Teen In Debt

JimmyTheWig

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

spend a week with your spending as low as possible...
start with the same budget as normal, but your mission is to have at least £10 of it left at the end of the week.

I think this is a brilliant idea.
You could keep a "change pot" where you keep the odd pound coin or 50p that you purposely didn't spend.

£37 a week is about what I spend on "odds and ends", too, and my take home pay's quite a lot more than yours

But the difference is that you are not trying to have the social life of a 19 year old.
It's much more than I have to spend on odds and ends these days (and my current socialising spend is pittance). But it's less than what I had to spend on socialising when I was 19, and I think that's the point.

laurajayne

I can see what you're saying OP - but actually that's quite a lot of money to have to spend on yourself.

I am debt free, and only 24 myself. I earn a smidge more than you do, live with my parents, and run a car. I have £400 disposable income. I'd love to have more (who wouldn't!), but I am more than aware that this is a fortune to what other people have. This is as good as it gets I'm afraid!

The alternative to cutting back, or overpaying, is to try an earn more. Second job in your local maybe? Also look at mystery shopping/quidco etc?

Good luck x

LilacPixie

Another thing to consider is your £78 a month in car insurance and £120 on petrol fair enough but what about other car related expenses?? MOT?? Servicing?? Car tax?? Minor repairs/tyres etc. The may all seem irregular expenses but they all add up.

Bargain_Rzl

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I think this is a brilliant idea.But the difference is that you are not trying to have the social life of a 19 year old.
It's much more than I have to spend on odds and ends these days (and my current socialising spend is pittance). But it's less than what I had to spend on socialising when I was 19, and I think that's the point.

In real terms (factoring in inflation etc) I had about half that to spend on myself when I was 19 - and didn't get into debt

I'm afraid I don't really get quite what you mean by "the social life of a 19 year old". Surely most 19 year olds don't have enormous amounts of disposable income?

LilacPixie

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

In real terms (factoring in inflation etc) I had about half that to spend on myself when I was 19 - and didn't get into debt

I'm afraid I don't really get quite what you mean by "the social life of a 19 year old". Surely most 19 year olds don't have enormous amounts of disposable income?

OOps at 19 i used to spend £50+ on a saturday night not to mention the new outfit etc :rolleyes:

Maybe thats why i am now here at 27.

I think the hardest lesson is you can't have it all, on a 1k income you can't have a car, new designer clothes monthly and a fabulously expensive social life. If you try have it all you will end up further in debt.

Bargain_Rzl

LilacPixie: I suppose I'm really lucky that I was not brought up to be careless with money and I also didn't have particularly materialistic friends, so the thought of spending beyond my means at that age never really occurred to me When I was at university I always used to be surprised that so many people treated their overdrafts (and the rest) as free money, when their basic income and essential expenses must have been very similar to my own, and the only way I managed to live so well on such a low income was that I took good care of it... It's not that I didn't have a life - I went out at least once or twice a week. Never was into clubbing though. That tends to work out a lot pricier than pubs.

Sorry, I am going off on a tangent and this isn't my thread. I'll be off now

JimmyTheWig

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

In real terms (factoring in inflation etc) I had about half that to spend on myself when I was 19 - and didn't get into debt

I'm afraid I don't really get quite what you mean by "the social life of a 19 year old". Surely most 19 year olds don't have enormous amounts of disposable income?

No, not enormous amounts. But at 19 there is a want, an expectation and to some extent a need to socialise. When married with three children at nearly 32 there isn't.
If the OP didn't have the debt then his spending money would be significantly more than it is now.

My weekly money at 19, as a student, was £50. Admittedly that had to cover food and bills, but I remember most of it went on enjoying myself. And that was 12 years ago.

Honeybee_2

An idea for magazines may be to swap with friends? I buy a magazine a month but end up with loads more as I swap and change with friends and family, that way we get several magazines for £3 odd.

wherediditallgo

Hetic, a spending diary might be hard to do mentally, but it's so worthwhile doing because you really see where your money has gone, & you'd be surprised just how easy it is to waste £20pw or more. Since doing mine, I

• rarely buy newspapers - I read them online for free.

• don't buy bags of salad from the supermarket - I can buy half a cucumber, some tomatoes, onion & a lettuce from the local market for near enough the same cost as a bag of salad, & the market stuff will last for several meals. My days of cafe cappuccino are over too, because I can buy an 8-cup pack of cappuccinos from Poundland for £1. I keep that at work, & that gives me my coffee fix when I need it.

• buy cheap sugar-free cordial from the supermarket & make up a 500ml bottle to take out with me during the day, or if I go out to bingo, as that works out about 20p a bottle. I keep a 500ml bottle of the same cordial undiluted at work, which lasts for about a week. I then use water from work to make some to drink during the day, rather than pay for canned drinks from the machine.

• buy chicken pieces, roast it, then cut it into small pieces before portioning it up & freezing it. I can then use that for a chicken meal as & when I need it. I also buy salmon trimmings for about 70p or prawns & use some of that to make up my own salads, rather than buy a salmon or prawn salad which would cost me about four times as much.

• have a monthly bus pass, & I organise my going-out around buses rather than pay extra for trains. I only use a cab if there's going to be a few of us sharing it.

Remember, it's not where you go that matters, but who you're with. I still can't go out as much as I'd like, but I have Sky at home, so at least once a month I'll have friends round to catch up on a particular show we all like. Everyone chips in £3 each towards food & drinks, & we have a great laugh for next to no money. We also take it in turns to have people round for dinner, all of which works out a heck of a lot cheaper than going to a pub, buying drinks & pub snacks there. When my debts were really bad, I lived on a lot less than £37pw & I was taking home more than you do. I didn't go hungry, & that tells me that it is possible to do it, eat healthily & still have a social life of some kind.