No Money And In Need of Help!

Burntwaffle88

Hey MSE,

I really need some help with my finances!

Number one is I pretty much have no money, I've used all of my £500 overdraft and I've even gone further into it... into my unplanned overdraft, which I get charged on.

Number two, my direct debits are constantly being returned because there is no money in my account to be able to pay it off. That worries me.

Number three is I keep borrowing money from family members just to be able to live, I feel incredibly guilty asking and I want to stop, it's a vicious cycle I'm in and can't get out of and I can't pay them back yet.

I do have a job, only part-time (80 hours per month) even though I've asked for more hours, I've been rejected. And since the start of the year I've been applying for full time jobs that I actually want to do. Just last week I got round to the 2nd stage interview, was between myself and three others, however I didn't get the job, I put so much hard work and effort into it. It was hard to read I'd been unsuccessful.

I've tried various debt type companies to see if I'm eligible for help but I'm not, not even working tax credit. I don't pay tax because I don't earn enough (7,500 a year).
I live with parents and I'm in my late twenties.

What I'd love is to be able to sort my overdraft out, start saving money and be comfortable. I really, really feel like I need some help. If anyone can suggest anything, point me in the right direction. I'm thinking any budgeting apps, any tips and tricks you may have to be able for me to get back on my feet. Any free accountants who could help? Any allowances I might be entitled to? Anything at all would be helpful!

Thanks!

spadoosh

Welcome to MSE.

First things first, get yourself here and fill in your SOA (statement of affairs). Be honest and include eveything. The less you include the less effective and reliable it will be. Then post it up in SOA part of the forum. People will tear apart your finances and give you more ideas than you could use for getting in a better situation.


The good news it seems youre not in huge amounts of debt. I owe £80,000 and earn a little more than double your wage.

Good things about full time work is it stops you spending money and it means youre making money. So finding the equivalent of that will be good. Dont just look at 'full time' jobs, look at all jobs. You might end up with 4 p/t jobs that work well together and pay what you would like. It sounds like all you want to find is somewhere that will give you money. Lots of places will offer that but not always on the most favourable terms (9-5 mon-fri).

I imagine most of your money worries would be gone with a month or two's full wages. So that should be your priority.

You can cut costs but its probably going to be small fry until you get more work. Unfortunately the helps thats out there is pretty generic. So i'd say you dont really need help, you just need a decentish job. Go get it!


ETA i work in the care sector. Its not an easy job or well paying job but you should always have work thrown at you if youre willing to do it. Care workers. Often zero hours, so a fair amount of flexibility but also little in the way of reliability but if someone walked in my office tomorrow and said they could work 60 hour weeks at times suited to the business, theyd be working (training) on thursday earning £23.5k a year (before tax!).

Don80

Hi

It sounds like you need to do a budget to see where you are. Without this it is hard to see what your situation really is. So all of this is just tentative...

If you are living with your parents your expenditure should be minimal? Could you talk to them about one month not paying towards bills? Have a month with no nights out, take food to your work, that would mean nothing unessential (all you would pay is travel to work, mobile bill etc). If you could have one month spending virtually nothing you'd repay your overdraft in one month (I assume you get £625 a month, could you live off £125 for one month, or across 2?).

Main thing - STOP borrowing more money. That just perpetuates the cycle, you need to cut yourself off. You're doing the right thing applying for new jobs, it is heartbreaking being rejected but do not give up. The right job is there for you.

If you do a budget and post it here, people on this site are good at analyzing them!

You may wish to consider opening a basic account, which would mean you cannot have an overdraft, and would not be charged by the bank if anything bounces.

xylophone

I've been applying for full time jobs that I actually want to do.

You might need to accept that any full time job (even if not your ideal) would be the best solution in the circumstances.

In the mean time, spend on nothing that is not an absolute essential.

You are living at home so I assume that your parents are responsible for the household direct debits - what DDs do you have?

DCFC79

To get anywhere you have to stop spending on anything you don't need so stop any magazine subscriptions, a chocolate bar before or when on your break, lower you phone contract price so be realistic.and look at what you do use, of you don't use slot of minutes drop some etc.

How are you in your OD ? At a guess I'm saying it's overspending, apologies if it's not the case.you can use excel to do the maths part or pen and paper of you like.

Your in a really good position or should be to save as much as you can. Apply for any job, even a job at McDonalds.

trailingspouse

Well done for finding this site. You need to make every penny a prisoner. Every penny. Starting now. This minute.

Things you don't need (in the short term) - TV subscriptions to sport/film/'specialist interest' channels. Alcohol. Coffee from coffee shops. New clothes. I'm sure you'll be able to think of more, and the good folk on the Debt Free Wannabee board will certainly be able to think of more.

And keep on with the job search - even if you just stick with a job you hate until you've paid off your debts and saved a bit of a buffer, you can use it as a jumping off point for a job that you actually want. It's easier to get a job if you've got a job, so take anything offered.

Burntwaffle88

Thanks everyone for your replies!!! This is fantastic! Everyone has been so helpful. Please, be as brutal and honest towards me as possible, I may need it! But please, keep it coming.

As for the OD it's a mix of buying train tickets (my girlfriend lives 2 hours away) but because I'm a student (mature student) I have a 16-25 railcard so that does save on my costs! But it's also to do with silly trips to McDonalds, buying things I can't afford and being silly with my money. I need to be more disciplined. But these suggestions are helping loads! Please keep them coming!

Thank you!

sheramber

Suggest to your girlfriend that you share the cost of you travelling to her.

PeacefulWaters

McDonalds Big Mac meal £4.49.

Homemade ham sandwich and bottle of tap water 50p.

xylophone

Take a full time job at McDonalds?

Don80

Burntwaffle88 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your replies!!! This is fantastic! Everyone has been so helpful. Please, be as brutal and honest towards me as possible, I may need it! But please, keep it coming.

As for the OD it's a mix of buying train tickets (my girlfriend lives 2 hours away) but because I'm a student (mature student) I have a 16-25 railcard so that does save on my costs! But it's also to do with silly trips to McDonalds, buying things I can't afford and being silly with my money. I need to be more disciplined. But these suggestions are helping loads! Please keep them coming!

Thank you!

Do you know what? It sounds like in your mind you are sensible with money. You KNOW what the problem is. And that is a great place to start :beer:

I was thinking about this last night. Open a basic bank account to get any income paid into. Pay your bills from that, and pay a set amount into the account with the OD every month. That does 2 things. It separates your "life" from your debt. It also makes it easier to see your debt reduce. I can tell you this, the first couple of months cutting back is difficult. But then you adjust, and you see your debt coming down - and you see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. That feeling is amazing. You'll be able to see an end date, and it's a good feeling because things only get better.

The way I see it, debt comes about for 2 reasons. One is when you genuinely have no way of living except to borrow - and that is rare, and difficult to do (harder to get credit if you have no means to pay it off). The other - which sounds like your case, and what mine was, is living outwith your means.

I still think your number one task is cut yourself off from borrowing more. I know from experience nothing changes until you take that step. You just dig yourself deeper into the debt hole.

Visiting your GF is important. Be honest with her about your financial situation. It may mean a few less visits in the short term. She may choose to visit you instead, or contribute to your travel costs. I can see why you cannot completely stop paying out on this, but maybe cut back? Or take the bus if that would be cheaper?

Things like McDonald's DO need to stop. It's great that you recognise this. As you said, it's really a case of being more disciplined - and not being afraid to say no to people, and to say you cannot afford it. I got used to doing that, and surprisingly people were very understanding about it.

Once your debt is gone, (and by then hopefully you'll have a job) start saving some or all of what you had been paying into your debt in a savings account, and you'll see your savings increase. What's great about that is that when someone says do you fancy doing (whatever) you can say yes - because you have the money to do it.

The short version here is that things WILL change for you if you set your mind and behaviours to it. Learn that now with £500 debt and you'll avoid ever being thousands in debt.