Confessions of a 26 year old in £38'000 worth of debt !!! Please help me !

Queen.Bess

Miss_Debt wrote: »

I have considered downgrading my car but I’m not sure I can live without one, I know you might be thinking that I’m not taking your advice but I’ve relied on cars for 7 years and it would be hard to suddenly not have one as I’ve use it so much, I use my travel card for work only. Listening to your advice though downgrading my car will help me substantially and is something I'm going to do as it makes so much sense. I’ve looked at other tariffs and my upgrade is due next month so I’ve looked online and spoken to T-mobile and I’m thinking of the flext 35 (£35) tariff. I’m being totally honest and know that I will end up constantly putting credit on my phone, I know I will.

Hi Miss Debt and welcome to MSE! With regards to living without a car, I didn't think I would be able to, so my husband and I trialled using just 1 car for a while and thought about the times when 2 cars might be needed and what we could do in those situations. After a while we realised that we could cope very well without a 2nd car. Your situation may be slightly different but the principle of trialling without a car might be worth giving a go!

As for your mobile, can you limit calls and texts you make? I used to be on a 200 minutes and 120 texts tariff, plus WAP, which cost me £30 a month. I reasoned that I could live without the WAP and even if I spent £20 on calls and texts on PAYG, I would still save £10 a month! So I've done this, gone to PAYG and am finding it quite easy!

I think what you must think about is how much you want to get debt free and how quickly do you want it? If you don't mind taking your time then stick with what you have, but if you really want to make a dent and go for it, then maybe it would be time to have a very good look at your spending.

Good Luck!

OnwardAndUpward81

@ Smudgemanc26

Oh yes, I haven't been to the hairdressers since December and this is coming from someone who use to go hairdressers twice a month. However, lucky for me I'm good at cutting and doing my own hair.

I've also realised I really do have a stupid amount of clothes and shoes so most of them are waiting to be ebayed.

Thanks once again x

redsquirrel80

Miss_Debt wrote: »

@ Smudgemanc26

Oh yes, I haven't been to the hairdressers since December and this is coming from someone who use to go hairdressers twice a month. However, lucky for me I'm good at cutting and doing my own hair.

I've also realised I really do have a stupid amount of clothes and shoes so most of them are waiting to be ebayed.

Thanks once again x

Hello and welcome from another home hair cutter Was just about to say reading through your thread that I noticed you said you'd spent a lot on designer clothes so was going to suggest getting some on eBay.. .well worth doing, any amount of money in your bank account is going to do you much more good than clothes in your wardrobe.

Can't add much to what's already been said - has anyone mentioned doing little bits like paid surveys online? I've had about £100 in vouchers and cheques from various survey sites so far this year and it's not a lot of effort when you're sitting in front of the computer anyway.. every little helps!

Good luck x

xgingerx

Hi, im in debt to a similar figure to you and unfortunately before things came too much I upgraded my phone, so now im tied into it for another 18months, at the end of the day you are paying for the phone, honestly had i know what I know now I would have got a PAYG, my contract is only 25 a month, but when you are struggling 25 month is a lot of money,

Its your call but you asked and i really think you should cancel it, remember u still have the phone and you can get a payg top up card, just think,if your paying 50 now, then payg will be a big saving as long as you are sensible, but u could set yourself a target of only topping up like 15 a month ?

Take Care and Good luck !!!

climbgirl

Miss_Debt wrote: »

Thank you. No I don't think anyone is judging me but I know two things I'm not ready to give up right now is driving or go on pay as you go. I may consider this in the future or maybe in a couple of days time I might say to myself, get rid of the car and the contract phone. However, it's just not something I'm ready to do right now. I'm sure people will be reading this and thinking I'm not listening but I am. I'm taking things one step at a time. Thanks for your supportive message though.

I know the advice can sometimes sound harsh and it's certainly not meant to be malicious - but you've come here asking for financial help to clear a huge debt and people are giving you exactly that. Frankly, with a debt of that size and the income you have, PAYG is the only sensible course from a financial perspective. Of course, it's entirely up to you at the end of the day what advice you take on board and what advice you ignore.

But switching your mobile to PAYG is a relatively painless way to make some serious cutbacks. Which frankly, you need to do and you need to do fast if you're dealing with £38,000 of debt.

I'm not saying this to be mean. But there are so many people here who start out saying 'oh I could never give up my .....(insert relevant luxury)'. But they can and they usually find they don't even miss it. Your priorities start to shift a bit when you're paying off debt, it's amazing what becomes important to you.

I wish you well in what is going to be a long, difficult time for you, clearing debt is never easy and you'll find a lot of support here. I just hope you won't write off advice too quickly.

climbgirl

In terms of treating the family, it's so hard to start saying no. I don't know the full situation, but are your sisters able to help out at all? I know you said they're young but can they get jobs like paper rounds or baby sitting or odd jobs in the neighbourhood? That could help them pay for their own treats, I've had a job of some description since I was about 12 or so, even just a paper round or something like that can help. Teaches you the value of money if they have to work for it too!

Instead of treating them in ways that cost money, can you think of days out or things to do that cost nothing? Picnics (if the summer ever arrives!), things like that. My boyfriend and I wanted to go away camping this year but he couldn't even really afford that. So we pitched the tent in the backyard and pretended we were camping, it was so much fun that his housemates decided to join us and pitched their own tent!. You just need to start thinking outside the square a bit.

These are just ideas to get you thinking!

cupid_s

I would second the online surveys. I have got about £50 since christmas which will help us at christmas.

If you have a landline why do you need to use your mobile phone so much anyway? All inclusive home phone call packages are relatively cheap compared to the money you're spending on your mobile at the moment. Coupled to an O2 PAYG which gives lots of free texts you'd be saving lots.

I don't mean to be too nosey but why doesn't your mom work?

And I know you don't want your family to know but they wouldn't be asking if they knew you were in so much debt. You want to treat them, but maybe you can do that more when you're debt free.

chocolatechipcookies

With the food shopping. Where do you shop and do you always buy the brands? If so, you could always buy cheaper brands. They taste the same and have the same ingredients. Look for sales, too. I used to buy the branded bread, but looked at the ingredients and it had the same ingredients as the 30p loaf and tastes the same. With some things you only pay for the label.


Transport: Do you have a bike? Are you close enough to work to ride your bike? If so, you can get a great workout and it's free. You don't have to give up your car, but use it wisely! If you need milk, and there's a shop in walking distance, walk! It'll save money on petrol.

I agree with getting rid of the lottery, you can always play again when you're out of debt.

dancingfairy

Hi. I don't think your car is costing you
£88 a month. Don't forget petrol, tax, mot, repairs, etc. It all adds up and I'm guessing it's a bit more than
£88. How often do you use the car? can you walk/use a bus/coach/train etc even paying for 1 or 2 taxis a month might work out cheaper? Maybe you could join a car sharing scheme? Share with a mate and offer to buy petrol if you go places together etc. A few thoughts to see if you can cut that cost right down.

AceCobra1

Very interesting post! Just wondering... have u ever heard of skype ? Just register with it and get ur mates to download the program - u can both chat on the 'phone' for free via internet connection... or if u want, u can use skype to phone a landline anywhere in the world for 1p a min i think. Hope this helps!

I'm not sure about txt msgs but I mean, £10 = 1000 mins... thats loads 17 hours of non stop chatting ? :T