Annoyed, frustrated, embarassed - Money Ideas?

learning_to_drive

Hi all,

As you will remember I had a disaster with money and work and other things that led me to a slump into depression and being very very down, I had got myself into a pickle with money and things and couldnt see the wood for the trees. Thankfully my parents got me a loan to pay off my car and I cancelled the insurance etc, got £3k for my car and then used that to clear my overdraft / pay off HP on laptop / Credit Card Small balance and a chunk off the Mint Card.

I was at Sainsburys for ages and signed HP agreements and overdrafts maxed out when times were good, I had never been off work (3 years) and believed that my salary would only ever increase so I thought I would get a car etc, soon after however I became down and the slump begun, I took a job at First Direct but hated it then left to go to tax office, hated that and left that, getting half paydays here and there which meant that my money was getting worse (still paying for car, hp, dd's galore etc.)

So I started at ASDA in the new year, took many tough decisions and my parents got me a loan, I sold my car and now I owe my folks £5k via Natwest, plus other money such as (£400 c card 0% insurance deposit and Mint Mcard) after all that I applied for some jobs as I was confident to go back to work properly, I left ASDA as I had money in the bank and knew I wouldnt be long out of work (I start new job May 1st).

So, we are here now, overdraft £-350, how have I got here? I have £103 loan payment to folks to make, obviously I know that I wont get paid now till the end of May, I need some money and quick! I have a bus pass to purchase to, as I need to get to work (£44).

I am so frustrated that ive got into debt again, I really am I dont deserve help and dont want to tell my folks, I would rather sort myself out. My girlfriend has really helped me, we have done mystery shops but the problem is that I dont get paid till the middle of May, I need some more quick cash ideas to enable me to sort myself out and get things paid for!

Additionally, its my dads birthday at the end of this month, and my g/f's bday in the middle of May! What am I going to do?

Ive listed my laptop on ebay, I dont use it, but want around £400 for it, its a really good spec and 2 years old, however I only got £203 for it so I have relisted it. Mystery shopping companies' have all been registered for and am waiting for any more assignments.

Any further ideas, I am going to do a proper budget once I get paid and sort out my outgoings, I never envisaged being out of work for this long, nor going back into my overdraft, but it has happened I am so annoyed with myself especially after all the help I got, its a disgrace really.

Ive got a job and start, I want to make a difference and sort myself out again, clear my debts, such as the loan, clear the credit cards etc and be debt free.

So ideas for cash would be appreciated!

Annie_Fanny

What can you sell?
Can you do any cash in hand jobs - valet people's cars?
Temporary overdraft?
What do the people with birthdays expect for their birthday? What do you think you should do/buy for them?
You say you are working - wot are you doing?
Can you walk/cycle to work so it is cheaper?

Just chucking out ideas here...

learning_to_drive

What can you sell? I have a few things on amazon such as books or whatever, I will use Thurs morning to have a good look around my room for any shirts etc that I havent put on ebay

Can you do any cash in hand jobs - valet people's cars? Something I will look at

Temporary overdraft? Again another option, my limit is £500 - After the bus pass and loan repayment I wil be at £-480

What do the people with birthdays expect for their birthday? What do you think you should do/buy for them? They dont expect much but its more the fact that i would like to buy them something really nice

You say you are working - wot are you doing?

Can you walk/cycle to work so it is cheaper? Sadly not, its miles away, literally!

learning_to_drive

Btw Im not working at the minute, I start at Smiths on 1st May, but i dont get paid till the end of the month.

Annie_Fanny

learning_to_drive wrote: »

What do the people with birthdays expect for their birthday? What do you think you should do/buy for them? They dont expect much but its more the fact that i would like to buy them something really nice

You say you are working - wot are you doing?
[/B]

"but its more the fact that i would like to buy them something really nice" OK how about examining that statement for a moment....you know the answer....

You don't answer the question about your job....are you working full time? I just wondered as if not then maybe you could join a recruitment agency and get a full time job to tide you over?

Why is work miles away?

hypno06

A couple of things spring to mind here:

- even though you wanted more for your laptop, £203 would have got you through a sticky patch, would have paid your loan payment of £103, bought your bus pass and bought birthday presents.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to hold out for what we think something is worth, better to get what you can and use it wisely!

- you keep moving from job to job. I know that you say you don't like it so you move on, but this is causing you financial problems which in turn will lead to depression again.

So why not try staying in a job for a little longer. If you stay somewhere for 6 months, then you would have the stability of an income and could really make some progress. Even if you really hate the job, just tell yourself everyday that it is just a way of making money to pay your debt and you will not allow anyone or anything to bring you down while at work.

We have all been in jobs of one sort or another that we didn't like, or even absolutely hated, but if you have the motivation of being debt free, that should help you stick at it!

learning_to_drive

Yeah on the job front I will stick at this, its a good position, I am going in at a good level so the boredom factor will be zero and I know that I have to stick it out so there should be no problem

Storm

I know you've said you don't want to tell your folks, but could you maybe ask if you could defer one months payment to them - explain that it's because of starting a new job your cashflow is tight at the moment until the first proper pay packet at the end of May?

Also, as you've moved around jobs so much this year I think it's probably worth you checking through all the P60s you should have been sent (and chase any that haven't turned up!) to see if you've maybe paid too much tax this year - if you've had periods of not working then you may well have, and you can phone your local tax office to ask them to look into it for you.

learning_to_drive

Hi, Ive sent off a letter today after ringing the tax office. I sent my P45's and dates I was in employment and out of employment, hopefully I should be entitled to some sort of rebate.

Additionally I have completed a mystery shop today, I have done quite a few recently and will have quite a good payday once they pay me next month.

I have relisted my laptop slightly reducing the reserve price and the b.i.n. price so that hopefully it will attract some more bidders,

tpurch

learning_to_drive wrote: »

Hi all,

Ive listed my laptop on ebay, I dont use it, but want around £400 for it, its a really good spec and 2 years old, however I only got £203 for it so I have relisted it.

ebay is probably not the best place to list your laptop if you are looking for £400. I have tried to sell a couple of laptops on ebay in the past and never reach the target I was looking for, the last one I listed got to £265 (In the end I sold it for £650 in the local paper and that was as soon as the paper came out!).

My advice would be put the laptop in a local paper for £450 ono. Ebay is great but when it comes to laptops their are a lot of listings and competition is feace.

JET34

tpurch wrote: »

ebay is probably not the best place to list your laptop if you are looking for £400. I have tried to sell a couple of laptops on ebay in the past and never reach the target I was looking for, the last one I listed got to £265 (In the end I sold it for £650 in the local paper and that was as soon as the paper came out!).

My advice would be put the laptop in a local paper for £450 ono. Ebay is great but when it comes to laptops their are a lot of listings and competition is feace.

NOt only that with Ebay you've got all you listing/selling fee's on top of it,
You could try Gumtree Which is free to list on you can also put pic up!