Depression of Debt @ 24.

MerseyLad

Hello Everyone.....

Ive always been in debt, but always kept in control [to a degree] of everything. I work for a bank [you think Id know better] and therefore I am aware of the problems of missing any payments and having defaults and CCJ's, so I pay all my bills via direct debit, and have never missed a single one. Like I say, ive always had debt, and its never really upset me before. Ive not got much to show for it, but for memories of a good life and Ive enjoyed it immensely. Ive always been happy to make the repayments and have always considered it 'in control' and 'manageable' ..........BUT.................

Im 24 years old, and in the next 12-18 months me and my girlfriend will be seriously looking at getting our own house together. Its making me really upset, because I just know that with the debt I have that its going to make it very difficult.

Inthe past 6 months I have made a start to cut it back. Ive cut all the cards up, and ive started paying slightly more than minimum payment, but not a great deal. But it is a start.

Im desperate to earn more money to help me clear these debts, but my job is awful and the money is terrible. Its really getting me down at the minute, to the point of it making me a pain to be with!!!! :'(

My job pays me 4 weekly, and its only £850 basic.

My debts are:

Bank loan at part reduced rate as Im staff.

£5000 @ 4%APR
£2100 @ 7%APR.

Credit cards:

MBNA:
Balance is £3100. Monthly repayment is £55 and of that £48 is going on interest!!!!

Cahoot:

Balance is £5800. Monthly repayment is £115 and £50 is on interest.

Cahoot Overdraft:
£500, and im currently starting to pay that back @ £75 a month.

Ive tried recently to move some of the card balance onto a 0% visa, but was turned down because I am "Overcommited"....I havent asked them to review this yet, but am considering it, and advisign them that I will be transferring the balance, and closing the MBNA card. What do you think? I was gutted when I got that reply as I have never had any credit problems in my life, and now it all seems to be coming to a head JUST when I want to try and sort them all out.

From My £850 wages, I pay out

The above debts which are

£150 for both loans
£115 Cahoot
£75 Cahoot
£55 MBNA.

£395 total.

Then:

£42 Gym
£22 Broadband
£100 towards housekeeping.

Total £559.
Leaving me with approx £290 per month.

I would appreicate any help or advice.....

Im totally gutted at the minute, and am giving myself headaches trying to think of ways to make a few quid to help me to try and get this debt down. But it just seems such a large mountain to climb and Im struggling to get to the top.

I wouldnt mind doing a bit of extra work, but I dont knwo where to start looking or what to do.

i love writing, and currently write for football fanzines and a couple of local papers....in fan forum type things....i would love to maybe do a bit of freelancing, but dont know where to begin.

Ive also thought about things to sell on ebay for a profit, but cannot think of anything.

Please help......

ML. :'(

MerseyLad

Id also like to add............

[sorry to bore you]

Its making matters worse because I understand that I have made bad choices in the past.

I chose to be in debt, and I chose to take more and more. I made the mistake of consoling cards into loans and then spending them all again.

The only way Ive made myself feel any better is by thinking of the University students who get into similar, if not more, debt that myself. I have enjoyed what i have done, and the cards and loans have helped me to see part of the world I would never have visited in my youth otherwise.

Im gutted I never bought a house 2-3 years ago, like we were going to do....as the property BOOM would have helped to clear a bit of this debt.

Its just hard knowing I owe this much and have nothing to sell to make anything back. :'(

i am a prize idiot!!!!!

Spendless

So you have £290 a month on which to spend everything else.
Is there any room to put this money towards your debts eg sandwiches to work,not buying bottled water,finding cheaper/free dates with girlfriend?

Broadband - we pay less but have limited downloads. Are you tied in? Martin has done article about it somewhere.

Gym - are you using and/or are you tied in? Could this go?
Walking is free and so is cycling (if you have a bike).

Highest interest debt should be paid 1st. Throw as much money as you can at this & only pay minimum amounts on other debts. Once highest cleared, then start throwing money at next highest only paying min on rest and so on.

Finally keep coming on here & asking for advice..We all try to help if we can.

Good Luck

PinkLipstickBabe

You poor lad,
wish there was something I could do, but there isn't. All I can offer is a {{{hug}}}
Good Luck xx

Woby_Tide

one thing which may be of use, is your Cahoot overdraft the one with £250 interest free? Once you get the £500 down to £250 I would then switch that £75 payment into one of the higher interest debts like the loan where you are mostly ocvering interest

Nickynoo1

I think we have all been there at some point. At least you recognise your problems now. Some people never face up to them and then find themselves in deeper darker places.

What are the interest rates on your credit cards. Have you tried phoning the c/c companies to tell them your in a spot of bother and can they help by reduing your interest charges. The worst they can say is no, in which case your no worse off.

Also have you looked at what your spending your free cash on. Make a diary for a week, see where you can cut back, put extra cash onto c/c's

I know how you feel. Sometimes I would just cry at my lowest points. Couldn't see a way out. Nothing worked out right.

I still have debt but it has become a big life challenge to sort it. And you will too if your committed and determined enough. Take action, make a plan, and soon you will see light at the end of the tunnel.

Good luck. Come back and tell us how your doing.

Nickynoo x

scheming_gypsy

Merseylad..

I was in a similar position not too long ago - except for the girlfriend and house hunting. I had credit cards of around £3000, store cards of around £1000, owed my mum over £1000, car finance of a couple of grand and was spending £150 a month on petrol. along with that i had to pay rent, bills, food and still have a social life (that bit is hard to cut down on when you live with mates or have a g/f)

I used to try and ignore it and pay as much off as possible but that ended up back firing with me having to put petrol on the cards at the end of the month etc etc.

After a fair bit of trying to do it on my own and failing i finally had to admit defeat and told my mum about it to see if she could help.
As she had a better credit rating than i did she was able to get me a low APR loan under her name which i set up a DD from my account to hers where she was paid before she had to pay out, so she wasn't losing out..

Earlier this year as my credit rating was a lot better i transferred the remaining amount from the loan onto 0% credit cards. Now i owe less than 4 grand, rent a house where the rent is double than it was when i shared and today i found out that Halifax have given me a mortgage in principle for £119,000, i asked for 103k to be safe and they gave me the maximum i could have. Not bad going to say that this time 2 years ago i'd have struggled to get a mortgage on a barbie house.

On top of that i've got credit cards with a total limit of £16,400 so i've become good for credit and without a word of a lie i feel a !!!!!! load better for it...

In short.... speak to your mum, dad, grandma or whoever... The light at the end of the tunnel might be a train but you never know who the driver is !

savvysaver_3

Definitely get rid of that gym membership! They're a rip-off!
Get some weights from a carboot sale for a couple of quid and workout at your place.
Save you a truckload of money in membership fees, and travel costs to and from the gym too!

MerseyLad

Many thanks to everyone who has replied so far, I appreciate your kind words.

Many thanks to PinkLipstickBabe for the hug

You poor lad,
wish there was something I could do, but there isn't. All I can offer is a {{{hug}}}
Good Luck xx

Much appreciated!

When I typed the orignal message i was having one of those really bad days, where the thought of debt just consumes you with worry and anxiety. Sorry to come across as a complete idiot!

Anyway, step one for me is to look at my spending alot closer....a couple of things in the £290 i have left each month, but forgot to add are:

Car Insurance & Pertol £75
Food £60-£80

The gym membership is a minimum 12 month contract that I took out in June. However, it is taken by direct debit, rather than direct from my debit card, so I am in control of that and COULD cancel it. But I dont know what they might say about that.

Im also going to look for either another job, or do some additional overtime. My only grip with ovvies is that my job is so boringly mundane, that to do extra hours in it is a chore beyond what any reasoanably human being would do. I basically screw tooth paste lids on, but in a shirt and tie....thats the equivalent i would think!

Anyway, thanks for the words, and I hope to get a bit more feedback from others.

Thanks
ML

Spendless

Sorry to put a downer on you but I don't think you will be able to cancel a DD. You have to ask company taking money.
I think you must be thinking of a SO.
Also if you have entered into a 12 month contract might there be a chance you'll be threatened with court action if you try to get out of deal ???
If you can't get out of gym deal what about using it to your advantage.
I take it you can go as often as you want. If you're there then you're not elsewhere spending money ;D,remember to take your own water tho ;D
Good Luck

Jen_Jen_5

Go to the gym, do lots of exercise and hopefully those happy hormones will stave off the debt depression days...if not you will be toned and healthy and could maybe get new employment as international model