21 and Struggling

KatieWelshie

Hi, My name is Katie, I've just turned 21 and I have been struggling with my payments to pay off my debt after stupidly trying to keep up in fashion and accessories as a friend (who is financially stable). I have been looking for a better paid job and a second job (so fingers crossed I'll find something soon.) to help with my payments. The groceries is quite high as I have just started a new diet, (This is a MUST due to being overweight and loss of confidence) Please can you help.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 729
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 729
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 80
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 275

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Provident......................2105......190.......272.2
Littlewoods....................1555.46...239.......0
Very...........................894.63....9.04......49.9
Additions Direct...............59........10........44.9
New Look.......................80........5.........28.9
Vanquis........................230.......10........39.9
Barclaycard....................206.94....5.........29.9
Simply Be......................119.99....10........39.9
Total unsecured debts..........5251.02...478.04....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 729
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 275
Available for debt repayments........... 454
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 478.04
Amount short for making debt repayments. -24.04
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,251.02
Net Assets.............................. -5,251.02

rubywhatashmoo

KatieWelshie wrote: »

Hi, My name is Katie, I've just turned 21 and I have been struggling with my payments to pay off my debt after stupidly trying to keep up in fashion and accessories as a friend (who is financially stable). I have been looking for a better paid job and a second job (so fingers crossed I'll find something soon.) to help with my payments. The groceries is quite high as I have just started a new diet, (This is a MUST due to being overweight and loss of confidence) Please can you help.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 729
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 729
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 80 I'm guessing you still live at home to only pay this much and have no other household bills?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45 VERY HIGH!! If you can't cancel your contract and go PAYG as least see if you can downgrade the package you are on! Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150 Even if you're on a diet you can do it cheaper than this - have you looked into Slimming World type plans for tips? Then check out the old style money saving board
Clothing................................ 0 Are you sure you don't need to spend *anything* here?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0 How do you get to work?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Easier to budget something here every month than struggle around xmas/birthdays etc
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0 You need to spend something here really or have a very active imagination to not be stuck in the house stressing about debts - even just a cinema trip every month (Orange Wednesday!!)or a coffee out with friends?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 275

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Provident......................2105......190.......272.2 Is this right??!
Littlewoods....................1555.46...239.......0 Is this the minimum repayment for this account? If not reduce it and throw the money at your debts with crazy interest rates!
Very...........................894.63....9.04......49.9
Additions Direct...............59........10........44.9 Get all these paid off ASAP - the APR is obscene - is there any way you can move your debt around to a 0% card and destroy the card so you can't spend more on it?
New Look.......................80........5.........28.9
Vanquis........................230.......10........39.9
Barclaycard....................206.94....5.........29.9
Simply Be......................119.99....10........39.9
Total unsecured debts..........5251.02...478.04....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 729
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 275
Available for debt repayments........... 454
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 478.04
Amount short for making debt repayments. -24.04
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,251.02
Net Assets.............................. -5,251.02

Put a few notes on above - good luck

KatieWelshie

Thanks for the notes,
These are my responses :

• Yes, I do live at home and £80 is my monthly keep.
• As for my telephone bill, as it is with O2 I can't change the pacxkage for 12 months and it would be extreemly costly for me to buy myself out.
• The diet package I am on is a "no food" diet - live on shakes, This is the cost so there is no way I can change that.
• I walk to work - 25 Minutes away
• I don't buy clothing anymore - It upsets me too much with the sizes I need, if i need to i used my catalouges.

I wil take ecverything into consideration thanks

lou06

Hi Katie
I'm a newbie here too, well done for posting your SOA ur in the right frame of mind to get this sorted out.
I've noticed that a lot of people are recommending ebay, and I can totally agree that ebay can work, although the fees can be a bit infuriating, but at least you are getting something back on any purchasing that you have made and no longer use, they won't make anything lying in the bottom of a cupboard.

Chin up and I'm sure there will be more good advice heading your way. x
I'm subscribed to your thread so keep positive, think it could be worst if you haven't posted until another couple of months/year's down the line x

Silaqui

Hi Katie,

I know you have said the diet is a must, but it is a very expensive solution - have you already tried ordinary 'healthy eating' type diets? Or even joining Slimming World or similar if you need the extra support for just a couple of quid a week? You can eat very cheaply for one person especially if you are eating healthily - vegetable based meals can be really cheap and filling so you don't need to snack in between meals. Well done for walking to work - I work about a 30 minute walk away but I drive there

I know you have said that you don't buy clothing but I really do think you need to factor some 'pocket money' type cash in for yourself. I tried to go without anything when I first started and I just ended up dipping into the cash anyway. Getting debt free is hard, losing weight is hard, and you do deserve the odd treat or trip out even if it's just a trip into town to buy a coffee in MacD's and buy a primark necklace (to tart up the clothes you already have!) What about haircuts etc, do you do your own?

Another thing - if you live at home, do your parents know about all of your debts? Obviously it depends on the situation, but you are currently coming up short on debt repayments and if they were in a position to (and you were happy with it) would they be able to pay off some of the storecards (maybe Additions, Vanquis, New Look and Simply Be totalling around £500)? This would relieve you of some of the interest and give you a bit of breathing space - you could increase your rent untill you have paid them off.

Also try the snowball calculator (google it) just plug in the numbers and it tells you the best way to manage your money to pay things off.

Sorry for rambling! Hope some of it is useful xx

Silaqui

Hey Lou!

Ebay is good, and if you take advantage of free listings (there's free listings today actually) then it's reasonable. You'd be amazed what people will buy, I emptied my wardrobe of clothes, shoes and stuff that was nearly new and made 120 quid after postage! It wasn't 'designer' stuff either, just New Look and the like.
I have also sold a few bits for my friend who is a size 24 and her stuff made a fair bit (I guess because it's harder to find nice plus sized stuff on the high street?) so if you are bigger it might be a nice little money spinner!

xx

lou06

My advice to you Katie
When you do ebay make sure you are the seller and not buying! this is a very hard lesson that I have learn't taken about 5 years to learn it, partly due to the reason I'm in debt today but if you still need ur fix for a spend, why not transfer a portion of your earned cash and leave some in your paypal account, it is always nice to have something if you are really needing to spend or even purchase a good buy for an xmas gift etc.

NSD and a spending diary have a good knock on effect when you are buying daily stuff, you feel u don't want to buy anything and write in ur diary lol x, it works really well for me at the moment x

gilligansyle

Cut back on what you pay Provi, I know its hard, as the agent calls and its your parents house, but so long as you pay something. At least the interest is fixed, so they won't add to the debt, whereas the others are increasing if you take longer to pay them.
Pay the minimum on the 0% and use the money to pay off some of the others.

This may not be the right time to do a special shakes only diet, unless it is medically supervised.

£80 is cheap for keep.

dmg24

I do agree with Silaqui on the diet, the Slim Fast type diets are great as a quick fix or if you need to lose half a stone, but in the long term are both expensive and not sustainable. To lose weight and keep it off you need to change your eating habits for life, and cutting out food is not a life option. If you are very overweight, your doctor may be able to refer you to a dietitian to get some specialist help. Best of luck with it.

bristol_pilot

Bank of Mum and Dad to pay off all loans, get the repayments to M&D added to your 'keep'. Cut up the cards and close catalogue accounts. If M&D refuse, point out that you may need to declare bankruptcy - as you have no assets this might be your best option.

hugheskevi

All sensible suggestions above.

One less conventional thing you might consider is doing a half or a full marathon. Put in about 4 months or so of training for it, more if necessary.

I find that doing training for something like that (running 5 or 6 times a week) means I can eat whatever I like and I lose weight.

Having a clear goal keeps you focused, and aside from a decent pair of running shoes (£50) and a race entry (£20) it is all free. It also reduces the amount spent on entertainment and going out.

Admittedly it isn't an ideal time of year to start, but it would still be a possibility.