plus dh won't consider selling, doesn't want to go into rented and we wouldn't get a new mortgage for 6 years I think due to past debt problems (again due to unemployment) and bad credit rating. We also have a rescue dog and 2 rescue cats and may struggle to find somewhere to rent where we can take them. I can't get rid of them

I could be doing dh an injustice but I don't think he'll apply for something other than 3rd line IT support, at least not yet. We've been together 18 years, I know him well !

I hate arguments but know that at some point I will have to sit him down and discuss this and he won't like my suggestions. It works better if I can subtly "manipulate" him into believing it was his idea!