24 and falling fast!

legoman

hi,

i'm 24 years of age and currently tearing my hair out over the debt i'm in. heres a rough summery of what I owe...

barclays business loan - £16000 to begin in march 2007 @ £333 per month.
barclaycard - £3500.
three other credit cards totaling - £1250.

I am self employed as an internet website designer but work is not as constant as i'd hope. in fact quite poor. I am looking for another job but the area I live in it is almost impossible unless you are a nurse.

It's too much debt for me to handle and can't see a way out at the moment and of course all of the natural stress is coming with it. £20750 is a lot when you dont have a great deal to show for it. I have no house or kids so I have no commitments in that department but I do have to pay rent and eat.

I don't know where to turn or what to do... How do I get rid off this amount when there's barley any money coming in?

::HELP::

Mike.

BertieMeldrew

What happened to the £16k?

You should post your SOA for analysis by the folks in this forum... they will try and help

Whatever else happens, keep your chin up

cattie1

hi mike. could you put up an soa (statement of affairs) telling us how much ALL of your incomings and outgoings are and we will try our hardest to help you?
E.G. rent/c/tax/food/t.v liscence.......

mrcow

legoman wrote:

I am looking for another job but the area I live in it is almost impossible unless you are a nurse.

Hi Mike,

What area do you live in then?

If your job isn't working for you, then it's time for a reality check and a change. Web developers are needed by most companies all over the UK. You could always keep your business as a second sideline at weekends etc for extra income.

You need to get down to the job centre and to local job agencies and start earnestly looking for web design jobs in and around your area and be prepared to commute if necessary.

Welcome to the boards!

legoman

for starters thanks for the interest peeps, and the 16K was from another loan. i took out a business loan to pay of the old one etc... i often wonder where it went myself!

my income is sporadic, it may be £1500 1 month (a very good and rare occasion) and £200 the next or sometimes nothing at all. I will need to work out a specific cashflow for you if you need it but dont have it to hand right now.

what do you need to know?

rent, social, phone, bills, clothes, holidays, tax....

i'm sorry if i'm a little dappy at all this but i'm feeling ill at the moment too....

thanks again!

Annie_Fanny

barclays business loan - £16000 to begin in march 2007 @ £333 per month.

Have you spent this? Basically if you can help it you don't even want to go there. Can you give this back? What did you spend £16000 on??????

You say there is not much work where you live - can you move? There is nothing worse then being stuck in dead end city with no money coming in!

SpongeBobSP

Hi Mike,

There is always need for website designers, and you may even be able to work from home.

What are you specific skills? Graphics designer, programmer?

legoman

i took a £5000 loan out when i was about a year into my first job. this was about 6 years ago. my folks broke up and i was forced to move out as there was no room in either of my parents homes. the loan helped me get set up, rent furnishings etc...

This soon dissappeared and i was left with a job with rubbish pay and a loan to pay off. So, i extended the loan again and again until before i really thought (s**t) i've gone too far, i had gone too far!

So the years passed and I was made redundent in 2004 from my job. I was unemployed for a six months because of lack of work in this town (sidmouth, devon) and was handed a business opportunity by a friend. So i took on a business that was a concept at the time and tried to make a go of it. It worked well for a few months but then the clients in the area dried up...

the new 16K loan was from barclays business team. i banked with barclays personally and decided to move my debt with hsbc to barclays and they obliged. so thats the story so far...

the 16K is already speant over the years so i'm left with a huge lump to pay off. luckily i have a payment holiday in place until march 07 so i have time to think....

legoman

SpongeBobSP wrote:

Hi Mike,

There is always need for website designers, and you may even be able to work from home.

What are you specific skills? Graphics designer, programmer?

i would say designer... i dont really know how to code a site perfectly. i build my sites from a design point of view. luckily when i build them like this the programme (dreamweaver) does all the code for me...

do you think there would be call for say an agent to work for a company but in the southwest from home? is that what you are suggesting?

Paige

Hi Mike

Being self employed is touch and go. My OH and I have been doing it for 10 years now. You have a skill that is needed in the current market. Have you explored all areas of this and done enough groundwork, advertising, contacting other companies ect. If you have then you need to get a job but still pursue this in your freetime. Your debt is not dreadful yet but you do need to stop it getting any worse. Welcome to the board, you can get great advice here. Paige x

Rgc_3

Hi Mike

I think your feeling a bit panicky just now(no S*it sherlock i hear you say:rolleyes: ) ...i spend seventy % of my life in that state so your not alone

I think you need to jump of the merry go round for a day and sit down and put a logical plan together

1)get your SOA posted on here ASAP as you really need a clear idea of exactly how much income you need per month to cover all bills and debts(Southern Scouser has a sticky post which is a a great guide so use that(no point in re inventing the wheel)

2)If the business does nt cover it all then its down to a couple of options

a)increase business somehow(easier said than done i know)

b)find a job in local area that pays your targeted figure

c)If your willing to re locate then consider this to increase job prospects

d)anything you can sell etc to get some cash now?

e)anything outgoings you can get rid of (satellite etc)

Thats some short term options but get your SOA up as quick as to get more ideas

Remember!!!its all about regaining control just now and nothing saying you cant re launch business once your in control again

good luck mate