be gentle, i'm new...and skint!

lynsayjane

hi folks,
firstly a thanks, i felt bad about the debt i'm in till i came on here, it almost seems nothing compared to some of you, but it is damn near crippling to me.

i'm a 24 year old lassie in the north of scotland living alone (prefer it that way honest). i work as a sales assistant and do a small amont of freelance dressmaking, though not enough to make a big difference.

this is the first time i've actually added up how much debt i'm in so this is a little scary...

bos credit card- £1029.38 (£1200 cl) 0% till march 06
sky credit card- approx£1500 (£2000 cl) 0% till jan 06 on new purchases too

current acc od- £750 maxed out most of time no interest as still student acc
bills acc od- £400 also maxed out interest on this only about £1-£2 a month

only store card with balance debenhams -£62.64 no interest if paid in full when bill arrives

am due my dad £200 (he helped put in my new kitchen) and mum £100 (she helped with...)

got a letter a month ago from the electric co saying i'd underpaid for a year and due them £230. they wanted £70 a month so i told them to get stuffed and said i'd find the cash to pay off the debt.

so thats a total of...£4272.02

not including student loans, but i don't pay enough to have to worry about them...yet:eek:


the good news...I have got together £410 in my savings acc to pay off electric, debenhams card and pay back my dad somewhat.

as for monthly stuff... i get paid about £600 a month. unfortunatly i'm just part time so my wages occasionally rise and fall but not by much thankfully.

mortgage - £190 with abbey, it's a tracker and has only gone down since i got it nearly two years ago
council tax- £78
gym- £36 (stuck in a contract till july, but i'd like to not have to cancel..)
bt line rental- £16.50 (only got it for the interweb)
tv license- £1o.50 (totally object to this since i already pay for...)
sky- £21 (may cancel this when 24 finishes in a few weeks, but not before)
electric- £26 (but may hev to be reveiwed shortly due to ^^^^)
internet- £14.99 with tiscali
cinema card- £10.99 (unlimited movies...if i use it twice i save money)
insurance- £42 (life and home)
sister- £10 (some thing thru her work (rbs sorry folks) where i make money in five years...i took her word for it)
mobile- £30 couldnt live without i'm afriad

food shopping wise, i do it at asda to reduce costs and can get away with £30-£40 a month.

i limit going out and when i do i only take £20 with.

i always try and make lunches for work and walk everywhere (i'm a snob, i dont do buses). i dont have a car or kids or any of that nonsense.

however i do have a wee addiction to shoes...i try my hardest to resist, and always shop for bargains, clothes isn't so ba anymore, i make most of it myself saving a fortune.

sorry about the major essay there, am away to start my higher english with hpes of doing teacher training so i'm gettin in practise lol

my aim would be to be debt free for july 07 if i do become a student again cause i could not carry on like this if i was.

cheers for all yoru help and encouragement

kisses

lynzpower

Just wanted to say a big welcome from one Lynz to another

there are loads of us on here- can I guess... were you born in 77 too?

Anyway big welcome from me :hello:

Thriftylady

That £10 must be the staff share save scheme, it will all be in your sisters name if she is the staff member, so just make sure you don't fall out with her before the five years are up, or she'll maybe keep the shares !!

All joking aside, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have a feeling that since these are a tax friendly benefit, which are linked to being a company employee, you paying into it instead of her might technically be illegal.....

lynsayjane

lynzpower wrote:

Just wanted to say a big welcome from one Lynz to another

there are loads of us on here- can I guess... were you born in 77 too?

Anyway big welcome from me :hello:

haha, no!!! i'm only 24, was born in 81...


as for the share save scheme thing, my money goes to her and she pays the extra, i don't technically pay anything for it, but it's legality is not summit know about...

Thriftylady

[QUOTE=lynsayjane

as for the share save scheme thing, my money goes to her and she pays the extra, i don't technically pay anything for it, but it's legality is not summit know about...[/QUOTE]


the only reason I mentioned it was because its something to to with tax, its some sort of tax free savings scheme.....but on the other hand, in all honesty I doubt if anyone would ever find out that you are contributing instead of her. I just thought I would mention it !!

david_hellier

According to my calcs you have £7.26 per week to spend on anything else including food. You need to cut back or survive on rice.

Get rid of:

gym, sky, cine card, mobile phone. this would bring your figure to £28 per week on food and luxuries. I suggest you do this until you are in a position to earn more. You probably do not need life ins. if you are on your own.

Weekly Monthly
Income 0.00 600.00
rent/mortgage 190.00
council tax 78.00
secured loans
fines 0.00
electricity 26.00
gas
water
mobile phone 30.00
car tax
insurance 42.00
tv licence 10.50
overdraft interest
gym 36.00
credit card
car loan
sky 21.00
house phone 16.50
overdraft reduction 10.00
bos 30.00
sky card 45.00
internet 14.99
store card 10.00
cinema card 10.99
other
other
other


Start £7.26

lynsayjane

thanks david!
unfortunatly i need the life assurance for my mortgage...groan! it's never just as simple as paying the mortgage!

sky will be going in a few weeks, i have to have my weekly dose of 24 and it finishes in less than a month so i can wait.

the gym i'm stuck in a contract till july, again thats only a month so i can cope.

sadly, and i know i'll get hung for it, i cannot live without my mobile phone, however i do have a bad !!! contract, better than anyone else i know of. 500 anytime any network mins and 750 text a month for £30. and i just monitor my call durations to ensure i never go over it. and i am never ever gonna use more than 750 text.

somehow i'm managing to pay the bills and live off that £7 and my debt isn't gettin any worse, which i take as a BIG positive. It's just not going down by much!

lynzpower

are you getting single persons council tax reduction?

ms_london

Could you not get a full time job? Especially if you are thinking of going back to uni, surely, you need to get some money behind you asap? Or more ways of promoting your freelance dressmaking business? If you cant reduce your outgoings any more then the only way is to increase your incomings. xx

lynzpower

im looking at your rent/ mortgage

Is that shared ownership? If so, is that interest only? Only Im in the same boat and cr**ing it about how to make up the shortfall as Im meant to have put the difference between IO & repayment in an ISA and I havent.

Have I got the wrong end of the stick here?

lynsayjane

ms_london wrote:

Could you not get a full time job? Especially if you are thinking of going back to uni, surely, you need to get some money behind you asap? Or more ways of promoting your freelance dressmaking business? If you cant reduce your outgoings any more then the only way is to increase your incomings. xx

i'm trying, trust me. but it appears a degree is worth nothing these days...
when i say part time, i usually do 37 hours a week, but it's not guarenteed if they need a staff member less one day i get an extra day at home.

to do more with the dressmaking i'd have to set it up as a proper business paying tax etc, but i don't have the funds. i'd also have to get business insurance to do it from home.

i've been selling things through ebay to get extra cash, which usually goes to pay off my cards.


yes lynz i get the single person reduction.