Help me! Constantly overspending and now over 6k in debt.

overspending

Hello,

I am so glad to have found this website, especially this forum. I just wrote down all my debt and they come up to over 6k! I am absolutely shocked. I thought it was around half of it, maybe 4k.

I should be in a good financial situation. I work full-time earning £1650 net every month without having to pay any bills, rent or food. I basically have the £1650 every month to myself. I was never able to handle money but in the last year it completely got out of hand. My friends asked me to come on several holidays with them and I used my credit cards to pay for them.

My current debts are £814.49 on my Barclayscard, £190.81 on Capital One and £441.35 on my Aqua credit card. I have only £10 overdraft on my Barclays account, no OD on my Lloyds account. I am still paying off £2415.35 lawyer fees, I pay off £100 a month. When I was 15 I downloaded music illegally, got caught and had to pay a lot of money since I am 18. I have additional payday loan debt of £1100.71.
I also owe £911.61 to very.co.uk and £707.28 to Littlewoods.

I am really embarrassed about the whole situation. I want to take £500 every month aside to settle the debt. My priority debt are the payday loans of course.

Please don't judge me. I know it was a silly thing to do but I am young and everybody makes mistake. I am in secure employment and it is highly unlikely that I lose my job anytime soon.


Was somebody in a similar situation, how did you get out of it?

Thanks

ViolaLass

If you're planning to pay £500 a month off your debts, what are you planning to do with the other £1150?

NinjaSavingKat

£1000 a month - done by Christmas. Simples!

overspending

I have tuition fees to pay, I forgot to add that. Leaves me with £750 a month.

ViolaLass

overspending wrote: »

I have tuition fees to pay, I forgot to add that. Leaves me with £750 a month.

That's a lot of spending money!

DCFC79

Op why not create an SOA here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/562271

second post in has an SOA link

MrsPBikerChick

Overspending, something in your post rings an alarm bell - that you are paying lawyers' fees for being "caught downloading illegal music" when you were 15.

I assume the lawyers' fees were for a criminal defence because as a general rule minors cannot be directly sued in the civil courts (only through their parents). However, copyright infringement is a criminal offence as well as a civil wrong. If so then you can ignore the rest of my post but if not then please read on...

Some time ago there was a fairly big scam around internet based intellectual property infringement where people were sent letters by a rather unscrupulous law firm called ACS Law stating they had downloaded content in breach of copyright and had to pay fairly exorbitant sums of money in order to avoid court action. Ultimately the man behind it was, and still is, suspended from practising as a solicitor and ACS Law ceased trading in February 2011.

If this is what you are paying then please, please get some fresh legal advice from a proper solicitor (CAB can probably give you some names) as soon as possible!!!

As for the rest of your debt, pay off as much as you can really afford, not how much you would like to afford - be harsh with yourself and tell yourself you can have nice treats and new clothes when you've paid the debt off. Then cancel the credit cards and catalogue accounts and learn to say no when friends ask you to spend money you don't have!

overspending

MrsPBikerChick wrote: »

Overspending, something in your post rings an alarm bell - that you are paying lawyers' fees for being "caught downloading illegal music" when you were 15.

I assume the lawyers' fees were for a criminal defence because as a general rule minors cannot be directly sued in the civil courts (only through their parents). However, copyright infringement is a criminal offence as well as a civil wrong. If so then you can ignore the rest of my post but if not then please read on...

Some time ago there was a fairly big scam around internet based intellectual property infringement where people were sent letters by a rather unscrupulous law firm called ACS Law stating they had downloaded content in breach of copyright and had to pay fairly exorbitant sums of money in order to avoid court action. Ultimately the man behind it was, and still is, suspended from practising as a solicitor and ACS Law ceased trading in February 2011.

If this is what you are paying then please, please get some fresh legal advice from a proper solicitor (CAB can probably give you some names) as soon as possible!!!

As for the rest of your debt, pay off as much as you can really afford, not how much you would like to afford - be harsh with yourself and tell yourself you can have nice treats and new clothes when you've paid the debt off. Then cancel the credit cards and catalogue accounts and learn to say no when friends ask you to spend money you don't have!

I downloaded the music from my uncle's computer. Not the actual download was illegal BUT unknowingly I shared the files with other people. I honestly didn't know this. You can make responsible for this in my country from the age of 14.

Idiophreak

overspending wrote: »

Was somebody in a similar situation, how did you get out of it?

Yep, been there.

1) Stop overspending. That's the hard bit. Learn to say "no, I can't afford it" to stuff.

2) Budget - know exactly what you can afford to pay and when. There's no problem agreeing to go on holiday in 6 months if you can afford to save for it in time.

3) Stick to 2. Write a spending diary, keep track of every pound you spend. Give yourself spending money each month and stick to it. If you're saying you're left with £750/month after the fees, I'd say saving £500-600/month is achievable.

4) Keep track - seeing your debt decreasing will encourage you to save more.

Good luck!

ValHaller

overspending wrote: »

I downloaded the music from my uncle's computer. Not the actual download was illegal BUT unknowingly I shared the files with other people. I honestly didn't know this. You can make responsible for this in my country from the age of 14.

What country is that? MrsPBikerChick makes a valid point about the downloading scams for the UK at least.

overspending

ValHaller wrote: »

What country is that? MrsPBikerChick makes a valid point about the downloading scams for the UK at least.

It is Germany. It is interest free though and I need to pay at least €50 every month off.