financial advice

onemargie

hi there everyone feel a little guilty writing this post as I know many of you have been in the same position but I was just wondering if theres any advice or help out there. I started back at work  part time a few weeks ago after 9 months off with surgery treatment etc and as you might know from previous posts tried to get some super out unsuccessfully to help with the mortgage etc so now we have exhausted all our savings and I just need to catch up on these last few bills ( electricity, water rates, phone $2500)  then we can start fresh as I'm working now but I feel I am chasing my tail. Have tried all other options don't want to get a credit card as the interest rates are huge and will be forever paying it off, had an insurance policy prior to bc but changed banks and let it lapse until I got the new finance sorted, got a new policy but fell 1 month short of the waiting period to make a claim couldn't claim anything from Centrelink as hubby works, so was just wondering if there's anywhere I can get some help to just pay the above so I can start fresh without trying to pay the new bills that come up as well as these ones?? You might think hey your working now stop you're whinging and that's probably true but I'm just a bit stressed about it, asking family for a loan isn't an option either. Margie.

Zoffiel

Can't help. wish I could, I'm going under too and hating the austerity measures.

Harlee

Can you try to find a financial advisor through the Cancer Council or Salvation Army or Lifeline or something like that to assist you? At the very least they should be able to help you contact the phone company, electricity company etc and work out a payment plan. That way you can try to pay off $100 a week (or whatever) while staying on top of your mortgage and new bills. 
This is one area where our society falls down. Unless you have your own insurance there is no assistance when you become ill and can't work for a lengthy period of time. Even though your spouse or parents can help support you, suddenly losing your income while incurring medical bills is not easy.  
Good luck. 

Cosette

Hi @onemargie, this is a little bit out of left field, but have you considered fundraising or crowdfunding what you need? $2500 is not an outrageous amount to ask and your family and friends would help you out. You could use a website like GoFundMe; they even have a medical category.

melclarity

@onemargie Hey! hmmm thats a tough one, my income protection picks up the 2 days I don't work, but its only 65%. I do have a health care card as am a low income earner and single parent. Financially struggling too, so much so my rent is so high on my pathetic income that I have to cut my time off short recovering mastectomy/diep flap recon and return to work as I'll be about $400/month better off working 3 days that 5 days on income protection GRRRRRR!!! There should be a medical benefit payable over 2yrs to people with illnesses where they are struggling to work. Centrelink are bloody USELESS! and nope Superannuations wont help. 

Sorry, what about payment plans for the bills? pay it off bit by bit alot will do that?

Hugs Melinda xo

Brenda5

You said you have a mortgage. Have you been paying that down for a while? Perhaps the value of your house has gone up a lot and revaluation could unlock some more money; or if you have made quite a lot of payments, they may be able to rewrite the loan back to the start? Home loan rates do tend to be the cheapest rates you can get. Little tip on getting finance, don't have a large credit card limit as the bank assesses that as fully drawn even if its not.
In the mean time, see if you can get payment terms for the other bills until you can lump sum pay the rest off.

onemargie

hi there lovely ladies thanks for all your advice, I ve read my post again and it sounds like I was looking for a bloody handout which I definitely wasn't, just some advice about how to get through this bit,  I've rung around this morning and am going to pay off the bills slowly now instead of stressing about how to pay them in full so it will all work out just had a bit of a panic attack this morning as they were all due within a week of each other. Normally Im pretty good with this stuff and we have cut back on heaps of things to budget properly, definitely wont do a go fund me page as I feel there are people out there worse off than me that need it more. @brenda I don't have a redraw on the mortgage either and too much stuffing around to use the equity, so cant be bothered and cosette how hard do you think it would be for me to start a charity for situations like this where I could help even just a little bit for people in the same situation??? I would love to help @melclarity for example and there are so many others. Margie

melclarity

@onemargie thats a great idea. My situation is temporary as my partner and I planning to move in together later this year, so my financial burden will be eased, and I'll be back on top. Though I think there are SOOOO many other people here who would benefit greatly from something like that! M x

iserbrown

Yes it's how it is for us all at different times - making the sums add up

Emmaw

Hi @onemargie, it sounds like you may have found some of these options already, but I just wanted to jump in and share for yourself, or anyone else who may be looking for some assistance with paying for bills.

BCNA's Financial and practical assistance fact sheet has some helpful information about finding assistance from service providers (gas/water/electricity/phone) - I have included a link to the fact sheet here for you. The Cancer Council have quite a detailed guide with information about finances here. There is some additional information from Cancer Council QLD about accessing some assistance with paying bills here. The Utility Relief Grant Scheme may be able to assist in contributing some funds towards your bills. There is some information here about the grant scheme and information about how to apply.

onemargie

thanks emma but because we are both working again now there is no assistance available, ill sort it out dont worry, will look into the charity thing though to help others, maybe I could start with a go fund me page for this to begin with ??? Margie

Cosette

onemargie said:

...definitely wont do a go fund me page as I feel there are people out there worse off than me that need it more.

You're too humble! People care about lots of different things at the same time and support various causes all at once  

onemargie said:

and cosette how hard do you think it would be for me to start a charity for situations like this where I could help even just a little bit for people in the same situation???

I don't know how one starts a charity in Australia, but one person around here who might know is @LouiseTurner. She founded Reclaim Your Curves. A more comparable charity might be Mummy's Wish, which seeks to provide support to mums with young children.

primek

At our hospital our cancer services do have assistance for things like this...make enquiries (they keep it quiet) but yes Cancer Council is a brilliant idea to talk to etc.  They may be able to assist with a delay payment of bills or negotiate small repayment plan for you.

LouiseTurner

Hi @onemargie I would be happy to chat to you about what I have done with RYC. Thanks @Cosette_BCNA for the connection. Margie perhaps pm me and we can exchange details to have a chat if you are interested. Starting a charity is not a small comittment and can be mightily expensive to set up. But let's chat because we may have some common ground. Louie

Nadi

All amenities, gas, water, phone, electricity etc are required by law to have financial hardship policies. You can ring them and work out a payment plan for the last bill. Often they will give you a discount as well. But your have to say you want to speak to someone in their FINANCIAL HARDSHIP team. They can even give you extra months to pay. If that fails (though I have never heard it eer fail) ring Financial Counsellors Australia. a free service that can help;

onemargie

thanks so much to everyone ill follow up with all that advice and louie ill pm you today xx