I'm in way over my head [VENT]

[nothing2lose]

I really recommend you read this and get some face to face advice from a financial counsellor before signing anything...

http://www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/Bankruptcy.pdf

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Thanks n2l. These were read out to me by ITSA the other day when i phoned but i just had a good read then. Nothing really worries me as most of that won't affect me for a while. Most things are already in DP's name. The next 3 even up to 7 years i don't see myself earning a great deal of money as i will be working only part time and studying mostly.

I will however chat with ITSA completely, actually they gave me the number of a financial counsellor here in canberra i can go chat with.

I really want to thank everybody for being so supportive and offering all kinds of advice.

[Olive]

If you went bankrupt would it affect your chances of renting in the future??

[*LittleMissSummer*]

It possibly could.

The house we are in is long term lease so we see ourselves here for atleast another 5 years, unless of course in the future the owners change their minds but we have been good tenants and theyre really happy with us. I think we would just need someone to guarantor on my behalf or something.

[Little Chicken]

It depends. I have rented three times since becoming bankrupt, twice through the same agency, and once privately. Has seemed to make no difference. As long as you have a good record with paying your rent you should be ok. Fo the record, we have never missed or been late with rent or mortgage payments.

However, you will not be able to travel overseas without your trustee's permission. Your name is placed on a customs watchlist. You wont be able to get cheap insurance either. You will not be able to get a new mobile contract with a different provider (trust me, I've tried). You will have no form of credit for the next three years unless it was pre-existing. You will then need to build your credit rating back from scratch and may need to jump through a great many hoops just to get a small loan or hire purchase agreement.

[Little Chicken]

Not forgetting, it may affect job opportunities as well. No business ownership, company running, or controlling finances for a living.

[PumpkinZulu]

All I can say is I'm sorry The best advice I can give is to cut back further than you have already. NO takeout, no lunches out, no special treats in the house, no alcohol, sell all gaming consoles, games, second TV if you have one, downsize the TV you have, use a toy library instead of buying new ones, op shops, homemade food, meal planning etc.

[Charlotte91]

That's awesome advice, PZ.
Every dollar helps.

[sahbear]

All I can say is I'm sorry The best advice I can give is to cut back further than you have already. NO takeout, no lunches out, no special treats in the house, no alcohol, sell all gaming consoles, games, second TV if you have one, downsize the TV you have, use a toy library instead of buying new ones, op shops, homemade food, meal planning etc.

Great advice.

I would also suggest your DP get a second job for a while, until you get back in the workforce.
Even just a few hours a week will help, especially since you will soon have another little mouth to feed, clothe, educate etc.
You are in this together.


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[PumpkinZulu]

DH and I have lived off of 250 a week. Granted, this was pre DD, but we had two phones, a computer for uni work but no TV, we paid bills, rent, food, public transport costs all factored into that. It was hard. There was literally no wiggle room, picking up a chocolate bar at the supermarket would throw out our budget, and we would eat rice and veggies most nights. I'm not suggesting you go this extreme at all, but it does illustrate that you can always cut back more. It will be hard, but I don't think you have another option. Without sounding harsh, it sounds like you have lived well beyond your means for a long time, so I really think you need to cut right back.

ETA During this time, I babysat for cash. Maybe oh could look into that? DP could have your DD in the evening, and you could babysit in your local area. It's a great way to make some extra money.

[nothing2lose]

Actually, if you declare bankruptcy do not do any cash in hand work. If you are found out, it will not go well for you.

[briggsy's girl]

I would also suggest your DP get a second job for a while, until you get back in the workforce.
Even just a few hours a week will help, especially since you will soon have another little mouth to feed, clothe, educate etc.
You are in this together.


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i would be suggesting you get financially counselling before DP jumps into an extra job. in theory, it sounds like the simple way to help you out of a bind but there is a lot to take into account with taking on an extra job
second job will get taxed at a higher rate, and may mean you get a tax bill at the end of the year if first job hasn't been taxed highly enough
taxable income will increase, which will mean potential overpayments of ftb (a and rent) - changing your estimate to reflect the added earnings (which you would need to do) will reduce the income there as well
travel
potential expense for additional "away from home" meals (not necessarily take away, but if he was working two jobs, to get decent meals/snacks/drinks it can mean additional expenses - where you might have a glass of water at home, being out may mean taking cordial or something)

just be REALLY sure of your numbers before you make decisions like that. you want to make sure you are actually bringing in more income otherwise what's the point? i know for us, me working 15 minutes extra each fortnight, we would have $50 less per fortnight of actual cash coming in. given our budget is extremely tight (about $80 for fuel and food most fortnights), that difference is HUGE. yes, i could add a LOT of extra hours, but the net gain just isn't there. sometimes it's better to reign in the budget to the bare basics, shop smart (bulk buys when on special, cook everything from scratch if you can, cook and freeze bulk foods) than to take on more work. the stress of extra hours can be very damaging on the entire family. again, looking at our situation - due to the limits on the type of work DH can now do due to health, if he were to work, by the time we factor in travel, tax, ftb losses - without even having to factor in child care as my mum has DD, it would still cost us money to have him work

really check your numbers before making that decision.


i tend to agree with PZ that you can do meals that are cheap and healthy though - as i said, we're living on about $80 a fortnight - we manage to successfully live on that most of the time (sometimes we buy in bulk so blow that a bit - but the next week it evens out) - we feed two adults and one kidlet 6 nights a week, and a third adult on the seventh night. we always cook extra at dinner time so that we have lunch for the next day. we just make sure there is plenty of veg to bulk things out a bit. tonight we're making fried rice, and will make sure there's enough for tonight, tomorrow lunch and probably tomorrow dinner. we had chow mein the other night, and made enough to freeze three lunch sized meals (for DD and DH) and still had a lunch today for DH and I...

[Little Chicken]

Second N2L. Never lie about income during your bankruptcy. They can, if it is serious enough, cancel your agreement and make you fully liable for the debt, or extend your bankruptcy period to a maximum of 8 years. Just be honest and do your best.

[briggsy's girl]

Actually, if you declare bankruptcy do not do any cash in hand work. If you are found out, it will not go well for you.

definitely don't do undeclared/cash in hand work
it can extend the period of your bankruptcy
plus it can work against you with fao/ato as well. far safer not to go there.

[Beautiful Disaster]

I'm in a part 9 debt agreement (not bankrupt but part of the act) and I work in financial services so I had to write a letter for my employer as it came up in the ASIC search. I only have to tell people about it at all. But being an ex property manager here in qld we have to declare on the application if you are or have ever been bankrupt. My agreement was or well over $30k and going into it has been the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders and so much easier to manage.

[PumpkinZulu]

Actually, if you declare bankruptcy do not do any cash in hand work. If you are found out, it will not go well for you.

Good to know. I was working off of the assumption that bankruptcy would not have been declared. I also declared my babysitting $$ as I was on c/l payments, I didn't mean to do a sneaky lol, just that it's a quick way to get money, as most people you babysit for are not going to deposit it in your account (although, one person did as it was easier that way!)

[sahbear]

i would be suggesting you get financially counselling before DP jumps into an extra job. in theory, it sounds like the simple way to help you out of a bind but there is a lot to take into account with taking on an extra job
second job will get taxed at a higher rate, and may mean you get a tax bill at the end of the year if first job hasn't been taxed highly enough
taxable income will increase, which will mean potential overpayments of ftb (a and rent) - changing your estimate to reflect the added earnings (which you would need to do) will reduce the income there as well
travel
potential expense for additional "away from home" meals (not necessarily take away, but if he was working two jobs, to get decent meals/snacks/drinks it can mean additional expenses - where you might have a glass of water at home, being out may mean taking cordial or something)

just be REALLY sure of your numbers before you make decisions like that. you want to make sure you are actually bringing in more income otherwise what's the point? i know for us, me working 15 minutes extra each fortnight, we would have $50 less per fortnight of actual cash coming in. given our budget is extremely tight (about $80 for fuel and food most fortnights), that difference is HUGE. yes, i could add a LOT of extra hours, but the net gain just isn't there. sometimes it's better to reign in the budget to the bare basics, shop smart (bulk buys when on special, cook everything from scratch if you can, cook and freeze bulk foods) than to take on more work. the stress of extra hours can be very damaging on the entire family. again, looking at our situation - due to the limits on the type of work DH can now do due to health, if he were to work, by the time we factor in travel, tax, ftb losses - without even having to factor in child care as my mum has DD, it would still cost us money to have him work

really check your numbers before making that decision..

Sorry, was trying to help, but I clearly don't know enough about the subject! Never been in the situation of needing a second job, and dont know anything about govt benefits and their limits and how it would effect it, just thought it was a good idea.
I don't want to make your situation worse.

Ignore me!

[briggsy's girl]

it might be a great idea hun - just putting it out there to really make sure it's actually going to have a benefit!

this is especially important for low to middle income earners, when you take into account higher tax rates (at a guess 30-40c in the dollar), the loss of (as much as) 20c in the dollar for ftb (40c in the dollar if it's the lower income earner that increases their income!), plus travel etc, it can be a negative situation to work that extra job.

it's something i would suggest to anyone - check that you're actually going to benefit by working more. it might be that it would be great from 1july so you can have your estimates set higher from the start of fin year for ftb purposes - but when we're 9 months into the year, any increase would have you having been overpaid for the past nine months, so as well as reducing ftb for the 20c in the dollar for increased income, there also has to be a correction to payments to counter the previous nine months overpayment.

i posted because i have a fair idea of the income level LMS is on due to her comments about just missing out on parenting payment - and that would definitely be the income bracket where it may actually cost them for her DP to work a second job.

unfortunately, it can really be a razor edge that you have to walk with these decisions. i have to walk that razor edge every time our contract negotiations come up (which they are at the moment - hence my headspace being one of caution!).