Newbie saying Hi !

AndyJ87

Hi all,

ive been a reader of the forum for a while.

things are starting to get a tad tight so i thought i would set up an account here to get some tips on how i can earn some extra cash to get things cleared abit quicker.

background -

Me and my girlfriend had a little flat that we rented, we needed our own space as things at home where tough. after being there for 12 months and getting a rough deal with bad neighbours and poor communication between use and landlord/estate agents and also struggling to get along moneywise we decided to move out and clear all our debts and eventually buy our own place.

the loan that we have is for a car which i need at the time, deposit and some furniture for the flat and also to clear off credit cards that we had. now were paying back a large amount of £410 a month to get cleared asap.

im looking in to take on a second job but im struggling to find anything in my area. ive find all local supermarkets and they have all said they arent taking anybody on

anyway, ill leave that at that for now

Tixy

Hi Andy and welcome

Where are you living now? do you still live together or have you moved back in with parents.

Have you worked out a monthly income & expenditure account to see where all your money is going? and have you looked to see if you have the best deal for each item of expenditure (eg can you reduce your mobile tariff, can you get cheapert internet? are you with the cheapest gas & elec supplier etc). If you can cut costs a little in these areas you can free up more to tackle your debts.

Good luck with the second job hunt. Are there any bars nearby you could apply to? places like weatherspoons/chain pubs seem to be often taking on part time staff. Also you might want to look at the 'up you income' board here on MSE to see if there are any other tips that might help you.

AndyJ87

Hi,

yeh, we are back at my parents now.

being back at my parents has helped us free up some money, but not really a significant amount to make a dent in the debts.

everything we pay for is to keep us sain really, without internet or the odd cinema trip we would go mad to be honest.

there are plenty of bars, but i have no bar experience what so ever. i am currently working full time as an admin assistant for a telecomms company and the OH is a catering assistant.

bargainbetty

I didn't have any experience working in a bar until I applied for a job and got it. The manager trained me up to do things the way he liked them done in his pub, so we were both happy.

If you have shop work experience, then you are halfway there with the customer services side of it anyway. Have a look through your local newspaper, walk into shops and ask, or go to your local job centre. You never know what might turn up.

Surely your OH would be able to get extra hours working in a pub kitchen somewhere? That could be an option for him, if not for you.

Good luck x

niccatw

Support work is also another area where they are constantly looking for new recruits - especially males, if you think you could do that. Often you are employed on an "as and when required" basis which is good if if there are shifts you just cannot do, as you are entitled to refuse them (however, if you refuse lots, you'll find you are not the first person called upon so it's a bit of a balance).

Is there any chance of over-time in either of your jobs? Can you car boot/ebay anything you have no need for?

How long is your loan for? Do you have a time-scale in your head (however loose) for how long you'd be staying with your parents (helps with the keeping sane thing, I find!)

Have you tried keeping a spending diary to see if there is any money going awol that you hadn't realised before?

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi andy and welcome all the best withyour dfw journey, and hope you can find a seconed job x

AndyJ87

well the loan has about 2 years left on it.

i may be getting a slight increase in pay soon but i dont think it will be much.

my OH cant get anymore hours as they have enough staff to cover all the shifts.

OH does do AVON though, she doesnt get to involved with it but she is going to get a grip on it and try and make some more money from it.

AndyJ87

so i was reading some parts of this site today. namely the reclaiming charges section.

during the time of us living in the flat we incurred alot of charges, i got paid weekly and so occasionally we would go overdrawn ( literally by £'s not alot ). but this would result in OD charges and Returned direct debit charges at £20 a pop.

during this period of about 7-8 months we would regularly incurre charges of close to a £100 a month nearly, give or take. these charges would then again send us overdrawn and incure more and more charges.

just wondering if you guys think i would have a chance at reclaiming some of it ? im with LLoyds TSB.

Frugalchic

:AHallo AndyJ87!

Just to welcome you to this superb site! I too am new to all of this and just want to wish you the very best. xx

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi I'm no expert with charges but there are letters you can send to start proceedings :-) also look in to ppi do you have insurance on your loan was it misold if donut may be refunded, all the best x

petebates26

Hi there,

Back to your point about a second job - I've just started one myself.

I'm a Web developer for the Public sector (pay freezes for me!) and I'd had no previous experience in bars, but I got the job no problem!

Just wanted to let you know that there is stuff out there - it's minimum wage, but it's helping me out no end! 2 shifts a week would give you an extra £200 or so to throw into proceedings!