Want to clear debts and accumulate wealth

TUS

An SOA is really required before anyone can comment here. £30k is a very good salary ... I support a family of 4 on £16,800. I'm shocked that someone single with a child PART of the week can't live on £30k even after repayments on that size debt. Maybe your rent is too high? Considered moving somewhere smaller? Where are your priorities? If its clearing your debt, post a SOA.

savingwannabe

Lifeonhold,

Hello. I have been on this site for a month. I have learned so much in a short space of time. Post on your SOA, people will help you find ways to cut back. It is hard work but you will see immediate results and you will have the advice of many wise people.

PS. We are all on here as we face the same issues and problems and want to achieve the same thing. There will be a solution i am sure and you will feel much better sharing the problems as then it doesn't seem as bad.

I earn a decent salary and like you was always almost in debt. In the last month since joining MSE i have:

stopped buying snacks at work (saved a fortune),
stopped travellling by taxi (dont drive due to illness) and tried to catch bus or walk,
stopped buying posh brands in supermarket shop (haven't noticed a difference but financially my shopping bills have been significantly reduced),
kept a spending diary to see where all my wasted money was going,
changed electricity/gas supplier,
negotiated a better deal with my cable provider,
started a savings pot,
i have even learnt how to ebay old cd's
I have had some NSDs (unbeliveable!!!!!) and i am the least assertive person you will ever meet.

I saved properly and in just a month. If i can do it mate you can too. Make a start post a SOA and you will see .........

hugs,

:j

lifeonhold

savingwannabe wrote: »

Lifeonhold,

Hello. I have been on this site for a month. I have learned so much in a short space of time. Post on your SOA, people will help you find ways to cut back. It is hard work but you will see immediate results and you will have the advice of many wise people.

PS. We are all on here as we face the same issues and problems and want to achieve the same thing. There will be a solution i am sure and you will feel much better sharing the problems as then it doesn't seem as bad.

I earn a decent salary and like you was always almost in debt. In the last month since joining MSE i have:

stopped buying snacks at work (saved a fortune),
stopped travellling by taxi (dont drive due to illness) and tried to catch bus or walk,
stopped buying posh brands in supermarket shop (haven't noticed a difference but financially my shopping bills have been significantly reduced),
kept a spending diary to see where all my wasted money was going,
changed electricity/gas supplier,
negotiated a better deal with my cable provider,
started a savings pot,
i have even learnt how to ebay old cd's
I have had some NSDs (unbeliveable!!!!!) and i am the least assertive person you will ever meet.

I saved properly and in just a month. If i can do it mate you can too. Make a start post a SOA and you will see .........

hugs,

:j

Thanks for that supportive message. What is a NSD?

Nottoobadyet

NSDs are no spend days, in our Debt Free Wannabe speak!

Never mind the disparaging folk, like it says at the top of the page this forum is for support, not judgement. Best of luck. I think you'll get a lot more helpful advice if you post up an SOA when you have a moment.

Spirit_2

Life on hold
1) You "do not want to be poor when you are old" - so are you in a pension scheme - if not - sort this out.

2) A bigger income can mean bigger waste - it did for us - and we still got into debt. Personal budgetary control is the key. Read "the money diet" for inspiration.

3) Rather than spending emotions on 'if only' seize back control of your actual financial position - do post the SOA - you will get direction from wise folk on here that helps cut your outgoings, and ensures you are persuing any tax credits or benefits,

BLT_2

TUS wrote: »

An SOA is really required before anyone can comment here. £30k is a very good salary ... I support a family of 4 on £16,800. I'm shocked that someone single with a child PART of the week can't live on £30k even after repayments on that size debt. Maybe your rent is too high? Considered moving somewhere smaller? Where are your priorities? If its clearing your debt, post a SOA.

Whilst I agree with you that 30k is a good wage I think we need to put this into perspective.

The OP is a single part time father, he needs to rent a 2 bedroom property in order to provide a home for his daughter. In my area of the country that can run to circa 600 pounds per month for somewhere small. Add to this maintenance payments, council tax, etc etc and you are talking a monthly expenditure of over 1,000 pounds a month before you have even commenced paying off your bills.

With outstanding debt of 20k, you can expect that that his debt bills run to a 400+, so we are already up to 1500 pounds. I suspect that his take home pay is in the region of 1900-2000 per month.

This leaves at best around 500 per month to pay for fuel, food, visiting, and entertainment for his daughter. He is certainly not living the life of Raffles

I congratulate those in self congratulatory mood who state that they are paying a mortgage and bringing up children on less, however they do not pay child maintenance and the OP does not have access to the benefits available to those on supposed lower incomes.

I suspect the 16.8k alluded to does not included Child Benefit, Child Tax credits and all the other plethora of benefits granted by the government to families with children

consultant31

BLT wrote: »

The OP is a single part time father, he needs to rent a 2 bedroom property in order to provide a home for his daughter. In my area of the country that can run to circa 600 pounds per month for somewhere small. Add to this maintenance payments, council tax, etc etc and you are talking a monthly expenditure of over 1,000 pounds a month before you have even commenced paying off your bills.

Surely the OP wouldn't have to pay maintenance when his DD lives with him. He states that he doesn't get any financial help from the Mother!

OP, without an SOA it's much more difficult for people to help you. Have you thought about a spending diary - it's really amazing to see how much is wasted over a week or so on bits and pieces that make very little difference to your life.

lifeonhold

I don't pay child support because my daughter lives with me but I do pay everything for her as my ex wife gives me nothing, nought, nada (she is on benefits)!

I live in Cambridgeshire and yes it is expensive. I pay £650 a month rent for a very small 2 up 2 down end of terrace.

Thank you for all the help & advice. I can understand the frustration of some of the more negative posters but would advise them to be less judgemental as they know nothing about me or why I am in debt. I am not going to reveal the ins & outs of my private life here.

I do feel different from when I posted a couple of days ago and more positive about my situation. I just get tired of it all once in a while as, like I said, I have always tried to do the right thing but where has it got me? Not looking for a quick fix just a plan, of which I am starting to formulate with your support.

Cheers

savingwannabe

Good, this sounds positive. Most people are just milling along trying to pay debts and save for a future. The one's that go on ridiculously expensive holidays are usually in debt or have planned very carefully.

Now you are MSEing you will be part of the latter. I moved house three years ago and have been saving for ages to get this house into the twentieth century. The carpets and wallpaper are older than me!!!! finally i am nearly there, i want to start saving for a fab holiday next summer so i am going to be watching my pennies very carefully.

MSE has been invaluable, now i cannot imagine a future without it. (do i sound like a Stepford Wife????)

:j

lalli_pickle

If you only have your daughter for part of the week then I would first suggest a part time job, for example if she spends 3 nights a week with her mum you could work those three nights.
Secondly, you can do jobs like avon, loads of people on here more qualified than me to tell you about that but it's a bit of extra a month.
Then you can get into the survey, cashback and selling things but that will only go so far.
Assuming you can get a second job on minimum wage if you work 24 hours a week you should take home at least and extra £3,500 per year just from that.
Finally, you can train in your spare time (if you have any by then) to do something you can do at home in the evenings when your daughter is with you. A good example is bookkeeping, where you can charge around £10 per hour and have all the paperwork delivered to you, then all you need to do is enter it on a spreadsheet or customised package and send it back and liase with the accountant once a year. If you can get enough work to bill another £100 per month it would then only take you around 3 years to pay everything off, but it will be hard work and there will be days when you miss out on your 8 hours sleep but it'll be worth it.
Does any of that sound doable?