Hi
I am hoping for new ideas on sorting my finances, any suggestions welcome.
Full time employee for 8 years, niche field. Well qualified. Single but other obligations. IT interests, develop software for same field. Spent over 100k of own money in development over past 5 years, then caught out by change in govt procurement 18 mths ago which means they are in bed with the multinationals and not taking on smaller companies. Project incomplete & needs another 50k to be completed. If I can come up with another 1K a month for the 6-8 months, project will become self sustaining (can license part) even if it will not repay the capital just yet. Income was 55k pa till 3 years ago when decided to turn contractor because of poor job satisfaction / to increase earnings, made 70k per year. Decided last year that contracting was not as lucrative as it once was and decided to undertake 1 yr of retraining to different specialisation which will bring in 100k from mid next year. However in the meantime am back at 55k which has made a difference to my cashflow. The problem is that in order to continue with the software development I had to borrow on a couple of personal loans / credit cards (50k) which now have made finances tight am finding difficult to repay promptly so late and missed payments which I catch up with once lumpsums come in. Some hassle from the above.
I would like to consolidate / simplify my outgoings, refinance if possible and complete the project as that is the only way I am going to get my money back, incomplete software being not saleable.
So in brief, Take home 3k a month after tax / pension / NI. Living expenses 2.2k pm inc rent / food / training costs / other. Have economised. Leaves 800 a month for any unexpected expenses / repayments. Am short by around 1k a month. (Need total 1.8k) Overtime not a feasible option currently due to study / lack of suitable hours (Working Time Directive). Signing on bonus of 10k expected mid next year. Also take home will definitely go to 5.5k pm on a conservative estimate. So will be able to pay atleast 2k a month in repayments. Based on prev income & current projected earnings expect to pay the 50k off in 2 years when I am qualified. The project monies are not counted in this. Tax / VAT refunds etc in process, expect 20k minimum once processed but will take a few months. Accountant handling them but not too great on personal finance advice. Have 10k in payments not recd for goods / services which are winding their way through courts. Another 20k in payments to software developers who messed up the schedule, declared themselves bankrupt & left the country. (Are now in Oz so am chasing it up personally - connection through friends / family) Had to move a lot for work these past few years (8 moves) so credit history not so great in addition to the above mentioned delays. Was approved for 100% mortgage but don't see the point due to instability of house prices. Considered buying last year on a Northern Rock greater than
100% mortgage, turned down. It was only to benefit from the lower rate of interest and would have sold / moved / made overpayments in a couple of years anyway which was the only reason I considered it.Where do I go? Is there any company etc who will take a long term view on this? On the face of it, inspite of my current difficulties I will be more than able to repay the loans well before time. I just need to reduce payments/ stop them for the next year. This is not counting the software development which will be a lumpsum bonus if I complete & sell.
Thank you for your assistance.