the_whole_arsenal

the_whole_arsenal t1_j6e7te1 wrote

You will need 10-12% of the home value at a minimum to buy a house, pay closing costs, move and fund insurance and taxes. Second, mortgage companies will, at best, approve you for 36% of debt to income, so if your making $50k, that is $18k in payments/ 12 months to cover principal, interest, insurance and taxes, or $1500/ month. A mortgage that includes insurance and tax will allow you to buy a $185,000 house at today's rates. So you would need $20k saved for closing. Can you even find a house for $185k?

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the_whole_arsenal t1_iy6fs7j wrote

Yeah, pretty much this. Maintenance can add 10 years to a car or lack of can remove 5 years from a car. Stuff like a $50 oil change is a small insurance policy. Honda says I can go 8k miles, but I do 5k. Over 150k miles the difference would be 19 vs 30 oil changes, or $550. But I'll get 300k miles, and the guy that goes 8k will likely only hit 200k before forking out $3,500 on rebuilding the lower engine (oil pump, piston rings, pickup tube and bearings).

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the_whole_arsenal t1_iy3cmtb wrote

Without knowing any bankruptcy laws in the UK/Scotland, I'd say you need to start cutting everything but the necessities and give an honest overview of what you have you can sell to help rectify the issue.

If you cut TV, Xbox, Spotify and other non-necessities You could save ~$75/ month, but you don't have the income to support the loans and necessities. Do you have a car you could sell to eliminate the insurance cost and ride bus or train?

I'd focus on the loan with the smallest balance or the highest APR loan first in either case. You need breathing room, and the smallest balance will create that when you pay it off. The highest APR makes sense as it will limit the amount of interest charged.

Does your significant other know about the extent of the financial difficulties you are facing?

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