Crawling out from under my hole

halfabrian

After almost two years unemployed I have landed a job in which I start on the first of march. The job is a field Sales role in which hitting target will be essential to staying employed. The basic Salary is £18,000 and the ote is around £30,000. As I said while I know I cant count on that, the simple fact is, if I dont sell I lose the job.

Over the time I have been out of work I have got myself in a considerable amount of trouble Credit Cards, Mobile Phone contracts, Sky, 02, BT, The council, you name it I owe them money.

Now my plan is firstly make a budget based on £1200 a month net. This is my salary before anything I am paid commision on and what would be used if I was looking for a mortgage etc. I will then make a list of who I owe and what then to get in touch with these companies explaining what I will be earning and what I can afford to pay back. Then as and when I get any extra money I can put to one side and offer companies reduced lump sums to pay it off early. My mortgage is £550 a month. Which includes extra to pay back arrears.

Now I am in the very early stages of planning, (I got the job yesterday) but does anyone have any advice on the best way to do this? Thank you.

dollybeads

Hi there, and well done for posting, and more importantly congratulations on your new job.

First things first, I guess I would recommend that you post your statement of affairs on here (SOA) from the following link. This is all your income and your outgoings, takes a little time to do, but is well worthwhile, and then all the lovely DFWers will be along to let you know what is realsitic in your budget, where you can save and if anything looks awry.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Really worth doing, and if you have posted one before might still be worth doing now that your situation has changed.

Also if you are looking to save money on grocery bills, and household spending, take a look at the Old Style Thread on this forum, untold ways to save on all things domestic.

The other tip that has saved me countless money is the spending diary, where you record every single penny you spend, highlights lots of non essential small bad habits that all add up! And the weekly meal planner and then shopping based on this, rather than multiple trips to shops/supermarket where you part with lots of cash before you know it.

Others will be along shortly with lots of very helpful advice.

Keep posting. Best wishes Dolly x

halfabrian

Thanks very much for your help Dolly. I will get on with that and post it as soon as I can.