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In a Little Pickle
Little_Pickle
Posts: 3,022 Forumite
Hi everyone!
Wow! It feels great to finally join! This is my second post. My fist was to ask to become a DFW nerd!
Well, a little about me, I guess….
I’m 28 and live in London. Until approximately 1 ½ years ago I was completely debt free. Never had a debt, never owned a credit card and didn’t want one, only ever had one loan of 500 which I kept to one side and paid back very quickly to increase my credit score!
Anyway, back 1 ½ years ago, I was living back at my folks after my long term relationship ended. I gave up my job in London and got something a bit more laid back in Surrey near to the folks’ house. It was great being home and I loved living there. Because of smaller rent and bills and the fact that I had moved out of London, I managed to save a few hundred pounds, but the new job I had got was around 5k less than my job in London. At the time it didn’t bother me that I earned less, I didn’t have the pressure I did in London and the commute was a short hop, skip and a jump! I was doing very well and had no money worries.
Then in the summer of 2005 I met my kiwi boy. We met at a festival and swapped numbers. Well, we were together for 6 weeks and he asked me to move in. I said yes, and back to London I went!
The rent and bills went up, but I still had my job in Surrey. On top of this, I was now commuting for 2 hours each way to get to and from work and the travel costs were unreal!
In the end, the only quick fix (whilst going through job search and interview processes) was to get a credit card. I used it for everything. Rent, food, bills. And it spiralled. It was 3500 and very soon it was maxed.
My OH was fantastic once I got my new job and things had settled, I told him. He completely understood and helped me out when ever he could. Bills, going out, holidays…. You name it, he helped me and never asked for the money back. I found someone who I could rely on. ‘We’re a team’ he would say…If I had been buying clothes or shoes or anything unnecessary I think he would have thought differently, but he knew that our cost of living was just too high for my salary to cope with.
I started making regular repayments to the card, but with the amount of interest, I was getting no-where. I was seriously over my small overdraft limit (250.00) by hundreds, was maxed on my credit card and my weekly salary was gobbled up and I could no longer get any money out. Then I got myself a new job. In 1 year I managed to increase my salary by 8k and things were looking fantastic.
On top of that, I had a chat with my Dad about living in London and he asked… ‘how’s the money situation?’ and I was honest. He offered to pay 2000 on my credit card to give me a breather which we have just done.
I don’t know when I’ll be debt free, but I’m going to try and do it in the next 1 ½ years or so….
It feels good to read so many stories and see that I’m not alone and although mine isn’t as serious as others I’ve read here, it’s still scary.
Glad I’m now part of the family!
Wow! It feels great to finally join! This is my second post. My fist was to ask to become a DFW nerd!
Well, a little about me, I guess….
I’m 28 and live in London. Until approximately 1 ½ years ago I was completely debt free. Never had a debt, never owned a credit card and didn’t want one, only ever had one loan of 500 which I kept to one side and paid back very quickly to increase my credit score!
Anyway, back 1 ½ years ago, I was living back at my folks after my long term relationship ended. I gave up my job in London and got something a bit more laid back in Surrey near to the folks’ house. It was great being home and I loved living there. Because of smaller rent and bills and the fact that I had moved out of London, I managed to save a few hundred pounds, but the new job I had got was around 5k less than my job in London. At the time it didn’t bother me that I earned less, I didn’t have the pressure I did in London and the commute was a short hop, skip and a jump! I was doing very well and had no money worries.
Then in the summer of 2005 I met my kiwi boy. We met at a festival and swapped numbers. Well, we were together for 6 weeks and he asked me to move in. I said yes, and back to London I went!
The rent and bills went up, but I still had my job in Surrey. On top of this, I was now commuting for 2 hours each way to get to and from work and the travel costs were unreal!
In the end, the only quick fix (whilst going through job search and interview processes) was to get a credit card. I used it for everything. Rent, food, bills. And it spiralled. It was 3500 and very soon it was maxed.
My OH was fantastic once I got my new job and things had settled, I told him. He completely understood and helped me out when ever he could. Bills, going out, holidays…. You name it, he helped me and never asked for the money back. I found someone who I could rely on. ‘We’re a team’ he would say…If I had been buying clothes or shoes or anything unnecessary I think he would have thought differently, but he knew that our cost of living was just too high for my salary to cope with.
I started making regular repayments to the card, but with the amount of interest, I was getting no-where. I was seriously over my small overdraft limit (250.00) by hundreds, was maxed on my credit card and my weekly salary was gobbled up and I could no longer get any money out. Then I got myself a new job. In 1 year I managed to increase my salary by 8k and things were looking fantastic.
On top of that, I had a chat with my Dad about living in London and he asked… ‘how’s the money situation?’ and I was honest. He offered to pay 2000 on my credit card to give me a breather which we have just done.
I don’t know when I’ll be debt free, but I’m going to try and do it in the next 1 ½ years or so….
It feels good to read so many stories and see that I’m not alone and although mine isn’t as serious as others I’ve read here, it’s still scary.
Glad I’m now part of the family!
0
Comments
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Hi Little Pickle :hello: and welcome to the DFW family!
If you have a look at SouthernScousers sticky it gives guidelines for drawing up a SoA, so we can help you identify any areas you could cut back on. Also recommended is the snowball at https://www.whatsthecost.com - you put in all your debts with aprs, how much you can pay off each month & it will give you a debt free date!
Good luck!Total Debt 13th Sept 2006 (exc student loan): £6240.06 :eek:
O/D 1 [strike]£1250 [/strike]O/D 2 [strike]£100[/strike] Next a/c [strike]£313.55[/strike]@ 26.49% Mum [strike]£130[/strike] HSBC [strike]£4446.51[/strike]@15.75%[STRIKE]M&S £580.15@ 4.9%[/STRIKE]
Total Debt 30th April 2008: £0 100% paid off!
PROUD TO [STRIKE]BE DEALING [/STRIKE] HAVE DEALT WITH MY DEBT
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Hello littel pickle - just wanted to say welcome and good luck. You'll get loads of support here!
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:hello:
Hope we can help!
C xx0 -
Welcome little pickle its always better to have little pickle than lots of pickle
Hope you find everyone supportive and helpful!0 -
okay guys, here is my SOA....
Going to work out the rest of the stuff... snowball etc just now, but thought I'd post this up first!
My salary - £1505.60
Total - £1,505.60
Monthly Outgoings:
Rent - £270.00
Bills - £76.00
Phone - £30.00
Food (dinners) - £100.00
Food (Breakfast & Lunch) - £60.00
Dental Care - £12.50
Gym - £36.00
Total: £584.50
Debts
BarclayCard – Balance £1,618.11 (limit £1,650.00) APR 21.9%
Parents – Balance £2,000.00
Old Account overdraft – Balance £162.97 (interest free overdraft of £250.00)0 -
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Hi Little Pickle, is the money for food just for you or for both of you?CC2 = £8687.86 ([STRIKE]£10000[/STRIKE] )CC1 = £0 ([STRIKE]£9983[/STRIKE] ); Reusing shopping bags savings =£5.80 vs spent £1.05.Wine is like opera. You can enjoy it even if you don't understand it and too much can give you a headache the next day J0
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Hi,
It's lovely to see that you still seem to have a positive attitude and loads of self-awareness- that's the first hurdle done with already, well done for trying to sort it all out:Food (dinners) - £100.00
Food (Breakfast & Lunch) - £60.00
Is there any particular reason for dividing this up? just wondered if you were eating out for any meals - in which case could you strat making packed lunches? What kind of food do you buy? You could probably halve your food bill if you really tried by using places like Lidl for basics, cooking from scratch, using dried pulses to base meals on etc.. Have a look at the Old Style Board for tips. (I found this really helpful)
Could you break down "Bills" a bit more into Gas, Electric whatever -so we can see whether there might be any savings to make there.
And seriously - drop the gym membership, they're such a waste of money - jog in the park or get a home exercise video (or both) instead.
Are you with the cheapest provider for your phone?
Also there seem to be some things missing - do you spend on haircuts? Clothes? Going out/ social life? Birthdays/ Christmas presents? Travel?
Hope this helps."People who "do things" exceed my endurance,
God for a man who solicits insurance..." - Dorothy Parker0 -
Little_Pickle wrote: »okay guys, here is my SOA....
Going to work out the rest of the stuff... snowball etc just now, but thought I'd post this up first!
My salary - £1505.60
Total - £1,505.60
Monthly Outgoings:
Rent - £270.00
Bills - £76.00
Phone - £30.00
Food (dinners) - £100.00
Food (Breakfast & Lunch) - £60.00
Dental Care - £12.50
Gym - £36.00
Total: £584.50
Debts
BarclayCard – Balance £1,618.11 (limit £1,650.00) APR 21.9%
Parents – Balance £2,000.00
Old Account overdraft – Balance £162.97 (interest free overdraft of £250.00)
My salary - £1505.60
Total: £584.50
What happens to the excess £1000 /month left over??
Obviosuly, there will be paying min payments on your debt, but this only account for a small % of the £1000 ....
Am i missing something?? Are there any further expenditures that you have missed off??Proud To Be Dealing With My Debts - 1420 Days To Go!LBM: £103,592.98 / Currently £78,500.08 - Down 24.22% / Mortgage: £92,800.00 / Loan: £17,284.21 / Overdraft: £450.09 / C/Card 0%(October 08): £5,601.54 / C/Card 0% (January 09): £1075.22 / Child Care: £137.80
Share Investments: £51,390.74 / Money Owed From GS: £5,812.610 -
It looks as if you need to start a spending diary to find out where that extra £1000 is going - that's a lot of "missing" money!
Could you add the expenditure you are currently putting towards your minimum repayments so we can see more realistically how much spare cash you have?"People who "do things" exceed my endurance,
God for a man who solicits insurance..." - Dorothy Parker0
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