More about avoiding debt in the first place

Puzzledbyadream

Hello,

I am currently struggling with not getting into debt as I am learning to drive and have a very, very expensive flat which I probably should move out of. I hope this is the right place. My incomings and outgoings are as follows:

Salary - £1283pcm

Outgoings
Rent - £650pcm
Council Tax - £100 (with single person discount)
Electricity - £40pcm
Water - £23pcm
Internet - £16pcm
Phone - £30pcm (now that was a poor decision)
= £859

I also spend:

Food - £20pw (ish)
Going out - £10-15pw (varies slightly but I'm not a big drinker)
Ballet class - £39 per 6 weeks (will probably have to go, boo)
Craft materials - £10pm
Clothes - £15-25pm (but am currently banned from buying them)
Coffee/Lunches out - £15pw (yes I will cut down on that too)
Travel - Between £2.20 and £15pw depending on where required.

Essentially my situation is that I need at least 2 months more driving lessons (required as a condition of my job), plus the cost of the test etc and am finding that I am saving absolutely no money at the end of the month. My driving lessons cost £210 for a block of 10 lessons and the only way I have to pay for my imminent next block is to use my interest free graduate overdraft. This will stop being interest free in July so I need to be able to pay off this money by then. Up until now I had some money from my grandparents to pay for lessons, and some money from a returned housing deposit. I don't want to ask my grandparents for more money.

With this in mind, in order to live a less frugal life I've come to the conclusion I should probably move back into a shared house. I've had really bad experiences with shared houses which is why I ended up panic moving to my current (really nice) flat. I love and adore my flat but as is evident above, I can't really afford it. The issue with moving is that I don't have any savings, and so I don't have a deposit. And so I'm in a bit of a catch 22. I don't have any family I can borrow money from and I live and work 300 miles from my parents so moving back is not an option.

Is there any way for me to get out of this horrible financial hole I've dug myself? I am scraping by but not saving and getting more and more worried. What can I cut down on? And is getting a second job my only option? I never, ever thought I'd be struggling on the salary I'm on currently.

greensalad

As you've said yourself the root of your issues is that you live alone. It can financially ruin you. I know exactly where you are coming from, as I spent my last year living alone for fear of horrible housemates and ended up in about £7k of debt because of it.

It's difficult to think positively when you feel like your money is being swallowed up by debt. But actually once you get on top of that feeling of being deprived and see your decisions to live in shared accommodation as you taking control and making a plan for the future, it's a good feeling.

You're probably feeling burned due to weird living situations and living in horrible student housing. But there is as much of a chance as living in a poor situation as finding good housemates. They're out there. I find living with one other person is much better than living with a large group, so maybe look for that. There will be others.

After that you need to secure a budget. Many people on MSE love You Need A Budget which is an app for desktop and phone that helps you budget and plan ahead.

It's probably worth you posting a SOA so people can help you out with making decisions on where you can budget. Just get a good plan going.

You're not in dire straits just yet so it's good that you have jumped on top of this early.

While it's not exactly the best idea for the DFW board, maybe getting a loan to cover your car lessons would make sense if it is going to make your employment better. Could you discuss with your employer and ask for some form of loan agreement with them to cover your lessons?

cakeforbrains

Could you go for a smaller property, ie. a bedsit? Or maybe instead of house sharing, per se, lodging with an older person might be the answer?

enthusiasticsaver

Do you get two council tax free months as this would be £200 towards it? Some let you pay over 12 and some over 10 months and if you pay over 10 months February and March are the free months.


If the driving lessons are a condition of your job do you not get any help from your employer?


I think if you like your flat and this is just temporary until you pass your test it is not adviseable to move as you will have to stump up deposit and pay moving costs etc etc which is also expensive.


If I were you I would cut out everything for two to three months and concentrate on passing your test. Do you have a friend who can take you out to practice and put you on their insurance and you pay for that? We did that for our two daughters and it cut down on the cost of lessons. The insurance wasn't that bad either although it was astronomical once they passed their test.


More to the point though what happens when you pass your test as it does not look like you can afford to buy or run a car without an increase in salary.

greensalad

Yes that's true. Council tax is not due this month or next (for most places) so that would help you with the driving lessons. Discuss with your instructor if you can buy 5 lessons instead, explain the situation. They may even let you keep the same discounted rate if you explain you are saving the money month by month. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Then you can commit to the next two months saving for the test. Ditch the ballet for now, ditch the clothes budget, reduce your going out budget and you should be able to save enough to take the test at the end of your next block of lessons.

Once that's over you can pick up ballet classes again.

Saying that I still think your employer should aid you in this.

Brightspark87

Hi!

Can you at least get a season ticket loan from your employer? So your travel is covered day to day? This may also be the way to get your driving lessons sorted.

You will do this!

Puzzledbyadream

greensalad wrote: »

As you've said yourself the root of your issues is that you live alone. It can financially ruin you. I know exactly where you are coming from, as I spent my last year living alone for fear of horrible housemates and ended up in about £7k of debt because of it.

It's difficult to think positively when you feel like your money is being swallowed up by debt. But actually once you get on top of that feeling of being deprived and see your decisions to live in shared accommodation as you taking control and making a plan for the future, it's a good feeling.

You're probably feeling burned due to weird living situations and living in horrible student housing. But there is as much of a chance as living in a poor situation as finding good housemates. They're out there. I find living with one other person is much better than living with a large group, so maybe look for that. There will be others.

After that you need to secure a budget. Many people on MSE love You Need A Budget which is an app for desktop and phone that helps you budget and plan ahead.

It's probably worth you posting a SOA so people can help you out with making decisions on where you can budget. Just get a good plan going.

You're not in dire straits just yet so it's good that you have jumped on top of this early.

While it's not exactly the best idea for the DFW board, maybe getting a loan to cover your car lessons would make sense if it is going to make your employment better. Could you discuss with your employer and ask for some form of loan agreement with them to cover your lessons?

I grew up in a household that was deeply in debt so I am quite astute about it I suppose. I'm not ruling out going back to shared living but I am going to be very careful in who I choose this time. It's rather unfortunate that my boyfriend doesn't wane to live with me really.

I don't think my employer would give me a loan but I did consider borrowing from a credit union before I discovered my overdraft was interest free until July. I think borrowing from a credit union is probably the only loan I would consider.

cakeforbrains wrote: »

Could you go for a smaller property, ie. a bedsit? Or maybe instead of house sharing, per se, lodging with an older person might be the answer?

I'm happy to go for smaller accommodation but it's finding the deposit which is the big issue. Most places round here want at least £800 upfront, which I obviously don't have. This is probably the biggest issue I have with cutting down on spending. I lodged with an older person before and it was terrible, I know this wouldn't always be the case but I was confined to one room in a house and not allowed to make any noise or even use the kitchen to make a cup of tea. It's not top of my list to try again.

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Do you get two council tax free months as this would be £200 towards it? Some let you pay over 12 and some over 10 months and if you pay over 10 months February and March are the free months.


If the driving lessons are a condition of your job do you not get any help from your employer?


I think if you like your flat and this is just temporary until you pass your test it is not adviseable to move as you will have to stump up deposit and pay moving costs etc etc which is also expensive.


If I were you I would cut out everything for two to three months and concentrate on passing your test. Do you have a friend who can take you out to practice and put you on their insurance and you pay for that? We did that for our two daughters and it cut down on the cost of lessons. The insurance wasn't that bad either although it was astronomical once they passed their test.


More to the point though what happens when you pass your test as it does not look like you can afford to buy or run a car without an increase in salary.

I have a funny feeling I've already had my council tax free months as I thought I'd set up a DD and then it turned out I hadn't. I may possibly have one though. Will investigate when I get home.

Technically I should have had a driving license when I started my job and I was only given the job on the condition I learnt to drive asap, so I don't think they can help me out. I work in the water industry and they don't seem to have heaps of money.

I don't really know many drivers and those I do know aren't willing to insure me. Even if I was living at home I was told by my mum that they wouldn't have insured me on one of their cars as it's too expensive. It is making everything seem a lot harder.

We have pool cars at work so I will drive those, and in a year I will be able to use the city car club. Having a car isn't a top priority of mine, not least because it's so very expensive.

Although I like my flat, I don't think living in it is very sustainable as I have no options in an emergency and can't afford to go on holiday or even to gigs or on days out really. It would be nice to have a bit more disposable income but I worry shared living again would be bad for my mental health.

greensalad wrote: »

Yes that's true. Council tax is not due this month or next (for most places) so that would help you with the driving lessons. Discuss with your instructor if you can buy 5 lessons instead, explain the situation. They may even let you keep the same discounted rate if you explain you are saving the money month by month. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Then you can commit to the next two months saving for the test. Ditch the ballet for now, ditch the clothes budget, reduce your going out budget and you should be able to save enough to take the test at the end of your next block of lessons.

Once that's over you can pick up ballet classes again.

Saying that I still think your employer should aid you in this.

Asking for a block of 5 hours is quite a good idea actually. I have the money for the test but it is the last bit of money I have squirrelled away, although I would also need to pay for car hire etc so I do have some saving to do for that. I feel very under pressure due to not having enough money to cover even more lessons and I think this is affecting my driving as I'm getting super stressed out over doing little things wrong.

I am trying a budget of £50 a week, enabling me to save about £100 a month but if I can save £50 at the end of the month that will be an achievement.

Brightspark87 wrote: »

Hi!

Can you at least get a season ticket loan from your employer? So your travel is covered day to day? This may also be the way to get your driving lessons sorted.

You will do this!

Thank you. I live in the same city I work in so I don't have to pay travel costs for work, but I do have a slightly long distance boyfriend who I sometimes have to pay to go and see. Also as I don't drive I am reliant for public transport for everything outside of the city.

Thanks all, it's all food for thought. It's just a case of cutting down and saving I suppose!

Brightspark87

Puzzledbyadream wrote: »

Thank you. I live in the same city I work in so I don't have to pay travel costs for work, but I do have a slightly long distance boyfriend who I sometimes have to pay to go and see. Also as I don't drive I am reliant for public transport for everything outside of the city.

Thanks all, it's all food for thought. It's just a case of cutting down and saving I suppose!

Does your BF stay with you? I know this might sound like I am making your life choices for you but have you thought about living together or moving in with him? with house shares can you see if there is one with only 1 or 2 other people??

Puzzledbyadream

Brightspark87 wrote: »

Does your BF stay with you? I know this might sound like I am making your life choices for you but have you thought about living together or moving in with him? with house shares can you see if there is one with only 1 or 2 other people??

Boyfriend still lives at home and he really, really doesn't want to live with me because he doesn't feel ready (we're only 23 so I do understand, but it's a bit frustrating). Asides from that he's on a zero hours contract at work, doesn't get full time hours and is doing a college close to his home. He has to stay with me every Saturday and Sunday night now or he won't get to work so we're tentatively discussing him paying me a little bit towards bills. I've worked out that rent and bills cost me £30 a day and so if he paid me £15 for every day he stayed that would be fair but it adds up and I feel a bit awful for considering it. I will probably not end up asking him for it.

If I get money together for a deposit I will be looking for a small houseshare. Oddly one of my concerns is not being able to use my sewing machine in a shared house, I need to get my priorities right...

Brightspark87

Puzzledbyadream wrote: »

Boyfriend still lives at home and he really, really doesn't want to live with me because he doesn't feel ready (we're only 23 so I do understand, but it's a bit frustrating). Asides from that he's on a zero hours contract at work, doesn't get full time hours and is doing a college close to his home. He has to stay with me every Saturday and Sunday night now or he won't get to work so we're tentatively discussing him paying me a little bit towards bills. I've worked out that rent and bills cost me £30 a day and so if he paid me £15 for every day he stayed that would be fair but it adds up and I feel a bit awful for considering it. I will probably not end up asking him for it.

If I get money together for a deposit I will be looking for a small houseshare. Oddly one of my concerns is not being able to use my sewing machine in a shared house, I need to get my priorities right...

Right makes sense - damn zero hour contracts!

Firstly, perhaps instead of 'paying' he could bring loo roll or something that he uses, and itsn't cheap!

Secondly yes you are only 23 so dont rush anything you dont want too.

Lastly, you should always be able to use your sewing machine! you said you had house share problems before. I did too. Made to feel that it wasn't my home (it was for goodness sake it cost me enough!) and I then looked at much smaller house shares rather than the 5+ I had been in before.

greensalad

Having lived with crazy people many many times as a student, I would say go for a flat share with one other girl. There is bound to be someone out there. I lived with one other girl in my third year and it worked perfectly. For some reason two people makes life a lot easier because there is no "someone did this, someone didn't do that". It's just you and them. The dynamic is totally different.

Call up the council to find out your council tax situation. Houseshare isn't going to help you in the short term getting this driving lesson money but I do think it's a good idea for the future.

As for the sewing machine, you should be fine. Just being respectful obviously, only use it from after work to say 9.30pm. And longer at the weekends. You can discuss it with a housemate. Who knows, maybe they'll end up playing the violin and you'll be listening to that all evening! Everyone has their hobbies.