Disappointment and desperation at their finest.

Harleyquinn

I don't even know where to begin. I'm stressed, upset and feeling really helpless right now. I got paid on the 28th of October and my bills all get paid direct debit and I still live at home, so I don't have rent and other household bills to worry about. I pretty much always pay by card (I shouldn't, I know) and I've just got home from the shop totally embarrassed and quite devastated.

My card got rejected. I was only buying a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of water. I checked my online banking and I'm OVER my overdraft (I live in my overdraft and have done for 2 years).

I don't know what to do. My mum is away for a month so she can't help me, my family wont help me, I don't really have friends to help either. Not that I want anyone to lend me money, but ya know, the option would be nice.

I'd already decided to stop smoking months ago, but i'm finding it SO hard. Harder than I ever imagined. I don't eat out, apart from that subway I had yesterday at uni. I don't drink or go on nights out. I never go to the cinema. I can't lower my bills any. I'm worried.

I'm only 23, I don't think I should have money worries the way I do.

My income varies month to month because I'm a relief worker, so on a zero hour contract. I am at uni, and do get a student loan which obviously helps tremendously, but I was in this exact position before I started uni, and will be in the same position during the summer holidays.

Currently my debts are at:
Argos - £80 (I pay £20/m, planning on paying the remainder at the end of the month)
Very - £283.55 (I pay £35 a month)
CC - £1792.31 (I pay £52 a month)
Barclays - £535.79 (macbook, paying monthly at £41 a month)

and then I've got my other bills which are:
Dig money - £150
Mobile phone - £41
Pet Insurance - £22
Car Insurance - £36
Bank Account - £17

So altogether that's £414 a month.

This month I earned £450. I was left with £36 after bills.

I don't know how to boost my income. I spend hours filling out surveys, I enter competitions to win money, I pick up any change I find in the street. I'm at a loss of what to do now.

Even though I am currently wallowing in self-pity, I am determined to make changes, and do everything I can do boost my income so will document that here. Any help?

Harleyquinn

Feeling a bit better today. I made £40 selling a few things, so I put £10 of that towards food and the remainder to one of my debts.

I'm planning on having a good old clear out on my next day off and sell what I can probably Eb*y even though the fees are a pest.

I also found £20 while walking the dog this afternoon so i'll put that in the bank and use that to make an additional debt payment too.

I'll get there, slowly.

moneycantbuyyouhappiness

Hi Harleyquinn

Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better. Self pit was always my favourite emotion too before I started dealing with my debts. It does get better!

First thing to look at is your outgoings. £41 for a phones seems a little steep?

Can you shop around for pet insurance as £22 seems quite high. I pay £9.98 a month for my dog with PetProtect.

You are right about trying to up your income. I use OnePoll and it can mount up quite quickly.

Keep logging on here help keep your goals at the forefront of your mind. It really does help!

Harleyquinn

I hate paying £41, but EE wont let me change my package. My contract is up in March so i'll be going sim only.

I tried cancelling my pet insurance to find something cheaper and I got threatened with a huge charge for cancelling that I couldn't afford!

I use onepoll too and I quite like it, just wishing I was at that £40 payout though! haha I received £30 from iPoll today which i'm pleased about, I thought I was never going to get it.

I wish I had the spare cash to give matched betting a try!!

Bobarella

Well done on finding the £20!

Raggydoll85

Hey


Do you use Qmee? Its only pennies you make but its still making money hehe. I made 28p today for browsing for Christmas presents.


Hope it goes well x

Harleyquinn

Thanks Bob! A wombling eye never fails

Nope never used Qmee raggydolls, what is it? I've heard a lot of people talk about it but never thought of looking into it more

Raggydoll85

its an app you can get for internet explorer etc and when you search for items like playstation 4 or something and occasionally you will get a sidebar open with links you can click which will give you 8p or 2p or whatever if you click on it to view that site. so I did it tonight and got 8p for clicking on a Tesco link for something I'm thinking of getting for a present.


It does get a bit smart if you are just searching and clicking... needs to be natural searching. you don't make loads but you can make a little extra and every penny helps

ani*fan

Hi there Harkeyquinn :wave: and welcome to the boards.

Sorry to hear you're feeling so low but you've come to the right place to ask for help. Increasing your debt by borrowing more money isn't going to help, getting your debt paid down is. And I think you can do it.

The first thing is that £150 dig money is a bargain. Does this include rent, food, household bills, all of that? I noticed you spent £10 towards food so maybe you are buying your own.

Your outgoings...like others have said, your mobile phone is too expensive. You're locked in until March but make sure you get a much cheaper deal then. Your bank account, what's the £17 for? Have you used the insurances and other things this is supposed to cover? If not, you can claim your payments back. Banks are getting their knuckles rapped for fee paying accounts at the moment. See if you can get any money back and switch to a free account immediately to stop this monthly fee. There are loads of free accounts, take your pick. Make a note of when your pet insurance contract ends and make sure you switch, use a cashback site. And the car insurance, if it's your car, you have more bills than just insurance associated with this. If it's not, could you cancel this and take the bus?

Your Argos account will be paid off in a few months, freeing up another £20. Great. Is your credit card 0% interest? If not, try and get a 0% deal. I'm guessing Very is interest free but the barclays loan might not be. You need to try and get all of your remaining debt moved to interest free so that every penny you pay towards the debt reduces it and doesn't get eaten up in interest.

The smoking, being a 'now and then' smoker I'm not going to tell you to quit. It's hard, and we all know it. However, £8 for a pack of cigs will destroy your budget completely. You can buy a small pack of rolling tobacco that includes papers and filters for £3 that should last 2-3 days. You can still have the odd one now and then without spending all of your cash for the month.

Once your debts are gone, you'll have £184 a month. Could you work more hours during the Uni holidays? Try and save something up for term time?

Let us know how you get on. I'll follow your progresss with interest. And good luck, you really can do it.

clippy_girl

Hey harleyquinn,

as Ani has suggested, would be a good idea to change to a free bank account. While you are at it, you could switch banks as you can get at least £100 from a couple of them (and get £5pm from Halifax).

If you have a good credit rating, is your debt on a 0% credit card? If not look into changing this. Some also let you have a cash advance so you could hopefully add on very if you are paying interest.

Re smoking, if you do want to quit, have you visited the doctor as I believe they can give you some free things to help you?

For selling items, try gumtree or also local Facebook selling groups as it is free (and you often sell it quicker and get cash!)

Have you looked into mystery shopping? There's a good thread on up your income board. The jobs don't pay as well as they used to but depending on where you live you should hopefully be able to pick up a few

Good luck

joeyjimbles

You'll get there. The best thing is that you've worked out how much you owe and where your money goes so you can at least stop yourself digging a bigger hole - very worthwhile and empowering.

Just wanted to pop on and give you a cheer from the sidelines and also to suggest Prolific Academic, their surveys pop up all the time on their site and you will be pre-qualified for most of them thanks to the info you submit when you join the site. I make at least £5-8 a week and min payout is £5 to paypal though you will lose a little in their fees, if you can leave it to £20 there are no fees.