I'm so bored of my debt

Freshwater_Pearl

Hi,

I'm a long time MSE forum reader and thought I'd chuck my debts into the mix. The total below is just for my formal debts. I owe a heck of a lot more to my dad and boyfriend, which I'll add on later.

I'm in a huge mess: £181 over my Barclays overdraft limit, direct debit for water has just bounced, I don't know how I'm going to pay my co-op loan repayment this month (£260) and some other stuff too.

I'm not a spent thrift, but I have made some bad decisions. I'm self employed and am only making a few hundred pounds a month. I'm with AQA, but can't seem to earn more than £3 per hour on it.

I think I'm posting on here to try and make this all seem real. And I also want to set some urgent goals.

Get £181 into Barclays to get back under overdraft limit
I need quick money. Amazon and Ebay. I've already sold a lot. I'll have to be ruthless.

Get £717 for September rent, bills and co-op loan repayment
I have £480 coming for work done in August. So just another £237 to find then.

Get some more massage clients

Earn £340 from AQA this month to pay rent next month.

I'm all revved up to make this happen. My goals are challenging, but not impossible.

Thanks for reading x

Piquant_2

Good luck Freshwater pearl!! Look forward to seeing you get there...

savingholmes

Welcome

Freshwater Pearl - like the name.

Would it help to do a full SOA on make sense of cards and then post it here?
Also look at the £10 a day challenge for ideas on how to make money.... a lot of them would probably be a bit slow for you.
Any chance of getting a second job?

Just a few thoughts....

Verbatim

Good name!

How about getting a part time job while you're building up clients?

Freshwater_Pearl

Hello, I think this is the SAO. Have been avoiding doing this because it's a faff. But very useful. It's a interim SOA because my dad pays for my car tax and some other stuff which I'm going to take over once I get out of this hole. Also I want to pay off my overdrafts and student loan.

I split the bills with my live-in boyfriend. He does the council tax, internet and home content insurance. He is also subbing me something chronic with the rent. Haven't paid him my full half or a few months.

Over the past year or so, I've pared my spending down to a minimum. My problems is more to do with income. But if anyone can think of any more savings I can make, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks for your replies. I'm looking into new ways to earn money. Will look for a part time job also. I've been getting by with Ebaying, Amazon, handouts credit card, overdrafts and living off little pockets of cash I had squirreled away (paypal account, Labrooks account, Royal Mail account, money behind sofa etc...). But I can't do this anymore.

I've put the monthly totals here.

Income: approx £480 pcm
Outgoings: £1,050.31 pcm

HOME
Mortgage/Rent: £337.50
Bank Account Fee:£13.50
Overdraft Cost: £3.00
Water Rates/Meter: £50.00
Gas:£5.00
Electricity: £50.00
Home Phone: £12.00
TV Licence: £12.00
Mobile Phone: £40.00

EATS, DRINKS & SMOKES
Food and Household Shopping: £120.00
Eating Out: £4.17
Drinking Out: £4.17

MOTORING & PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Breakdown Cover/Roadside Recovery: £3.33
Petrol/Diesel: £50.00
Other Transport £5

CARD & LOAN REPAYMENTS
Personal Loan Repayments : £257.50
Credit Card Repayments: £8.00

FUN & FROLICS
DVD/Video Rental: £10.99
Books/Music/Films/Computer Games: £8.33
Cinema/Theatre Trips: £2.50
Family Days Out: £5

HEALTH & BEAUTY
Dentistry: £3.33

CLOTHES
New Clothes: £8.33
Work Clothes: £3.33

BIG ONE OFFS
Christmas: £33.33

benbenandme

Welcome to the boards Is there a reason (small children etc) why you can't get a full-time position that would increase your income and then supplement this with the aqa stuff?

PoorPrincess

Hey,

Well done on starting your own thread, use it to gain advice and help from others and as a diary for your details, thoughts and progress, it definatly helps!

Have you thought about a bar job?? You can make allot of money in tips to compliment your wage.

Try keeping a spending diary, its a shocker when you first start out, and definately puts things into prospective!!

Princess

x

Freshwater_Pearl

benbenandme wrote: »

Welcome to the boards Is there a reason (small children etc) why you can't get a full-time position that would increase your income and then supplement this with the aqa stuff?

Hi, thanks for commenting.

I don't have any kids yet (next year hopefully if I can get my act together).

I'm a self-employed massage therapist and work Mon-Thurs. I'm new at it, so only earn about £480 a month. But I'm getting new clients regularly, so this should become Mon-Fri and pay £1,000 a month by the end of the year.

If it doesn't, then I'll have to look in to being full time employed again.

Emmah_3

It's hard starting in business. Maybe a part time job would help. Good luck.