Starting to struggle again

sdt1986

Been okay for a bit lately paying off bills and just generally settled.

But ive been back in my own place again for the last 3 months which is £400 a month all in, then my main loan is £165 and i pay off £35 on anything else. Sky is £30pcm (cant cancel)

My wage is just slightly over a grand, so ive got roughly £400 a month to include going out and food, im 22 year old and single so staying in isnt really the most viable option.

Any advice on cheap living, my current job is due a pay rise but i arent getting it for some time because there is an halt on pay increases etc.

98jdougl

Why don't you do a full SOA and everyone can look through all that you have going in and out.
For food try looking at the OS board and bulk buying.batch cooking etc

sdt1986

98jdougl wrote: »

Why don't you do a full SOA and everyone can look through all that you have going in and out.
For food try looking at the OS board and bulk buying.batch cooking etc

My outgoings are sporadic which is my problem. Take this weekend just gone after bleeding pay day, went out on my normal friday with my mates, but then saturday i had a stag do which of course i hadnt planned for. Ive now got £170 to last me until 25th of next month, including food to buy

BeautyandtheBeast_3

How about getting a second job - i.e bar job - gets you out and about and meeting the ladies whilst being paid!

sdt1986

BeautyandtheBeast wrote: »

How about getting a second job - i.e bar job - gets you out and about and meeting the ladies whilst being paid!

Did that 3 years ago, but i have a borderline drink problem, if im in a bar i need to drink, so its not a good thing. I started alot of my current debt whilst bar working.

dfwannabe_4

sdt1986 wrote: »

Did that 3 years ago, but i have a borderline drink problem, if im in a bar i need to drink, so its not a good thing. I started alot of my current debt whilst bar working.

Shelf stacking at Tescos maybe? There's loads of part-time jobs that give you a bit of extra money and you will still meet new people.

BeautyandtheBeast_3

ok - Waiting on at a local restaurant or harvester thing??

PasturesNew

Try to get some basic babysitting in your local area. No babies, no bad kids, they must be in bed by the time you turn up.... get to sit in a neighbour's house and watch their telly for free - and be paid to do it ... without any hassle (when I used to babysit when I was about 15 they'd give me snacks/food too) ... AND you get paid for it.

WillpowerFree

What about waitering then? I'm 25 and have just gone back to waitressing from a 'proper' job because my son came along and I wanted to spend days with him so I work evenings. I'm paid less than minimum wage but make between £20 and £50 a shift in tips! Over Christmas it was more like £80! You could do three shifts a week, two in the week and one at the weekend. You're at a perfect age as well cuz there will be loads of people your age there so you'll be able to have a laugh at the same time. What a lot of the people I work with do is they keep their tips for entertainment money and then their wages pay for everything else. If you earnt £75 a week in tips from 3 shifts then would that cover your entertainment?

I understand what you're saying about being 22 and single and i can totally sympathise because I was in the same situation. But I also have the benefit of hindsight and believe me, if you don't control your spending then in a few years you will be kicking yourself. I'm not being horrible or paatronising you, just trying to give you some adviced based on my experience. I've been in the debt cycle now for 5 years and i'm only just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (and that's mainly due to having a baby so not going out!).

On living cheaply, do you cook from scratch. Until I had my son my idea of cooking from scratch was opening a jar of curry sauce! Now i've got the hang of it it's actually so much cheaper than buying packaged stuff. Might be worth a try?

sdt1986

The thing is with a part time job it requires time, i work 8 till 6/7 dependant on what i didnt manage to finish, thats the thing with my job its only me doing it, its the best job ive ever had as its a promotion and its goingto help me big time in my future so i have to put maximum effort into it, At the moment its !!!! because of the financial climate and the company being told there isnt a job for me so im on secondment which doesnt help me apart from the extremely valuable expierence it provides me. Kinda makes things hard. I even do weekends whenever i can.

Katie-Kat-Kins

So how about a weekend job then?

I used to do saturday and sunday mornings waitressing a breakfast shift, it was great because I finished by lunchtime!!!

Most part time jobs are keen for people to do weekend work, try restaurants, cafe's, take-aways, fast food places, you could go for jobs in the kitchens doing washing up/basic prep as well as waiting tables. Also try the supermarkets and city centre shops. Petrol stations have late night and weekend work available and often prefer young men as they are less of a risk robbery wise.

Also look at cleaning jobs, delivery jobs (take-aways, the free paper, etc), casual part time work at places like royal mail who might have shifts that could work.

Alternatively could you teach a skill? Music, sports, foreign language? Babysit? Tutor a child struggling with their maths? Busk?

There are lots of ways to make extra money, if you are struggling to find time after work there are weekends or home working, or you could see about starting work early so that you can finish earlier.

Could you get a lodger? Or persuade your landlord to let you get someone in to share the rent?

You also need to think about reducing the cost of your going out, limit yourself to once a week, if you have a stag do or something then cancel your normal night out. Drink less or cheaper, be the designated driver, walk or bus rather than using a taxi. Find low cost things to do some of the time, if you have sky you could have a bring your own beer and watch the game night some weeks rather than going out. Or you could go to the local rather than town.

Reduce your living expenses too, the best way is to post a SoA so everyone can see your situation.