Taking the plunge

rara879

Reading some of these diaries has stopped me sinking in to dispair and Ive decided to start my own as I think it will give me much more of an incentive to get back on track!

I only turned 23 last week and seem to be one of the youngest on the board and most of my debt has come from being very naive!

Basically it all started when me and my parents werent getting on too well and I decided I wanted to move out and get my own flat. Living in London, the cheapest flat I could find that I liked was £675 per month. I absolutely fell in love with it and estimated that I could afford it if I used my £750 overdraft to pay the deposit. So that was where it started! I totally underestimated what the cost of my bills would be and didnt factor in things like petrol, food e.t.c so really, I couldnt afford it which meant that bills went unpaid. I ended up taking out two credit cards to pay bills which had high interest rates and I also took out two catalogue credit accounts to buy things such as sofas, tables e.t.c.

Since then I have had a promotion at work and had two payrises so I can now afford my flat, but because of the arrears and debt I have gotten myself in to I am still struggling every month!

In a nutshell here is a quick summary:

£1492.97 - Wages

£991.50 - Household bills (inc rent, council tax, food, water, electric e.t.c)

£110.27 - Car (inc car insurance and petrol)

£55 - Other Bills (phone & internet)

= £336.20 left over per month

CREDIT ACCOUNTS, ARREARS E.T.C - Desperately want to get rid of these as they are making the £336.20 dissapear!!

£48.59 - Electric arrears

£270 - Owe to mum and promised to pay back by end of November

£417.38 - Very.co.uk credit account - Had to make a payment plan to pay £40 per month.

£151.06 - Littlewoods - Had to make a payment plan to pay £20 per month.

£500.19 - Barclaycard

£319 - Aqua Credit Card

Approx £50 - Arrears to Orange for internet.

£750 - Overdraft.

Each month a few of these slap on charges which means even if I make the minimum payment the next month my arrears are worse!!

Some of these diaries gave me the idea to make payments with odd pennys that I save up which I have been doing but they have made no dent at all!

I am looking for a second job but no joy so far.

So there it is in black and white - now its time to slowly but surely get rid of these.... it seems impossible!!

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Hi, welcome to the boards!

Another young'un here (22), you're not alone

Good luck x

rara879

Thats good to know - thank you!

So its payday today and things are not going too well already! I need two new tyres for my car and my boyfriend recently lost his job and asked me to pay his phone bill for him as his phone has been cut off. I was a bit of a cow and told him I couldnt afford it which turned into an argument which ended in me just paying it to keep the peace. It was only £36.60 and I dont mind spending that on him, its just frustrating that thats £36.60 less to pay bills and debt! He's not being very supportive, no matter how much I try and explain to him my debt situation it seems to not be sinking in to his head - all he sees is that I have a full time job so should have money! He definately doesnt understand the longer I leave it the higher the debt will be!

So anyway apart from all that so far I have spent £47 on petrol, paid my mum back £110 and am just about to pay £48.59 on the electric. I hate payday as I just seem to watch my money slowly shrink! Also need to pay Very £40 today and Littlewoods £20. My other bills all go out by direct debit on the 28th so that is when most of my money will dissapear! Also received a letter from Aqua Card demanding money before they issue a Default Notice.. they want £79.60 which I just dont have so am going to write to them and see if they will accept £10 per month.

Also - I just stupidly spent £3.13 on lunch as I wasnt able to go shopping before work and bring in a packed lunch! What a waste of money!

This is going to be a long journey......

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Try posting a SOA and then we will be able to see if you can change your situation.

It's daunting at first and it might seem like it will take forever, but you've made the first step already.

And we don't bite (well most of us! )

rara879

Excuse my ignorance but what is an SOA?!

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Statement of Affairs (http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html)

Will help to see exactly what your outgoings are and also what interest you have on any arrears.

rara879

No time to do the SOA yet but will definately get round to it soon.

Payday was only yesterday and I only have £92.67 left. What a depressing situation. And out of that I need to buy a bit more food shopping and a new tyre! 4 weeks and 1 day left until the next payday! I just hope the food shopping and petrol can last until then!

Ive got two bags of old clothes to sell on ebay. Made £60 doing that last month and only sold about 7 items which wasnt too bad, especially as it is stuff I have had for a while that would go for about 20p if I did a bootsale! I have a friend that has been selling on there for a while that has given me hints and they seemed to have worked. I just have to find time to take photos of all the stuff! Most of it needs ironing too as I dont think a picture of a creased up skirt will make many sales! I think thats why Im putting it off lol.

Very account is now down to £377.38, Littlewoods is £131.06 and I owe my mum £160 now. Those are going down slowly but surely! Have also written to Barclaycard and Aqua Card to see if they will accept £10 per month from next month and freeze the interest and charges. I doubt they will but its worth a try I guess! I hope they see £10 is better than nothing!

Had a very hectic night last night and didnt get a chance to buy any packed lunch stuff so going to have to waste money on that again. Definately will be buying some packed lunch stuff tonight!! Does anyone have any cheap packed lunch ideas? I find sandwiches so boring!!

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Ok I really think you need to do a SOA.

Payday was yesterday and you've spent £1400 in a day, do you know what it was all spent on?

You need to figure out what is happening every month or it will be a constant struggle.

On the lunch note, I often have things like pasta, savoury rice, noodles, bread/veg and houmus for lunch, makes a nice change. Last night's leftovers work a treat too, and save money!

rara879

Yes I know that is ridiculous but all my direct debits go out on the same day so that includes rent, council tax, electric, car loan, petrol, water, food shopping, phone bill, very, littlewoods, £110 to mum, boyfriend phone bill, car insurance...... and i think thats about it!

Help!

Will do SOA today as soon as I can find out interest rates e.t.c when I get home.

Woowoo

Hi rara

Well done for taking the first steps and facing up to your debts.

It might not feel as if little payments are making much difference, but believe me given time it really does add up. I even pay 1p off my credit card, just because that's another penny they can't charge me interest on!

Kepp

Just dropping in to add my support too

The sooner you can get an SOA done the better - that way you'll know exactly what your debt amounts to and which one's you need to start tackling first.