How much longer can I keep this up?

A.J.12

I have no real idea of where to start here but I have been a long term lurker on many of the boards for years and appear to "outsiders" to have it all under control but this is quite far from the truth!

I am 25 and luckily still live at home but I do pay towards bills/keep. I am around £10,000 in debt which seems to now just be spiralling as the interest on my minimum payments are now almost equal, therefore my debts aren't reducing!

My family are definitely not in a financial situation to help me out or to let me pay less for living costs and quite frankly I see it as my mess so I should sort it.

I work as many hours as I possibly can around studying full time too. My wages can differ between £370 a month to £800. I have copied and pasted a SOA for people to see. I have averaged out my wage from last years P60 but as mentioned above my wages differ wildly. I really do not know what else to do and ideally I don't want to affect my credit rating as it is perfect with no defaults or late payments to any of my accounts.

Amount (£)
Monthly Income (after tax)
585

Enter your monthly expenditure
Amount (£)

Rent
200


Mobile Phone - Unfortunately due I was sucked into the "latest model" and still have another year and a half before I can change.
£42


Groceries etc.
15 - This is for my dog food each month, luckily he is pretty cheap to feed!

Clothing
50 - I would say £20 is for work uniform each month, unfortunately I work for "one of those" companies that require you to wear the latest stock.


Other Travel
75 - Monthly train pass to work. Due to travelling peak times there is no cheaper way around this.


Pet Insurance/Vet bills
6

Presents (birthday, christmas etc.)
20


Enter your UNsecured Debts e.g. credit cards
Debt description Debt (£) Min Pay (£) Annual Rate (%)

Barclaycard

£4873

£101

29.9%

MBNA

£3300

£80

29.9%

MBNA

£2690

£40

0.00% - For another year I believe.




Total monthly income: £

585

Expenses (incl. HP & secured debts): £

408

Available for debt repayments: £

177

Unsecured debt repayments: £

221

Surplus (shortfall if negative) £

-44

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Assets: £

0

Secured & HP Debt £

-0

Unsecured Debt £

-10,863

Net Assets £

-10,863



I can't keep sticking my head in the sand for much longer but I have no idea what to do. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Bobarella

Hi Amy

Can you get any of your debt onto 0% deals? Have you already tried this?

Bob

A.J.12

Unfortunately the MBNA card is the only 0% one that I have been accepted for due to my low income now (it used to be better before I started University, in hindsight with more money I should have got into less debt but there we go!). I don't really want to damage my credit rating applying for more cards

rolls99

For you work clothing, take a look here:


http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/uniform-tax-rebate

andyfromotley

Your student funding isn't mentioned on here?

Your work expenses equate to nearly 18% of your salary. This is madness. Find work closer/better paid/doesnt require you to buy your own uniform.

You seem to be be overly concerned with your credit 'rating' (no such thing!). Why? the credit thing hasn't worked out so well for you so far. See if you can shift your debt onto 0% cards, this will have a huge effect on clearing your debt.

Other than that it may be a case of just trying to service this debt whilst you are studying then really attacking it when you finish uni.

Your no 1 aim is to start to live within your current means. On your current budget you need to find £44 cpm from somewhere so if nothing changes you need to stop buying clothes and reduce your present budget to £6 per month. (i'm taking it that the dog is non negotiable? ;-)

I think the answer probably lies in your employment or student funding.

patman99

You state you are 25. Have you enquired about a young persons rail card?. If you are eligable this will save you a few quid each month.

Clothes - wear what you have already. When it wears out, bin it. When you are down to enough clothing that you have a fresh set for each day of the week, then you can replace any that wear out.
Charity shops are good for everyday clothing like jeans and shirts.

Cards - Cut them up NOW. do not even think about using them as this only compounds the problem.
keep up monthly minimum payments on all the cards and any extra money you have to spare throw at the Barclaycard first as it has the highest balance.

Extra income - Mystery shopping, surveys, swagbucking, or selling your old clothes on ebay/facebook/shpock/gumtree.

A.J.12

When seeing it written down like that 18% is complete madness, I had never looked at it like that before! The job hunt will begin shortly.

My student funding is paid directly to the university and I do not get any extra funding aside from paying for the tuition fees.

Thank you for putting it like that for me clothing will be reduced as you are correct in saying the dog is non negotiable, a dog isn't just for Christmas

catwoman73

It sounds to me like the OP works in a fashion store, which are known to require their staff to wear clothes from the latest range when working.

She won't be able to reclaim the tax because they won't be logo'd items that can't be worn when not working - they will simply be ordinary clothes.

She also doesn't earn enough to be a tax payer so can't claim back tax she hasn't paid anyway.

Amy, unfortunately when your payment is almost always taken up by interest, the situation is very hard to get out of and you can pay off loads of money without really getting anywhere.

You either need to up your income enough to pay significantly more than the minimum, which it sounds like you can't do while studying at the same time, or you might need to look into more formal debt solutions like a debt relief order, if you have no assets and can tweak your SOA so you have minimal surplus income before debt repayments (I think this limit is £50 but you should seek advice from somewhere like Step Change).

If you go for a DRO, you should allocate more per month for vets bills/emergency fund for example as £6 pm won't be enough to cover all your dog's needs (insurance excess, routine vacination, flea and worm treatment etc). On paper at least, you could also pay your parents a bit more if your keep includes all food/laundry/broadband etc.

When does your course finish and do you expect to earn more when you qualify? Will you be able to hang on and pay your debts off then, perhaps staying with your parents a bit longer to sort yourself out?

Good luck!

timefortea

Does your place of study have an advice service/hardship fund?

poppasmurf_bewdley

I've come across several instances recently where members of staff are required to buy and wear the 'latest' fashion outfits from their employer, maybe at a discount, but at a cost to the said employee.

Am I alone in thinking that this is an outrageous practice which should be made illegal?

Speaking for myself, if a company requires staff to wear certain items of clothing, then I think they should be supplied by said company free of charge.

Companies which operate this practice should be named and shamed. Am I correct in stating that one such company is 'Next'?

Red-Squirrel_2

Have a read of this: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/23/monsoon-named-and-shamed-for-not-paying-staff-minimum-wage

Monsoon have been fined because they are effectively paying their staff less than the minimum wage by making them pay for their work clothes. If you're on NMW the same may be true of where you work.

Is there a reason I've missed why you are not receiving any student loan?