Desperate DFW ):

minii

Hello MSE World.
This is my second attempt at a diary here, but things have changed a lot since I last wrote, so I figured a new start was needed.
I'm ashamed to admit I slipped up in my recovery. I'd got my 3.1k of debt down to 1.5... and then things went wrong. *sigh* Currently I owe:
£57.95 to very.co.uk
£513.76 on my credit card
£1599.58 on my overdraft.

I'm currently unemployed (although I have a job interview on Monday) and in four months my rent will run out and I will need somewhere new to go. My rent includes all my utilities because I'm still in student accommodation. When I leave here I will also have graduated, so will no longer be a student. Therefore not only will I be paying rent, I will also be paying bills and tax. The realisation that my boyf and I can't get a decent sized flat for less than £475 a month, and neither of us have any money spare now, let alone saved up, kickstarted my LBM.

I want to see numbers in the black in my account. I'm fed up of owing money.

I have a couple of incredibly bad habits, namely sushi and clothes. They're my utter weaknesses, and I struggle to say no to the little impulsive demon in me that tells me its okay to buy them.

Confession nr 1: I paid off my credit card at the start of January but have maxed it out again.

I checked my bank yesterday, and I literally own 42p. My mum sends me £300 a month, or at least she will for March & April. After that she can't support me. On the 1st of March I will get a grant from the university for £340, and in the first week of May, I'll get the final instalment of my student loan.

Where do you think I should put the £340? I need to keep about £100 of it aside because I need to eat. But £240 of it is dispensable; it can go anywhere in my debt. Both very.co.uk & my credit card have charges on them, although I'm not sure exactly what they are.

Anyway, I'm going to shoot off for now and shower and make a late dinner, then settle with a cup of tea and a book. Thanks for reading, and any advice you have would be well recieved.

-minii.

minii

Hello all.
After my lightbulb finally turned on yesterday, I have done my best to be pro-active today. I signed up to some survey websites, and made £5.50. It's not much, but it's a start. I also posted an advert on Gumtree to see if anyone in the Cardiff area is looking for a babysitter. Have been reading other people's diaries, and jwil & brizzledfw have inspired me to get going with Ebay.

I have an avalanche of clothes on top of my wardrobe that need sorting out. There's probably close to 100 items up there, and they're in a laundry basket that I could be using! I don't have anything to post the items in though, and can't afford to get anything for a while. Maybe ten day listings are the trick? That should give me enough to get to the post office. Either that, or perhaps I ought to put the postage a little higher than usual.

I have another confession to make. #2:My mother thinks I have a seperate savings account with £500 stashed in it. The truth is, I've squandered it... And I somehow need to get it back, whilst paying off all this horrid debt.

I realise my situation isn't as dire as many other people's, but its a constant worry for me, and when you have less than a pound to last a week, and don't have enough for more than one meal a day. Its hard. Feeling a little down today, but hopefully being pro-active will pay off.

-minii.

tootallulah

Making a start is a GOOD thing. It is free insertion today on Ebay , get those clothes up for sale you will definitely make enough to start eating properly etc as well as PADing which makes a huge difference.

minii

tootallulah, thank you. i didn't know it was free listings today, so that's definitely made me more motivated. just going to make a cup of tea and then get going! think i will set up a new ebay account too, that way i can keep track much easier.

jwil

Hey minii - found this and had a read of your previous diary as well

Well done for finding some stuff to list :T If you haven't sold before, be aware that they might put a hold on any payments in your paypal account for 21 days or until you receive positive feedback. This is a fairly standard security measure they do for new sellers (and randomly to regular sellers as well, particularly if they try and sell high value or easily scammed stuff). So you will need to ensure you can post the items without relying on the income to start with.

With regards to packaging - ask about, you might find that people have some old jiffy envelopes that you can take off their hands - I've used them for clothing before without problems. Poundland does a range of cheap packaging material as well or you can get mailing bags from ebay.

With regards to your grant - I'd be tempted to pay off the Very completely - I think they've generally got an interest rate of around 30%, then pay the rest towards your credit card or overdraft, whichever has the higher interest rate. (Of course you may want to keep a bit back for packaging and posting your ebay sales until you can get the cash through from paypal).

Good luck!

minii

jwil - Thank you for stopping by, feel free to come back! I spent 2 hours ironing things to put up, but then about a million things got in the way so I will list them tomorrow -hoping it's still free listings then too. At least I know they're clean and ready Then if someone bids, I shall nip to Poundland, with only two pound, so I won't spend anything else or be tempted. Walking through town is murder sometimes!
I think getting rid of Very is a good idea - means then I only need to keep an eye on two places I guess. Luckily my overdraft is interest free.

Tonight I have two friends coming over and they brought me a bottle of wine and some vegetables, in exchange for me letting them stay while they're in town for tonight. That means tomorrow I can make fresh food! I'm so excited not to be eating brown goods. Processed chicken - there's only so much awful food I can handle before I'm fed up. I'm usually an utter foodie, I love sushi and fruit and Mediterranean veg and steak... Not eating fresh things is making me feel so gross.

DawnW

Hi Minii,
I like your username, as our dog is called Mini (with just 1 'i' though )

Don't feel you have to buy new packaging for ebay - I sell sometimes, and always use recycled. Ask around family, friends, neighbours, in the departmental office at uni, for packaging from things that others have had delivered. It is recycling, and you are helping the environment

Do you have any old textbooks from uni? Try listing them on Amazon. Might not sell right away, but textbooks often get a good price, as there are always new students ... And again, if you sell one, use recycled packaging.

As for fresh food, why not look at markets and greengrocers' shops? I don't like the idea of eating 'brown goods ' either :eek:

Have you got a decent cookbook (the student ones are good to start with I remember )

Not a sushi person myself (never tried it, but it does look nice ) but could you not learn to make some of it yourself? I have seen instructions around... cooking generally has saved me loads over ... loads of years.

Grow herbs in pots if in rented and you have to move soon - you can take them with you and if you like fresh stuff, you will love them. Salad leaves are also great to grow - you can get plastic trough thingies that will fit on a windowsill (sometimes have them at recycling centres, but in places like W*lkinisons they aren't expensive and last forever. A packet of seeds and some compost isn't expensive, and you have fresh salad for months. If you move somewhere with a balcony, patio or garden, there is loads more scope - salads and herbs are windowsill stuff . Everyone can grow something to eat. How about sprouting seeds, making your own yogurt.... Might sound a bit radical, but it sounds as though you are interested in decent food.

But don't spend loads of money setting any of this up, there are free/ nearly free ways to do it

Why not put up a SOA and have the knowledgeable people on here offer suggestions for where you can cut back?

Good luck, there are lots of things you can try x

DawnW

And pay off Very, as the other poster suggested - and avoid in future - EXTREMELY more like!!! :eek:

jwil

'tis free listing tomorrow too

minii

jwil - thank you!

dawnw - I went with Minii because I am -I'm just under 5foot high

I have textbooks from the last two years, but they're back at home, where they're not much good to me.
Without bragging any, I'm a pretty awesome cook. I cook from scratch every day when I have money, and my boyf would rather eat what I cook than go out, haha. There's no room here at the moment to grow anything, my window is locked so I can't open it past 3 inches and I don't have a windowsil! Also am hindered in that in the past any plant I've had has died, but I think there's definetly room to try again. Homegrown tomatos are always heavenly. How on earth do you go about making your own yogurt?

Sushi is my all time weakness. I dream about it. I wish I was joking, but I'm not! Haha. If I had to give up every other food group, that one would be the one I'd keep. Maybe I was Japanese in a past life... It can't be that hard to learn, but I think ingredients/sushi rolling mat things/learning is pretty expensive. I was thinking that maybe I'd take advantage of Yo!Sushi's Blue Mondays and go twice a month; that way I can keep down the cost and also still treat myself.

I'm worried about posting an SOA. I know I've done the lightbulb thing, and I'm trying to overcome my awful habits, but the idea of seeing everything written down is terrifying. I'll try and make it my aim before the end of next week though. People here are kind and don't judge too harshly, so I'm hoping its okay.
Paying off Very it will be. Thank you, and feel free to come back and hang out with me.
We can share a virtual :coffee: :]

minii

Have decided it's better to do this now, rather than later. *gulp*

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet. (Minimized Version)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax.......... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income......................... 300
Total monthly income..............300

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 440 (all inclusive)
Mobile phone......................... 40
Contact Lenses ..................... 11
Groceries etc. ....................... 200
Clothing................................ 200
Other travel........................... 70
Presents .............................. 20
Entertainment........................ 250
Total monthly expenses........... 1231

Unsecured Debts
Very.co.uk....................57.80 (Min.19.20, APR 30%)
Natwest CC...................513.78 (Min. 16.13, APR 15%)
Natwest OD..................1599.58 (Min. 0, APR 0%) <-- This only lasts for another 4 months.
Total unsecured debts.....2171.16



Here are some things you should know:

~I have never seen it written out like this and I feel sick. I don't know why I spend like I do but it has to stop. I'm so ashamed.

~I get a student loan, but its all gone. My next and final loan instalment is in May, and it will be approximately £1.9k. £500 of that will go straight into my final rent instalment, and the remaining 1.2k will need to go towards a deposit on a flat & the first month's rent if I can't get help from the council. It's also supposed to feed me for three months.

~I have a job interview on Monday. It's part time, minimum wage, but I have to do something. I'm hoping that as I can't really use my last loan instalment for anything other than rent, this job will help me support myself. If I work 16 hours a week, I'll earn £97.28, which is approximately £389.12 a month.

~I really need to look into benefits. I can't afford rent by myself (round here, even a studio apartment is £350 a month), and I have no savings or assests whatsoever. My problem is I'd like a place with my boyfriend, and he does work full-time. However, as he pays child support on four children, he also doesn't have a lot of money. I'm worried that they won't take into account the maintenance money and will refuse us a place.

~I have challenged myself not to buy any clothes for 3 months. This might kill me, but I'm determined.

~My entertainment budget is a mandatory £15 a month for my cinema pass. The rest is pretty much eating out, buying lunch, buying hot chocolate, going to Swansea for tattoos... I am going to stop going for sushi as often as I do, stop buying snacks and not get inked until I have paid off my cc/very/1k off my overdraft.

~I've cancelled my direct debit for contact lenses already. I'm going to phone the mobile company tomorrow and see if I can downgrade my contract. I believe it expires in September, and I am really looking forward to that.

~Travel and rent can't be changed, as I need to go home and see my Mum at least once a month, because she's sick. I have a railcard, and I shop around for the cheapest fair when I go on longer journeys. The remainder is me going to and from class, and that is also not-negotiable, although in a few months, it will be no longer necessary.



Right, let the judgement begin. I'll be over there in the corner. >