Younger DFW's??

laurenjs88

"earn more, spend less" the same as "eat less, exersise more" may well be the secrets of life....

I was put into £2k of debt at 16 by my partner who was 25 at the time pulling of the biggest ebay/paypal scam ive ever bloody seen! using my bank account, an ebay account in my name & a paypal account also in my name.

After paying all this money back to the companies, my bank shut my account & registered the debt on my credit file 3 days after i turned 18! its taken me untill a month ago to get this removed from my file!

I stayed with this bloke untill the day we found out i was pregnant with our daughter, in that time i'd stupidly got him a mobile phone bill in my name that clocked me up a nice £1000 debt im still paying off & left me with a £900 electric bill when i left, even though i left the flat and was carrying his baby and paying his bloody mobile phone!

I then managed to start paying off my debts, when i moved back into my parents, payed for my own driving lessons & my own car, borrowed alot of money from my family to move into a flat with my daughter.

I owe my old electric company in this flat £213 suposedly, & my new company are saying over 11 weeks ive used £162 worth of electric

Jobcentre loan of £700 also that i pay off a £6.77 a week.

Anglian water dispute of £427 something that isnt being paid untill i get it adjusted, neither is the electric bill, i want my meter looked at lol.

I pay £11 a week off of the mobile phone, which is due to be paid off in sometime in Jan 09! I managed to get the 900 electric written off with the help of the CAB, So will be popping in there again to sort out the new leccy and water!

Currently i am on the GC challenge, the NSD challenge, Sealed Pot, £5 a day & PAD challenge.

With the help of MSE i have very quickly turned my debt around realised that actually i can pay it all off and start living within my means rather than the continous cycle of going overdrawn and getting bank charges that i am currently getting.

For the first time in months i have a 3 figure sum available in my account (i get my benefits weekly)

And feel great that i can make a few extra fivers a month through slice the pie and other sites that mean i can now treat myself and my daughter for the first time since she was born!

Gemmzie

smarties84 wrote: »

WOW that is fantastic, how did you do that?


I am 24 and mummy to a 13 month old and about 11K in debt.

Mainly matched betting and casino bagging. Unfortunately the casino game has dried up in the past 18 months (sob ) and is too risky now but matched betting is still a good little income if you can get your head around decimals and a spreadsheet.

smarties84

natsplatnat wrote: »

Hi Smarties!

I too was wondering how people managed to pay so much of their debts so quickly! What I have learned so far.....

Reducing spending (on everything, if you haven't already post a SOA on the debt-free wannabe website so the lovely people on here can have a look and make suggestions as to where you may be able to shave off a few pounds)
Daily clicks - sites like quidco etc where you can just click through to some merchants each day and they give you money back (yep... for free), some merchants give you more for getting things like insurance quotes.
Budget - from my SOA I couldn't believe how much money I just waste
Review sites - websites that pay you to review products and places. Qype do challenges - the most recent one was 50 reviews in November and you get a £50 Amazon voucher (all helps you get the things that you need/want without spending)
Move any debt you have to the lowest interest rate possible and pay off in order of interest rate (highest to lowest, obviously whilst still maintaining your minimum payments)

I hope this helps? As I say it is only things that I have picked up in the 2 weeks or so I have been on here!

Good luck!!:T

Wow you have picked up alot in two weeks and thanks for sharing with me.
Do you know how i go about doing reviews? thank you. Also Quidco, i have heard alot about but is it just a case of going on there and having a look or is there a certain place on the site, i can go and click to get things for free? thank you xxx

smarties84

Gemmzie wrote: »

Mainly matched betting and casino bagging. Unfortunately the casino game has dried up in the past 18 months (sob ) and is too risky now but matched betting is still a good little income if you can get your head around decimals and a spreadsheet.

Thank you so much, i may look into that xxx

mazza1985

"Hi my names Marie, Im 23, and I am a spendaholic......."

Hi!!!

So today, I tried to apply for a capital one credit card, AGAIN! I dont know why I keep doing this to myself!

List of debts....

£1115 to Uni for unpaid rent
£1029 to smile (cheque guarentee card, got waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy carried away!)
£829 Natwest (overdraft)
£2205 personal loan (used it to buy the scooter I now dont use cause its too damn cold!)
£280 CCJ
£650 Littlewoods (new laptop I didnt really need)
£450 overdraft on my current account
£140 to British Gas
£180 in Council Tax arrears
£100 in water rates arrears
£360 to DWP Budgeting loan from when I was on benefits

= a grand total of £7338 :eek:

That is the first time I have ever added it up properly OMG! That is more than 6 months salary!

Was going to do a debt consilidation, but from reading on here they are bad news, I think I would just start spenind again!

natsplatnat

smarties84 wrote: »

Wow you have picked up alot in two weeks and thanks for sharing with me.
Do you know how i go about doing reviews? thank you. Also Quidco, i have heard alot about but is it just a case of going on there and having a look or is there a certain place on the site, i can go and click to get things for free? thank you xxx

Hi Smarties!

With the daily clicks and cash back sites, do a search for 'Eagerlearner' in forums and she has a thread all about daily clicks etc. Once you find it, read the first couple and last couple of pages and send her a PM and she'll send you her guide to making as much 'free' money as possible from the sites she lists!! (mostly by clicking through to third party comparison sites - they will normally pay 2-4p per search, but usually limited number of clicks per day)

Reviews - there are loads of sites, so far I've only signed up to Qype and Dooyoo, but basically, you can review places, events etc (Qype) and products etc (Dooyoo). You collect points for the reviews which are then converted into vouchers when you get enough!

I have decided on reading the above back - that I waffle. Do if you are confused just head for 'Eagerlearner' as she will explain things much more clearly than I!! :rotfl:

natsplatnat

retrocircles wrote: »

i'm 23, married, mortgage, and about 50k of extra debt (i think)... just starting out here, need to pluck up the courage to actually tally up my debt.

saying that, i might be made redundant on thursday!

Hi!! Hope Thursday past without you being made redundant? If things are OK (or even if they're not that great) post your SOA and let people have a look - there are loads of wonderful people on here that will be helpful and make suggestions, tips and hints! I'm not one of them, I'm only two and a half weeks post LBM and still learning (but learning fast!)

:beer:

natsplatnat

mazza1985 wrote: »

"Hi my names Marie, Im 23, and I am a spendaholic......."

Hi!!!

So today, I tried to apply for a capital one credit card, AGAIN! I dont know why I keep doing this to myself!

List of debts....

£1115 to Uni for unpaid rent
£1029 to smile (cheque guarentee card, got waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy carried away!)
£829 Natwest (overdraft)
£2205 personal loan (used it to buy the scooter I now dont use cause its too damn cold!)
£280 CCJ
£650 Littlewoods (new laptop I didnt really need)
£450 overdraft on my current account
£140 to British Gas
£180 in Council Tax arrears
£100 in water rates arrears
£360 to DWP Budgeting loan from when I was on benefits

= a grand total of £7338 :eek:

That is the first time I have ever added it up properly OMG! That is more than 6 months salary!

Was going to do a debt consilidation, but from reading on here they are bad news, I think I would just start spenind again!

Please stop trying to get a CC - each time you are refused it will stay on your credit report!:rolleyes:

Post your SOA on here for everyone to look at (including APR's on CC, loans etc).

You may need to do a bit of work to repair your credit history before you can get another card. This is a good thing - listen to peoples suggestions, hints and tips and you may find you won't even need a new CC soon!!

Welcome to the place where it all starts to get better !! :T

Sharon87

I can't believe how good I'm being with my money in the past month. Usually I get money (JSA/money from selling things on ebay) and think, right I'll buy the food this time (me and my brother share the shopping), or I might go buy a new top, or some ice cream. I'm now not doing that I'm using it to pay off my 2nd overdraft, the one that charges interest lol. I'm also saving it for emergencies. I'll also be saving an extra £4 a month as I'm moving house and got some vouchers in the post for Lovefilm free for 3 months! So I redeemed it for my new place. Just got to remember to cancel it beginning of march lol.